Training and Developing Employees

After studying this chapter,

you should be able to:

Describe the basic training process.

Describe and illustrate how you would go about identifying training
requirements.
Explain how to distinguish between problems you can fix with training and
those you cant.
Explain how to use five training techniques.

Orienting Employees

Employee orientation

A procedure for providing new employees with basic

background information about the firm.

Orientation content

Information on employee benefits

Personnel policies
The daily routine
Company organization and operations
Safety measures and regulations
Facilities tour

Orienting Employees (contd)

A successful orientation should accomplish four things for

new employees:

Make them feel welcome and at ease.

Help them understand the organization in a broad sense.

Make clear to them what is expected in terms of work and

behavior.

Help them begin the process of becoming socialized into the

firms ways of acting and doing things.
New Employee Departmental Orientation Checklist

The Training Process

Training

The process of teaching new employees the basic skills they

need to perform their jobs.

The strategic context of training

Performance management: the process employers use to

make sure employees are working toward organizational goals.

Web-based training
Distance learning-based training
Cross-cultural diversity training

The Training and Development Process

Needs analysis

Identify job performance skills needed, assess prospective trainees skills,

and develop objectives.

Instructional design


Produce the training program content, including workbooks, exercises, and
activities.

Validation

Presenting (trying out) the training to a small representative audience.

Implement the program

Actually training the targeted employee group.

Evaluation

Assesses the programs successes or failures.

Make the Learning Meaningful

At the start of training, provide a birds-eye view of the material to be

presented to facilitates learning.

Use a variety of familiar examples.

Organize the information so you can present it logically, and in

meaningful units.

Use terms and concepts that are already familiar to trainees.

Use as many visual aids as possible.

Make Skills Transfer Easy

Maximize the similarity between the training situation and the work
situation.

Provide adequate practice.

Label or identify each feature of the machine and/or step in the

process.

Direct the trainees attention to important aspects of the job.

Provide heads-up preparatory information that lets trainees know they

might happen back on the job.

Motivate the Learner

People learn best by doing so provide as much realistic practice as

possible.

Trainees learn best when the trainers immediately reinforce correct

responses

Trainees learn best at their own pace.

Create a perceived training need in the trainees minds.

The schedule is important too: The learning curve goes down late in
the day, less than full day training is most effective.

Analyzing Training Needs

Task analysis

A detailed study of a job to identify the specific skills required,

especially for new employees.

Performance analysis

Verifying that there is a performance deficiency and

determining whether that deficiency should be corrected through
training or through some other means (such as transferring the
employee).
Task Analysis Record Form

Training Methods

On-the-job training (OJT)

Having a person learn a job by actually doing the job.

OJT methods

Coaching or understudy
Job rotation
Special assignments

Advantages

Inexpensive
Immediate feedback

Steps in OJT

Step 1: Prepare the learner

Put the learner at easerelieve the tension.

Explain why he or she is being taught.

Create interest, encourage questions, find out what the

learner already knows about this or other jobs.

Explain the whole job and relate it to some job the worker
already knows.

Place the learner as close to the normal working position as

possible.

Familiarize the worker with equipment, materials, tools, and

trade terms.

Steps in OJT (contd)

Step 2: Present the operation

Explain quantity and quality requirements.

Go through the job at the normal work pace.

Go through the job at a slow pace several times, explaining

each step. Between operations, explain the difficult parts, or those
in which errors are likely to be made.

Again go through the job at a slow pace several times; explain

the key points.

Have the learner explain the steps as you go through the job
at a slow pace.

Steps in OJT (contd)

Step 3: Do a tryout

Have the learner go through the job several times, slowly,

explaining each step to you.

Correct mistakes and, if necessary, do some of the

complicated steps the first few times.

Run the job at the normal pace.

Have the learner do the job, gradually building up skill and

speed.

As soon as the learner demonstrates ability to do the job, let

the work begin, but dont abandon him or her.

Steps in OJT (contd)

Step 4: Follow up

Designate to whom the learner should go for help.

Gradually decrease supervision, checking work from time to

time against quality and quantity standards.


Correct faulty work patterns before they become a habit. Show
why the learned method is superior.

Compliment good work; encourage the worker until he or she

is able to meet the quality and quantity standards.

Training Methods (contd)

Apprenticeship training

A structured process by which people become skilled workers

through a combination of classroom instruction and on-the-job
training.

Informal learning

The majority of what employees learn on the job they learn

through informal means of performing their jobs on a daily basis.

Job instruction training (JIT)

Listing each jobs basic tasks, along with key points, in order
to provide step-by-step training for employees.

The 25 Most Popular Apprenticeships

Training Methods (contd)

Effective lectures

Use signals to help listeners follow your ideas.

Dont start out on the wrong foot.
Keep your conclusions short.
Be alert to your audience.
Maintain eye contact with the trainees.
Make sure everyone in the room can hear.
Control your hands.
Talk from notes rather than from a script.
Break a long talk into a series of five-minute talks.

Programmed Learning

Programmed instruction (PI)

A systematic method for teaching job skills involving:

Presenting questions or facts

Allowing the person to respond
Giving the learner immediate feedback on the accuracy of his or her answers

Advantages

Reduced training time

Self-paced learning
Immediate feedback
Reduced risk of error for learner

Training Methods (contd)

Literacy training techniques

Responses to functional illiteracy

Testing job candidates basic skills.

Setting up basic skills and literacy programs.

Audiovisual-based training

To illustrate following a sequence over time.


To expose trainees to events not easily demonstrable in live
lectures.

To meet the need for organizationwide training and it is too

costly to move the trainers from place to place.

Training Methods (contd)

Simulated training (occasionally called vestibule training)

Training employees on special off-the-job equipment so

training costs and hazards can be reduced.

Computer-based training (CBT)

Electronic performance support systems (EPSS)

Learning portals

Computer-based Training (CBT)

Advantages

Reduced learning time

Cost-effectiveness
Instructional consistency

Types of CBT

Intelligent Tutoring systems

Interactive multimedia training
Virtual reality training

Distance and Internet-Based Training

Teletraining

A trainer in a central location teaches groups of employees at

remote locations via TV hookups.

Videoconferencing

Interactively training employees who are geographically

separated from each otheror from the trainervia a combination
of audio and visual equipment.

Training via the Internet

Using the Internet or proprietary internal intranets to facilitate

computer-based training.

What Is Management Development?

Management development

Any attempt to improve current or future management

performance by imparting knowledge, changing attitudes, or
increasing skills.

Succession planning

A process through which senior-level openings are planned for

and eventually filled.

Anticipate management needs

Review firms management skills inventory
Create replacement charts
Begin management development

Managerial on-the-Job Training

Job rotation

Moving a trainee from department to department to broaden

his or her experience and identify strong and weak points.

Coaching/Understudy approach

The trainee works directly with a senior manager or with the

person he or she is to replace; the latter is responsible for the
trainees coaching.

Action learning

Management trainees are allowed to work full-time analyzing

and solving problems in other departments.

Off-the-Job Management Training and Development

Techniques

Case study method

Managers are presented with a description of an

organizational problem to diagnose and solve.

Management game

Teams of managers compete by making computerized

decisions regarding realistic but simulated situations.

Outside seminars

Many companies and universities offer Web-based and

traditional management development seminars and conferences.

Off-the-Job Management Training and Development

Techniques (contd)

Role playing

Creating a realistic situation in which trainees assume the

roles of persons in that situation.

Behavior modeling

Modeling: showing trainees the right (or model) way of

doing something.

Role playing: having trainees practice that way

Social reinforcement: giving feedback on the trainees

performance.

Transfer of learning: Encouraging trainees apply their skills on

the job.

Off-the-Job Management Training and Development

Techniques (contd)

Corporate universities

Provides a means for conveniently coordinating all the

companys training efforts and delivering Web-based modules that
cover topics from strategic management to mentoring.

In-house development centers

A company-based method for exposing prospective managers

to realistic exercises to develop improved management skills.

Off-the-Job Management Training and Development

Techniques (contd)

Executive coaches

An outside consultant who questions the executives boss,

peers, subordinates, and (sometimes) family in order to identify the
executives strengths and weaknesses.

Counsels the executive so he or she can capitalize on those

strengths and overcome the weaknesses.

Managing Organizational Change and Development

What to change?

Strategy: mission and vision

Culture: new corporate values

Structure: departmental structure, coordination, span of

control, reporting relationships, tasks, decision-making procedures

Technologies: new systems and methods

Employees: changes in employee attitudes and skills

Overcoming Resistance to Change

What causes resistance?

All behavior in organizations is a product of two kinds of forces

those striving to maintain the status quo and those pushing for
change.

Lewins Change Process

Unfreezing: reducing the forces striving to maintain the status

quo.

Moving: developing new behaviors, values, and attitudes,

sometimes through structural changes.

Refreezing: reinforcing the changes.

Overcoming Resistance to Change

Change initiatives

Political campaign: creating a coalition strong enough to

support and guide the initiative.

Marketing campaign: tapping into employees thoughts and

feelings and also effectively communicating messages about the
prospective programs theme and benefits.

Military campaign: Deploying executives scarce resources of

attention and time to actually carry out the change.

How to Lead the Change (in 10 Steps)

Establish a sense of urgency.

Mobilize commitment through joint diagnosis of problems.
Create a guiding coalition.
Develop a shared vision.
Communicate the vision.
Help employees to make the change.
Generate short-term wins.
Consolidate gains and produce more change.
Anchor the new ways of doing things in the companys culture.

Monitor progress and adjust the vision as required.

Using Organizational Development

Organizational development (OD)

A special approach to organizational change in which

employees themselves formulate and implement the change thats
required.

Usually involves action research.

Applies behavioral science knowledge.
Changes the attitudes, values, and beliefs of employees.
Changes the organization in a particular direction.

Examples of OD Interventions

HR Scorecard for Hotel Paris International Corporation*

Evaluating the Training Effort

Designing the study

Time series design

Controlled experimentation

Training effects to measure

Reaction of trainees to the program

Learning that actually took place
Behavior that changed on the job
Results that were achieved as a result of the training

Time Series Training Evaluation Design

A Sample Training Evaluation Form

Key Terms