Lesson 6

LESSON 6
Designing and Evaluating Training Systems

Training
Employee performance can be improved in many ways.
– One way to have high employee performance is to
select employees with the necessary knowledge
and skills.
– Another way to improve employee performance is
to train employees who have the ability to perform
the job but might not have the knowledge, skills,
or motivation to perform the job.
Training
“The systematic acquisition of skills,

rules, concepts, or attitudes that result in
improved performance.” (Goldstein &
Ford, 2002)
Training
■ Training is essential for an organization because

it ensures that employees have the knowledge
and skills necessary to perform the job.
■ Training compensates for the inability to select
desired applicants.
Determining Training Needs
■ Needs analysis- the process of determining the training needs

of an organization.
 the first step in developing an employee training system
(Noe, 2013).
 the purpose of needs analysis is to determine the types of
training that are needed in an organization.
 Shows the extent to which training is a practical means of
achieving an organization’s goals.
Needs Analysis
■ Organizational analysis- the process of determining the

organizational factors that will either facilitate or inhibit training
effectiveness.
 “do we have money to conduct a training program?”

 Goals the organization wants to achieve
 The ability to conduct training (e.g., finances, physical space, time)
 The extent to which employees are willing and able to be trained
(e.g., ability, commitment)
Needs Analysis
■ Task Analysis
 the purpose of task analysis is to use the job analysis
methods to identify the tasks performed by each
employee.
 the conditions under which these tasks are performed,
 and the competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities)
needed to perform the tasks under identified conditions.
 interviews, observations, and task inventories.
Person Analysis
■ Person Analysis- identifying the employees who need training and

determining the areas in which each individual employee needs to
be trained.
o Not every employee needs further training for every task
performed.
o Should also include an evaluation of an employee’s readiness
for training.
o Performance appraisal scores, surveys, interviews and/or
critical incidents
Choosing the Best Training Method
Most training programs have multiple goals and

objectives, the best training programs often use a
variety of methods so that employees will
understand the reasons for doing a certain task,
how it should be done, and in what situations it
should be done.
Lecture
■ Lectures are a good training source if the goal is

for employees to obtain knowledge, but unless
they are accompanied by such techniques as
simulations and role plays, they are not usually
effective at teaching skills.
– An important part of any training presentation
is the handouts to the audience.
Case Studies
■ Employees, usually in a group, are presented with a real or

hypothetical workplace problem and are asked to propose the
best solution.
o For case studies to be most successful, the cases should be
taken from actual situations.
o A drawback to the living case study, however, is that trainees
may not be the best individuals to solve the problem.
o Case studies should be interesting
Simulation
■ Exercise designed to place an applicant in a situation

that is similar to the one that will be encountered on
the job.
– Work with equipment under actual working
conditions
– Can be effective only if it physically and
psychologically simulates actual job conditions.
Role-play
■ A training technique in which employees act out

simulated roles.
o allows the trainee to perform necessary
interpersonal skills.
o They are not for everyone
o Role-play exercise has an employee playing the role
of “the other person.”
Behavior Modeling
■ Similar to role-play except that trainees role-play ideal

behavior rather than the behavior they might normally perform
o trainees view videos of employees correctly and
incorrectly solving the problem.
o employees role-play (behaviorally rehearsed) situations
and receive feedback on their performances.
o videos must represent commonly encountered problems
and situations.
Motivating Employees to Attend Training
• Relate the training to an employee’s immediate
job;
• Make the training interesting;
• Increase employee buy-in;
• Provide incentives;
• Provide food; and
• Reduce the stress associated with attending.
Delivering the Training Program
■ Once the training program has been created,

there are three broad methods of delivering
the training: in the classroom, through
distance learning, and on the job.
Classroom Training
■ Initial Decisions
 Who will conduct the training?
 where will the training be held?
 how long should it be? (mass or distributive
practice)
Distance Learning
■ Distance learning technologies can generally be

placed into one of the two broad categories:
Asynchronous or Synchronous
Asynchronous and Synchronous
■ Asynchronous
– Interactive Videos
■ Synchronous
– Webinars, Webcasts, Wiki, Litserv
On-the-job Training
OJT is informal training by experienced peers and

supervisors that occurs on the job and during job tasks.
– Works best for teaching skills that require
supervision to learn, are best learned through
repetition, and benefit from role modeling.
Learning Through Job Rotation
■ Job rotation (cross-training)

– A system in which employees are given the opportunity
to perform several different jobs in an organization.
– Training for managerial employees
– Allows for both lateral transfers within an organization
and greater flexibility in replacing absent workers.
Apprenticeship
■ Apprentice training
– A training program, usually found in the craft
and building trades, in which employees
combine formal coursework with formal on-
the-job training.
Coaching and Mentoring
■ Coaching (temporary), Mentoring (long-term)

■ Problems with coaching:
1. Not all good workers are good trainers, and vice versa
2. It diminishes the expert’s productivity
Pass-through Programs- experienced workers are

temporarily assigned to the training department
Evaluation of Training Results
(How do we say that the training is effective?)
Evaluation Criteria
– Employee reactions
– Employee learning: (pre-test and post-test)
– Application of training: Adv excel traning (Adv excel
knowledge)
– Business impact: Achieve the goals (increase of 10% of
satisfied clients)
– Return on investment
Summary:
■ The first step in the training process is to conduct a training
needs assessment that includes an organizational analysis, task
analysis, and person analysis.
■ Training methods take many forms.
■ Psychological principles such as modeling, distributed practice,
and transfer of training must be considered when conducting a
training program.
■ It is essential to evaluate training success by measuring trainee
attitudes, knowledge, ability to apply newly learned material,
and improved performance
Thank you and Godspeed!
References
Aamodt, M. (2017). Industrial/organizational psychology, 6 th edition. Cengage learning.

Belmont CA, USA
Erdogan, B. & Bauer, T. N. (2022). Industrial/organizational (i/o) psychology. In R. Biswas-
Diener & E. Diener (Eds), Noba textbook series: Psychology. Champaign, IL: DEF
publishers. Retrieved from http://noba.to/qe3m9485
Levy P. (2010). Industrial/organizational psychology: understanding the workplace. Worth
publishing. New York, USA

Lesson 6

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Lesson 6

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Lesson 6

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

LESSON 6

Designing and Evaluating Training Systems

“The systematic acquisition of skills,

■ Training is essential for an organization because

■ Needs analysis- the process of determining the training needs

■ Organizational analysis- the process of determining the

 “do we have money to conduct a training program?”

■ Person Analysis- identifying the employees who need training and

Most training programs have multiple goals and

■ Lectures are a good training source if the goal is

■ Employees, usually in a group, are presented with a real or

■ Exercise designed to place an applicant in a situation

■ A training technique in which employees act out

■ Similar to role-play except that trainees role-play ideal

■ Once the training program has been created,

■ Distance learning technologies can generally be

OJT is informal training by experienced peers and

■ Job rotation (cross-training)

■ Coaching (temporary), Mentoring (long-term)

Pass-through Programs- experienced workers are

Aamodt, M. (2017). Industrial/organizational psychology, 6 th edition. Cengage learning.

You might also like