HRM and

Leadership
Week: Training
and
Development
Dr Ellie May
Learning Outcomes:

• Critical assess induction

characteristics
• Explore training models, purpose
and best practice
• Debate approaches to human
development in organisations
• Apply models to event
organisations
 Overall approach to
Training and
Development
Training and Development Strategy that reflects an ecology of
learning:
• The ABILITY to perform – they can do the job because they
possess the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes
• The MOTIVATION to perform – they will do the job because they
feel adequately interested and incentivized
• The OPPORTUNITY to perform – their work structure and
environment provides the necessary support and avenues for
expression
All 3 are required to perform well

(Van der Wagen, 2014; Boxall and Purcell, 2016; CIPD, 2020 and Torrington et al, 2021)
 Hard model Soft model
• McGregor’s (1960)
Theory Y
Two key
• McGregor’s (1960)
Theory X • Foster human capital
• Control through
models can
be found
• Control through commitment?
strategic management
and surveillance. • Humans are in pursuit
of self-fulfilment
• Humans dislike work –
need tight managerial
control through close
through work –
management should
foster growth and
within these
approaches
development
direction

RESOURCE?
CONTROL?

(Armstrong, 2020; and Torrington et al, 2021)

 Activity One:
Consider each
stage and
discuss the
challenges
when applied
to events

(Van der Wagen, 2014, Lockstone-Binney et al., 2020; and Stadler et al., 2021)
 Purpose of induction

 Demonstrates standards and protocols

 Embeds employee in company culture
 Delivers skills and knowledge essentials
to perform the job
 Introduces ‘operational’ level skills
 Makes employee feel part of the team
 Acts as a retention method

(Van der Wagen, 2014; Boxall and Purcell, 2016; CIPD, 2020 and Torrington et al, 2021)
Academic definitions

Boxall and
Torrington et al Van der Wagen (2014)
Purcell(2016) suggest
(2021)position induction as a suggests on induction is an
onboarding and tool that can influence
induction can essential part of
engagement, establish
effectively integrate onboarding a range of
expectations between
new, lowering employee and employer and employees/volunteers that
recruitment costs and reduce turnover. helps set expectations and
increasing retention articulate a strong culture
rates within a service encounter

…What are the common themes across these authors ?

…What does this create?
Best Practice -
Induction Programme
• a clear outline of the job/role requirements
• explanation of terms and conditions including
key policies
• orientation (physical) - describing where the
facilities are
• orientation (organisational) - showing how the
employee fits into the team and how their role
fits with the organisation’s strategy and goals
• an awareness of other functions within the
organisation, and how the employee fits
within that
(CIPD, 2020)
Best Practice -
Induction Programme
• meeting with key senior employees (either
face to face or using technology)
• health and safety information - this is a
legal requirement
• details of the organisation's history, its
culture and values, and its products and
services
• practical information such as office
opening hours, how to contact IT, and
when the fire alarm tests take place

(CIPD, 2020)
Merits and Demerits of Induction
• Integrate into their team – build relations
• Understand the organisation’s values and culture
• Become productive quickly
• Work to their highest potential.
• Providing too much, too soon - overwhelming
• Accessible and relatable content (to role)
• HR rather than local managers providing all the information - it
should be a shared process.
• Can create unreasonable expectations by overselling the
role/culture
(Armstrong, 2020 and Torrington et al., 2021)
 Remember …. It’s the balloon effect …

• Open and inclusive communication

• Pulsating workforce
• Heterogeneous interactions to all employees and volunteers
• High commitment to wellbeing
• Perishable
• Flexible work life balance
• High emotional requirement
• Intangible experiences throughout the year
• On site event care
• Long term care against short term
industry characteristics

(Van der Wagen, 2014, Lockstone-Binney et al., 2020; and Stadler et al., 2021)
Training
Academic definitions
Boxall and Torrington et al (2021) Buchanan and
Purcell(2016) argues Training Huczynski(2019)
suggests Training underlines the suggests Training and
refers to the experience of working development reflects
in organisations
enhancement of rewarding and the quality of working
existing and new fulfilling for both life, developing career
staff allied to employees and the opportunities and
enhancing skills employer. achieving
needed for organisational
performance in the objectives.
role

…any common themes?

 To fulfil
corporate
objectives
Succession To plug
planning skills gaps

Easier to To comply
implement with
change legislation

Benefits for the Better

organisation Training
recruitment Improve
and productivity
selection

Gain a
Improved
competitive
motivation
advantage

Less Higher
supervision quality
required Increased service
flexibility
through
better skills

(Armstrong, 2020 and Torrington et al., 2021)

 Training is linked to pay and progression.

Benefits Is the basis for a personal ‘career’ path,

for the
stability and confidence in skills

Employee Can create new challenges, interest and

personal fulfilment.

Can make a person feel valued and part

of the working community.

(Armstrong, 2020 and Torrington et al., 2021)

Training and Development in Event Organisations

TEMBO launches
training and
development service
The service, TEMBO
TECHNIQUES, will aim to
equip event professionals
with skills required in the Venues and Events International Limited
fields of conference Annual Emerging Talent programme takes up to six
production and event employees through a dedicated training, education, and
marketing mentoring programme covering every area of running the
business

Elevate launches training programme

The programme is based on the three pillars of: sustainability, diversity,
equity and inclusion and mental health. It also forms part of a long term
ESG strategy – 'Elevating Purpose'
Organisational Identify Needs
strategy must
include training
and Evaluate Design

development…..
Activities Requirements

The Training Deliver

Cycle
Activities

(Armstrong, 2020 and Torrington et al., 2021)

Training Process
• Aims to strengthen relations between
organisations and the individual.
• Are there opportunities for different
management leadership approaches
in this framework?
• Some challenges as some aspects
seems as surveillance, control and
manipulations
• Some opportunities for relational and
transactional aspects
Van der Wagen and White (2014)
Some common needs analysis approaches

Learning Needs Training Needs

Analysis (LNA) - Analysis (TNA) -‘A …different Needs
‘Current analysis one-off event looking Analysis for different
on the skills, talent at the specific needs levels of the
and capabilities of of a specific training organisation….
the organization’ event.’

(CIPD, 2020, and CIPD 2020b)

Learning Needs Analysis -
Levels

(CIPD, 2020, and CIPD 2020b)

Learning/Training Needs Analysis –
Levels in practice

(Torrington et al, 2021)

The 360 Degree
Skills Analysis

• systematic collection
and feedback of
performance data on
an individual
• derived from several
stakeholders on their
performance
• Relevant for event
organisations? (Armstrong, 2020 and Torrington et al, 2020)
 Merits and Demerits of TNA approaches
• Adds value and relevance to training allied to personal and organisational
goals
• Helps understand areas of poor performance and what is lacking in
individuals
• excellent source in understanding employee absenteeism, turnover and
grievance
• highly systematic and traditional, often seen as surveillance based
• Confusion whether training derived from TNA focuses the needs of
individuals or organisations
• TNA is one element of overall T&D strategy, but is often used in isolation
• Lack of comparative studies as TNA seen as contextual based approach

(Armstrong, 2020; CIPD, 2020 and Torrington et al. 2021)

Learning and development: Delivery Methods
Mandatory In Company
Accredited Non-Accredited
Non-Mandatory On the Job
• Recognised • • Training by
• Conferences Health & Safety
qualifications • managers
• In house training Fire prevention
• NVQ, BTech, • Coaching
• Short courses • Induction
Degree etc. • Mentoring
• Respect at work

In Company
Off the job
• Special
company
courses
• Training areas
(Armstrong, 2020; CIPD, 2020 and Torrington et al. 2021)
Types of Learning
and Development

(CIPD, 2020c)
 Post Covid 19 era…Digital Learning
…..delivered, enabled or mediated using electronic technology for the explicit
purpose of T&D ….

Benefits Limitations
• Ability to personalise the • Limits of existing technology
learning
• Lack of access to IT facilities
• Flexibility of access from and/or basic IT skills in some
anywhere at anytime employees
• Cost reduction/cost • Motivating learners to complete
effectiveness courses
• Ability to log or track learning • Allocating time
Activities

(CIPD, 2021)
 Evaluate Activities
• Track the development of staff knowledge and skills

• Find out if the learning is being applied in the workplace

• Identify training gaps and future training needs

• Establish if the investment was worthwhile

• Inform future training plans and strategy

(Foot et al., 2016; Buchanan & Huczynski, 2019; Armstrong, 2020 and Torrington et al., 2021)
Ongoing Activity

• Need to be continually learning and developing to stay

motivated, committed and engaged
• People have different learning styles, so need to provide
different types of opportunities
• Learning, training and development seen as key to attracting,
developing and retaining a competent and committed workforce
– especially in a period of high employment and stagnant wages
• Developing ‘in-work’ progression - Skilled line managers;
Individual progression and learning plans; mentoring, work
shadowing and other professional development
(Foot et al., 2016; Buchanan & Huczynski, 2019; Armstrong, 2020 and Torrington et al., 2021)
 Ongoing Activity

• Need to be continually learning and developing to stay

motivated, committed and engaged
• People have different learning styles, so need to provide
different types of opportunities
• Learning, training and development seen as key to
attracting, developing and retaining a competent and
committed workforce – especially in a period of high
employment and stagnant wages

(Foot et al., 2016; Buchanan & Huczynski, 2019; Armstrong, 2020 and Torrington et al., 2021)
 1. Low pay
Remember 2. Insufficient and variable hours
3. Short term contracts
this … 4. Limited rights and protection
Precarious 5. Found in 'non-standard employment' - part
time, temporary and zero hours contracts and
Work self-employment
6. Younger people, migrant workers and women
Unstable and insecure are more likely to be in precarious employment
in the continuity and 7. Restricts the power of workers to advocate for
quantity of work. change
8. Limits protections from workplace abuses and
unsafe working conditions

(Allen et al. 2021)

 • Models are a useful way of
beginning to understand
approaches and practices of
HRM
• T&D exemplifies a
situational/contextual
approach
• T&D must be position within a
strategic training cycle to be
effective for both organisation
and employee
• TNA can be seen both positive
and negative
• No agreement or comparative
studies related to best
Summary practices of TNA
References and further reading
• Armstrong, M. (2020). Armstrong’s Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. 15 th edt. London: Kogan Page.
• Bowdin, G.A.J., Allen, J., Harris, R., Jago, L., O’Toole, W. and McDonnell, I. (2024) Events management. 4th ed. Abingdon: Routledge
• Boxall, P. F. and Purcell, J. (2016) Strategy and human resource management. 4th edn. London: Macmillan Education
• Buchanan, D. A. and Huczynski, A. (2019). Organizational behaviour. 10th edn. Harlow, England: Pearson Education Limited.
• Bratton, J. and Gold, J. (2017) Human resource management: Theory and practice. 6th edition. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
• CIPD, (2020a). Induction factsheet. [online] Available from: <https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/fundamentals/people/recruitment/induction-factsheet> [Accessed 05/05/2021]

Reference
• CIPD (2020b). Identifying Learning and Development Needs. [online] Available from: <https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/fundamentals/people/development/learning-needs-factsheet> [Accessed
05/05/2021]
• CIPD (2020c). Learning and Skills at Work 2020:Mind the Gap:Time for Learning in the UK. [online] Available from: <https://www.cipd.co.uk/Images/learning-skills-work-report-1_tcm18-79434.pdf>

s
[Accessed 06/05/2021]
• CIPD, (2021). Digital Learning. [online] Available from: <https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/fundamentals/people/development/digital-learning-factsheet#gref> [Accessed 05/05/2021]
• CIPD, (2022a) Support in-work progression. [Online] Available from: < https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/culture/well-being/employee-financial-well-being/in-work-poverty/support-in-work-
progression#gref> [Accessed on 12th April 2023]
• CIPD (2022b) Inclusion and Diversity and Work Survey Report. [Online] Available from: < https://www.cipd.co.uk/Images/inclusion-work-report_tcm18-112950.pdf> [Accessed on 14th April 2023]
• Foot, M., Hook, C. & Jenkins, A (2016). Introducing human resource management. 7 th edt. London: Pearson.
• Lee, S. and Goldblatt, J. (2020) Special events. 8th ed. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons
• Lockstone-Binney, L., Hanlon, C., & Jago, L. (2020). Staffing for successful events: Having the right skills in the right place at the right time. In S. Page & J. Connell (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of
events (pp. 427–441). Routledge
• McCabe, D. (2007) ‘Hard’ is ‘soft’: Exploring the dangers of the ‘hard’/’soft’ dichotomy. International Journal of Information Systems and Change Management. 2(1): 4-20.
• Stadler, R., Walters, T. and Jepson, A. (2022). Sustainable humans: a framework for applying sustainable HRM principles to the events industry. Event Management, 26(8), pp.1817-1832.
• Torrington, D.; Hall, L.; Atkinson, C. and Taylor, S. (2021) Human Resource Management. 11th Edition. London, Pearson
• Van der Wagen, L. and White, L. (2014). Human resource management for the event industry. Routledge.