CHAPTER SEVEN I EMPLOYEE TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

Employee Training-planned organizational efforts to help employees learn job-related knowledge, skills and other
characteristics (not just limited to employees)

AREAS OF EMPLOYMENT TRAINING

- New Employee orientation and training

o Designed to introduce employees to the organization and its goals, philosophy, policies, and procedures
o Acquaint them with physical and personnel structure
o Learn about compensation, benefits and safety rules and procedures
o Provide enough information that employees can quickly become productive members
o Additional: help newcomers deal with stresses of adjusting to the work environment
o Research:
 Adequate initial training -> more satisfaction and less likely to quit
 New employee orientation= increase in production and satisfaction
- Retraining and continuing education programs
o Organizations must encourage and support basic refresher courses and continuing education programs
to maintain proficiencies
o Critical to keep skills and knowledge of employees updated
o Research:
 Older employees may be resistant (lack of self-confidence in their ability to learn)
 Should provide incentives and support for participation
- Retirement planning and preparation
o Offer employees assistance in planning and preparing for retirement
o Topics: retirement decisions, retirement plans and options, investment and money management, and
services and opportunities for retirees and seniors
o General Programs: help retirees adjust to a nonworking lifestyle
o Research:
 Many workers are not prepared well for retirement
 Pre- and post-retirement planning were needed for employees to successfully retire
- Employee Career Development
o Need for greater attention to development and planning of employees’ careers
o Developed formal career development systems
o Programs: career counseling, courses in career planning, workshops that provide tools and techniques
for helping employees manage their careers
o Research:
 Helping workers plan their career -> increase in productivity, satisfaction and loyalty
 Employees need to learn to take responsibility to self-manage their careers
- Training workers for international assignments
o Workers may work for a foreign based company or they may spend time working in a host country
o Working in another culture requires specialized training
o Skills: foreign language, knowledge of general culture, specific business culture and work rules
o Research:
 Best workers are those with cultural intelligence
 International assignments be viewed as cross-cultural training
- Training in diversity issues, harassment and ethical behavior
o Allocate resources to diversity training programs and efforts to prevent harassment (including sexual)
o Aimed at capitalizing on the advantages of diverse work teams
o Diversity Training Programs
  Seek to raise employees’ awareness of diversity issues, to try to increase understanding of
people from other backgrounds and to strive to change negative attitudes and behaviors
 Research:
 Diversity training can help employees in the implementation of diversity initiatives and
making them work
o Sexual Harassment
 Focus on increasing awareness of harassing behavior and trying to neutralize situations and
cultures that promote or allow them
 Research:
 Sexual harassment is affected by organizational culture and climate
 Sexual harassment training has positive effects (helping male employees better
understand what sorts of behavior constitute as sexual harassment)
 Sexual harassment training needs to focus both at individual work level and at the work
group/team level
o Ethics
 Increased attention to ethics training for a broader range of workers
- Team Training
o Importance of training aimed at developing the team as a group rather than on the individual
o Components:
 Gaining an understanding of the knowledge, skills of each individual group members
 Training in teamwork skills
 Developing shared goals and work procedures
o Research:
 Successful team training should measure both team and individual performance with feedback
provided so that team members can learn to diagnose and evaluate their own performance
within the team

FUNDAMENTAL ISSUES IN EMPLOYEE TRAINING

Social Learning Theory-learning theory that emphasizes the observational learning of behavior

Modeling-learning that occurs through the observation and imitation of the behavior of others

Cognitive Theories of Learning-learning theories that emphasize that humans are information processors (useful for
understanding complex thought processes)

- Transfer of Training
o Concept dealing with whether training is actually applied in the work setting
o Influenced by the degree of similarity between the training tasks and the actual job tasks
o Research:
 Positive transfer of learned task had been found to be maximized when there are identical
stimulus and response elements found in the training and in job situations
 More likely if the work environment: supports the new behaviors learned and allows trainees
the opportunity to use them
 Setting training goals and receiving feedback and reinforcement for achieving said goals also
helps
o Concern: Maintenance of newly learned behaviors
 Brush-up or reminder training sessions should follow
o Should:
 Take place on a regular basis
 Be thorough
  Continue throughout an employee’s career
- Trainee Readiness
o The individual’s potential for successful training
o Also considers trainee’s motivation and aptitudes
o Research:
 Positive employee attitudes toward training programs are critical for training success
 Giving employees a realistic preview of what the training program is about and providing them
with personal and career-related benefits-> positive effects on trainee reactions to programs
and their learning
o Concern: readiness of trainees to move from working in a simulated environment to actually performing
the job
- Training Program Structure
o When, How Often, How long, how much opportunity, how much guidance and etc.
o Research:
 Practice should continue to the point that overlearning occurs
 Spaced practice sessions are better than massed practice
 Whole learning is better than part learning
 Highly structured increases meaningfulness of material to be learned
o Providing feedback about learning accomplishments
 Effective feedback is: immediate, more(frequency) and positive
- Common Problems
o Are not as effective as they could be because:
 Do not adequately follow sound learning principles
 Are not well organized

MODEL FOR SUCCESSFUL TRAINING PROGRAMS

- Assessing Training Needs

o An idea of what workers need to know to perform their jobs
o Levels:
 Organizational Analysis
 Consider:
 Long and short-term goals (and their implications for training)
 Available training resources
 General climate for training
 Training needs(result of internal and external factors)
 Might involve: surveying employees regarding their perceptions of training needs and
their attitudes toward participation in training programs
 Wants to determine whether manager’s expectations regarding training needs were
consistent with organizational goals
 Task Analysis
 Concerned with the knowledge, skills, and abilities and other characteristics
 Starting point is the job description
 Translate the specific task requirements of the job into the basic components of
knowledge and skill that can be incorporated into a training program
 Person Analysis
 Examines the current capabilities of the workers themselves to determine who needs
what sort of training
 Relies on workers deficiencies outlined in performance appraisals from incumbent
workers, employee selection data and self-assessments
  Demographic Analysis
 Determine the specific training needs of various demographic groups
o Helps determine which workers need training in which areas and provide information to guide the
development of specific training techniques
- Establishing Training Objectives
o Should be specific and that they have measurable outcomes
o Should specify what the trainee should be able to do upon completing the training program
o Guides the design of the training program and the selection of training techniques and strategies
- Developing and Testing of Training Materials: Employee Training Methods
o Most comprehensive training programs utilize a combination of several training methods and
techniques
o Important to pilot test the training materials (leads to a refinement of the materials and improving the
program)
o On-site methods:
 On-the-job-training
 Putting an inexperienced worker in the workplace and having a more experienced
worker teach that person
 Relies on the principle of modeling
 Worker can receive immediate feedback, be reinforced for successful efforts and have a
chance to learn how to correct errors
 Production rates may suffer
 Adv:
 Requires little preparation
 Has few costs
 Problems may occur:
 When motivation and abilities of trainers are not considered
 Trainers do not follow/know proper work procedures
 Best to use when:
 Trainers are carefully selected (abilities to teach and have received training)
 Trainers have reward or recognition for performing these
 Apprenticeship
 Combines on the job training with classroom instruction, usually lasting for years
 On the job experience allows apprentice to learn the mechanics
 Classroom instruction teaches cognitive skills, rules and regulations needed
 Adv:
 Detailed, long term nature of learning process
 Concern: apprentices are disproportionally chosen from majority groups
 Vestibule Training
 Uses a separate area adjacent to the work area to simulate the actual work setting
 Teach workers all aspects of the job (allow them hands-on experience)
 Adv:
 No disruption of actual production
 Dis:
 Costly (terms of trainers, space and equipment)
 Used to eliminate the delays to customers
 Job Rotation
 A method of rotating workers among a variety of jobs to increase their breadth of
knowledge
  Premise: expose workers to as many areas of the organization as possible so they gain
knowledge of its workings and how various jobs and departments work together
 Beneficial: “cross-training” of workers
 Used to help personnel find the positions for which they are best suited or to groom
managers
 Research:
 Increases learning and has positive effects on employees’ career progression
and development
 Increases worker flexibility, eliminate boredom and increase worker job
satisfaction and commitment to organization
 To consider:
 Analysis of training needs for each position should be done
 Orient and train worker adequately on each task
 Evaluation should be done at each tasks and overall job rotation training
experience should be conducted
o Off-site methods
 Seminars
 An expert provides job related information in a classroom-like setting
 Adv:
 Allows a large number of workers to be trained simultaneously
 Low cost
 Dis:
 Employees may not be highly involved
 Unclear if they can translate information into actual work performance
 Only as good as the presenter
 Research:
 One of the least effective employee training methods
 Shown to be an effective learning strategy
 Effective: lecture presentation is combined with question and answer periods
 Audiovisual Instruction
 The use of films, videotapes and other electronic media to convey training material
 Adv:
 Low cost
 Allows uniformity of training
 Dis: Quality of instruction determines its effectiveness
 Problem: when informational content is sacrificed for entertainment value
 Effective: information is presented visually (not verbally)
 Behavior modeling training
 Exposes trainees to role models performing appropriate and inappropriate work
behaviors and their outcomes and then allows trainees to practice modeling the
appropriate behaviors
 Research:
 Can effectively improve employee job performance
 More effective than seminars or programmed instructions in training computer
operators
 Learning complex tasks needs to be followed up to ensure that training is being
transferred to work performance
 May be effective for ethics training
 Simulation Techniques
  Method of replicating job conditions to instruct employees in proper work operations
without actually putting them in the job setting
 Allows the workers hours of practice under conditions similar to actual work setting
without the risk of damaging the equipment, product, environment or themselves
 Commonly used:
 Uses replications of complex machinery or equipment
 Gives trainees to what would normally be very hazardous working conditions
 Dis: Very expensive
 Chance for hands-on experience, immediate feedback and repeated practice= effective
 Web-based training
 Flexibility and scope of training programs that can be delivered via the web and
convenience of having the training on demand
 Programmed Instruction-involves the use of self-paced individualized training
 Adv:
 Efficient (individuals go at their own pace and has immediate feedback)
 Cost diminishes over time
 Dis:
 Costly
 Have to be kept updated
 Computer-Assisted Instruction-programmed instruction delivered by computer that
adapts to the trainees’ learning rate
 Allows for immediate testing of the trainee’s learning
 Problem: employees may not have self-motivation
 Recent development: computerized, interactive programs that combine
audiovisual techniques, programmed instruction and simulation techniques
 Management/leadership training methods
 Problem-solving case study-present trainees with a written description of a real or
hypothetical organizational problem
 Show trainees that there are no single/easy solutions to complex problems
 Develop skills in diagnosing and dealing with organizational problems
 Role-playing-requires trainees to act out problem situations that often occur at work
 Trainees will become more involved in a problem situation if they act it out
 Benefit: develop presentational and communication skills
 Management Games-scaled down enactments of the management of organizations
 Difficulty:
 Generalizing learning from the game to actual work setting
 May become so caught up in the game that they do not comprehend
the management principles
 Conference/Group Discussion-an unstructured management training technique in which
participants share ideas, information and problems
 Practice managers to learn effective management techniques that have been
used by other manages
 Adv: encourage individual participation
 Action Learning-teams assembled to work on a company-related problem or issue to
learn by doing
 Managers learn by doing, organizations benefit from the result of action
learning
 360-Degree Feedback
 Only effective if manager is open to accepting criticisms
  Effective:
 Participants are trained in the techniques
 When feedback is honest and constructive
 Feedback is combined with other training efforts
 Follow-up monitoring and feedback exists
 Mentoring-an inexperienced worker develops a relationship with an experienced worker
who serves as an advisor
 Involves the protégé attempting to imitate the mentor’s work and interpersonal
style (modeling)
 Research:
 Many positive results (advance more quickly in their careers, greater job
and career satisfaction, lower turnover)
 Only successful if there are good relationships between mentor &
protégé
 Using senior mentors are more effective then peer mentorship
 Mentorship relationships that form on their own are more successful
 Many factors influence willingness to mentor (potential of worker, more
similarity to worker, gender)
 Benefits
 Mentor: may become energized
 Organization: leads to more well-trained and satisfied workforce
 Dis:
 Mentor: tiring and time consuming
 Protégés: react negatively if they feel they are forced
 Coaching-a one on one relationship where a consultant helps an executive improve
performance
 Provides frank feedback to managers and executives and helps set
developmental goals
- Implementation of the Training Program
o Different factors need to be considered (trainee readiness, trainee expectations, climate of training)
o Important to provide trainees with a rationale for training
o As training progresses, it is important to give feedback and opportunities to practice new behavior
- Evaluation of the Training Program
o Should first outline the criteria that indicate the program’s success and develop the means for
measuring these:
 Reaction criteria
 Impressions of trainees, including their assessments of the program’s value, the amount
of learning they received and their enjoyment of the program
 Measured: training evaluation rating surveys
 Learning criteria
 The amount of learning that has taken place
 Measured: some form of tests assessing the amount of information retained
 Behavioral criteria
 Amount of newly learned skills displayed once the trainee has returned to the job
 Measured: Observational methods
 Results criteria
 Outcomes that are important to the organization
o Question: Whether the measured changes are the result of training
 Posttest-only design
  Measure training success criterion following the completion of the training program
 Does not tell us anything conclusive (no basis for any comparison)
 Pretest-posttest design
 Makes comparison of criterion measure collected before and after the introduction of
the program
 Cannot be sure that the differences were due to the program
 Experimental Design
 One is the control group while one group receives the training
 Solomon four-group design
 Uses four groups, two that are trained and two that are not
 Additional training and control groups are measured only after the program
 Requires large number of participants and groups
o Inability to use a true experimental design due to constraints

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY ISSUES IN EMPLOYEE TRAINING

- Several equal opportunity concerns are related to personnel training

- Issues
o Educational or Training Prerequisites for certain jobs
o Potential discrimination
o Requiring workers to attend/complete any training program must show that the completion of the
program is predictive of success in the said jobs