Unit - 7

Training and Management Development

Employee Training

Training consists of planned programmes designed to improve performance at the individual, group, and/or organisational levels.

Casio, 1992, p232

Determining Training Needs

Training needs arises due to:• Deterioration in employees performance• Changes in the prevailing technology and work

procedures• For employee, promotion and management

succession in a high level position• For increasing productivity and effectiveness

of certain units of operation.

TNA involves/comprises three different steps

1. Organisational need analysis• Long-term/short – term organisational objectives• Analysis of organisational resources2. Operational /jobs needs analysis• Task analysis• Skills required to perform those tasks3. Persons need analysis• Analysis of the results of performance appraisal.

A system approach to training

1. Assessment Phase Assess instructional need Derive objectives

2. Training and development phaseSelect training media and learning principles

(requires considerations like: who participates in the programme, who facilitates the sessions, what media are used for training, what levels of skills are to be imparted, what design principles are needed, and where the programme is conducted.)

Conduct training (on-the-job and off-the-job training and development programme)

Establish conditions for maintenance (to maintain training programmes, assessment should be conducted from time to time. Criteria such as productivity, attitude survey, and rate of accident are to be selected to evaluate the effectiveness of training.)

3. Evaluation phaseCriteriaMethodsprocess

Criteria

Reactions of the participantsChanges in participants knowledge and skills

(observation of KS after training)Changes in participants attitudesChanges in job performanceChanges in organisational performance (cost,

revenue, profit, market share etc.)

Methods

o Test-retest methodo Pre-post performance methodo Experimental-control group method

Evaluation Process

Develop criteriaPretest participantsMonitoring trainingEvaluate trainingEvaluate transferFeedback.

Employees Training: On-the-job

This method provides training participants an opportunity to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to perform a job while using the actual equipments and materials required by the job.

1. Apprentice Training: Under this method, it is mandatory for admission in public institution. Examples of skills that can be acquired from this mode of training are nursing, plumbing, mechanical and electrician’s work and carpentry.

2. Job Instruction training: This is a systematic training technique designed to guide for giving on-the-job skills to blue-collar employees as well as technicians. Besides, can be used in off-the-job situation as well. And has four steps:

a) Selecting (select trainer and trainee carefully to exchange and follow their experience)

b) Explainingc) Triald) feedback

Merits

o Simple method of training employees in real job situation

o Production begins even in training phaseo Employees receive experience on the job that

can be smoothly transferred to fit in to the organisation’s flow of activities.

Demerits

It might affects the service qualityChances of damage to equipments.

Employees Training: Off-the-job

• Training programmes are organised outside the real job situation.

• Either organised in the firm’s own training institute away from the work-place or in any other training institutions.

• Sometimes for some component such as plant operations, correspondence courses are also useful.

1. Classroom lecture or conference method: A lecture/talk given by the trainer/facilitator before a group to convey information is an efficient method of reaching a large number of trainees in a short time.

2. Programmed instruction: A method of self instruction in which training material is presented in small bits of information. Such information is structured in such a way that the trainee proceeds in a step-by-step sequence from the basic elements of a skill or concept to the more difficult material.

3. Videotapes and films: Videotapes and films can be used and reused during training programmes repeatedly and provides a live work situation, which is not possible through other training methods.

4. Computer-assisted instruction: A number of computer software programmes are available for learning and teaching and thus the trainees are informed by the computer of the accuracy of their work, are told where and how to proceed next and are informed of how well they are doing on the job.

5. Vestibule training: In this training programme, the trainees’ future work station, including the machine that will be used in the future, is duplicated and more useful for the trainees who have little or no knowledge of the job situation or demands zero errors.

Merits

The opportunity to use the ability of the best instructor and the best planned materials.

Economies of scale by training a large number of trainees in a classroom.

Demerits

Since it involves a large number of trainees in a training group, it is difficult to meet specific job needs of the trainees.

May not transfer and relate all knowledge and skills acquired from the training.

Not useful for developing skills at work.

Management Development

• With the increasing trend of globalization, diversity at work places has increased and there are issues of managing people with different cultural backgrounds, values and ethnic groups in the workplaces.

• similarly, to adapt to the rapid changes in the technology, managers’ competencies need to be constantly and continuously built up.

• Therefore, management development is a process of planning and programming in the organisation to enable managers to cope with the changing work situations.

On-The-Job Management Development

• Some of the management development programmes are developed and conducted more formally with the assistance of training experts. On the other hand, informal development programmes are provided by the managers and supervisors to their subordinates.

1. Coaching:• coaching is provided by the immediate supervisor

or boss to the subordinates and need to have a frequent monitoring and counseling. A supervisor regularly supervises the job of his/her subordinates and provides guidance, it will also serve as the feedback.

• With the help of coaching, the supervisor can make succession planning of a particular employees.

2. Job rotation:• Moving people/managers from one job to

another on a systematic basis in order to broaden their experience is called job rotation.

3. Understudy Assignment:Instead of transferring or promoting a subordinate, a manager is given some responsibility to work under the supervision of his/her immediate boss.

4. Multiple management programme:lower and middle level managers who have a potential for future career and promotion are given an opportunity to participate at the time of formulating corporate plans, policies and strategies.

Merits

• Increase career opportunities inside the organisation to take advance responsibility.

• Gives the employees an exposure on the real job.

• Facilitates transfer of knowledge in on-the-job situations from one to the other managers to take future responsibility.

Demerits

• May interfere in the regular performance by damaging the goodwill of the firm.

• Does not involve full responsibility.

Off-The-Job Management Development

1. The formal course method:A popular method of bringing all participants up to a common level of knowledge and generally run by different professional training institutions.

2. Transactional Analysis:helps the managers to understand his/her ego states as well as their surroundings and make themselves compactable with them. This will help them to correct their behaviour while transacting with their counterparts.

3. Simulation:Participants are given an opportunities to learn in off-the-job situations that are similar to actual job conditions and includes role play, case studies, and decision games.

Merits

• Useful to develop self-insight in managers to take more responsibility in the future.

• Opportunity to interact with different managers in the course of development.

• Easy transfer of knowledge and skills.

Demerits

• Many parts of learning might not be useful in the real job situation.

• Chances of copying the behaviour of a bad trainer or a misleading case.

Evaluating Training Effectiveness

1. Criteria: Reaction of the participants Changes in participants’ knowledge and skills Changes in participants’ attitude Changes in job performance Changes in organisational performance.

2. Methods:Test-retest methodPre-post performance methodExperimental-control group method

3. process:Develop evaluation criteriaPre-test traineesMonitor trainingEvaluate trainingEvaluate transferfeedback