Employee Training
Employee training
is the planned effort of an organization to help employees learn
the job related behaviours and skills they will need to do their
job properly. It is a set of planned activities that the organization
will have their employees complete in order to increase their
job knowledge and skills and to have them get accustomed to the
attitudes and social atmosphere of the company. It will help the
employee to be familiar with the goals of the organization
and the job requirements.
There are typical steps that go into a training program. These
are outlined below.
1) Conduct Needs Assessment:
A need is described as a "gap"
between what is currently known and what will be needed now and
in the future. These gaps in knowledge could be between what an
organization expects to happen and what actually does, how employees
are performing on the job and how the organization desires them
to perform, and existing skills and desired skill level.
In order to conduct an assessment there are some analyses that
must be done.
* An organizational analyses determines the effectiveness of an
organization, where training is needed and under what conditions
the training will be conducted.
* A task analysis is used to provide data about a job or group
of jobs, and the knowledge, skills, attitudes and abilities that
are needed to achieve optimum performance. This information can
come from job descriptions, task analyses, employee questionnaires
and interviews, performance evaluation, and observation of the
workplace.
* Finally - person analysis analyses how well an individual employee
is doing their job and determines which specific employees need
training and what kind of training. The methods of this kind of
analysis include employee questionnaires and interviews, performance
evaluation, skill and knowledge testing and the observation of
behaviour and results.
2) Implement Training Methods: Now that the
analysis has been done, the training method needs to be chosen.
The two most frequently used training methods include:
* Lecture: Lecture involves one-way communication, from instructor
to learner - the learner is passive in the process.
* On-the-job-training: This method involves such methods as apprenticeship
and mentoring, where the employee is actively engaged in the type
of work they will later be doing on their own.
* Programmed instruction: This is a form of instruction that is
pre-programmed and then delivered methodologically to an individual.
This form of instruction is self-paced - the employee determines
how fast they will learn and complete the steps and it is often
completed more quickly than group training. It can be delivered
via a computer and can be costly to prepare.
* Simulations: This sort of training involves an employee being
placed into a simulated situation of what may occur in real on-the-job
situations. Techniques include: Case studies where trainees analyze
a problem outlined in a report and offer solutions; role playing
where simulated roles are acted out; and behavioural modelling
where trainees observe proper work behaviour and then role play
it.
Part of the implementation of the
training is making sure that the training is actually teaching
the employees the skills they will need - this is known as the
Transfer of Training. A more technical definition is: the extent
to which the knowledge, skills or attitudes learned in the training
will be used or applied on the job. There are ways to increase
the probability of what employees are being trained will really
relate to their actual job behaviour. To do this, one can maximize
the similarity between the training situation and the job situation,
provide a variety of examples when teaching skills and reward
trained behaviours and ideas on the job.
3) Training Evaluation:
Training evaluation is used to evaluate
the reactions of the learners, measure the learning that occurred,
assess on-the-job behaviours, identify business results
that are due to the training and calculate if the investment in
training has had any return in the gains of the company. Business
results can be measured in "hard" data and "soft"
data. Hard data are measures of productivity, quality, material
costs, absenteeism and turnover and customer satisfaction. Soft
data is items such as job satisfaction, teamwork, and organizational
commitment on the part of the employees.
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