Unit 3

Difference between training and development

The difference between training and management development tends to lie in timing. Typically,
training is the process by which people are taught critical skills. Participants gain knowledge to
carry out their current responsibilities. To goal is to improve performance in the short term.
Development activities, on the other hand, tend to prepare people for additional job roles for the
long term. Training usually refers to organized group events, such as workshops, classes or
seminars that have a beginning and end date. Development tends to refer to more personalized,
individualized experiences, such as a certification process, job rotation period, coaching or
mentoring. Small-business owners can take advantage of the Small Business Administration
Training Network for both training and management development needs.

Function
Training professionals develop and deliver instructional programs to produce performance
changes in participants. Training courses usually include detailed agendas, explicit learning
objectives and a clearly defined formal curriculum. Less formally, human resources
professionals coordinate management development programs to motivate, inspire and generate
personal growth. These programs enable succession planning and ensure that qualified personnel
have the skills, knowledge and experience to take over company leadership when older
executives retire or reduce their role in the company. Small-business owners can guide
employees to use Internet websites that provide free training resources, such as MindTools, for
career development.

Value
Companies typically offer both training and management-development programs to their staff to
foster growth, provide opportunities and build employee morale. Employees appreciate these
programs because enrichment opportunities allow these workers to improve operations and
accept greater challenges, possibly resulting in higher pay. Training programs usually address
remedial problems and improve on-the-job performance, making it possible for employees to
work safely and effectively. Management development programs enable employees to progress
in their careers. Small-business owners can utilize free resources, such as the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology's free online course materials website, to provide enrichment
opportunities to themselves and their employees.

Benefits
Providing training and management-development programs to employees benefits employers by
developing the team skills required to achieve organizational goals. Training programs motivate
employees to reach higher standards, improve operational efficiency and increase customer
satisfaction. Longer term, management-development programs prepare employees for
promotional opportunities and tend to decrease employee turnover, increase morale and spark
innovation and creativity. Successful small-business owners use training and management
development to grow and expand their business by developing their staff.

Needs
Determining training needs involves assessing employee performance to develop a skills-gap
analysis. Employees may request training themselves, when presented with a new assignment or
task, changes in technology or process and procedure updates. Changes in the company’s
mission or value statements often dictate the need for management development to match the
new direction. Additionally, performance reviews may demonstrate the need for both remedial
training and management development opportunities, depending on the individual.

Types
Training programs usually include traditional instructor-led courses, workshops and seminars as
well as newer options, such as web-based training, video-based courses and distance-learning
alternatives. Training topics typically include how to use software applications, follow
procedures or use hardware products and services. Management development programs typically
provide resources for personnel to increase their skills in communication, business acumen,
project management or customer service. Training tends to include formal events, such as
orientation training, diversity workshop or work/life balance seminars. Management
development activities tend to occur on an informal, flexible schedule, based on the individual
employee’s needs assessment. Effective small-business owners plan for both training and
management development activities that fit their budget and strategy.

Comparison Chart
Basis for
Training Development
Comparison

Training is a learning process in which employees Development is an educational

Meaning get an opportunity to develop skill, competency process which is concerned with the
and knowledge as per the job requirement. overall growth of the employees.

Term Short Term Long Term

Focus on Present Future

Orientation Job oriented Career oriented

Motivation Trainer Self

To improve the work performances of the To prepare employees for future

Objective
employees. challenges.

Number of Many Only one

 Basis for
Training Development
Comparison

Individuals

Aim Specific job related Conceptual and general knowledge

Principle of training
The scope of training depends upon the categories of employees to be trained. As we all know
that training is a continuous process and not only needed for the newly selected personnel but
also for the existing personnel at all levels of the organisation.

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Prof. Yoder listed the following five groups of employees who need continuous training:

1. Rank And File: i.e., employees who have no administrative or supervising work.

2. Supervisory Employees: i.e., the first line foreman, supervisor and their immediate
supervisors.

3. Staff: i.e. specialised personnel such as technical and professional persons attached to the line
organisation as advisors.

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4. Middle Management: i.e., all the managerial personnel holding positions between line
supervisors and the top management.

5. Top Executives: i.e., all executives who hold major responsibility for the overall planning and
control.
Training Principles and Techniques:

According to Pigors and Myres, training principles and techniques include:

(a) The trainee must want to learn. His motivation to improve his job performance or to learn a
new skill must be high.

(b) There should be some reward at the conclusion of training viz., promotion or a better job.

(c) The trainer should ask the trainee as to whether he is learning the job correctly. This is known
as feedback.

(d) Training is best accomplished through learning by doing rather than by listening.

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(e) The material to be learned should be developed in stages.

(f) When the trainee gives correct response, he has learned the job.

Training Procedure:

(a) First of all the instructor must be prepared. He should know both his job and how to teach it.
On the basis of job analysis and job description, various operations should be planned. In order
to avoid delays, everything must be ready before training starts.

(b) The next step is the preparation of the trainee. The fact that the employee is learning the job
for the first time should be kept in mind. The importance of the job, its relationship with the
other jobs and importance of rapid and effective learning should be explained.

(c) The operations should then be presented carefully and patiently. The sequence of the entire
job is explained by taking one point at a time.

(d) The performance of the trainee should then be tried by asking him to explain each step and do
the practical.

(e) The employee is then put on the job. In the follow up action, his performance should be
frequently checked and questions should be encouraged.

Principle of employee development

If ever there was a concept that provides a win-win solution for both you and your staff, it’s the
idea of incorporating staff development into your overall business plan. By utilizing the basic
principles of staff development, you increase your retention rate because you have satisfied
employees, saving you time and money hiring new workers. At the same time, you increase staff
productivity and improve morale.

Relevance
Provide relevant training so that employees can see the value of your development plans. Long
meetings that don’t seem to have anything to do with their day-to-day duties can turn off
employees to future training and make it difficult to implement new development modules.

Timing
Keep training sessions short and to the point. Your staff can become overwhelmed when
supplied with too much information at one time. Infuse your employees with important skill
updates that they can put to use immediately.

Flexibility
Give employees training that allows them to incorporate your methods as they see fit when
appropriate. Giving employees autonomy to make decisions builds a stronger workforce that
takes pride in its work product.

Goals
Define your company goals and devise training and staff development techniques that lead to
fulfilling those goals. Keep all staff development projects aligned with your company purpose
and focused on customer satisfaction.

Identifiers
Identify the skills and characteristics of individual employees and arrange for them to participate
in training that taps into their natural abilities.

Consistency
Maintain a consistent schedule of training as part of your company culture. Staff development
should be an ongoing, integral part of your business to ensure optimal production and employee
satisfaction while keeping up with trends and changes in your industry as they occur.

Support
Support the efforts of your staff who indicate a desire for self-improvement. Listen to your
employees when they tell you what kind of training they need and how it will improve their
performance.

Encouragement
Encourage your staff to engage in staff development projects and to make suggestions. Allow
you staff to collaborate and develop teams that are directly involved in future training plans.

Supply
While training and coaching are an integral part of staff development, you must supply your staff
with the tools they need to be successful. Update computers and other equipment as needed when
you implement new work processes or place additional expectations on employees.

Intervention
When you see a problem within your staff, nip it in the bud early by talking to the errant worker
or instituting changes that effectively stop the harmful behavior. Allowing staff members to
continue upsetting the flow of work can be infectious and negate your efforts at positive staff
development.

Promotion merit versus seniority

An organization seeking to promote its workers may choose to do so based on seniority to take
advantage of the employees' experience with the organization and to reward them for their
service. Another option is to promote based on merit, a measure of the employees' contributions
based on performance. Each method offers potential advantages and disadvantages for the
organization.

No Favoritism
A seniority-based promotion structure can eliminate the perception of favoritism. Employers
typically won't have to worry about a newer worker coming in and quickly leapfrogging them to
obtain a promotion simply because they are friends with an upper-level supervisor or because of
the way they dress or that they are more effective at playing the game of corporate politics.
Instead, workers have a sense that if they pay their dues, they will be rewarded at some point in
the future.

Workplace Harmony
Promotion based on seniority can also help maintain a more harmonious workplace. Workers
who know they need to put in the necessary time with the company before advancement
opportunities present themselves are less likely to resent those who attained promotion because
they worked for the organization longer. This can eliminate the backstabbing often associated
with merit-based programs where employees may attempt to present themselves in the most
favorable manner possible, sometimes by attempting to make coworkers look incompetent.

Motivation Boost
A merit-based program, on the other hand, can provide motivation leading to increased
productivity. Workers who recognize that the best performers are the ones who get ahead may
put forth the extra effort they believe it takes to receive promotions. For instance, salespeople
who realize that a sales manager position is awarded to the person with the highest sales numbers
may strive to produce the desired results, generating additional revenue for the company in the
process.

Reward for Ability

Workers possess varying levels of skills and abilities, and a merit-based program rewards those
who may have the most to offer the organization in the long run. While tenured employees offer
the benefit of greater experience, this does not necessarily equate with more ability. A less
experienced worker possessing a greater flair for innovation or creativity may be more likely to
generate ideas that help the company move forward in the future.

Performance appraisal
Performance Appraisal is the systematic evaluation of the performance of employees and to
understand the abilities of a person for further growth and development. Performance appraisal is
generally done in systematic ways which are as follows:

1. The supervisors measure the pay of employees and compare it with targets and plans.
2. The supervisor analyses the factors behind work performances of employees.
3. The employers are in position to guide the employees for a better performance.

Objectives of Performance Appraisal

Performance Appraisal can be done with following objectives in mind:

 1. To maintain records in order to determine compensation packages, wage structure, salaries
raises, etc.
2. To identify the strengths and weaknesses of employees to place right men on right job.
3. To maintain and assess the potential present in a person for further growth and development.
4. To provide a feedback to employees regarding their performance and related status.
5. To provide a feedback to employees regarding their performance and related status.
6. It serves as a basis for influencing working habits of the employees.
7. To review and retain the promotional and other training programmes.

Advantages of Performance Appraisal

It is said that performance appraisal is an investment for the company which can be justified by
following advantages:

1. Promotion: Performance Appraisal helps the supervisors to chalk out the promotion
programmes for efficient employees. In this regards, inefficient workers can be dismissed or
demoted in case.
2. Compensation: Performance Appraisal helps in chalking out compensation packages for
employees. Merit rating is possible through performance appraisal. Performance Appraisal tries
to give worth to a performance. Compensation packages which includes bonus, high salary
rates, extra benefits, allowances and pre-requisites are dependent on performance appraisal.
The criteria should be merit rather than seniority.
3. Employees Development: The systematic procedure of performance appraisal helps the
supervisors to frame training policies and programmes. It helps to analyse strengths and
weaknesses of employees so that new jobs can be designed for efficient employees. It also helps
in framing future development programmes.
4. Selection Validation: Performance Appraisal helps the supervisors to understand the validity
and importance of the selection procedure. The supervisors come to know the validity and
thereby the strengths and weaknesses of selection procedure. Future changes in selection
methods can be made in this regard.
5. Communication: For an organization, effective communication between employees and
employers is very important. Through performance appraisal, communication can be sought for
in the following ways:
a. Through performance appraisal, the employers can understand and accept skills of
subordinates.
b. The subordinates can also understand and create a trust and confidence in superiors.
c. It also helps in maintaining cordial and congenial labour management relationship.
d. It develops the spirit of work and boosts the morale of employees.

All the above factors ensure effective communication.

6. Motivation: Performance appraisal serves as a motivation tool. Through evaluating performance

of employees, a person’s efficiency can be determined if the targets are achieved. This very well
motivates a person for better job and helps him to improve his performance in the future.
 Carrier development and planning
Effective HRM encompasses career planning, career development and succession planning. An
organization without career planning and career development initiatives is likely to encounter the
highest rate of attrition, causing much harm to their plans and programmes. Similarly without
succession planning managing of vacancies, particularly at higher levels, become difficult. There
are examples of many organizations that had to suffer for not being able to find a right successor
for their key positions. With the increase scope for job mobility and corporate race for global
headhunting of good performers, it is now a well established fact that normal employment span
for key performers remains awfully short.

The term career planning and career developments are used interchangeably in most of the
organizations. It is also correct that but for their subtle difference in the definitional context, their
process remains the same.

1.1.1    Definition of Career

Career is a sequence of attitudes and behaviours associated with the series of job and work
related activities over a person’s lifetime.

Yet in another way, it may be defined as a succession of related jobs, arranged in hierarchical
order, through which a person moves in an organization. As the literal definition of career
focuses on an individually perceived sequence, to be more accurate, career may be either
individual-centred or organizational-centred. Therefore, career is often defined separately as
external career and internal career. External career refers to the objective categories used by
society and organizations to describe the progression of steps through a given occupation, while
internal career refers to the set of steps or stages which make up the individual’s own concept
of career progression within an occupation. For such two different approaches, in organizational
context, career can be identified as an integrated pace of vertical lateral movement in an
occupation of an individual over his employment span.

1.1.2    Important Elements of Career

Analysing definitional context, it is clear that career has following important elements-

1. It is a proper sequence of job-related activities. Such job related activities vis-a-vis experience
include role experiences at diff hierarchical levels of an individual, which lead to an increasing
level of responsibilities, status, power, achievements and rewards.

2. It may be individual-centered or organizational–centered, individual-centered career is an

individually perceived sequence of career progression within an occupation.

3. It is better defined as an integrated pace of internal movement in an occupation of an

individual over his employment span.
Overview

Career planning generally involves getting to know who you are, what you want, and how to get
there.  Keep in mind that career planning is a continuous process that allows you to move from
one stage to another stage as your life changes.  You may even find yourself going back to look
at who you are again after exploring how to get there.  Learning to negotiate the career planning
process now is essential, considering most people will change careers several times in a lifetime.

If a career plan is to be effective, it must begin with an objective. When asked about career
objectives, most managers will probably answer by saying that they want to be successful. What
is success? Definition of success depends on personal aspirations, values, self-image, age,
background and other different factors. Success is personally defined concept. In order to plan
your career, you need to have an idea of what constitutes career success.

Do you want to be president of the company?

Do you want to be the senior executive in your field of expertise?

Would you be happier as a middle manager in your area?

Whatever the choice it must be yours.

Career management is a process by which individuals can guide, direct and influence the
course of their careers.

Fig.1.2   General Periods in Careers

In the course of our career we move from one stage to another setting and implementing
appropriate goals at each stage. Our goals differ from getting established on job at early career
stage to career reappraisal, moving away from technical areas & becoming more of a generalist.
Movement form one career stage to another will require individuals to update self & to
appropriate change goals. When required danger exist that individuals may too long stay in a job
they don’t like or miss career opportunity

A sensible early step in career planning is to diagnose. You might answer questions:

• What types of positions and career experiences do I need to achieve my goals?

• What personal traits characteristics and behaviors require change in order for me to improve
my professional effectiveness?

CAREER PLANNING IN AN ORGANIZATION

Career planning is the process by which one selects career goals and the path to these goals. The
major focus of career planning is on assisting the employees achieve a better match between
personal goals and the opportunities that are realistically available in the organization. Career
programmers should not concentrate only on career growth opportunities. Practically speaking,
there may not be enough high level positions to make upward mobility a reality for a large
number of employees. Hence, career-planning efforts need to pin-point and highlight those areas
that offer psychological success instead of vertical growth.

Career planning is not an event or end in itself, but a continuous process of developing

human resources for achieving optimum results. It must, however, be noted that individual and
organizational careers are not separate and distinct. A person who is not able to translate his
career plan into action within the organization may probably quit the job, if he has a choice.
Organizations, therefore, should help employees in career planning so that both can satisfy each
other’s needs.

1.3.1 Career Planning vs. Human Resource Planning

Human Resource planning is the process of analyzing and estimating the need for and
availability of employees. Through Human Resource planning, the Personnel Department is able
to prepare a summary of skills and potentials available within the organization. Career planning
assists in finding those employees who could be groomed for higher level positions, on the
strength of their performance.

Human Resource planning gives valuable information about the availability of human resources
for expansion, growth, etc. (expansion of facilities, construction of a new plant, opening a new
branch, launching a new product, etc.). On the other hand, career planning only gives us a picture
of who could succeed in case any major developments leading to retirement, death, resignation
of existing employees.

Human Resource planning is tied to the overall strategic planning efforts of the organization.
There cannot be an effective manpower planning, if career planning is not carried out properly.
1.3.2    Need for Career Planning
Every employee has a desire to grow and scale new heights in his workplace continuously. If
there are enough opportunities, he can pursue his career goals and exploit his potential fully. He
feels highly motivated when the organization shows him a clear path as to how he can meet his
personal ambitions while trying to realize corporate goals.

Unfortunately, as pointed out by John Leach, organizations do not pay adequate attention to this
aspect in actual practice for a variety of reasons. The demands of employees are not matched
with organizational needs; no effort is made to show how the employees can grow within certain
limits, what happens to an employee five years down the line if he does well, whether the
organization is trying to offer mere jobs or long-lasting careers, etc. When recognition does not
come in time for meritorious performance and a certain amount of confusion prevails in the
minds of employees whether they are ‘in’ with a chance to grow or not, they look for greener
pastures outside. Key executives leave in frustration and the organization suffers badly when
turnover figures rise. Any recruitment effort made in panic to fill the vacancies is not going to be
effective. So, the absence of a career plan is going to make a big difference to both the
employees and the organization. Employees do not get right breaks at a right time; their morale
will be low and they are always on their toes trying to find escape routes.

Organizations are not going to benefit from high employee turnover. New employees

mean additional selection and training costs. Bridging the gaps through short-term replacements
is not going to pay in terms of productivity. Organizations, therefore, try to put their career plans
in place and educate employees about the opportunities that exist internally for talented people.
Without such a progressive outlook, organizations cannot prosper.

1.3.3    Objectives
Career planning seeks to meet the following objectives:

i. Attract and retain talent by offering careers, not jobs.

ii. Use human resources effectively and achieve greater productivity.

iii. Reduce employee turnover.

iv. Improve employee morale and motivation.

v. Meet the immediate and future human resource needs of the organization on a timely basis

1.3.4    Career Planning Process

The career planning process involves the following steps:
i. Identifying individual needs and aspirations:

Most individuals do not have a clear cut idea about their career aspirations, anchors and goals.
The human resource professionals must, therefore, help an employee by providing as much
information as possible showing what kind of work would suit the employee most, taking his
skills, experience, and aptitude into account. Such assistance is extended through
workshops/seminars while the employees are subjected to psychological testing, simulation
exercises, etc. The basic purpose of such an exercise is to help an employee form a clear view
about what he should do to build his career within the company. Workshops and seminars
increase employee interest by showing the value of career planning. They help employees set
career goals, identify career paths and uncover specific career development activities (discussed
later). These individual efforts may be supplemented by printed or taped information. To assist
employees in a better way, organizations construct a data bank consisting of information on the
career histories, skill evaluations and career preferences of its

employees (known as skill or talent inventory).

ii. Analyzing career opportunities:

Once career needs and aspirations of employees are known, the organization has to provide
career paths for each position. Career paths show career progression possibilities clearly. They
indicate the various positions that one could hold over a period of time, if one is able to perform
well. Career paths change over time, of course, in tune with employee’s needs and organizational
requirements. While outlining career paths, the claims of experienced persons lacking
professional degrees and that of young recruits with excellent degrees but without experience
need to be balanced properly.

iii. Aligning needs and opportunities:

After employees have identified their needs and have realized the existence of career
opportunities the remaining problem is one of alignment. This process consists of two steps: first,
identify the potential of employees and then undertake career development

programmers (discussed later on elaborately) with a view to align employee needs and
organizational opportunities. Through performance appraisal, the potential of employees can be
assessed to some extent. Such an appraisal would help reveal employees who need further
training, employees who can take up added responsibilities, etc. After identifying the potential of
employees certain developmental techniques such as special assignments, planned position
rotation, supervisory coaching, job enrichment, understudy programs can be undertaken to
update employee knowledge and skills.

iv. Action plans and periodic review:

The matching process would uncover gaps. These need to be bridged through individual career
development efforts and organization supported efforts from time to time. After initiating these
steps, it is necessary to review the whole thing every now and then. This will help the employee
know in which direction he is moving, what changes are likely to take place, what kind of skills
are needed to face new and emerging organizational challenges. From an organizational
standpoint also, it is necessary to find out how employees are doing, what are their goals and
aspirations, whether the career paths are in tune with individual needs and serve the overall
corporate objectives, etc.

FIG.1.3 The New “Portable” Career Path

1.3.5    CAREER PLANNING MODELS

There are many models one may use while career planning. The two main models are

1.3.5.1 Waterloo University Model

FIG.1.5 Water University Model

1.3.5.2 The SODI Career Planning Model

Given the complexity of career development and the fluidity of the world of work, we need to be
able to navigate our career paths with purpose and clarity.

Law and Watts (1977) devised a simple model of career education which has stood the test of
time. This model has been changed slightly to become a career planning, rather than a career
education model and named the SODI model where the last element is ‘implementation’ rather
than ‘transition learning’, and ‘decision learning’ becomes ‘decision making and planning’.

The model encapsulates four concepts which are:

Self-awareness – individual having knowledge about and understanding of their own personal
development. Self-awareness in a careers context involves an understanding of kind of personal
resources (both actual and potential) they bring to world.

Opportunity awareness – an understanding of the general structures of the world of work,

including career possibilities and alternative pathways.

Decision making and planning – an understanding of how to make career decisions, and being
aware of pressures, influences, styles, consequences and goal setting.

Implementing plans – having the appropriate skill level in a range of areas to be able to
translate job and career planning into reality