2.0 WHY IS TRAINING REQUIRED?

As employees need certain competency & skills to accomplish the jobs, to full fill such needs employees are trained by the organization. 2.1 Importance of training and development 2.1.1 Optimum Utilization of Human Resources Training and Development helps in optimizing the utilization of human resource that further helps the employee to achieve the organizational goals as well as their individual goals.2.1.2 Development of Human Resources Training and Development helps to provide an opportunity and broad structure for the development of human resources technical and behavioral skills in an organization. It also helps the employees in attaining personal growth.2.1.3 Development of skills of employees Training and Development helps in increasing the job knowledge and skills of employees at each level. It helps to expand the horizons of human intellect and an overall personality of the employees. 2.1.4 Productivity Training and Development helps in increasing the productivity of the employees that helps the organization further to achieve its long-term goal.2.1.5 Team spirit Training and Development helps in inculcating the sense of team work, team spirit, and inter-team collaborations. It helps in inculcating the zeal to learn within the employees.2.1.6 Organization Culture Training and Development helps to develop and improve the organizational health culture and effectiveness. It helps in creating the learning culture within the organization. 2.1.7 Organization Climate Training and Development helps building the positive perception and feeling about the organization. The employees get these feelings from leaders, subordinates, and peers.2.1.8 Quality Training and Development helps in improving upon the quality of work and work-life. 2.1.9 Healthy work environment Training and Development helps in creating the healthy working environment. It helps to build good employee, relationship so that individual goals aligns with organizational goal.2.1.10 Health and Safety Training and Development helps in improving the health and safety of the organization thus preventing obsolescence.2.1.11 Morale Training and Development helps in improving the morale of the work force.2.1.12 Image Training and Development helps in creating a better corporate image.2.1.13 Profitability Training and Development leads to improved profitability and more positive attitudes towards profit orientation.2.1.14Training and Development aids in organizational development i.e. Organization gets more effective decision making and problem solving. It helps in understanding and carrying out organizational policies2.1.15Training and Development helps in developing leadership skills, motivation, loyalty, better attitudes, and other aspects that successful workers and managers usually display. 3.0 ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS OF TRAINING Training can be undertaken only when a clear training objective has been produced. The training objective clears what goal has to be achieved by the end of training program i.e. what the trainees are expected to be able to do at the end of their training. Training objectives assist trainers to design the training program. 3.1 The trainer Before starting a training program, a trainer analyzes his technical, interpersonal, judgmental skills in order to deliver quality content to trainers. 3.2 The trainees A good training design requires close scrutiny of the trainees and their profiles. Age, experience, needs and expectations of the trainees are some of the important factors that affect training design. 3.3Training climate A good training climate comprises of ambience, tone, feelings, positive perception for training program, etc. Therefore, when the climate is favorable nothing goes wrong but when the climate is unfavorable, almost everything goes wrong. 3.4 Trainees learning style the learning style, age, experience, educational background of trainees must be kept in mind in order to get the right pitch to the design of the program. 3.5 Training strategies Once the training objective has been identified, the trainer translates it into specific training areas and modules. The trainer prepares the priority list of about what must be included, what could be included. 3.6 Training topics After formulating a strategy, trainer decides upon the content to be delivered. Trainers break the content into headings, topics, ad modules. These topics and modules are then classified into information, knowledge, skills, and attitudes. 3.7 Sequence the contents Contents are then sequenced in a following manner:

y y y y

From simple to complex Topics are arranged in terms of their relative importance From known to unknown From specific to general

Dependent relationship

3.8 Training tactics Once the objectives and the strategy of the training program becomes clear, trainer comes in the position to select most appropriate tactics or methods or techniques. The method selection depends on the following factors:

y y y y y

Trainees background Time allocated Style preference of trainer Level of competence of trainer Availability of facilities and resources, etc

3.9 Support facilities It can be segregated into printed and audio visual. The various requirements in a training program are white boards, flip charts, markers, etc.

3.10 Constraints The various constraints that lay in the trainers mind are:

Design of the training, etc 4.0 DESIGNING A TRAINING PROGRAM 4.1 Introduction;Keeping your company operating like a well-oiled machine is not an easy task, especially if your business has a high turnover rates, such as retail. In order to reduce the amount of time it takes to train your new employees to reach their full potenial, you need to develop a training system that is streamed-lined, effective, and efficient and gives your new employees the skills needed to be a good employee without overburdening them with too much information. Finding the balance between too much and too little information is the key to designing the most effective training system for your company. 4.1.1 Training need analysis An analysis of training need is an essential requirement to the design of effective training. The purpose of training need analysis is to determine whether there is a gap between what is required for effective performance and present level of performance. 4.1.2 Why training need analysis? Training need analysis is conducted to determine whether resources required are available or not. It helps to plan the budget of the company, areas where training is required, and also highlights the occasions where training might not be appropriate but requires alternate action.

y y y y y

Time Accommodation, facilities and their availability Furnishings and equipments Budget

Training Need arises at three levels Corporate need and training need are interdependent because the organization performance ultimately depends on the performance of its individual employee and its sub group. Organizational Level Training need analysis at organizational level focuses on strategic planning, business need, and goals. It starts with the assessment of internal environment of the organization such as, procedures, structures, policies, strengths, and weaknesses and external environment such as opportunities and threats. After doing the SWOT analysis, weaknesses can be dealt with the training interventions, while strengths can further be strengthened with continued training. Threats can be reduced by identifying the areas where training is required. And, opportunities can be exploited by balancing it against costs. For this approach to be successful, the HR department of the company requires to be involved in strategic planning. In this planning, HR develops strategies to be sure that the employees in the organization have the required Knowledge, Skills, and Attributes (KSAs) based on the future KSAs requirements at each level. Individual Level Training need analysis at individual level focuses on each and every individual in the organization. At this level, the organization checks whether an employee is performing at desired level or the performance is below expectation. If the difference between the expected performance and actual performance comes out to be positive, then certainly there is a need of training. However, individual competence can also be linked to individual need. The methods that are used to analyze the individual need are:

y y y y y y y y

Appraisal and performance review Peer appraisal Competency assessments Subordinate appraisal Client feedback Customer feedback Self-assessment or self-appraisal Operational Level Training Need analysis at operational level focuses on the work that is being assigned to the employees. The job analyst gathers the information on whether the job is clearly understood by an employee or not. He gathers this information through technical interview, observation, psychological test; questionnaires asking the closed ended as well as open ended questions, etc. Today, jobs are dynamic and keep changing over the time. Employees need to prepare for these changes. The job analyst also gathers information on the tasks needs to be done plus the tasks that will be required in the future. Based on the information collected, training Need analysis (TNA) is done.

5.0 STEPS IN DESIGNING A TRAINING PROGRAM 5.1 STEP ONE: DETERMINE WHAT TRAINING IS NEEDED. The first step in designing a training system for your company is to determine what kinds of training is needed. You will need to conduct an organizational analysis, a task analysis, and a person analysis. This three-tiered examination of your companys training needs is required to identify: factors that will inhibit and aid training, to identify tasks that most employees will need to be trained in, and to identify employees that need to be trained. Organizational Analysis;An organizational analysis is used to identify company factors that can negatively or positively impact the effectiveness of a training program. These factors include such things as money available for training programs, personpower analysis and planning resources, employee relations and attitudes, and company resources available for training purposes.Examples: 1. The amount of money that is allocated to training will most likely be based on your companys turnover rate, the difficulty of the jobs performed, and the amount of cash flow that your company has. Companies that have high employee turnover rates will probably not want to spend a lot of money on training because the employees usually dont stay very long after the training period, and therefor it is a waste of money to invest a great deal of time and money on training certain employees. Timing and personnel climate also can have a major impact on the effectiveness of a training program. For instance if a company has recently undergone a reorganization where many people were laid-off or displaced, and the company has not given its employees raises or promotions in several years, implementing a new training program may not be the best investment of company resources. Employees in this situation may harbor hostile feelings towards the company and management, and may not be receptive to new training. Instead, it would be a better investment to allocate money to improving employee relations and morale.

2.

Task Analysis;A task analysis is a process of identifying what skills and activities need to be taught. To generate a list of skills that employees need to learn you can conduct a job analysis. A job analysis is basically just an examination of a job and a listing of the "minimum" duties and skills that are required to successfully perform the job. Example:Job Title:

y
Job Skills:

Secretary

y y y y y y y y

Typing 55-65 w.p.m. 10-key Word processing General computer skills Operation of office machines Phone skills Spread sheet skills Filing

As you can see, this list is very basic, and generalized to the skills required of just about any secretarial position. While the secretary that holds this position may perform many other tasks during the course of a week, these are the minimum skills that are needed to be able to "successfully" function in this position. After identifying what tasks are involved in each job, the next step is to identify what tasks need training. If an employee already has an identified skill it is a waste of money to train them in that skill. If you identify a skill that does require additional training then you will need to formally identify it as a training objective in writing. This objective should identify (1) What the skill is, (2) How the trainee is to learn the skill, and

(3) How proficient they need to be in the skill after the training process is completed.

This documentation is needed to not only to let employees know what is expected of them, but also for personnel to maintain a common standard of training for all employees, and to protect you against lawsuits if you need to discipline or terminate an employee for not meeting the standards set out by the objectives. Person Analysis The final step in determining what training is needed is to conduct a person analysis. A person analysis is the identification of people in your company that need training. There are many ways that this identification process can be handled. First an examination of past and current performance appraisals can be made to identify employees that have areas that need improvements. Surveys can also be used to identify skills that the employees themselves think that they should have or that they need to have to perform their jobs more successfully. Interviewing employees can also be used to identify skills that are needed or desired by employees, as can skill and knowledge tests. The final way a person analysis can be conducted is to evaluate and review critical incident reports that have been filed in personnel. These incidents can pinpoint specific skills like customer service, assembly, etc. that specific employees or departments need to improve. 5.2 STEP TWO: DETERMINE WHAT TRAINING APPROACH TO USE. After you have identified who needs to be trained in what areas, you will need to determine what training methodology to use. Today there are many options managers and business owners can exercise to train their employees. Seminars are a popular choice for large-scale training issues like professional standards updates and customer service issues. The benefits of this type of training methodology are: that they are usually given by an expert or organization that has extended knowledge of the area, they cover all the issues related to the issue is a short period of time, training materials are provided, and employees enjoy the fact that they get out of work to attend the seminar. The drawbacks of seminars are based on the time and money that they require. Employees are away from their jobs for one or more days to attend the seminar so the company must either do without their services during this time or pay for a temporary replacement. In addition to losing money for missed work, the company also has to pay for the seminar, travel, lodging, and meals while the employee is at the seminar. Another drawback to this type of training is that the material is presented to all employees at the same pace and in the same manner. This methodology does not take into consideration different learning styles or paces of individual employees, and therefore some employees may be bored while others may feel overwhelmed by the amount of material being presented to them in a short period of time. In order to overcome pacing issues of training materials, programmed instruction can be used to deliver training materials. Programmed instruction is basically a hard copy format of training that is delivered either through: step-by-step booklets, latent ink booklets, or through computer-assisted instruction or computer-based training. All of these formats allow employees to progress at their own pace, and to go back over material as many times as needed. The drawback to this type of training methodology is the costs associated with purchasing training materials for every employee, especially if the company has a high turnover rate. Examining case studies is another training methodology that can be used. Employee meetings can be held in which critical incidents are reviewed and alternative solutions or actions can be discussed. The advantages of this type of training methodology are that the issues addressed are specific to the company, and that employees can see the connection between a skill and its result easier in this situation than they can in a made up example printed in a training booklet. The main drawback to this methodology is that employees may feel singled out if the case study is about them. To overcome this, you may need to word the case study in a manner that gives the employee anonymity and that changes the situation enough so it can not be attributed to a specific employee. Simulation is yet another training methodology that can be utilized. Simulation is basically just walking an employee through the motions of a skill in a controlled environment until they master the skill. The benefits of this training methodology are that they train employees to perform specific skills needed for their job, and simulations help train employees to respond appropriately to unexpected events in a controlled environment. The drawbacks to simulation are again based on money. In certain cases where simulating machines are needed, the cost can be extraordinarily high. Therefore simulation exercises that utilize these kinds of devises are often times limited to larger businesses or to companies that are located close to companies that lend out simulators. Role-playing is an inexpensive training methodology that most companies can use. In this case employees act out scenes from their job in which they face challenges and situations that they normally will come across during the average day. For example, a person training to be a personnel assistant may be placed in a role playing training model where they sit at a desk in personnel and take mock-phone calls and walk-in inquiries. As they walk through these situations they respond in a way that they think is appropriate following written procedure models. They may answer

questions, hand out personnel forms, etc. The benefits of this type of training are: (1) it is relatively inexpensive, and (2) it covers skills that are specific to the job in question. The drawbacks are that some employees may not feel comfortable in this situation, and they may not learn well under the pressure.

Apprentice training is another category of training methodologies that can be used to train employees. In this type of training programs new employees follow the lead of an experienced employee in order to learn new skills and to learn how to function properly in the job in question. This type of training is most commonly used in trade and craft industries, however, it can be used successfully in office situations as well. The benefits of this type of training program are that it gives the new employee a role model for proper work behavior and functioning, and it provides new employees with personal support during their training. The drawbacks to this type of training program are that it hinders the ability of the experienced employee to do their work, personality conflicts impact the quality of the training and results of the program, and the overall productivity of the company is hindered during the training process. 5.3 STEP THREE: PUTTING TOGETHER YOUR OWN TRAINING PROGRAM. Once you have identified the skills that need to be focused on, the employees that need training, and the methodologies that will be used, you need to put everything down in writing. Documentation is the key to protecting yourself against lawsuits relating to employee relations. The following training materials need to be cemented in writing. 5.3.1 Training objectives. Training objectives need to identify (1) the skill, (2) how training is to be conducted, and (3) what proficiency the employee needs to attain by the end of the training process. Training materials. Training materials, depending on the nature of the skill, should be written out in a manner that is easy to understand and easy to follow. Step-by-step instructions should be written out for every job, no matter how insignificant it may seem to the employer. An instruction sheet should include (1) the skill title, (2) when it is to be performed, (3) who is to perform it, (4) what supplies are needed and where they can be found, (5) step-by-step instructions, and (6) what to do with the end product. Evaluation materials. Evaluation materials are as important to a training program as the actual training materials. They will let you know how effective your training materials are and whether you need to adjust any of your methodologies. The evaluation materials that you need are: (1) evaluation procedures, (2) evaluation form for employees, (3) evaluation form for the employer (or manager), and (4) response (rebuttal) form.

5.3.2

5.3.3

5.3.4

Out-of-house materials. If your company utilizes outside sources for training you will need the following materials: (1) purchase order for educational services, (2) expense forms, (3) approval forms, (4) evaluation forms, and (5) any professional organization forms such as a CPE tracker.

5.4 STEP FOUR: TRAINING EMPLOYEES;Now that you have all of your training materials in order you will need to let your employees know about the programs and their processes. They will need to know what your training objectives are, how their progress will be monitored, what training methodologies are available and which ones are required, and what paper work is required. Make sure that all of your employees understand all of these things and have them sign a statement attesting to this. Again this documentation will help to protect you from unfounded lawsuits. 5.5 STEP FIVE: EVALUATING YOUR PROGRAM.After an employee has completed a training program you will want to have them fill out an evaluation form of the program that goes over how well the information was presented, if they found the training helpful, if there are any areas that need improvement, if there are any areas that seemed redundant or unnecessary, and if there are any other skills that they feel that they need to perform their jobs. You, or a manager, will also need to fill out an evaluation form on the employees progress and proficiency in the skill or skills that were focused on during the training program. Proficiency tests can be used to measure the employees abilities, or physical observation of the employees performance can be used. If you notice that there are still areas that need to be trained in, then you should make the changes to the training program as soon as possible so that the next trainee will get ALL of the training that they need. Also you can use the evaluation forms to identify areas that really dont need to be covered and you can eliminate these things from your training program and save your company time and money spent on employee training.

Marketing Tools that Always Work In the ten years that Ive marketed training for a wide variety of suppliers and training departments, Ive routinely been asked some variation of the following: 1. If I must integrate marketing into my training program, whats the least amount of effort I can put into it and still get a payoff? 2. What marketing activities really work for training? 3. Whats going to give me the biggest bang for the buckand even more importantlyfor the work Ill have to put in? The truth is: theres no free ride. Some of the most effective marketing activities are also some of the most expensive. Others cost almost nothing, but tend to require plenty of labor. The trick is to determine the combination of marketing activities that will make the best use of your time and your budget, so that you can eliminate what doesnt work and focus on what does. Whats the right marketing mix for training? Marketers use the phrase marketing mix to mean a combination of activities that create synergy. Mix is the important part, because almost all successful marketing programs are combinations of two, three, or more activities. For example, you could spend your entire budget printing posters or sending out direct mail, but combining them with other activities like seminars and email marketing will increase your success rate exponentially. Scott Hornstein, the author of Integrated Direct Marketing: The Cutting Edge Strategy for Synchronizing Advertising, Direct Mail, Telemarketing and Field Sales believes that when you integrate several marketing activities, a sort of magic happens. Its similar to the effect that blended learning can have on a students retention rate. When you hear the same message in different ways, you tend to remember it, and sometimes even act upon it. Thats what marketers want, and thats what you want in your marketing programs. You want the learner to take actionto register for a class, take the class, and benefit from the wonderful services you have to offer. The Ready-Made Marketing Plan The bottom line is: you need cost- and timeeffective marketing thats proven to work for training. You also need to create a marketing mix that gives you that extra bang. The activities below are those I have found to be the most effective for marketing training. Fit them into your marketing plan, and watch your classes fill up. 1. Get executive backing. This may not sound like marketing, but its the best possible way to sell your classes. Getting executive buy-in means that you convince your companys leaders to endorse your program, actively promote it and possibly even require it. Lets say you have a new compliance course that you want all of your employees to take. Rather than send an email asking them to register, why dont you have your CEO or another top-level executive email a meeting planner inviting everyone to attend the class. Most sane employees will jump to respond to this and attend the training as well. We all know how important executive buy-in is, but its critical to place this at the very top of your list. This step might take lots of work and follow-up, but its worth it. 2. Make it easy. A widely known truth in marketing (and sales) is that when you make it easier for your customers to buy, your sales will increase. Its that simple. It can be very frustrating for consumers to deal with organizations that make it more difficult than it should be to take advantage of their products or services. Have you ever tried to buy something over the web and just gave up because you were confused by the process or had to go through countless screens to complete the order? If the vendor took a moment to step into your shoes, they would see why theyre loosing sales. The problem is that the vendor is thinking from their perspective, not the perspective of their customers. Step out of your shoes for a moment and into your customers ways of thinking. This can sometimes be pretty challenging, but youll quickly see where you can make improvements that your customers will notice. 3. Use email. Nobody likes spam. Theres no question, however that email can generate the biggest bang for the buck. But, there are a few important things to consider: a. Every email needs to add value: You have to make it clear Whats in it for them and provide information that will be perceived as valuable. Otherwise, theyll call it spam. eNewsletters work well for this. b. Send the right message to the right person: Although its tempting to send mass emails to everyone in your company, its more important that you target the right message to the right person. If youre offering IT training, send it only to the IT department. However, dont get too bogged down in breaking up your database into too many groups. This can make emailing so time consuming that you might never send out enough emails to make it worth the time you spent. c. Make it easy to opt-out: In each email, give them an easy way to opt-out. If you do this,

it nearly always satisfies those people who might have otherwise complained about your email. d. Plan at least six months in advance: Put together a simple schedule that contains the content of each email, when they will be emailed, and to whom. This will increase the chance that your emails will actually be done and that they will be sent on a consistent basis. 4. Publish an eNewsletter. Its an email, but its not as easy to produce as an email. eNewsletters are usually very effective and are generally perceived as valuable communications by most people. The problem is that they take a lot of time to produce and are hard to sustain over time. Here are some tricks to help guarantee your first eNewsletter wont be your last. a. Dont be overly ambitious: The eNewsletter highway is paved with eNewsletters that were produced once and never heard from again. Start with a quarterly newsletter, which is fairly realistic. If it works well, you can always increase your frequency to every other month. b. Get help from your training suppliers: Training suppliers have a vested interest in making you successful. The good suppliers have the tools, articles, and expertise to help produce and distribute your eNewsletter. c. Write it yourself: Newsletters are not difficult if youre doing it yourself. Getting others to write articles and deliver them on time can be like pulling teeth. If you cant manage the eNewsletter yourself, make sure that the person in charge has a vested interest in its success and is willing to commit the time it takes. 5. Conduct seminars and webinars: As a training person, using seminars as a marketing tool is a natural extension of your expertise. The added benefit of an event like a seminar is that its an opportunity to showcase what you do, which gives your customer tangible proof that you offer a good service. But remember, you must add value. The success of a seminar is determined mostly by how interesting the topic looks to your customer. Self-serving topics make for very small attendance. 6. Take advantage of all free opportunities. There are lots of unique communications channels in your company that will help get your message out. Each company is different, but most have bulletin boards, intranets, newsletters, company events, vendor fairs, etc. Sometimes, you just have to ask to be included to get some valuable free exposure. The good news is that effective marketing can pay off big-time for your training programs. The bad news is that it can be challenging and time consuming. However, if you stick to proven techniques and plan things out well in advance, you can get a return that will elevate your training program to the next level. LECTURE METHOD
MAIN FEATURES OF LECTURE METHOD:Some of the main features of lecture method are: o Inability to identify and correct misunderstandings. o Less expensive. o Can be reached large number of people at once o Knowledge building exercise o Less effective because lectures require long periods of trainee inactivity WHEN TO LECTURE:

Lecture is appropriate when Disseminating information quickly to larger audience Presenting a new information before using media or activities ( e.g. Brief lecture before playing a videotape) Providing overview of the topic Arousing interest in a topic Dealing with information regarding feelings and attitudes. Advantages y Lectures are the cultural norm of adult education.

y Lectures inflate the trainers ego y Lecture do not require a extensive preparation y Lectures permit efficient coverage of content in limited time. y Lectures can reach a large group at the same time y Great lecturers inspire listeners y Lecturers can predict exactly what will happen during their speech y Lecturers believe that they are in control y Learners do not feel threatened while listening passively y Lectures know how to listen and take notes y Lectures do not waste their time in sharing their ignorance with each other y Learners believe that the lecturer will present correct and critical information. Disadvantages y Lectures tend to be dull and boring. y Lectures are pitched too high and too low for different member of audience. y Lectures focus on transfer of information rather than to impart skill. y Lectures do not do a good job of transferring information because passively received information is soon forgotten. y Lectures ignore the fact that real learning requires active participation, not passive listening. y Lectures tend to focus on what they want to tell the audience rather what the audience wants to know. y Lecturers do not receive useful feedback. EVALUATING LECTURERS: There are three formal techniques Feedback from the students Self evaluation Observer

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