Training has been defined as ‘a planned effort by a company to facilitate employees’ learning of job-related competencies. These competencies may include knowledge, skills, or behaviours that are critical for successful job performance. ’ While Development refers to any form of formal education, job experiences, relationships and assessments of personality and abilities that can aid in the performance of an employee in current or future jobs. Noe 2007) Training and development methods consists of different techniques and materials used by trainers to structure learning experiences, and different delivery methods are better suited for achieving certain learning objectives. Reid (2007) argued that when determining a learning strategy for employees in an organisation, four decision criteria that must be taken into account. Firstly, the training technique needs to be compatible with the objectives.
Secondly, transfer of learning has to take place which means that the employees need to be able to apply the learnt skills at the workplace.In order for this to occur, the training and development programme needs to be structured in a way that would ensure maximum retention for the employee. Thirdly, available resources such as the cost of the techniques, cost of accommodation for running internal and external courses and also the HRD budget. And lastly, learner-related factors i. e. the preferred learning style of the employees, motivation of the learner as well as age and size factors of the trainees.
There are various training and development methods and they can be categorised under different main headings: Instruction and coaching on-the-job: This technique uses more experienced and skilled employees to train the less skilled and experienced employees. It can also be useful in training newly hired employees, orienting transferred or promoted employees to their new jobs or cross-training people within departments in a workplace. Examples of this type of techniques include coaching, job instruction technique or job delegation or job rotation.Coaching: This is a process where a trainer works with employees to motivate and also to help develop their skills. It can be one-one guidance or an instruction on how to improve their work performances in specific areas.
This is slightly different from other on-the-job techniques because it focuses on trainees that have been on the job for some time. Examples of a coach may include managers or supervisors who may help the employee to identify and use the different learning opportunities that occur in the course of normal work.In order for this technique to prove effective, the trainer must be skilled both in how to perform the tasks and how to train others to do the tasks i. e.
a ‘train-the-trainer’ training has to be conducted. According to CIPD 2010, the most effective learning and talent development practices are in-house development programmes (56%) and coaching by line managers (51%). An advantage of this technique is that it could also be useful for the coach in terms of developmental experience as well as for the learner . Compared to other methods, it is both cost and time effective in delivering training to employees.
However, the trainer may possess some bad habits which could be transferred to the learner, it is therefore important that a structured program is effective when conducting on-the-job training has an unstructured one could lead to poorly trained employees. Planned in-house learning experiences: This could be seen as part of developing the employee within the workplace either in the same department or in other departments. Opportunities for planned in-house activities are sometimes deliberately created or may be planned to assist day-to-day running of departments.This could include techniques such as mentoring where the mentor is seen as a ‘role model’ for the employee. Mentoring can be said to be an interpersonal relationship between a senior (trainer) and a junior employee (trainee) where the senior employee provides the trainee with political structure, functional expertise, guidance and a clear understanding of how the organisation functions rather than improving technical aspects of performance. Mentors should be chosen based on interpersonal and technical skills and they need to be trained as well.
Although not always, mentors are usually provided for management-level employees e. g. members of the board of directors or retired company executives might decide to mentor senior managers of the company. This is an effective learning tool because it offers feedback on the employee’s strength and weaknesses. However, a limitation of formal mentoring programs is that mentors may find it difficult to provide counselling or coaching in artificially formed relationships.
, Blended Learning: is described as a method that combines the use of distant learning techniques i. . e-learning with traditional learning. Employees prefer this method because it provides easy access to learning for them. It also serves as an effective technique to train employees because it combines the importance of matching an individual’s preferred learning style with the appropriate training delivery. It is also relatively convenient.
However, the learner needs to be enthusiastic about the topic of the training to avoid de-motivation. E-learning: various companies have taken e-learning as a method of delivery for training their employees.This type of training is delivered online through the internet or the web by using a computer . Support for the trainee can be provided in the form of discussion groups, chat rooms and online tutoring where anyone involved is able to respond at a time that is convenient . Learner motivation is a critical issue in e-learning as many organisations have experienced high drop-out rates and low take-up in their programmes .
E-learning also involves different types of technology-based training, such as, distance learning, computer-based training (CBT), or web-based training (WBT).Distance learning occurs when trainers and trainees are in remote locations; typically, technology is used to broadcast a trainer's lecture to many trainees in many separate locations. Distance learning provides many advantages and disadvantages. It can be cost effective because the organisation saves on travel expenses for trainees compared with if they were sent to multiple locations for a lecture, it also allows training to be provided for employees who might be located in various parts of the world- for international organisations.However, trainees may lack motivation to learn due to the segregation of the trainer. Another major downfall in distance learning is the lack of interaction between the trainer and the trainees, being able to interact with the audience during a training process is an important feature that enables the flow of information and employees retain more information.
Computer-based training is a training process which involves the interaction of both a computer that provides learning stimulus and the trainee who responds to this stimulus, the computer analyses this response and provides some feedback to the trainee .With this type of training, content is delivered through the computer, using any combination of text, video, audio, or interactive assessment stored on a CD-ROM or floppy disks. It can be a basic procedure like reading texts on a screen or participating in interactive videos. CBT could be used for training managers on how to complete a performance review. Web-based training is training displayed on a web browser that can be accessed on both public and private computer networks.
The difference between CBT and WBT is that CBT training program is stored on DVD’s, CD-ROM’s, or floppy disks.This means that updating it could be difficult and it may also be difficult for employee’s to gain access. WBT however is housed online through either a company's intranet or through the World Wide Web. This increases accessibility of training and employees can train from their home computers. Also, communication in the form of discussions between employees is done via the intranet and this can also facilitate learning.
In addition to this, updates to content are quick and relatively easy compared to CBT.For example, if an error in the training content is found, an update on the training program housed on a server can make changes to the content for every trainee who accesses it after this point. While for a change to be made to CBT, the CD-ROMs or floppy disks would have to be replaced with new ones. For e-learning training to be effective it needs to be well managed and factors such as confidence and learning skills of the learner needs to be taken into account. Also the involvement of organisations can encourage employees during this process.E-learning has been implemented by various organisations as an alternative to other traditional methods of training because of its various advantages.
Employees have access to it at any time and any place, travel cost is reduced compared to other training method such as the use of external courses where trainees would have to travel to different locations in order to be trained. It can reduce training time and it allows companies to train more employees within a shorter period of time compared with other traditional methods hence reducing training cost. It is easily accessed by trainees around the world.Nevertheless, e-learning can also provide barriers during training in the sense that the trainee could lack technical support, it also discriminates against disabled employees i.
e. access is limited for blind employees. In addition to this, it lacks collaboration and sharing of information amongst trainees. Off-the-job experiences: This method of training takes place outside the organisation and training is usually carried out in groups. Examples of methods commonly employed could be the use of Lectures, role-play of various kinds supported by video, closed-circuit television (CCTV) and other audio-visual aids.This type of training is usually used to train groups of employees of similar grades or jobs.
However, the choice of methods and locations must be determined by the criterion of cost-effectiveness. Compared with on-the-job training, this technique is costly and it also requires people to leave their places of work, it is essential for certain types of training for example, in managerial roles as it is important that people work in groups and learn from each other. Lectures: This method is usually for the delivery of a topic of general understanding to trainees.It can be implemented when a large amount of people are being provided with a limited amount of information in a relatively short period of time. There are several variations that can be used when using lectures as training techniques, for example it can be combined with discussions, presentations or visual aids to maximise learning outcomes.
It is important that for learning to be effective, lectures must not contain too many learning points as the trainees may find it difficult to retain information. In lectures, communication is one way i. e. from trainers to trainees.Trainees listen, observe and might take notes. But when discussions are combined with lectures, it creates a two-way communication amongst trainees and also between the trainee and the trainer.
Feedback is also provided by the trainers on issues that learners might find difficult to understand. A disadvantage of this technique is the cost it takes to send employees out to various locations for training. External courses: These might include professional qualifications such as the CIPD, CIM or ACCA or other formal qualifications in the form of part-time programmes provided by institutions.Management of this technique could be complicated and extremely demanding has it can prove difficult for employees to manage when work load in the workplace is high. These types of programmes are usually implemented as a career development move as opposed to a way of immediate training.
(Reid et al 2004) Having listed the various categories with which learning can occur, Marchington 2008 also argues that although no method is superior to the other; there are different methods suitable for different sets of circumstances.He categorised training and development methods into four different categories and differentiated them according to the main approach adopted, and also whether the training is essential for individuals or group-based. Snape et al (1994: 73). The first distinction is the difference between the Andragogical and the Pedagogical approaches to learning and development, the Andragogical approach is more self-directed and participative with the trainer providing support to the learner while the Pedagogical approach allows less input from the learner and all training techniques are carried out by the trainer.The first category includes methods that are pedagogically oriented and individually based; examples of these include instructional techniques delivered on a one-one basis.
Although these techniques are useful for learning routine information and standard programmable skills, however the employees are usually dependent on the trainers and the use of initiative on the part of the employee is usually low until they become more experienced. The second category includes methods that are pedagogically orientated and group-based; such as the use of lectures, presentations, videos.This is a cost effective method of delivering training especially when a large group of people are being given the same information. Despite its cost effectiveness, it can be argued that lectures are not the most effective way of learning as people can often be distracted especially when learning large materials within a short period of time.
However, teaching aids such as the use of presentations, videos, visual aids and small group discussions can often help learners retain as much information as possible.It is also important to ensure that training is carried out over a short period of time. The third category includes methods that are andragogically oriented and group-based which allows the group to solve problems with little intervention from the trainer. The role of the trainer is seen as that of a facilitator that ensures that the team arrives at a conclusion.
Example of techniques in this category includes the use of case studies and simulations which provides recommended solutions for ‘real-life’ scenarios. And the fourth and final category falls into the self-directed methods techniques.This category includes the use of language laboratories and e-learning. The main focus of these methods of learning is that employees are responsible for their own learning which can occur at their own pace, location and time suitable to them. This type of learning could be implemented by the employee as a self-development procedure and may not necessarily coincide with the requirements of the organisation. Self-managed learning can also be done by taking advantage of the various learning opportunities in the workplace.
(Reid et al 2004).Knowledge retention can be good if the learner is highly motivated but motivation may decline if the learner finds it difficult to understand the contents of the training. Because of the current economic climate, many organisations will be cautious of their HR budget and businesses might have to re-focus their objectives and one of the areas which may be cut is training and development. With that being said, organisations can focus on training and development methods in the workplace because this delivery method is relatively cost effective compared with other methods.This will also serve as an advantage because it provides real time exposure to any changes, as opposed to off-the-job or e-learning training and it allows the organisation to have direct oversight of the training and immediate input into content. On the other hand, because training in the workplace is not the best approach on how to deliver training interventions in all circumstances, HR Practitioners need to invest in their employees by providing training as well as showing an interest in their developments.
They must choose the ‘best-fit’ approach that is most appropriate for different circumstances.When training and development result in better outcomes, it can lead to increased productivity and efficiency, and of course, an increase in job satisfaction. Employees who are happy in their work are more likely to work harder and be more valuable to the company. While many organisations may be asking the question, can we afford to spend on training and development, a more important question should be, can we afford NOT to spend on training and development? References: 1.
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