THE IMPORTANCE OF TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

FOR AN ORGANIZATION

Training and development in an organization

It is being one of the oldest debates in the corporate world, does invest in training and development payoff? (Tsui et. al., 1997). There are many different approaches to this fundamental question and perhaps Richard Benson’s, the founder of the Virgin Group, famous quote may give an answer, “Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough, so they don’t want to” (Larry , et.al 2018, p. 85).  This will answer two, not one fundamental question and concerns in Human Resource Management, the importance of training and the importance of retaining staff. Further, training and development will enhance the one of the main intangible assets of an organization, Human Capital, which will increase the competitiveness of the organization (Neo , 2010)

Training and development is an opportunity given to the employees by expecting a continuous development throughout their work scope. A well trained workforce is an asset to an organization (Jacobs, 2003). Training leads to the company’s performances and goals. Further provides a better working environment for the employees. According to the Armstrong (2001, p125), “Training is systematic development of the knowledge, skills and attitudes required by an individual to perform adequately a given task or job”.

The term ‘Training’ indicates the process involved in improving the aptitudes, skills and abilities of the employees to perform specific jobs. Training helps in updating old talents and developing new ones. Neo et. al (2016) defined Training as consists of an organization’s planned efforts to help employees acquire job-related knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors, with the goal of applying these on the job (Neo et. al ., 2016, p. 201). The main objective of training is to make sure the work force of the organization to be skilled in every other way. In addition to that there are four other objectives as well. Those are Individual , Organizational, Functional and social objectives (Janev, et.al  2018).

• Individual Objectives – These objectives help the employees to achieve their personal goals, which will increase the contribution towards the organization.
• Organsational  Objectives- These objectives contributes the origination with its primary objective by bringing individual effectiveness.
• Functional Objectives – Functional objectives are maintaining the departmental level contribution at a given time which contributes the organization needs.
• Social Objectives – These ensures that the organisation is ethically and socially responsible for meeting the needs and of the society.

Employee development is going hand in hand with the training. Employee development is the combination of formal education, job experiences, relationships, and assessment of personality and abilities to help employees prepare for the future of their careers (Neo et. al., 2016, p. 237). Employee development often has its roots in the company’s mission, goals, and values and is related to important business outcomes such as employee retention and the creation of an agile and talented management team and work force (Neo, 2010).

The definition of development indicates that it is future oriented. Development implies learning that is not necessarily related to the employee’s current job. Instead, it prepares employees for other jobs or positions in the organization and increases their ability to move into jobs that may not yet exist. Development also may help employees prepare for changes in responsibilities and requirements in their current jobs, such as changes resulting from new technology, work designs, or customers (Neo et. al 2016).

 The Training Process

Dessler ( 2008), explained the training process is aimed at improving the performances of individuals and groups of employees in the organization. It is an organized activity for increasing the knowledge and skills of the employees. It comprises of a systematic method for transferring technical and management skills to the employees. This training process is an important activity for both organization as well as the employees. Developed skills of employees via training will secure the employee job as well and from organization aspect the skills gain through the trainings by the employees an asset for the organization.

In the process of Training and development following steps are being considered (Dessler, 2008).

Step 01. The first is need analysis – in this step identifying the specific job performance skills required to assess the prospective trainee’s skills. And then develop a specific measurable knowledge and performance objectives (SMART objectives) based on what lacking behind.

Example: In Sri Lanka Telecom PLC use the PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL sheet add the required trainings by the employees. Employees has to mention what they expect to get trained during the next business year.

Step 02. In the second step it will be the designing of the training program content including work books , exercises and activities. Here the organization use the techniques like on the job trainings and computer assisted learning’s

Example :Training and Development team will gather the information of training requirements of employees from the PE sheet and then analyses the requirements. Sri Lanka Telecom has in house certified trainers for various areas. And if the employee requirements are to be catered via external parties  then the resources will be looked at with the recommendations of registered institutes.

Step 03. Then comes the Validation step, here the designed training program will be presented to a small audience to check wheatear it is according to the requirements.

Example: The selected samples of external resource personnel’s have to present a sample session to the Training and Development team on their contents of the delivery. Then a panel of judges will select the best .

Step 04.  Fourth step is to implement the program to the targeted group of employees.

Example: Once selected, the training program will be make available at the training center of Sri Lanka Telecom and the employees will be notified via internal email.

Step 05. At last it will be the evaluation step in which the management asses the program success or the failure.

Example :A test will be conducted to the participants of the selected training program. An evaluation sheet will be given to all the participants to evaluate the tearing program

 

Approaches to Employee Development

 

The many approaches to employee development fall into four broad categories: formal education, assessment, job experiences, and interpersonal relationships. Many organizations combine these approaches (Neo et. al 2016).

 

Figure 1.0: Four Approaches to Employee Development

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Source: Neo et. al 2016.)

a) Formal Education: Organizations may support employee development through a variety of formal educational programs, either at the workplace or off-site. These may include workshops designed specifically for the organization’s employees, short courses offered by consultants or universities (Jacobs and Washington,2010).

b) Assessments: Collecting information and providing feedback to employees about their behavior, communication style, or skills.

c) Job Experience: The combination of relationships, problems, demands, tasks, and other features of an employee’s jobs.

d) Interpersonal Relationship: Employees can also develop skills and increase their knowledge about the organization and its customers by interacting with a more experienced organization member.

 Training and development methods

On the job training

On the job training helps employees to get the knowledge of their job in a better way Coaching – One to one training based of exiting experiences (Deming, 1982). People learn from their practical experience much better as compare to bookish knowledge. On the job training reduces cost and saves time (Flynn et. al., 1995; Kaynak, 2003; Heras, 2006).

Types of On the job trainings;

• Mentoring – Use to develop attitude, mostly used in manager level employees
• Job Rotation – Employees get the training of different departments by rotating their jobs
• Job Instruction Technology – Step by step structured training method
• Apprenticeship –use to train younger generation specially when they pass out from universities and this take longer period

Off the job training

• Lectures and Conferences – This refers to verbal presentations where the lectures have to be motivating in order to create interest among the trainees and retain their attention.
• Vestibule Training – This method creates a working condition similar to the actual workplace conditions.
• Simulation Exercises - Basic four exercises in any artificial environment exactly similar to actual situation.
• Sensitivity Training - Create an ability of an individual to sense what others feel and think from their own point of view.
• Transactional Training - Analyze the motivation reaction relationship between two persons to understand the behavior.

 Impact of Training and development

In case of learning organizations, training has been linked to both corporate strategy and organizational performance: training must be aligned to organizational strategy in order to result in high performance (Delery & Doty 1996). The strategic formalization of training facilitates organizations to analyze and carry out effective internal and external scanning of their work environments (Lyles et.al., 1993).

Figure 2.0: Effectiveness of training and development

 (Source: Niazi, 2011)

 

According to Stone (2002) training has the distinct role in the achievement of an organizational goal by incorporating the interests of organization and the workforce. Now a days training is one of the most important factor in the business world because training increases the efficiency and the effectiveness of both employees and the organization, as illustrated in figure 2.0. The employee performance depends on various factors. But the most important factor of employee performance is training. Training is important to enhance the capabilities of employees(Khan, Khan & Khan 2011).

Benefits from Training and Development  (Ganesh & Indradevi, 2015; Taylor et. al., 2004).

• Increased job satisfaction and morale among employees
• Increased employee motivation
• Increased efficiencies in processes, resulting in financial gain
• Increased capacity to adopt new technologies and methods
• Increased innovation in strategies and products
• Reduced employee turnover
• Enhanced company image
• Risk management

 Conclusion.

As per the studies Training and development is an opportunity given to the employees by expecting a continuous development throughout their work scope. Also a well trained workforce is an asset to an organization. However Employee development with training will lead to accomplish the company vision mission and goals. Training comprises of a systematic method for transferring technical and management skills to the employees. The training process is comprise of several steps. The first is need analysis, the second step it will be the designing of the training program content, after the second step then comes the Validation step, Fourth step is to implement the program and finally management asses the program success or the failure. Employee development fall into four broad categories: formal education, assessment, job experiences, and interpersonal relationships. Many organizations combine these approaches. In training and development there are main two methods as On the job training and Off the job training and most of the companies practice the on the job training methods since its provides more opportunity to the employees to get to know about the company  working patterns.

In learning organizations, training has been linked to both corporate strategy and organizational performance in order to get the high performances training must be aligned to organizational strategy .

Recommendation

In order to achieve the organizational goals the organization need to  incorporate the interests of organization and the workforce. The training increases the efficiency and the effectiveness of both employees and the organization

An organization must apply On the job training or Off the job training by carefully analysis of the training process. The training and development department must handle the training process very effectively and the final assessment of the effectiveness of the training deployed need to be evaluate and should address the results with a continuous changes,

List of reference

Armstrong, M. (2001) A Handbook Of Human Resource Management Practice, Kogan Page, London

Deming, W E (1982) Quality, Productivity and Competitive Position, MIT Center for Advanced Engineering, Cambridge, MA.

 

Delery, J.E., and Doty, H.D. (1996) Modes of Theorizing in Strategic Human Resource Management: Types of Universalistic, Contingency, and Configurational Performance Predictions. Academy of Management Journal,  39 (4), pp. 802–835.

Dessler, G.( 2008) Human Resource Management , Prentice – Hall, New Delhi

Fauver, L,  McDonald, M, B,  and Taboada A, G. (2018)Does it Pay to Treat Employees Well? International Evidence on the Value of Employee Friendly Culture, Journal of Corporate Finance, 50, pp. 84 – 108, [Online] available at <https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2957245> [Accessed on 15th November 2018].

Flynn, B B, Schroeder, R G, Sakakibara, S. (1995) The impact of quality management practices on performance and competitive advantage. Decision Sciences, 26, pp.659-91

 

Ganesh,M and Indradevi R.(2015), Importance and Effectiveness of Training and Development, Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, [online]< http://www.mcser.org/journal/index.php/mjss/article/view/5470> [Accessed on 15th October 2018].

 

Jacobs, R, L.(2003) Structured On-the-Job Training, Berrett –Koehler, Califonia

 

Jacobs, R & Washington, C. (2003) Employee development and organizational performance: a review of literature and directions for future research, Human Resource Development International, 6(3), pp.343-354 [online] < https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13678860110096211> [Accessed on 15th October 2018].

Janev, I, Hadzi-Vasileva, G, Sofijanova, E. (2018) Benefits of Training and Development for Individuals, Teams and Organizations. Journal of Economics,  3( 1), pp. 12-18 [online]< http://www.hermanaguinis.com/Annual09.pdf> [Accessed on 15th October 2018].

 

 

Khanα, R A G, Khan, F A, Khan, M A. (2011) Impact of Training and Development on Organizational Performance. Global Journal of Management and Business Research, XI (VII ), p. 63 [online]< https://globaljournals.org/GJMBR_Volume11/8-Impact-of-Training-and-Development-on-Organizational-Performance.pdf> [Accessed on 15th October 2018].

 

Lyles, M., Baird, I., Orris, B., and Kuratko, D. (1993) Formalized Planning in Small Business Increasing Strategic Choices. Journal of Small Business Management, 31 (2), pp.38–48. [online]

<https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1020&context=cob_papers> [Accessed on 15th October 2018].

Neo, R, A. (2010) Employee Training And Development, The McGraw-Hill Company, New York

 

Neo, R, A, Hollenbeck, J,R, Gerhart, B , Wright , P, M. (2016) fundamentals of human resource management, The McGraw-Hill Company, New York

 

Niazi, A, S. (2011) Training and Development Strategy and Its Role in Organizational Performance, Journal of Public Administration and Governance, 1 (2) [online] < http://www.macrothink.org/journal/index.php/jpag/article/view/862/656> [Accessed on 15th October 2018].

 

Stone, R J (2002) Human Resource Management, John Wiley & Sons, New Delhi

 

Taylor, R, Davies, D. (2004) Aspects Of Training And Remuneration In The Accommodation Industry. Journal of European Industrial Training. 28(6), pp:1-2. [online] < https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/03090590410542693> [Accessed on 15th October 2018].

Tsui, A, S,  Pearce, J, L, Porter, L, W and  Tripoli, A, M.(1997) Alternative Approaches to the Employee-Organization Relationship: Does Investment in Employees Pay off?. The Academy of Management Journal,  40 ( 5) ,pp. 1089-1121 [Online] available at < https://www.jstor.org/stable/256928?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents> [Accessed on 15th November 2018].

 

 

                                                                                    By Amali Kumarasinghe