Reliance Industries Limited, a Fortune 500 company, emphasizes people empowerment through

scalable approaches, earning accolades for its training policies. With a 24,000-strong workforce,
the company invests in various customized training programs, spending 160,253 man-days to
groom employees personally and professionally. Target-oriented initiatives like competency
development and soft skills learning, along with unique schemes like the Dronacharya Scheme
for new recruits, illustrate their commitment to developing a consistently efficient human capital.
Reliance's focus on training exemplifies its pursuit of a competitive advantage through a skilled
workforce, showcasing the pivotal role of training programs in achieving corporate goals.

Introduction
Training: a value-addition activity undertaken by an organisation to enrich the value of its core
assets (people). Plays vital role in enhancing efficiency, productivity and performance of
employees. Helps employees acquire new knowledge, skill set, work attitude to perform jobs
efficiently.

The strategic goals of an organization usually form the basis for its training programmes.
Training typically comprises predetermined programmes to achieve the desired performance
efficiency at various levels—individual, group and organizational. In simple terms, training is all
about making a difference between where the worker stands at present and where he will be
after some point of time.

It is a short-term skill-development exercise to learn job or overcome deficiency.

Success of training programme: recognising training needs within organisation and then
designing and implementing training programmes .

Definition

“Training is the creation of an environment where employees may acquire or learn specific, job-
related behaviour, knowledge, skills, abilities and attitudes.”
—Terry L. Leap

“Training is the act of increasing the knowledge and skills of an employee for doing a particular
job.”
—Edwin Flippo

“Training is the formal and systematic modification of behaviour through learning which occurs
as a result
of education, instruction, development, and planned experience.”
—Michael Armstrong

“Training is any process by which the attitudes, skills and abilities of employees to perform
specific jobs are improved.”
—Michael J. Jucius

“Training refers to the methods used to give new or pres- ent employees the skills they need to
perform their job.”
—Gary Dessler

Significance of Employee Training

1. Enlargement of Skills and Competency

2. Effective Utilization of the Existing Human Resources

3. Enhancement of Customer Satisfaction

4. Enhancing Competitive Advantage

5. Enrichment of Team Spirit

6. Ensuring Personal Growth

7. Enabling a Learning Culture

8. Establishing a Positive Organisational Climate
9. Encouraging Better Health and Safety Measures
10. Ensuring Organisational Growth and Development

Assessing Training Needs

Important job of HR department. Done at 2 levels.
1st- training needs of the individual employees are assessed.
2nd- training needs are assessed for different groups in the organization.

The employee skills inventory is prepared to identify the likely skills shortage in the organization.
Skills inventory is an estimation of the kind of skills possessed by the employees while skills
shortage is the situation where the required skills are more than the available skills.

Individual employee’s training needs can be assessed by comparing the actual performance of
the employee with the standard performance.

Example: Training for Amplification of Skills Tata Motors

It is pertinent here to see the training programmes of Tata Motors. It conducts rigorous
programmes like in-house vocational training and apprenticeship to train its technicians. Further,
it organizes structured training programmes, rotational assignments and cross-functional
mobility programmes to help its employees gain expertise in multiple tasks. Tata Motors views its
training programmes as long-term investments in its human resources.
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1- Performance Evaluation

Performance evaluation reports help in assessing the training needs at the individual levels.
Those who perform poor require training.

An organization may also review productivity reports, performance scores, absenteeism records
and attrition reports to assess the actual performance of the employees.

2- Job Analysis
Job description report and job specification report is examined to identify skill, abilities and
knowledge required.

3- Attitude survey
It is a process of gathering information from the employees about the vari- ous aspects of the
organization. Information about the attitude of workers towards their work environment, their
level of awareness, and their views on the relevance of the existing training programmes and
future requirements.

4- Advisory Panel
panels of senior officials, top management to advice on nature and type of training needs and
programmes.

5- Ability Test Score

Ability tests to its employees to identify their existing levels of skills and abilities. Results can be
compared.

6- Feedback
from customers, employees, partners : feedback about the product flaws, the performance
deficit, and the employees’ behavioural problems.

Scope of Training

1- Knowledge
2- Skill Acquisition
3- Attitude Formation
4- Ethical Values
5- Analytical reasoning

Steps in an Employee Training Process

Determination of Training Needs

1- Organisational Analysis
2- Operation Analysis
3- Individual Analysis
Development of the Training Objectives
1- Selection of the Training Technique
2- Identifying the Trainer
3- Implementing the Training Programme
4- Evaluation of the Training Programme

Methods of Training

A broad range of training methods is available to an organization to deliver training to its

employees. Based on the training goals and need assessments, an appropriate method may be
chosen. There are two options available to an organization while deciding on a training
programme. It can either design its own programme or get an externally available package and
make modifications in it to suit the purpose and requirements of its training programmes.
Apprenticeship Training: used to train people for various craft jobs like an electrician, a fitter, a
turner,a plumber,a carpenter, a machinist. In this method, the superior, who is usually a highly
skilled employee, becomes the instructor and imparts knowledge to the trainee (called an
apprentice) at the work spot.

Job Rotation: purpose of this method is to expose employees beyond the scope of their present
knowledge. The employees are moved from one job to another just to widen their skill,
knowledge and experience.
Internship and Assistantship:

Internship is concerned with gaining supervised practical experience, especially by a medical

graduate. It permits the participants to combine the theory learned in the classroom with the
business practices. In fact, it is a unique kind of recruitment-cum-training that calls for
positioning a student in a temporary job without any obligation for the company to hire him
permanently after training. Similarly, there is no obligation for the student to agree to the job
offers of the company after finish- ing his studies.

Internship is usually beneficial to both the parties. The interns help the organization do the
needed tasks and, in turn, gain hands-on experience with the job and the prevailing business
practices. If the participant accepts the job offer of the company that provided internship, the
company actually gets a trained person to perform the offered job.It lets the employers try out
future employees prior to making a job offer.

Job Instruction Training

The step-wise process of imparting training to the employee is called job instruction training.
Under this method, all the necessary steps in the job, together with brief write-ups about each
step, are compiled sequentially. Each step would have a cor- responding self-explanatory note.
Each note would explain what needs to be done in that step, why it has to be done and how it has
to be done. In this way, the job instruction training sheet for each job can be prepared and
provided to the trainees. This method will enable the trainee to learn the job practically with the
minimum guidance of the trainer.

Off-the-job Training Methods

Workers are imparted training at a place away from their usual workplace like a classroom or
training centre to minimize the distractions to the trainees.

1- Programmed Learning (scheduled learning/ programme instruction method)

the trainees are made to reply to the job-oriented questions, problems, concepts, cases and
facts as part of learning job skills. Later trainees are provided with feedback that details the
accuracy of their answers. The learning may be a conventional one, with textbooks, paper and
pencil as tools of learning. It can also be a computer-enabled one, with the use of computer
terminals, video discs, light pen, touch screens, mainframe, mini and micro computers.
Purpose of this method is to give sufficient information to the learners and then test the trainees’
authority over the subject matter. The trainees’ progress towards the subsequent steps depends
upon the quality of their response to the questions of the previous step. This method is that
emphasises frequent questions, small steps, and specific, understandable, immediate and
accurate feedback.

2- Simulation Method
Risky jobs
3- Laboratory Training (Sensitivity or T-group training)

organized for a small group of trainees who are normally not familiar with one another. It is
organized under the supervision of seasoned trainers, who may play the role of careful
observers, in a neutral venue away from the place of work. Sessions are organized to let trainees
meet personally to share their feelings, opinions, attitude, perceptions and values.
The merits of this training are manifold. (i) It facilitates a better understanding among the
members by breaking the rigidity in their relationships.
(ii) It can improve the behaviour of the members by knowing more about themselves and others.
(iii) It increases the trainees’ capability to resolve the conflicting situations by developing
alternatives and problem- solving techniques instead of manipulation, intimidation and
compromise.

4- Case Study Method

5- Lecture Method
6- Role-playing:
(i) it is often used to impart the skills necessary for con- ducting interviews, handling grievances,
performance evaluation and disciplinary proceedings.
(ii) It helps enhance the interpersonal relations, problem-solving ability, motivational skills and
leadership techniques of the trainees.
(iii) It can vastly improve the empathetic quality of the employees.
7- Video conferencing

Audio-visual Aids in Training

Audio-visual aids such as television, audiotapes, videotapes, films, video-conferencing and
presentations are effectively and extensively used in training to enhance the efficacy of the
training process.

Evaluation of the Training Programme

Last stage in training programme process. It implies the comparison of training objectives with
the learning outcomes of the trainees to determine the extent of the accomplishment of goals.

Training is a continuous process- requires upgrading

Training process involves significant cost commitment on the part of the organization and
requires financial evaluation in cost–benefit terms.
Evaluation ensures better control over the whole process since it enables the organization to
decide whether to continue the training programme in the future.

The main purposes of the evaluation of training are listed as: (i) deciding if a programme should
be continued, (ii) deciding if a programme should be modified, and (iii) determining the value of
training.

1st stage of evaluation process

Design of Evaluation Studies
Time series design : involves a series of measures before and after the training programme. It
conducts pre-test and post-test of the skill and behaviour of the trainees to collect comparable
information

Pre-test–post-test Control Group Design: the inter-period (before and after training) and the
inter-group (between the experimental group and the control group not subjected to any training
programme during the same period) comparisons of performance are done to assess the
effectiveness of the training programme. The purpose of the inter-group comparison is to
eliminate the possibility of the influence of some other events that occur at the same time as the
training.

Effects to be Measured in Evaluation

1- Participants Impressions- seeking the participants’ opinion about it.
2- Learning Level- tests are conducted for trainees to decide what they learned from the
programme.
3- Behavioural Improvements- whether the training has made any impact on the trainees’ on-
the-job behaviour.
4- Accomplishment of Training and Development Objectives - training programmes are evaluated
to determine the extent to which they have accomplished the specific training objectives, to
know the cost-related behavioural outcomes and their final impact on the performance.

Issues in Training

● The absence of corporate commitment towards training is a major problem.

● especially smaller business concerns, avoid training to upgrade the skills of the employees
out of the fear that these trained employees will be lured by the competitors
●
● cost and infrastructure requirements
● Accounting rules generally treat training as expenses

● At the macro level, lack of adequate financial support from the government for undertaking
 ●
the training and retraining of those workers who are ousted by downsiz- ing, restructuring
and other economic necessities also prevents the optimum utilization of training benefits.

● low availability of employable graduates with adequate skills

● Lack of university and industry cooperation on a sustained basis

Conditions Necessary for an Effective

Training Programme

1. Top-management Support

2. Receptive Mindset of Trainees

3. Adoption of a Continuous Process

4. Technological Advances

5. Form and Timing of Training: ideal time to learn is the time when the training is helpful to
the employees. Increased global competition and technological advancements have forced
the organizations to carry out the training programmes on a timely basis.

E- Learning

E-learning, as an online instruction method, is a handy tool to train the educated and empowered
employees of today. A growing number of companies in India are extensively using Web-based
learning kits to help their employees get trained in a self-paced and individualized fashion.
The well-known Aditya Birla Group is a case in point. It has been employing the e-learning
techniques effectively to prepare its employees for better performance and higher
assignments. In addition to e-learning, it has adopted on-the-job training and structured
classroom training to train its employees.

Types of E-learning
Online learning, Web-based learning, Technology- based (computer, television, audio tape and
print, i.e., training other than that given in conventional classrooms.)

Computer-based Training:
 ● Individualised self-paced e-learning online
● Individualised self-paced e-learning offline,
● Group-based synchronous e-learning, where a team of learners works online in real time,
using an intranet or the Internet through video-conferencing or real-time chat.
● Group-based asynchronous e-learning, where a team of learners works through an
intranet or the Internet but not in real time, as information exchanges happen with a time
delay like in the case of e-mailing or text-based conferencing.

Merits of E- learning