For more Notes, Presentations, Project Reports visit a2zmba.blogspot.com hrmba.blogspot.com mbafin.blogspot.com NATURE OF TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT In simple terms, training and development refers to the imparting of specific skills, abilities and knowledge to an employee. A formal definition of training & deve develo lopme pment nt is… is… it is any any atte attempt mpt to impro improve ve curre current nt or futu future re empl employ oyee ee performance by increasing an employee’s ability to perform through learning, usually by changing the employee’s attitude or increasing his or her skills and know knowle ledg dge. e. The The need need for for trai traini ning ng & deve develo lopm pmen entt is dete determ rmin ined ed by the the employee’s performance deficiency, computed as follows: Training & Development need = Standard performance – Actual performance. We can make a distinction among training, education and development. Such distinction enables us to acquire a better perspective about the meaning of the terms. Training, Training, as was stated earlier, refers to the process of imparting imparting specific skill skills. s. Educ Educat atio ion, n, on the the other other hand hand,, is conf confine ined d to theo theoret retica icall lear learni ning ng in classrooms. Table 1. Training and Education Differentiated Training Education Application Theoretical Orientation Job Experience Classroom Learning Specific Tasks General Concepts Narrow / Perspective Broad Perspective Training refers to the process of imparting specific skills. Development refers to the learning opportunities designed to help employees grow. Education is theoretical learning in classroom. Though Though trai traini ning ng and and educ educat atio ion n diff differ er in natu nature re and and orie orient ntat atio ion, n, they they are complementary. An employee, for example, who undergoes training is presumed to have had some formal education. Furthermore, no training programme is complet complete e withou withoutt an elemen elementt of educat education ion.. In fact, fact, the distinct distinction ion betwee between n training and education is getting increasingly blurred nowadays. As more and more employees are called upon to exercise judgments and to choose alternative solutions to the job problems, training programmes seek to broaden and develop the indivi individual dual throug through h educati education. on. For instanc instance, e, employ employees ees in well-pa well-paid id jobs jobs and/or employees in the service industry may be required to make independent
decis decisio ion n rega regardi rding ng ther there e work work and and thei theirr rela relati tion onsh ship ip with with clie client nts. s. Henc Hence, e, organ organiz izat atio ion n must must consi conside derr elem elemen ents ts of both both educa educati tion on and and trai traini ning ng whil while e planning there training programmes. Development Development refers to those learning opportunities opportunities designed designed to help employees employees grow. Development is not primarily skill-oriented. Instead, it provides general knowledge and attitudes which will be helpful to employees in higher positions. Effort Efforts s toward towards s develo developme pment nt often often depend depend on persona personall drive drive and ambitio ambition. n. Development activities, such as those supplied by management developmental programmes, are generally voluntary. To bring the distinction among training, education and development into sharp training g is offered offered to operati operatives ves”, focu focus, s, it may may be stat stated ed that that “trainin ”, whereas whereas “developmental programmes are meant for employees in higher positions” . Edu Educati cation on ho howe weve verr is comm commo on to all the the emp employe loyees es,, there here grad grades es notwithstanding. AIMS/OBJECTIVES OF TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT The fundamental aim of training is to help the organization achieve its purpose by addin adding g value value to its its key key reso resourc urce e – the the peop people le it emplo employs. ys. Trai Traini ning ng means means investing in the people to enable them to perform better and to empower them to make the best use of their natural abilities. The particular objectives of training are to: Develop the competences of employees and improve their performance; Help Help peop people le to grow grow with within in the the orga organiz nizat atio ion n in orde orderr that that,, as far far as possible, its future needs for human resource can be met from within; Redu Reduce ce the the lear learni ning ng time time for for empl employ oyee ees s star starti ting ng in new new jobs jobs on appointment, transfers or promotion, and ensure that they become fully competent as quickly and economically as possible. • •
•
INPUTS IN TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENTS Any training and development development programme must contain inputs which enable the participants to gain skills, learn theoretical concepts and help acquire vision to look into distant future. In addition to these, there is a need to impart ethical orientation, emphasize on attitudinal changes and stress upon decision-making and problem-solving abilities. Skills Training, Training, as was stated earlier, is imparting skills skills to employees. employees. A worker needs skills to operate machines, and use other equipments with least damage or scrap. This is a basic skill without which the operator will not be able to function. There is also the need for motor skills. Motor skills refer to performance of specific physical activities. These skills involve training to move various parts of one’s body in response to certain external and internal stimuli. Common motor skills include walking, riding a bicycle, tying a shoelace, throwing a ball and
driving a car. Motor skills are needed for all employees – from the clerk to the general general manager. manager. Employ Employees ees,, partic particula ularly rly supervi supervisor sors s and execut executive ives, s, need need interpersonal skills popular known as the people skills. Interpersonal skills are needed to understand one self and others better, and act accordingly. Examples of inte nterper rperso sona nall skil skills ls incl nclude ude list listen enin ing g, pers persua uadi ding ng,, and sho showing wing an understanding of others’ feelings. Education The purpose of education is to teach theoretical concepts and develop a sense of reasoning reasoning and judgement. That any training training and development development programme must contain an element of education is well understood by HR specialist. Any such prog progra ramm mme e has has univ univer ersi sity ty prof profes esso sors rs as reso resour urce ce pers person ons s to enli enligh ghte ten n participants about theoretical knowledge of the topic proposed to be discussed. In fact organizations depute or encourage employees to do courses on a part time time basis. basis. Chief Chief Execut Executive ive Office Officers rs (CEO’s (CEO’s)) are known known to attend attend refresh refresher er courses conducted by business schools. Education is important for managers and executives than for lower-cadre workers. Development Another component of a training and development is development which is less skil skilll orie orient nte ed but stre stress sse ed on know knowle ledg dge. e. Know Knowle ledg dge e about bout busi busine ness ss environment, management principles and techniques, human relations, specific industry analysis and the like is useful for better management of the company. Ethics Ther There e is need need for for impa impart rtin ing g grea greate terr ethi ethica call orie orient ntat atio ion n to a trai traini ning ng and and development programme. There is no denial of the fact that ethics are largely ignore ignored d in busine businesse sses. s. Unethi Unethical cal practi practices ces abound abound in market marketing ing,, financ finance e and production function in an organization. They are less see and talked about in the personnel function. If the production, finance and marketing personnel indulge in unethical practices the fault rests on the HR manager. It is his/her duty to enli enlight ghten en all all the the empl employ oyee ees s in the the orga organi niza zati tion on abou aboutt the the need need of ethi ethica call behavior. Exhib xhibit it # 1
Whit hite Col Colla larr Cri Crime mes s
The findings of the KPMG’s fraud survey for 1998, confirm the prevalence of white collar crimes in corporate India. The survey has pegged the loss due to delinquencies at Rs.200 crores but KPMG feels that it is only the tip of the iceberg. iceberg. According to the study, 66% of the respondents respondents feel that the frauds will increase. Respondents have cited kickbacks and expenses accounts as the most frequent types of internal frauds, and patent infringements, false representation and secret commissions as the most favored external crimes. Among management frauds, window dressing of balance sheets is the hot favorite followed by more creative ones like fudging MIS and giving wrong information. Attitudinal Changes Attitudes Attitudes represent feeling and beliefs beliefs of individuals individuals towards others. Attitude Attitude affects motivation, satisfaction and job commitment. Negative attitudes need to be convert converted ed into into positi positive ve attitu attitudes des.. Changin Changing g negativ negative e attitu attitudes des is diffic difficult ult because – 1. Employ Employees ees refuse refuse to changes changes 2. They They have have prior prior comm commitm itment ents s 3. And information needed to change attitudes may not be sufficient Nevertheless, attitude must be changed so that employees feel committed to the organization, organization, are motivated motivated for better better performance, performance, and derive satisfaction satisfaction from there jobs and the work environment Decisions Making and Problem Solving Skills Decision making skill and problem solving skills focus on method and techniques for making organizational decisions and solving work-related problems. Learning related to decision-making and problem-solving skills seeks to improve trainees’ abilities abilities to define structure structure problems, problems, collect collect and analysis analysis information information,, generate generate alternative solution and make an optimal decision among alternatives. Training of this this type type is typi typica calllly y prov provid ided ed to pote potent ntia iall mana manage gers rs,, supe superv rvis isor ors s and and professionals. Exhi Exhibi bitt # 2
Trai Traini ning ng inpu inputs ts at HLL HLL
The The trai traini ning ng and and deve develo lopme pment nt affo afford rds s at HLL HLL are are desi design gned ed to deve develo lop p the the following: 1. Helping Helping employees employees satisfy satisfy personal personal goals goals through higher higher level level of skills skills and competencies 2. Facili Facilitat tating ing higher higher contri contribut bution ion at there there present present jobs jobs and preparing preparing them for the next level of responsibilities 3. Deve Develo lopi ping ng indiv ndivid idua uals ls and and team teams s to mee meet the total otal nee needs of the organization
TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT AS SOURCE OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE Compa Compani nies es deri derive ve compe competi titi tive ve adva advant ntag age e from from trai traini ning ng and and deve develo lopme pment nt.. Training and development programmes, as was pointed out earlier, help remove performance deficiencies in employee. This is particularly true when - (1) the deficiency is caused by a lack of ability rather than a lack of motivation to perform, (2) the individual(s) involved have the aptitude and motivation need to learn to do the job better, and (3) supervisors and peers are supportive of the desired behaviors. Training & Development offers competitive advantage to a firm by removing performance deficiencies; making employees stay long; minimized accidents, scraps and damage; and meeting future employee needs. There is greater stability, flexibility, and capacity for growth in an organization. Traini Training ng contri contribut butes es to employ employee ee stabil stability ity in at least least two ways. ways. Employ Employees ees become efficient efficient after after undergoing undergoing training. training. Efficient employees contribute contribute to the growth of the organization. Growth renders stability to the workforce. Further, trained employees tend to stay with the organization. They seldom leave the company. Training makes the employees versatile in operations. All rounders can be transferred to any job. Flexibility is therefore ensured. Growth indicates prosperity, which is reflected in increased profits from year to year. Who else but well-trained employees can contribute to the prosperity of an enterprise? Accidents, scrap and damage to machinery and equipment can be avoided or minimized through training. Even dissatisfaction, complaints, absenteeism, and turnover can be reduced if employees are trained well. Future Future need needs s of emplo employe yees es will will be met met thro through ugh trai traini ning ng and and deve develo lopme pment nt prog progra ramm mmes es.. Orga Organi niza zati tion ons s take take fres fresh h dipl diplom oma a hold holder ers s or grad gradua uate tes s as appr appren enti tice ces s or mana manage geme ment nt trai traine nees es.. They They are are abso absorb rbed ed afte afterr cour course se completion. completion. Training serves as an effective source of recruitment. recruitment. Training is an investment in HR with a promise of better returns in future. A company's training and development pays dividends to the employee and the organization. Though no single training programme yields all the benefits, the organization which devotes itself to training and development enhances its HR capa capabi bililiti ties es and and stre streng ngth then ens s its its comp compet etit itiv ive e edge edge.. At the the same same time time,, the the employee's personal and career goals are furthered, generally adding to his or her abilities and value to the employer. Ultimately, the objectives of the HR department are also furthered. The Benefits of Employee Training How Training Benefits the Organization:
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• • • • • • • • • • •
• •
• •
•
• •
• • • • • •
Leads to improved profitability and/or more positive attitudes towards profit orientation. Improves the job knowledge and skills at all levels of the organization Improves the morale of the workforce Helps people identify with organizational goals Helps create a better corporate image Fosters authenticity, openness and trust Improves relationship between boss and subordinate Aids in organizational development learns from the trainee Helps prepare guidelines for work Aids in understanding and carrying out organizational policies. Provides information for future needs in all areas of the organization Organization gets more effective decision-making and problem-solving skills Aids in development for promotion from within Aids in developing leadership skills, motivation, loyalty, better attitudes, and other aspects that successful workers and managers usually display Aids in increasing productivity and/or quality of work Helps keep costs down in many areas, e.g. production, personnel, administration, etc. Develops a sense of responsibility to the organization for being competent and knowledgeable Improves Labour-management relations Reduces outside consulting costs by utilizing competent internal consultation Stimulates preventive management as opposed to putting out fires Eliminates suboptimal behavior (such as hiding tools) Creates an appropriate climate for growth, communication Aids in improving organizational communication Helps employees adjust to change Aids in handling conflict, thereby helping to prevent stress and tension.
Benefits to the Individual Which in Turn Ultimately Should Benefit the Organization: •
•
• • •
Helps the individual in making better decisions and effective problem solving Through training and development, motivational variables of recognition, achievement, growth, responsibility and advancement are internalized and operationalised Aids in encouraging and achieving self-development and self-confidence Helps a person handle stress, tension, frustration and conflict Provides information for improving leadership, knowledge, communication skills and attitudes
• • • • • •
Increases job satisfaction and recognition Moves a person towards personal goals while improving interactive skills Satisfies personal needs of the trainer (and trainee) Provides the trainee an avenue for growth and a say in his/her own future Develops a sense of growth in learning Helps a person develop speaking and listening skills; also writing skills when exercises are required. Helps eliminate fear in attempting new tasks
Benefits in Personnel and Human Relations, Intra-group & Inter-group Relations and Policy Implementation: • •
• • • • • • • •
Improves communication between groups and individuals: Aids in orientation for new employee and those taking new jobs through transfer or promotion Provides information on equal opportunity and affirmative action Provides information on other government laws and administrative policies Improves interpersonal skills. Makes organizational policies, rules and regulations viable. Improves morale Builds cohesiveness in groups Provides a good climate for learning, growth, and co-ordination Makes the organization a better place to work and live
THE TRAINING PROCESS Figure #1 below outline important steps in a typical training process.
Needs assessment Organizational support Organizational analysis Task and KSA analysis Person analysis
Instructional Objective
Selection and design of instructional programs
Training
Developm ent of criteria
Training Validity
Transfer Validity
Use of evaluation models
Intraorgani zational validity Interorgani zational validity
The Training Process NEED ASSESSMENT Needs assessment diagnoses present problems and future challenges to be met through training and development. Organizations spend vast sums of money (usuall (usually y as a percent percentage age on turnov turnover) er) on traini training ng and develo developme pment. nt. Before Before committing such huge resources, organizations would do well to the training needs of their employees. Organizations that implement training programmes without conducting needs assessment may be making errors. For example, a needs assessment exercise reveal that less costly interventions (e.g. selection, compensation package, job redesign) could be used in lieu of training. Needs Needs assess assessment ment occurs at two levels-group and individual. An individual individual obviously needs when his or her performance falls short of standards, that is,
when there is performance deficiency. Inadequacy in performance may be due to lack of skill or knowledge or any other problem. The problem of performance defi defici cien ency cy cause caused d by abse absenc nce e of skil skills ls or know knowle ledg dge e can can be reme remedi died ed by traini training. ng. Faulty Faulty select selection ion,, poor poor job design design,, uninspi uninspirin ring g superv supervisi ision on or some some personal problem may also result in poor performance. Transfer, job redesign, improvi improving ng qualit quality y of supervis supervision ion,, or discha discharge rge will will solve solve the proble problem. m. Figure Figure below below illust illustrat rates es the assessme assessment nt of indivi individual dual trainin training g needs needs and remedi remedial al measures. Performance Deficiency
Lack of skill or Knowledge
Training
Other Causes
Non-training Measures
Figure #2 Needs Assessment and Remedial Measures Asse Assess ssme ment nt of trai traini ning ng need needs s must must also also focu focus s on anti antici cipa pate ted d skil skills ls of an employee. employee. Technology changes fast and new technology technology demands demands new skills. It is necessary that the employee be acquire new skills. This will help him/her to progress in his or her career path. Training and development is essential to prepare the employee to handle more challenging tasks. Deputation to a parttime MBA programme is ideal to train and develop such employees. Indi Indivi vidu dual als s may also also requi require re new new skil skills ls beca becaus use e of poss possib ible le job job tran transf sfer ers. s. Although job transfer common as organizational personnel demands vary, they do not necessarily require training efforts. Employees commonly require only an orientation to new facilities and jobs. Recently however, economic forces have nece necess ssit itat ated ed sign signif ific ican antt retr retrai aini ning ng effo effort rts s in orde orderr to assu assure re cont contin inue ued d employment for many individuals. Jobs have disappeared as technology, foreign competition, and the forces of supply and demand are changing the face of our industry. Assessment of training needs occurs at the group level too. Any change in the organ organiz izat atio ions ns stra strate tegy gy nece necessi ssita tate tes s trai trainin ning g of grou groups ps of empl employ oyee ees. s. For For example, when the organization decide to introduce a new line of products, sales personnel and production workers have to be trained to produce, sell and service the new products. Training can also be used when high scrap or accident rates,
low morale and motivation, or other problems are diagnosed. Although training is not all, such undesirable happenings reflect poorly-trained workforce. Needs assessment methods How How are are trai traini ning ng need needs s asse assess ssed ed? ? Seve Several ral meth method ods s are are avai availa labl ble e for for the the purpose. As shown in the below table, some are useful for organizational-level needs assessment others for individual needs assessment Table #2
Methods Used in Training Needs Assessment
Group or organizational Analysis
Individual Analysis
Organizational goals and objective
Performance appraisal
Personnel/skill invention
Work sampling
Organizational climate indices
Interviews
Efficiency indices
Questionnaires
Exit interviews
Attitude survey
MBO or work planning systems
Training progress
Customer survey/satisfaction data
Rating scales
Customer survey/satisfaction data Consideration of current and projected changes
Issue in Needs assessment Needs assessment, individual or group, should consider several issues as shown in Fig. #1 Organizational Organizational Support Support : Need Needs s asse assessm ssmen entt is like likely ly to make make inro inroad ads s into into organiz organizati ationa onall life. life. The assess assessmen mentt tends tends to change change pattern patterns s of behavi behavior or of employees. When the needs assessment is carefully designed and supported by the organization, disruption is minimized and co-operation is much more likely to occur. Obviously, the analyst needs to take steps to work effectively with all part partie ies s and and gain gain the the trus trustt and and supp suppor ortt of the the part partic icip ipan ants ts in the the need needs s assessment. Organizational Analysis: Having obtained organizational support, the next step in the needs assessment is an organizational analysis, which seeks to examine
the goals of the organization organization (short-term (short-term and long-term), long-term), and the trends that are likely to affect these goals. The analyst needs to ask and answer the following questions: Is there a sufficient supply of people? How does the firm attract, retain and motivate diverse work-force? How does the firm compete for individuals with the right skills, knowledge abilities and attitudes? How do employees make the firm competitive, domestically and internationally? Which are the target jobs that require training? These issues enable the analyst identify skill gaps in people, which training seeks to fill. • • •
•
•
Organizational analysis seeks to examine the goals of the organization and the trends that are likely to affect these goals. Task and KSA Analysis In addition to obtaining organizational support and making organizational analysis, it is necessary to assess and identify what tasks are needed on each job and which knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) are necessary to perform these tasks. This assessment helps prepare a blueprint that that desc descri ribe bes s the the KSAs KSAs to be achi achiev eved ed upon upon comp comple leti tion on of the the trai traini ning ng programme. Person Analysis: This analysis obliviously targets individual employees. A very important aspect of person analysis is to determine which necessary KSAs have already been learnt by the prospective trainee so that precious training time is not wasted repeating what has already been acquired. Also, employed who need to undergo training are identified at this stage. Benefit of Needs Assessment Trainin Training g program programmes mes are designe designed d to achiev achieve e specifi specific c goals goals that that meet meet felt felt needs. needs. There There is always always the tempta temptatio tion n to begin begin traini training ng without without a thoroug thorough h analysis of these needs. Should this happen, the training programme becomes inappro inappropria priate te and its adminis administra tratio tion n turn to be perfun perfuncto ctory. ry. There There are other other benefits of needs assessment are other benefits of needs assessment: 1. Trainers may be informed about the broader needs of the trainees. 2. Trainers are able to pitch their course inputs closer to the specific needs of the trainees. 3. Assessment makes training department more accountable and more clearly linked to other human resource activities, which may make the training programme easier to sell to line manager. Consequences of Absence of Training Needs Assessment The significance of needs assessment can be better understood by looking at the consequence of inadequate or absence of needs assessment. Failure to conduct needs assessment can contribute to: • •
Loss of business Constraints on business development
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•
• • •
Higher labor turnover Poorer-quality applicants Increased overtime working Higher rates of pay, overtime premiums and supplements Higher recruitment costs, including advertising, time and incentives Greater pressure and stress on management and staff to provide cover. Pressure on job-evaluation schemes, grading structures, payment system and career structure Additional retention costs in the form of flexible working time, job sharing, part time working, shift working, etc. Need for job redesign and revision of job specifications Undermining career paths and structures Higher training costs
Deriving Instructional Objectives The next phase in the training process is to identify instructional objectives. Needs assessment assessment helps prepare a blueprint blueprint that describes the objectives objectives to be achieved by the trainee upon completion of the training programme. Instructional objectives provide the input for designing the training programme as well as for the measures of success (criteria) that would help assess effectiveness of the traini training ng programm programme. e. Below Below are some some sample sample instru instructi ctiona onall object objective ives s for a training programme with sales people. After training, the employee will be able to smile at all customers even when exhausted or ill unless the customer is irate. After training, the employee will be able to accurately calculate mark down on all sales merchandise. •
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Designing Training and Development Programme Every training and development programme must address certain vital issues (1) who participate in the programme? (2) Who are the trainers? (3) What methods and techniques are to be used for training? (4) What should be the level of training? (5) What learning principles are needed? (6) Where is the programme conducted?
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What methods Who are the areinthe Fig #3Who Steps training Programmeand trainees? trainers? techniques? Who are are the the Train Trainee ees? s? Trai Traine nees es shou should ld be sele select cted ed on the the basi basis s of self self nominat nomination ion,, recomm recommenda endatio tions ns of superv superviso isors rs or by the HR depart departmen mentt itself itself.. Whatever is the basis, it is advisable to have two or more target audiences. For example, example, rank-and-file rank-and-file employees employees and their supervisors supervisors may effectivel effectively y learn together about a new work process and their respective roles. Bringing several What should be Whatalso principles of group processes Where to conduct target audience together can facilitate such as problem the level of learning? programme? solving and decision making, elements useful in qualitythe circle projects. training? Who are the Trainers? Training and development programmes may be conducted by several people, including the following: 1. Imme Immedi diat ate e supe supervi rviso sors rs,, 2. Co-work Co-workers ers,, as in budd buddy y system systems, s, 3. Member Members s of the person personnel nel staf staff, f, 4. Specia Specialis lists ts in other other parts parts of of the compa company, ny, 5. Outs Outsid ide e cons consult ultan ants ts,, 6. Indust Industry ry associ associati ations ons,, and 7. Facult Faculty y member members s at univ univers ersiti ities. es. Who Who amon among g thes these e are are sele select cted ed to teac teach, h, ofte often, n, depe depend nds s on wher where e the the programme is held and the skill that is being taught. For example, programmes teaching basic skills are usually done by the members of the HR department or spec specia iali list sts s in othe otherr depa depart rtme ment nts s of the comp compan any. y. On the othe otherr hand hand,, interpersonal and conceptual skills for managers are taught at universities. Large organiz organizati ations ons genera generally lly mainta maintain in their their own traini training ng depart department ments s whose whose staff staff conducts the programmes. In addition, many organizations arrange basic-skills training for computer literacy. Methods and Techniques of Training: A multitude of methods of training are used to train employees. The most commonly used methods are shown in Table #2. Table #2 lists the various training methods and presents a summary of the most frequent frequent uses to which these methods methods are put. As can be seen from Table #2, training methods are categorized into two groups-{I) on-the-job and (ii) offthe-job methods. On-the-job methods refer to methods that are applied in the workplace, while the employee is actually working. Off-the-job methods are used away from workplaces.
Training techniques represent the medium of imparting skills and knowledge to employ employees. ees. Obviou Obviously sly,, traini training ng techni techniques ques are the means means employ employed ed in the traini training ng methods methods.. Among Among the most most common commonly ly used used techniq techniques ues are lectur lectures, es, films, audio cassettes, case studies, role playing, video-tapes and simulations. Table #3 presents the list of training techniques along with their ranking based on effe effect ctiv iven enes ess. s. The The highe higherr the the ranki ranking ng (1 is the the highe highest st rank) rank),, the the more more effective the technique is. Table # 3 Training Methods and the Activities Activities for which they are are used Orienting New Sales, Creative, Employees, Special Administrative, Safety Techni Technical cal & Introducing, Skills Supervi Supervisor sory y & Education Professional Innovations Training Managerial Education In Products Products Education & Services 1 2 3 4 5 A. On the Job Training Orientation Y N N N N Training Job Y Y N N N instruction training Apprentice Y Y N N N training Internships & N y N Y Y Assistantship Job Rotation Y N N N Y Coaching N Y Y Y Y B. Off the Job Methods Vestibule Lecture Special Study Films Televisions Conference or Discussion Case Study Role Playing Simulation
Y Y Y
Y Y Y
N Y Y
N Y Y
N Y Y
Y Y Y
Y Y N
Y Y Y
Y Y Y
Y Y Y
N N Y
N N Y
N N Y
N Y Y
Y N N
Programmed Instructions Laboratory training
Y
Y
Y
Y
3
N
N
3
3
N
Y=Yes; N-No
At this point, it is worthwhile to elaborate on important techniques of training. We explain explain the following-l following-lecture ectures, s, audio-visual audio-visuals, s, on-the-job on-the-job training, training, programmed programmed instruction, computer aided instruction, simulation and sensitivity training. Lectures: Lecture is a verbal presentation of information by an instructor to a large audience. The lecturer is presumed to possess a considerable depth of knowledge of the subject at hand. A virtue of this method is that is can be used for very large groups, and hence the cost per trainee is low. This method is mainly used in colleges and universities, though its application is restricted in training factory employees. (See Table #3) Table #4 Training Method
The Relative Effectiveness of training Methods Knowledge Changing Problem Interpersonal Participant Knowledge Acquisition Attitudes Solving Skills Acceptance retention Rank Rank Skills Rank Rank Rank
Case study 2 Conference 3 Lecture Business games Films Programmed Instruction Role Playing Sensitivity Training Television Lecture
8 5
4 3
1 4 8
9 6
5
4 3 9 2
4
7
2
1 9
5
7
7
7
2
1 9
8 6
6
6 3
5 8
8 3
7
7
2 5
8 5
6
1
2 1
1
4
6 9
4
3 9
Limitations of the lecture method account for its low popularity. The method viol violat ates es the the prin princi cipl ple e of lear learni ning ng by prac practi tice ce.. It cons consti titu tute tes s a oneone-wa way y communication. There is no feedback from the audience.. Continued lecturing is likely to bore the audience. To break the boredom, the lecturer often resorts to anec anecdot dotes, es, joke jokes s and and othe otherr atte attent ntio ion-g n-get ette ters. rs. This This acti activi vity ty may may even eventua tualllly y overshadow the real purpose of instruction. However, the lecture method can be made effective it if is combined other methods of training. Audio-visual: Visuals Audio-visuals include television slides, overheads, videotypes and films. These can be used to provide a wide range of realistic examples of job conditions and situations in the condensed period of time. Further, the quality of the presentation can be controlled and will remain equal for all training group. But, audio-visuals constitute a one-way system of communication with no
scope for the audience to raise doubts for clarification. Further, there is no flexibility of presentation from audience to audience. On the job Training (OJT) Majority of industrial training is of the on-the-jobtraining type. OJT is conducted at the work site and in the context of the job. Often, it is informal, as when an experienced worker shows a trainee how to perform the job tasks. OJT has advantages. It is the most effective method as the trainee learns by experience, making him or her highly competent. Further, the method is least expensive since no formal training is organized. The trainee is highly motivated to learn he or she is aware of the fact that his or her success on the job depends on the training received. Finally, the training is free from an artificial situation of a classroom. This contributes to the effectiveness of the programme. OJT suffers form certain demerits as well. The experienced employee may lack experience or inclination to train the juniors. The training programme itself is not systematically organized. In addition, a poorly conducted OJT programme is likely. to create safety hazards, result in damaged products or materials, and bring unnecessary stress to the trainees. OJT is conducted at the work site and in the context of the job. It is, much time, informal. An experienced worker shows a trainee how to work on the job. Programmed Instruction (PI) This is a method method where training training is offered offered without
the intervention of a trainer. Information is provided to the trainee in blocks, either in a book of thought a teaching machine. After reading each block of material, the learner must answer a question about it. Feedback in the form of correct answers is provided after each response. Thus, programmed instruction (PI) involves: 1. 2. 3. 4.
Presenting Presenting questio questions, ns, facts, facts, or or problems problems to to the learner learner Allowi Allowing ng the the pers person on to to respon respond d Providing Providing feedback feedback on the accuracy accuracy of his or her answers answers If the answers answers are correct correct,, the learner learner proceeds proceeds to the next block. block. If not, not, he or she repeats the same.
The main advantage of PI is that it is self-paced-trainees can progress through the programme at their own speed. Strong motivation is provided to the learner to repeat repeat learnin learning. g. Materi Material al is also also struct structured ured and self-co self-conta ntaine ined, d, offeri offering ng much much scope for practice. The disa disadva dvant ntage ages s are not not to be igno ignore red. d. The The scop scope e for for learn learnin ing g is less less,, compared to other methods of training. Cost of preparing books, manuals and machinery is considerably high. Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI) This is an extension of the PI method.
The speed memory and data-manipulation capabilities of the computer permit
greater utilization of basic PI concept. For example, the learner's response may determine the frequency and difficulty level of the next frame. CAI is an improved system when compared to the PI method, in at least three respe respect cts. s. First First,, CAI CAI provi provide des s for for acco account untab abililit ity y as test tests s are are taken taken on the the compute computerr so that that the manage management ment can monitor monitor each each traine trainee's e's progre progress ss and needs. Second, a CAI training programme can also be modified easily to reflect techno technologi logical cal innova innovatio tions ns in the equipm equipment ent for which which the employ employee ee is being being trained. Third, this training also tends to be more flexible in that trainees can usually use the computer almost any time they want, and thus get training when they prefer. Not to be ignored is the fact that from CAI is as rich and colorful as modem electronic games, complete with audio instruction displays. A deterrent with regard to CAI is its high cost, but repeated use may justify the cost. Simulation: A simulator is any kind of equipment or technique that duplicates as
nearly as possible the actual conditions encountered on the job. Simulation then, is an attempt to create a realistic decision-making environment for the trainee. Simulations present likely problem situation and alternatives to the trainee. For example, activities of an organization may be simulated and the trainee may be asked to make a decision in support to those activities. The results of those decisions are reported back to the trainee with an explanation of what would have happened had they actually made in the workplace. The trainee learns from this this feed feedba back ck and and impr improv oves es his/ his/he herr subs subseq eque uent nt simu simula lati tion on and and workp workpla lace ce decisions. The more widely held simulation exercises are case study, role playing and vestibu1 training. Case Study: is a written description of an actual situation in business which provokes, in the reader, the need to decide what is going on, what the situation really is or what the problems are, and what can and should be done. Taken from the actual experiences of organizations, these cases represent to describe, as accurately as possible, real problems that managers have faced. Trainee studies the cases to determine problems, analyses causes, develop alternative solutions, sele select ct the the best best one, one, and and impl implem emen entt it. it. Case Case stud study y can can provi provide de stim stimul ulat atin ing g discussions discussions among participant participants s as well as excellent excellent opportunities opportunities for individuals individuals to defend their analytical and judgment abilities. It appears to be an ideal method to promote decision-making abilities within the constraints of limited data. Role playing: generally focuses on emotional (mainly human relations) issues rather than actual ones. The essence of role playing is to create a realistic situation, as in case study, and then have the trainee assume the parts of specific personalities in the situation. For example, a male worker may assume the role of a female supervisor, and the supervisor may assume the role of a male worker. Then, both may be given a typical work situation and asked to resp respon ond d as they hey expec xpectt othe others rs to do. do. The cons conse equen quence ces s are are a bet better ter understa understandi nding ng among among indivi individua duals. ls. Role Role playing playing helps helps promot promote e interpe interperso rsonal nal relation. Attitude change is another result of role playing. Case study and role playing are used in MDPs
Vestibule Training: utilizes equipment which closely resembles the actual ones used on the job. However, training takes place away from the work environment. A special area or a room is set aside from the main production area and is equipped with furnishings similar to those found in the actual production area. The trai traine nee e is then then perm permit itte ted d to lear learn n unde underr simu simula late ted d condi conditi tion ons, s, with withou outt disrupt disrupting ing ongoin ongoing g operat operations ions.. A primar primary y advant advantage age of vestib vestibule ule trainin training g it relieves the employee from the pressure of having to produce while learning. The emphasis is on learning skills required by the job. Of course, the cost of duplicate facilities and a special trainer is an obvious disadvantage. The advantage of simulation is the opportunity to 'create an environment' similar to real situations situations the manager incurs, but without without the high costs involved should the actions prove undesirable. The disadvantage is (i) it is difficult to duplicate the pressures pressures and realities realities of actual decision-making decision-making non the job and (ii) individuals individuals often act differently in real-life situations than they do in acting out a simulated exercise. Sensitivity Training: Sensitivity training uses small numbers of trainees, usually fewer than 12 in a Group. They meet with a passive trainer and gain insight into their own and others' behavior. Meeting have no agenda, are held away from workplaces, and questions deal with the 'here and now' of the group process. Discussions focus on 'why participants behave as they do, how they perceive one another, and the feelings and emotions generated in the interaction process. The objectives of sensitivity training are to provide the participants with increased aware awarene ness ss of thei theirr own own beha behavi vior or and and how how othe others rs perce perceiv ive e them them-gr -grea eate ter r sensitivity to the behavior of others, and increased understanding of group’s processes. Specific results sought include increased ability to empathize with othe other, r, impro improve ved d list listen enin ing g skill skills, s, great greater er open openne ness ss,, incre increase ased d tole toleran rance ce of individual difference and increased conflict-resolution skills. The drawback of this method is that once the training is over, the participants are themselves again and they resort to their old habits. Sensitivity training can go by a variety of names-laboratory training, encounter groups, or T- groups (training groups). Table 9.9 shows some more techniques of training. Exhi Exhibi bitt # 3 Trai Traini ning ng goe goes s Tech Techno no-S -Sav avvy vy In today’s electronic world, the World Wide Web (WWW) is all pervasive. The internet and intranet are changing the face of training and learning. Using a PC, a modem and a web browser, it has become possible to learn online. Web-bas Web-based ed course courses s throug through h distan distance ce learni learning ng are virtual virtual.. An employ employee ee can simply connect to the Internet study the syllabus options available, and enroll for the courses electronically. He or she can then receive a. course work online and even take tests and advance to the next level-all from his or her own house.
Global giants like Motorola and Ford Motor are reaping the benefits of virtual learning. Employees of Motorola have access of self-paced computer based training (CBT) material through the firm's Intranet Motorola offers nearly one hundred online courses, mostly in information technology. Virtual Virtual learning learning presents presents its own challenges. challenges. The biggest biggest being an infrastruct infrastructure ure to connect the entire organization across the seven seas. Web servers, ISDN lines, lines, laptop laptops, s, and personn personnel el comput computers ers are the basic basic requisi requisites tes.. But these these facilities will payoff in the long-run. Firms investing in virtual learning technologies can slash their training budgets by 30 to 50 per cent Learning through the web can be very convenient for' employees. There are no fixed schedules or limitations of time. One can attend the course at home, in the evening when one is at leisure, or while traveling to work. The learners do not have to depend on the trainer's availability. It is not just the technical programs: soft skills can also be learnt electronically. One One firm firm used used a CDRO CDROM M manu manual al to impa impart rt soft soft-s -ski killlls s like like perf perfor orma manc nce e management, coaching, and interviewing skills. The CDROM based training was supple supplement mented ed with with shared shared learnin learning g via teleco teleconfe nferenc rencing ing,, where where manage managers rs discussed key learning’s and asked for clarifications. Face to face, role-playing exercises were added for the human touch. One advantage of computer-based soft-skills training is that it helps maintain anonymity in situations that may be discomforting for trainees. For example, roleplaying playing exercises, exercises, may call for sharing personal personal informatio information n with strangers. strangers. This can be avoided in a virtual-learning setting, till the time the learner becomes more open and flexible. It reads like who is who in using virtual learning. learning. Motorola and Ford are only the two. There are others too. IBM, for example, has a virtual university, IBM Global Campus, to provide its employees continuous skills-driven-Learning opportunities via the corporate intranet across the globe. Federal Express has turned to interactive multimedia for a more effective training system. Employees have the facility to get training via personnel computers during regular working hours at any time convenient to them. Texas Instrument has been using satellite-based and CBT for a long time. The firm's satellite broadcast links employees in countries all over the world, including Germany, Italy, France, England, Japan, and India. Boeing delivers interactive training to its 22,000 managers globally through a comm commun unic icat atio ion n servi service ce that that uses uses the the sate satellllit ite e broad broadcas castt techn technolo ology. gy. One One appl applic icat atio ion n of the the serv service ice was was a short short stra strate tegi gic c plan planni ning ng skill skills s cours course e for for employees in Boeing offices in US, Japan, Australia, and Western Europe. The course participants viewed the workshops on monitors in corporate conference
rooms as well as on large-screen video-projection equipment in auditoriums. The online training was supplemented with small-group work with a site facilitator, presentations via satellite from Boeing experts, workbook exercises, and audio interactio interaction n with instructors. instructors. Boeing reported savings of $ 9 million in travel costs alone. Table #5
Techniques of Training
Technique
Ice Breakers Leading Games Skill Games Comm Commun unic icat atio ion n Gam Games es Strategic planners Team bui buillding games mes Role reversal Doubling Tag Teams Mirroring Monodrama Shif Shifti ting ng physi physica call posi positi tion on Stru Struct ctur ured ed rol role pla playi ying ng Multiple role playing Built-in-tension Shadowing Outward bo bound training 9 + 1 + 23 Lateral Thinking Morp Morpho holo logi gica call Anal Analys ysis is Gordon Te Technique Attribute Li Listening Cros Crosss-Cu Cult ltur ural al Trai Traini ning ng
Description
Games to get team members know each other Exercise to each different styles of leadership Test to develop analytical skills Exer Exerci cise se to buil build d bia bias s fre free e lis liste teni ning ng and and tal talki king ng Games to test ability to plan ahead Exerc xerciise requ requiiring col collaborative effort Exercise to teach plurality of view Bring out the ideas that are not often expressed One role played alternately by two participant Training with external perspective Insight into a given interaction high highlilight ghtin ing g of of com commu muni nica cati tion on probl problem ems s Role Role play play wit with pre prede dete term rmin ined ed obje object ctiv ive e Providing a common focus of discussion Teaching the importance of resolving matter Working under a senior to watch and learn Adve dventure ure sp sports fo for te teams Self-assessment by a leader of leadership skills Thinking randomly to come up with new ideas List Listin ing g of alte altern rnat ativ ive e solu soluti tion on to prob proble lems ms Steering a discussion to to crystallize so solutions Isolation, se selection an and ev evaluation of of a problem Prog Progra ramm mmes es to tech tech spec specif ific ics s of of var varie ied d cul cultu ture res s
What should be the Level of Learning? The next question in designing training and development programme is to decide on the level of learning. As was pointed out earlier, the inputs passed on to trainees in training and development programmes are education, skills, and the like. In addition, there are three basic levels at which these inputs can be taught. At the lowest level, the employee or potential potential employee must acquire fundamental fundamental knowl knowled edge ge.. This This mean means s deve develo lopi ping ng a basi basic c unde underst rstan andi ding ng of a fiel field d and and becoming acquainted with the language, concepts and relationships involved in it. The goal of the next level is skills development, or acquiring the ability to perform in a particular skill area. The highest level aims at increased operational proficiency. This involves obtaining additional experience and improving skills that have already been developed.34 All the inputs of training can be offered at the three levels. How effectively they are learned depends on several principles of learning.
Learning Principles: Training Training and development development programmes are more likely to be effective when they incorporate the following principles of learning: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
Emplo Employe yee e motiv motivat atio ion, n, Recogn Recogniti ition on of individu individual al differ difference ences, s, Prac Practi tice ce oppo opport rtun unit itie ies, s, Rein Reinfo forc rcem emen ent, t, Knowle Knowledge dge of of result results s (feedb (feedback ack), ), Goals Sche Schedul dules es of of lear learni ning, ng, Mean Meanin ing g of mat mater eria ial, l, and and Tran Transf sfer er of of lea learni rning. ng.
Motivation to learn learn is the basic basic requisi requisite te to make make traini training ng and developme development nt
programmes effective. Motivation comes from awareness that training fetches some rise in status and pay. Motivation alone is not enough. The individual must have the abilit ability y to learn. learn. Abilit Ability y varies varies from from indivi individual dual to indivi individua duall and this this difference must be considered while organizing training programmes. Regardless of individual differences and whether a trainee is learning a new skill or acqu acquiri iring ng knowl knowled edge ge of a give given n topi topic, c, the the trai trainee nee shou should ld be give given n the the opportunity to practice what is being taught. Practice is also essential after the individual has been successfully trained. It is almost impossible impossible to find a professional professional cricket player who does not practice for several hours a day. Practice can be a form of positive reinforcement. Reinforcement may be understood as anything that (i) increases the strength of
response and (ii) tends to induce repetitions of the behavior that preceded the reinfo reinforcem rcement ent.. Distin Distincti ction on may be made made betwee between n positi positive ve reinfo reinforcem rcement ent and negative negative reinfo reinforcem rcement ent.. Positi Positive ve reinfo reinforcem rcement ent streng strengthe thens ns and increa increases ses behavio behaviorr by the presen presentat tation ion of desira desirable ble conseq consequen uences. ces. The reinfo reinforce rcemen mentt (event) consists of a positive experience for the individual. In more general terms, we often say that positive reinforcement consists of rewards for the individual and, when presented, contingent upon behavior, tends to increase the probability that the behavior will be repeated. For example, example, if an employee does something well and is complimented by the boss, the probability that the behavior will be repeated repeated will be strengthened. strengthened. In negative negative reinforceme reinforcement, nt, the individual exhibits the desired behavior to avoid something unpleasant. An example might by an employee who does something to avoid incurring a reprimand from his or her boss. If an employee who had the habit of coming late to work, assuming this as an unpleasant experience, the employee might begin to come on time to avoid criticism. Thus, the effect of negative reinforcement is avoidance of learning. Knowledge Knowledge of results is a necessary condition for learning. Feedback about the
performance will enable the learner to know where he or she stands and to initiate corrective action if any deviation from the expected goal has taken place.
There There are are cert certai ain n task tasks s for for whic which h such such feed feedbac back k is virt virtua ualllly y mand mandat ator ory y for for lear learni ning ng.. A cran crane e oper operat ator or,, for for exam exampl ple, e, woul would d have have trou troubl ble e lear learni ning ng to manipula manipulate te the contro controls ls withou withoutt knowing knowing how the crane crane respon responds ds to contro controll actions. Goal setting can also accelerate learning, particularly when it is accompanied by
knowledge of results. Individuals generally perform better and learn more quickly when they have have goals, goals, partic particula ularly rly if the goals goals are specif specific ic and reasona reasonably bly difficult. Goals that are too difficult or too easy have little motivational value.37 further, further, goals will have better motivational motivational value if the employee employee has a scope for participation in the goal-setting process. Probably one of the most well-established principles of learning is that distributed or spaced learning is superior to continuous learning. This is true for both simple laboratory tasks and for highly complex ones. Schedules of learning involve (i) duration of practice sessions, (ii) duration of rest
sessions, and (ill) positioning of rest pauses. All the three must be carefully planned and executed. A defi defini nitte rela relati tion onsh ship ip has has been been esta establ blis ishe hed d betw betwee een n lea learnin rning g and and meaningfulness of the subject learnt. The more meaningful the material, the better is the learning process. What is learnt in training must be transferred to the job. The traditional approach to transfer has been to maximize the identical elements between the training situation and the actual job. This may be possible for for trai traini ning ng skil skills ls such such as maint maintai aini ning ng a cash cash regi regist ster er,, but but not not for for teac teachi hing ng leadership or conceptual skills. Often, what is learned in a training session faces resis resista tance nce back back at the the job. job. Techn Techniq ique ues s for for over overco comin ming g resi resist stan ance ce incl include ude creat creating ing posi positi tive ve expe expecta ctati tion ons s on the the part part of trai traine nee' e's s supe supervi rviso sor, r, creat creatin ing g oppo opport rtuni uniti ties es to impl implem emen entt new new beha behavio viorr on the the job, job, and and ensur ensurin ing g that that the the behavior is reinforced when it occurs. Commitment from the top management to the training programme also helps in overcoming resistance to change. Though, it is desirable desirable that a training training and development development programme incorporates incorporates all these principles, seldom is such a combination effected in practice. Conduct Condu ct of Train Trainin ing: g: A fina finall cons consid ider erat atio ion n is whe where the the train rainin ing g and and development programme is to be conducted. Actually, the decision comes down to the following choices: 1. At the job itself 2. On site but not the job-for example, in a training room in the company 3. Off the site, such as in a university or college classroom, hotel, a resort, or a conference centres Typically, basic skills are taught at the job, and basic grammar skills are taught on the site. Much of interpersonal and conceptual skills are learnt off the site. Implementation of the Training Programme:
Once the training programme has been designed, it needs to be implemented. Implementation is beset with certain problems. In the first place, most managers are action-oriented and frequently say they are too busy to engage in training efforts. Secondly, availability of trainers is a problem. In addition to possessing communi communicat cation ion skills skills,, the traine trainers rs must must know know the company company's 's philos philosoph ophy, y, its objectives, its formal and informal organizations, and the goals of the training programme. Training and development requires a higher degree of creativity than, perhaps, any other personnel specialty. Sched Schedul ulin ing g trai traini ning ng arou around nd the the pres presen entt work work is anot anothe herr probl problem. em. How How to schedule schedule training without disrupting disrupting the regular regular work? There is also the problem of record keeping about the performance of a trainee during his or her training period. This information information may be useful useful to evaluate evaluate the progress progress of the trainee in the company. Programme implementation involves action on the following lines: 1. Deciding Deciding the locatio location n and organizing organizing training training and and other facilit facilities. ies. 2. Schedul Scheduling ing the trainin training g progra programme mme 3. Cond Conduct uctin ing g the prog progra ramm mme e 4. Monito Monitoring ring the the progres progress s of train trainees. ees. Evaluation of the Programme: The last stage in the training and development process is the evaluation of results (see Fig. #1). Since huge sums of money are spent on training and development, how far the programme has been useful must be judged/determined. Evaluation helps determine the results of the training and development development programme. In practice, practice, however, however, organization organizations s either either overlook overlook or lack facilities for evaluation. Need for Evaluation: The main objective of evaluating the training programmes is to determine if they are accomplishing specific training objectives, that are, correcting performance deficiencies. A second reason for evaluation is to ensure that any changes in trainee capabilities are due to the training programme and not due to any other conditions. Training programmes should be evaluated to determine their cost effectiveness. Evaluation is useful to explain programme failure, should finally, credibility of training and development is greatly enhanced when it is proved that the organization has benefited tangibly from it. Principles Principles of Evaluation: Evaluation: Evaluation Evaluation of the training programme must be based on the principles: 1. Eval Evalua uati tion on spec specia ialilist st must must be clea clearr abou aboutt the the goal goals s and and purpo purpose ses s of evaluation. 2. Evalua Evaluatio tion n must must be continu continuous. ous. 3. Evalua Evaluatio tion n must must be be speci specific fic.. 4. Evalua Evaluatio tion n must provide provide the means means and focus for traine trainers rs to be able able to appraise themselves, their practices, and their products. 5. Evaluation Evaluation must must be based based on objecti objective ve methods methods and standards. standards. 6. Real Realis isti tic c targ target et date dates s must must be set set for for each each phas phase e of the the eval evalua uati tion on process. A sense of urgency must be developed, but deadlines that are unreasonably high will result in poor evaluation
Criteria Criteria for Evaluat Evaluation: ion: The The last last colu column mn in Fig. Fig. 9.1 9.1 cont contai ains ns a numb number er of potential goals 1. Training validity : Did the trainees learn during training? 2. Transfer validity : What has been learnt in training, has it been transferred transferred on the job enhanced performance in the work organization? 3. Intra-organizational validity : Is performance of the new group of trainees, for which which the traini training ng program programme me was develo developed, ped, consis consisten tentt with with the performance of the original training group? 4. Inter-organizational validity : Can a training programme validated in one organization be used successfully in another organization? These questions often result in different evaluation techniques. Techniques Techniques of Evaluation: Evaluation: Several techniques of evaluation are being used in organiz organizati ation on may be stated stated that that the usefulnes usefulness s of the methods methods is inverse inversely ly proportional to the ease with which evaluation can c an be done. One approach towards evaluation is to use experimental and control groups. Each group is randomly randomly selected, one to receive receive training training (experimental) (experimental) and the other not to receive training (control). The random selection helps to assure the format formation ion of groups quite similar similar to each each other. other. Measures Measures are taken taken of the relevan relevantt indica indicato tors rs of succes success s (e.g. (e.g. words words typed typed per minute minute,, qualit quality y pieces pieces produced per hour, wires attached per minute) before and after training for both groups. If the gains demonstrated by the experimental groups are better than those by the control group, the training programme is labeled as successful. Ano Anoth ther er meth method od of trai traini ning ng eval evalua uati tion on invo involv lves es long longit itud udin inal al or time time-se -serie ries s analysis. Measures are taken before the programme begins and are continued during and after the programme is completed. These results are plotted on a graph to determine whether changes have occurred and remain as a result of the training effort. To further validate that change has occurred as a result of training and not due to some other variable, a control group may be included. One simple method of evaluation evaluation is to send a questionnaire questionnaire to the trainees trainees after the completion the programme to obtain their opinions about the programmes worth. Their opinions could through interviews. A variation of this method is to mea measure sure the know knowle ledg dge e and/ nd/or skil skills ls that that empl employ oyee ee poss posses ess s at the commencement and completion of a training. If the measurement reveals that the resul results ts afte afterr trai traini ning ng are are sati satisf sfac acto tory ry,, then then the the trai traini ning ng may may be take taken n as successful. In order to conduct a thorough evaluation of a training programme, it is important to assess the cost and benefits associated with the programme. This is a difficult task, task, but but is usef useful ul in convi convinci ncing ng the the mana manage geme ment nt abou aboutt the the usef usefuln ulnes ess s of training. Some of the costs that should be measured for a training programme include need needs s asse assess ssme ment nt cost cost,, sala salarie ries s of trai traini ning ng depa depart rtmen mentt staf staff, f, purch purchas ase e of
equipme equipment nt (comput (computers ers,, videos videos,, handout handouts), s), program programme me develo developmen pmentt costs, costs, evaluation costs, trainers' costs, rental facilities and trainee wages during the training period. The benefits to be compared with the cost are rupee payback associated with the improvement in trainees' performance, their behavioral change, and the longevity of the period during which the benefits would last Closed-loop System Referring to Figure #1, it may be observed that the model suggests that a training programme should be a closed-loop system in which the evaluation process provide provides s for contin continual ual modifi modificat cation ion of the program programme. me. The informa informatio tion n may become available at several stages in the evaluation process. For example, an effective monitoring programme might show that the training programme has not been implemented as originally planned. In other instances, different conclusions might be supported by comparing data obtained from the evaluation of training. In addition, even when the training programme achieves its stated objectives, there are always developments that can affect the programme, including the new training techniques or characteristics of trainees. Obviously, the development of training programme needs to be viewed as a continuously evolving process.
E-LEARNING E-learning refers to the use of Internet or an organizational intranet to conduct training on-line. E-learning is becoming increasingly popular because of the large number of employees, who need training. Take Wipro, for example, out of its 17,500 employees, 2,500 are on site and 15,000 employees are in off-shore centers at Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune and Delhi. How to organize training for all these? Wipro also has a policy of subjecting any employee for a two-week two-week training training every year. E-learning E-learning helps Wipro considerably. considerably. Similarly, Similarly, at Satyam nearly 80% of the 9,000 employees are logged into the in-house learning management system for various courses. Infosys has almost 10% of its total training through e-Learning. E-learning has come a long way from its early days when it was used extensively for technical technical education such as learning new languages and familiariza familiarization tion with new technologies. Today, firms are introducing soft skill modules as well. Satyam uses e-learning modules on management provided by Harvard Manage Mentor Plus Plus.. Saty Satyam am has has even even tied tied up with with Univ Univer ersi sita tas s 21-a 21-a cons consor orti tium um of 16 international universities and Thomson learning-for an on-line MBA. It is not that e-learning replaces traditional training system. In fact, e-learning becomes more effective when blended with traditional learning methods. Many firms use e-Learning as a prerequisite before classroom training popularly called blended training, a combination of electric learning with classroom approach.
Routine training such as orientation, safety and regulation compliance is best handled in classrooms. Learning that requires discussion, tutoring and team-work can go on-line, though it might also stay in the classroom. Requisites for E-Learning: E-Learning : E-Learning does not simply mean putting existing courses and materials on a website. Following requisites need to be provided before launching learning on-line: Sufficient top management support and funding needs to be committed to develop and implement e-Learning Managers and HR professionals need to be "retrained" to accept the idea that training is being decentralized and individualized. Current training methods (compared to e-Learning) are not adequately meeting organizational training needs. Potential learners are adequately computer literate and have ready access to computers and the Internet Sufficient number of learners exists and many of them are self-motivated to direct their own learning. •
•
•
•
•
Advantages and Disadvantages of E-Learning : E-Learning is advantageous in as much as it is self-paced, allows for consistency and incorporates built-in guidance and help. There are problems nevertheless. E-Learning tends to cause trai traine nee e anxi anxiet ety, y, as many many may may not not be read ready y to acce accept pt or have have acce access ss to computers computers and Internet. Internet. Table #6 brings out the advantages advantages and disadvantage disadvantages s more comprehensively. Table #6 Advantages and Disadvantages of E-Learning Advantages
It is self self pace paced. d. Trai Trainee nees s can can proceed on their own time It is interactive, tapping multiple trainee senses All Allow ows s for for consi consist sten ency cy in the the delivery of training •
•
•
Enables scoring of services/assessments and appropriate feedback Incorpo Incorporat rates es builtbuilt-in in guidan guidance ce and helps for trainees to use when needed It is relatively easy for trainers to update content Can be used to enhance instructor-led training •
•
•
•
Disadvantages •
May cause trainee anxiety
Not all trainees may be ready for e-Learning Not all trainees may have easy and uninterrupted access to computers Not appropr appropriat iate e for all traini training ng conten contentt (e.g. (e.g. leader leadership ship,, cultur cultural al change) Requires significant upfront 'cost and investment •
•
•
•
No significantly greater learning evidenced in research studies Requires significant top management support to be successful •
•
Success Factors It is worth pointing out that organizations using e-Learning exhibit a number of common success factors: Cultural change has taken place about how training and learning happens and is delivered; E-Learning is closely aligned to the needs of the business; E-Le E-Lear arnin ning g is clos closel ely y "ble "blende nded" d" with with othe otherr type types s of trai trainin ning g such such as classroom activities and is not used to wholly replace other activities; Lear Learni ning ng need needs s that that drive drive the the techn technol olog ogy y rath rather er than than the the othe otherr way way around; E-Lear E-Learning ning has ongoin ongoing g suppor supportt from from a senior senior level level and is markete marketed d effectively throughout the organization; A range range of peop people le with with diff differ erent ent skill skills s are are invo involv lved ed,, incl includ udin ing g expe expert rt traine trainers, rs, facili facilitat tators, ors, champio champions ns of e-Lear e-Learning ning and specia specialis listt web and graphic designers •
• •
•
•
•
IMPEDIMENTS TO EFFECTIVE TRAINING There are many impediments impediments which can make a training programme ineffective. ineffective. Following are the major hindrances: Management Commitment is Lacking and Uneven Most companies do not
spend money on training. Those that do, tend to concentrate on managers, technicians technicians and professional professionals. s. The rank-and-file rank-and-file workers are ignored. ignored. This must chang change, e, for, for, as a resul resultt of rapid rapid techn technol olog ogic ical al change change,, comb combin ined ed with with new new approaches to organizational design and production management, workers are required to learn three types of new skills: (i) the ability to use technology, (ii) the ability to maintain it, and (ill) the ability to diagnose system problems. In an increasingly competitive environment, the ability to implement rapid changes in products and technologies is often essential for economic viability Aggregate Spending on Training is Inadequate Companies Companies spend minuscule minuscule
proportions of their revenues on training. Worse still, budget allocation to training is the first item to be cut when a company faces a financial crunch. Educational Institutions Award Degrees but Graduates Lack Skills This is the
reason why business must spend vast sums of money to train workers in basic skills. Organizations also need to train employees in multiple skills. Managers, particul particularl arly y at the middle middle level, level, need need to be retrain retrained ed in team-pl team-playi aying ng skills, skills, entrepreneurship skills, leadership skills and customer-orientation skills. Large-sc Large-scale ale Poachin Poaching g of Trained Trained Workers Workers Trai Traine ned d workf workfor orce ce is in grea greatt
demand. Unlike Germany, where local business groups pressure companies not to poach on another company's employees, there is no such system in our country. country. Companies in our country, however, however, insist on employees to sign 'bonds of tenure' before sending them for training, particularly before deputing them to unde undergo rgo trai traini ning ng in forei foreign gn coun countr trie ies. s. Such Such bond bonds s are are not not effe effect ctive ive as the the emplo employe yees es or the the poac poache hers rs are are prep prepare ared d to pay pay the the stip stipula ulate ted d amou amount nts s as compensation when the bonds are breached.
No Help to Workers Workers Displace Displaced d because because of Downsi Downsizing zing Organizatio Organizations ns are
downsizing and de-layering in order to trim their workforces. The government should set apart certain fund from the National Renewal Fund for the purpose of retraining and rehabilitating displaced workers. Employers and B Schools Must Develop Closer Ties B Schools are often seen
as: as: resp respo ondin nding g to Labou abourr-ma mark rket et dema demand nds. s. Busi Busine ness ss is seen seen as not not communicating its demands to B Schools. This must change. Businessmen must sit with with Dean Deans s and and struc structu ture re the the cours courses es that that woul would d serv serve e the the purpo purpose se of business better. Organiz Organized ed Labour Labour can Help Orga Organi nize zed d Labou Labourr can can play playa a posi positi tive ve role role in
imparting imparting training workers. workers. Major trade unions in our country country seem to be busy in attending to mundane issues such bonus, wage revision, settlement of disputes, and the like. They have little time in imparting training to their members. HOW TO MAKE TRAINING EFFECTIVE? Action on the following lines needs to be initiated to make training practice effective: 1. Ensure Ensure that the manageme management nt commits commits itself itself to allocat allocate e major major resources resources and adequate time to training. This is what high-performing organizations do. For example, Xerox Corporation, in the US invests about $ 300 million annu annual ally ly,, or abou aboutt 2.5 2.5 per per cent cent of its its reve revenu nue e on trai traini ning. ng. Simi Simila larl rly, y, Hewlett-Pac Hewlett-Packard kard spends about five per cent of its annual revenue revenue to train its 87.OC: workers. 2. Ensur Ensure e that that trai traini ning ng cont contri ribut butes es to compe competi titi tive ve stra strate tegi gies es of the the firm. firm. Different strategies need different HR skills for implementation. Let training help employees at all levels acquire the needed skills. 3. Ensure that that a comprehens comprehensive ive and systemat systematic ic approach approach to training training exists, exists, and training and retraining are done at all levels on a continuous and ongoing basis. 4. Make Make lear learni ning ng one one of the fund fundame ament ntal al values values of the compan company. y. Let this this philosophy percolate down to all employees in the organization. 5. Ensure that that there there is proper proper linkage linkage among organizat organizational, ional, operati operational onal and individual training needs. 6. Create Create a system system to evaluate evaluate the effecti effectivene veness ss of trainin training. g. (Evaluat (Evaluation ion of training has been discussed above.)
Newspaper Article on Training & Development On August 4th 2006
Finance and marketing are passé -the function that really rocks India Inc is training. Corporate Dossier takes you deep inside the massive in-house training departments created by knowledge corporates, to find how they are powering their growth Training fires the corporate engine At the SEEPZ, Andheri , office of TCS in Mumbai, Dilip Kumar Mohapatra, 56, glob global al head head for for lear learni ning ng and and deve develo lopm pmen entt , is occu occupi pied ed thes these e days days with with
something very unusual for people his age — computer games. Okay, we’re exaggerating. Mohapatra’s team is actually developing an online game that will be part of the induction kit for new hires, and will familiarise TCS inductees around the world — Buffalo, New York to Hangzhou, China — with the culture of the company. “The challenge is to get everyone on to the common global TCS culture,” says Mohapatra. To get a sense of this challenge, consider that the software major’s workforce across 34 countries adds up to 71,200 people from 53 nationalities. And with 2,500 new people being recruited every month, training has to find creative ways to keep pace. Up north in Gurgaon, BPO player IBM Daksh is taking training equally seriously — its trainin training g group group is christe christened ned the Talent Talent Transf Transforma ormatio tion n Busine Business ss Unit Unit (TTBU, and is run like a separate business with its own finance controller , quality head, an administra administration tion and transport transport wing, and a dedicated dedicated HR representativ representative. e. It is even held accountable for output measures of its trainees, such as voice quality, rejection rates, cost of delivery and customer satisfaction metrics. “We believe that training is the most important lever to deliver high quality talent, with a direct impact on client satisfaction. That explains our disproportionate focus on this function,” says Pavan Vaish, COO, IBM Daksh. While TCS and IBM Daksh are not the only ones — others like Infosys, Wipro, Genpact and ICICI Bank, face similar challenges of hiring and training people on a larg large e scal scale e — they they are are perf perfec ectt exam exampl ples es of how how the the in-h in-hou ouse se trai traini ning ng department has become crucial, in fact, core to the growth and success of India’s new age behemoths. And it shows in the investments being made by these companies into training infrastructure and resources. Infosys has a staggering $125 million annual outlay for training and development, while TCS too invests a comparable figure on training. training. Accenture’s Accenture’s global global spends on training training and development development has been $546 million (for September-August 2005).
Need of the Hour
In the knowledge economy, it’s no longer enough to put your employees through the occasional training module a few times a year. Companies looking to operate and compete in a global market need to constantly skill and reskill their people, and training is becoming a 24/7/365 affair, cutting across geographies and time restrictions. To deliver this training on this scale and frequency, technology is key — media-r media-rich ich conten content, t, video-o video-on-de n-demand mand,, chat chat and online online self-t self-tuto utoria rials ls have ensured that most of the learning for employees takes place at the place, and time, of their convenience. convenience. “Technology has made training asynchronous,” asynchronous,” says TV Mohandas Pai, director HR, Infosys, where 30% of training is now IT enabled. For ICICI Bank’s 27,800 employees — a bulk of them at the operational level — e-learning is a way of life when it comes to skill up gradation. “For us the classroom is the most inefficient way (to train),” says HR head K Ramkumar, whose whose traini training ng team team conduct conducts s 190 e-learni e-learning ng program programmes mes annual annually. ly. What’s What’s interesting interesting is that by bringing bringing in the convenience of anytime, anywhere learning, comp compan anie ies s have have mana manage ged d to put put the the some some of the the onus onus of lear learni ning ng onto onto employees. This is further re-inforced by linking training hours completed, to the individual’s overall performance score. “The responsibility of gaining competency has been shifted to the learner, since competencies are now closely aligned with appraisals,” says MP Ravindra, VP- Education & Research, and Infosys. But nowhere does training assume greater importance than in the BPO industry. With With thou thousa sands nds of fres fresh h gradua graduate tes s hand handliling ng custo custome merr quer querie ies, s, there there’s ’s an ongoing need to equip them with the necessary necessary soft and specialized specialized skills. skills. Says Aashu Calapa, executive VP, HR at ICICI One-Source, “40% of our recruits are fresh graduates, and with most jobs being customer-facing ones, clients are paranoid about the quality of people we employ.” Periodic and, often, frequent changes changes in the global global busine business ss environm environment ent,, have have put greate greaterr pressur pressure e on training departments to bring employees up to speed on the latest rules and regulations in their clients’ industries. Calapa recalls that OneSource associates were once required to write two tests for a UK-based client — one on the data protection act and other on the money laundering act, and to pass they had to score 18 out of 20 points.
Also, with BPO companies looking to move up the value chain, people need to be coached in new skills. “Traditional training was just about behavioral and techni technical cal traini training, ng,”” says says Rahul Rahul Varma, Varma, head head HR (India (India), ), Accent Accenture ure.. “Now, “Now, it includes cultural and value training, understanding your own as well as your clients’ organization, as well as the industry in which one is working. There is also a need to get people ready for potential jobs that we may want them to take up.” Changing From the Inside-Out The really big shift, of course, is that from being a HR support function, training has moved on to becoming an independent entity within the organization. “Our suppl supply y chain chain is miss missio ion n crit critic ical al to us,” us,” says says Piyus Piyush h Meht Mehta, a, seni senior or VPHR VPHR , Genpact. “When you keep training as part of HR, it gets buried. To give it the importance of an independent function, we treat it as one.” And it shows — last year, Genpact spent close to $8 million on training, and has 313 trainers along with 70 part-time specialists who also conduct domain-specific training for its 25,000-strong workforce across the world. Monitoring of training quality is just as important. IBM Daksh has been working with with IBM’ IBM’s s resea research rch labs labs to deve develo lop p a tool tool call called ed Sense Sensei, i, a perf perfor orma mance nce evaluation evaluation grid that assesses voice quality and generates generates a statistica statisticall score. It’s being tested and will be rolled out later this year. Lyndon J D’Silva , VP, Talent Transformation Business Unit, IBM Daksh, says, “We believe the only way to produce quality output is to quantify it.” It also has eight people dedicated to R&D in training, who conduct research and refine training methods, after feedback from trainers and business units. With scalability becoming an problem, D’Silva believes technology will increasingly be training’s best bet. Rapid scaling up in IT and ITES companies is also putting pressure on the training machinery, and like most other business functions, training is faced with a tale talent nt shor shorta tage ge.. “Tra “Train iner ers s are are defi defini nite tely ly scar scarce ce — in numb number ers, s, and and in capabilities,” says Varma. While many companies are outsourcing part of their requirement requirement of trainers, trainers, others believe believe in growing them internally, internally, since the best
trainers trainers are line managers managers and executives executives who have spent time and understand the business first hand. Runaway Train Accenture follows what it calls a ‘leaders teaching leaders’ approach for technical trai traini ning, ng, whil while e cross cross-cu -cult ltura urall and and comm commun unica icati tion on trai traini ning ng is outs outsou ource rced d to vendors. At ICICI Bank, senior executives are required to spend time training others, others, and this helps decide whether they get on the ‘Leadership ‘Leadership Talent List’ of potent potential ial fast fast tracker trackers. s. Infosy Infosys s links links traini training ng to indivi individua duals’ ls’ perform performance ance.. Trainers are also required to keep updating their skills and knowledge, and most companies have structured ‘train-the-trainers’ programmes in place. Having a global presence helps in leveraging training resources and sharing expertise acro across ss cont contin inen ents ts.. TCS TCS rota rotate tes s its its trai trainin ning g facul faculty ty betw betwee een n the the Indi Indian an and and overseas locations, and even brings down people from other countries here. “This way, cross-culturalisation happens better,” says Mohapatra. New Challenges It’s clear that the quality of the internal training capability will be among a key driver of business success in the future. Not surprisingly, investment in training infrastructure is a priority for most HR heads and CEOs, and coping with scale is a big issue. “Expanding the talent pool, managing incidental changes in the training modules and scalability are the challenges the training department faces toda today,” y,” says says Ravi Ravind ndra ra.. Expa Expandi nding ng inte interna rnall reso resourc urces es is one one way. way. Buil Buildi ding ng external partnerships with educational institutions is another — so companies like TCS, Infosys, and Accenture have been developing joint programmes for training people at these institutions before they join the company. TCS runs an Academic Interface initiative, wherein its own faculty teaches at academic institutes, and this helps in better branding for the company, as well. Mohapatra lists globalization and M&As as the two biggest tests of his training department’s effectiveness in the future — in terms of integrating a globally diverse workforce into a single platform, and ensuring a seamless merger of cultures during acquisitions . The existing model of training also needs to adapt with changing business needs from time to time. For instance, TCS’s Learning & Development Development group is currently currently working on a project project (codenamed (codenamed Pygmalion) to deve develo lop p trai traini ning ng progr program amme mes s and and tool tools s for for a new new cadre cadre of peop people le that that the the company has never hired before — plain graduates. For others like ICICI Bank, who’re in the retail banking and finance business, the challenge is in extending the in-house training capabilities to a larger pool of Direct Sales Associates (DSAs) outside the company and make them compatible with the company culture. Ramkumar says work is on for a certification process whereby outside partners will be remunerated according to their assessment scores after training.
BPO firms firms like like ICICI ICICI One-So One-Source urce have have mooted mooted the Nationa Nationall Assessme Assessment nt of Competence Competence (NAC) programme, programme, a joint certification certification and assesment assesment programme programme with Nasscom to expand the employable employable talent base for the industry. If it works, this initiative could enable training departments to focus on building higher end competencies in fresh inductees from day one. “We’re clear that training is one of the pillars that we’re going to build our future on,” says Calapa.
On July 31st 2006
Infosys plans largest training centre… Infosys to set up world's largest l argest training hub… MYSORE: Software major Infosys plans to invest Rs.809 crores ($176 million) on expanding expanding its global global education education centre in the next one year, company executives executives said. Over the next one year, the NASDAQ-liste NASDAQ-listed d firm planned to set up a new 9,000seat training facility here, which would enable training of 13,500 individuals in a single sitting, they said. An additional 7,750 hostel rooms were under construction, making it a total of 10,000 rooms. "When fully completed it will house five food courts, one employee care centre, one multimedia centre making it undoubtedly the largest training facility in the world," an official said.
The company's Mysore campus is spread over 335 acres and it currently has 6,378 employees. employees. It has three million square feet of built up area, and work is in progress to build another 3.2 million square feet. Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Monday inaugurated the company's fourth software development block here, set up with an investment of Rs.85 crores. It can seat 2,500 people.
Daily News & Analysis
Online learning gets a thumbs-up from corporates On August 16th 2006 BANGALORE: Indian software service firms spend six to eight weeks in training fresh recruits before deploying them on projects. With more projects on hand and hirin hiring g in thou thousa sands nds,, soft softwa ware re compa compani nies es are are look lookin ing g at inno innova vati tive ve ways ways to maximize the productivity of their employees and ensure faster deployment. Now, online learning companies are focusing on building content that aims to help IT firms save training time and costs on employees. “The speed at which technology firms can develop, modify and deploy the elearning content is the key parameters for improving quality of the employee talent,” Sanjeev Fadnavis, associate vice-president, business development, at Harbinger Knowledge Products told DNA Money.
According to analysts, the Indian corporate e-learning market is estimated at $10-20 million with a potential to grow at 150%. The technology sector has been among the early adopters of online education, with its focus on constant training of employees and using learning as a retention tool tool.. In orde orderr to capt capture ure this this huge huge segme segment nt,, seve severa rall play player ers s are are buil buildi ding ng specialized tailor-made e-learning courses for tech firms in the country. Bangalore-based Liqwid Krystal, for example, has designed a solution that allows aspirants for software jobs to write a programme in an online test and assess their capability of building codes, unlike the traditional theory-based tests. “The proficiency of the candidate on various programmes could be assessed better,” Liqwid Krystal CEO Anand Adkoli said. Liqwid Krystal has tied up with Viswesvaraya Technical University in Karnataka and Andhra University in the neighboring state to train over 90,000 engineering students through the module, including in business and soft skills. “It “It is impo import rtan antt for for know knowle ledg dgee-dr driv iven en comp compan anie ies s to deve develo lop p and and prot protec ectt intellectual property, which provides competitive and business advantage. The learning should be constant,” Brain League chief knowledge officer Kalyan C Kankanala said. Brainleague and Edutech have joined hands to provide e-learning on intellectual property rights with a focus on research units across the country. But there is a word of caution for firms that adopt e-learning without a clear focus on their business. “E-learning can also be a disaster if it is not managed correctly. It is not a panacea; it is a means to an end. To be successful, online learning has to have the the righ rightt fit fit with with the the orga organi niza zati tion on.. It shou should ld not not be chos chosen en beca becaus use e it is fashionable,” Nasscom has said.
On August 9th 2006 Most agencies have developed their own training methods tailored to suit the nature of their work. GroupM has an internal training department called Aspire MGuruKool, which prepares modules to hone functional and managerial skills. “Our training programmes encompass strategizing, planning and buying, and help develop work and soft skills, in addition to competency-based training, which involve involves s unders understan tanding ding the media media busine business,” ss,” informs informs Rashmi Rashmi Deshpa Deshpande nde of Group M.
Agencies generally rope in internal and external faculties (from India and abroad) for training. “Most faculties are specialized and bring to the table expertise in a particular area. So, for planning planning and strategizin strategizing, g, we may call someone from HLL, while for soft skills we may bring someone from IIM – Bangalore,” says Deshpande. JWT conduct conducts s functi functiona onall worksho workshops ps for senior senior-lev -level el staff staff,, level-w level-wise ise worksho workshops ps to upgrade upgrade skills skills and middle middle-man -manage agemen mentt worksho workshops. ps. “These “These worksho workshops ps see lectures, brainstorming and a time-bound deliverable action plan,” says Sapna Srivastava. Ashish Bhasin informs that a team of four from the US and the UK recently trained 25 people in Lintas India on the Worldwide Planning Tool Kit. These 25 people will, in turn, train others to bring about a cascading effect. “We are getting the best practices when required, and at the same time exporting knowledge. A lot of fresh knowledge knowledge is created in India in areas like rural marketing, design, design, etc that we are ready to export,” says Bhasin. Lintas, meanwhile, has set up its own own Nort Northh-po poin intt Cent Centre re of lear learni ning ng to empo empowe werr mana manage gers rs with with upda update ted d knowledge and decision-making skills. Some of these programmes are often modeled on those developed by parent compani companies. es. Says Says Deshpa Deshpande nde:: “All “All media media compan companies ies under under WPP exchang exchange e training programmes on modules, content, role etc. We sometimes adapt and sometimes share best practices with others.” For its part, O&M has an HR and Training leadership group in Asia Pacific that plans regional programmes and oversees training plans. Young talent is given more opportunity to grow as well. O&M nominates those who have worked for 3-4 years for the regional programme ‘Adopt a Country’, which is held thrice a year across different Asia-Pacific centres. A buddy is chosen and the two buddies get an opportunity to visit each other’s country. The programme is intended to help youngsters build networks across different regions, work on projects together and develop a sense of belonging. GroupM has a programme called Fast Trackers for young achievers, where youngsters are put through a lot more grind in terms of opportunities, sent to different regions, allowed to work with bigger clients and groomed to take on additional responsibilities. Lowe sends two people, typically one planner and one creative or servicing person, for its ‘global young achiever’ forum, which is held once a year. High fliers and the crème de la crème of the talent pool can also look forward to attending special workshops. JWT nominates its top-level staff (those identified to head offices) for its international programme ‘Sam Meek’, and introduced a top achiever’s programme in December 2005.
O&M sends its senior staff for the regional senior management development programme (SMDP), a five-module programme spread over 15 months. And Lowe has introduced programmes like ‘media training for non-media’, ‘IMAG Training for non-IMAG’ and ‘advertising workshop for non-advertising’.
Case Study: Article Training Employees of IBM through E-Learning “E-learning is a technology area that often has both first-tier benefits, such as reduced reduced travel travel costs, costs, and secondsecond-tie tierr benefi benefits, ts, such such as increa increased sed employ employee ee performance that directly impacts profitability." - Rebecc Rebecca a Wettem Wettemann ann,, resear research ch direc director tor for for Nucl Nucleus eus Rese Researc arch h
In 2002, 2002, the Interna Internatio tional nal Busine Business ss Machin Machines es Corpor Corporati ation on (IBM) (IBM) was ranked ranked fourt fourth h by the the Traini Training ng maga magazi zine ne on it’s it’s “The “The 2002 2002 Train Training ing Top Top 100”. 100”. The The magazin magazine e ranked ranked compani companies es based based on their their commit commitmen mentt toward towards s workfo workforce rce development and training imparted to employees even during periods of financial uncertainty. Since its inception, IBM had been focusing on human resources development: The company concentrated on the education and training of its employees as an integral part of their development. During the mid 1990s, IBM reportedly spent about $1 billion for training its employees. However, in the late 1990s, IBM undertook a cost cutting drive, and started looking for ways to train its employees effectively at lower Costs. After considerable research, in 1999, IBM decided to use e-Learning to train its employees. Initially, e-Learning was used to train IBM's newly recruited managers.
IBM saved saved millio millions ns of dollar dollars s by traini training ng employ employees ees through through e-lear e-learning ning.. ELear Learni ning ng also also crea create ted d a bett better er lear learni ning ng envi enviro ronm nmen entt for for the the comp compan any' y's s emplo employe yees es,, compa compare red d to the the trad tradit itio iona nall trai trainin ning g meth method ods. s. The The comp compan any y reporte reportedly dly saved saved about about $166 millio million n within within one year year of implem implement enting ing the elearning learning program for training training its employees all over the world. world. The figure rose to $350 million in 2001. During this year, IBM reported a return on investment (ROI)’s of 2284 percent from its Basic Blue e-Learning program. This was mainly due to the significant reduction in the company's training costs and positive resul results ts reap reaped ed from from e-lea e-learni rning ng.. Andre Andrew w Sadl Sadler er,, dire direct ctor or of IBM IBM Mind Mindsp span an Solu Soluti tion ons, s, expl explai aine ned d the the bene benefi fits ts of e-le e-lear arni ning ng to IBM, IBM, "All "All meas measure ures s of effectivene effectiveness ss went up. It's saving money and delivering delivering more effective effective training,' training,' while at the same time providing providing five times more content than before." before." By 2002, IBM had emerged as the company with the largest number of employee's who have enrolled into e-Learning courses. However, a section of analysts and some managers at IBM felt that e-Learning would never be able to' replace the traditional modes of training completely. Rick Horton, general manager of learning services at IBM, said, "The classroom is still the best in a high-technology environment, which requires hands-on laboratories and teaming, or a situation where it .is important for the group to be together to take advantage of the equipment." Though there were varied opinions about the effectiveness of e-Learning as a training tool for employees, IBM saw it as a major business opportunity and starte started d offeri offering ng e-learn e-learning ing product products s to other other organi organizat zations ions as well. well. Analys Analysts ts estimated that the market for e-Learning programs would grow from $2.1 billion in 2001 to $33.6 billion in 2005 representing a 100 percent compounded annual growth rate (CAGR). BACKGROUND NOTE Sinc Since e the the ince incept ptio ion n of IBM, IBM, its its top top mana manage geme ment nt laid laid grea greatt emph emphas asis is on respe respect cting ing ever every y empl employ oyee ee.. It felt felt that that ever every y emplo employee yee's 's cont contri ribut butio ion n was was important for the organization. Thomas J. Watson Sr. (Watson Sr.), the father of modern IBM had once said, "By the simple belief that if we respected our people and helped them respect themselves, the company would certainly profit." The HR policies at IBM were employee-friendly. Employees were compensated well as they were paid above the industry industry average. in terms of wages. The company followed a 'no layoffs' policy. Even during financially troubled periods, employees were relocated from the plants, labs and headquarters, and were retrained for careers in sales, customer engineering, field administration and programming. IBM had emphasized on training its employees from the very beginning. In 1933 (after 15 years of its inception), the construction of the 'IBM Schoolhouse' to offer education education and training training for employees, employees, was completed. The building building had Watson Sr.'s 'Five Steps of Knowledge' carved on the front entrance. The five steps included 'Read, Listen, Discuss, Observe and Think.' Managers were trained at the school at regular intervals.
To widen their knowledge knowledge base and broaden their perspectives, perspectives, managers managers were also sent for educational programs to Harvard, the London School of Economics, MIT and Stanford. Those who excelled in these programs were sent to the Advanced Advanced Managers School, a program offered offered in about forty colleges colleges including some in Harvard, Columbia, Virginia, Georgia and Indiana. IBM's highest-ranking exec execut utive ives s were were sent sent to exec execut utiv ive e semin seminar ars, s, orga organi nize zed d at the the Brook Brookin ings gs Institutions this program typically covered a broad range of subjects including, international and domestic, political and econQll1ic affairs. IBM executives were exposed to topical events with a special emphasis on their implications for the company. In 1997, Louis Gerstner (Gerstner), (Gerstner), the then CEO of IBM, conducted conducted a research research to identi identify fy the unique unique charact characteri eristi stics cs of best best execut executive ives s and managers managers.. The research revealed that the ability to train employees was an essential skill, which differ different entiat iated ed best execut executive ives s and managers managers.. Theref Therefore ore,, Gerstn Gerstner er aimed aimed at impr improv ovin ing g the the mana manage gers rs'' trai traini ning ng skil skills ls.. Gers Gerstn tner er adop adopte ted d a coac coachi hing ng methodology of Sir John Whitmore, which was taught to the managers through training workshops. However, after some time, Gerstner realized that the training workshops were not enough. Moreover, these workshops were not 'just-in-time.' Managers had to wait for months before their turn of attending the work shops came. Therefore, in most of the cases, during the initial weeks at the job, the employees did not possess the knowledge of critical aspects like team building. IBM trained about 5000 new managers in a year. There was a five-day training program for all the new managers, where they were familiarized with the basic culture, strategy and management of IBM. However, as the jobs became more complex, the five-day program turned out to be insufficient for the managers to train train them them effect effective ively. ly. The company company felt felt that that the training training proces process s had to be continuous and not a one-time event. Gerstner thus started looking for new ways of training managers. The company specifically wanted its management training initiatives to address the following issues: Management of people across geographic borders Management of remote and mobile employees Digital collaboration issues Reductions in management development resources Limited management time for training and development Management's low comfort level in accessing and searching online HR resources The company required a continuous training program, without the costs and time associated with bringing together 5000 managers from all over the world. After conducting conducting a research, research, IBM felt that online training training would be an ideal solution to this problem. The company planned to utilize the services of IBM Mindspan • • • • • •
Solutions to design and support the company's manager training program. This was IBM's first e-learning project on international training. ONLINE TRAINING @ IBM In 1999, IBM launched the pilot Basic Blue management training program, which was fully deployed in 2000. Basic Blue was an in-house management training program for new managers. It imparted 75 percent of the training online online and the remaining 25 percent through the traditional classroom mode. The e-Learning part included articles, simulations, job aids and short courses. The founding principle of Basic Blue was that 'learning is an extended process, not a one-time event." Basic Blue was based on a '4- Tier' blended learning model'. The first three tiers were delivered online and the fourth tier included oneweek long traditional classroom training. The program offered basic skills and knowledge to managers so that they can become effective leaders and peopleoriented managers. The managers were provided access to a lot of information including a database of questions, answers and sample scenarios called Manager QuickViews. This information addressed the issues like evaluation, retention, and conflict resolution and so on, which managers came across. A manager who faced a problem could either access the relevant topic directly, or find the relevant information using a search engine. He/she had direct access to materials on the computer’s desktop for online reading. The material also highlighted other important web sites to be browsed for further information. IBM believed that its managers should be aware of practices practices and policies policies followed in different different countries. Hence, the groups were foremen virtually by videoconferencing with team members from all over the world," In the second tier, the managers were provided with simulated situations. Senior managers trained the managers online. The simulations enabled the managers to learn about employee skill-building, compensation and benefits, multicultural issues, work/life balance- issues and business conduct in an interactive manner. Some of the content for [his tier was offered by Harvard Business School and the simulations were created by Cognitive Arts of Chicago. The online Coaching Simulator offered eight scenarios with 5000 scenes of action, decision points and branchin branching g result results. s. IBM Manage Management ment Develo Developmen pment's t's web site, site, Going Going Global Global offered as many as 300 interactive scenarios on culture clashes. In the third tier, the members of the group started interacting with each other online. This tier used IBM's collaboration tools such as chats, and team rooms including IBM e-Learning products like the Team-Room, Customer-Room and Lotus Learning Space. Using these tools, employees could interact online with the instructors as well as with peers in their groups. This tier also used virtual team exercises and included advanced technologies like application sharing, live virtual virtual classro classrooms oms and intera interacti ctive ve present presentati ation: on: on the web. web. In this this tier, tier, the members of the group had to solve problems as a team by forming virtual
groups, using these products. Hence, this tier focused more on developing the collaborative skills of the learners. Though Though traini training ng through through e-Learni e-Learning ng was very success successful ful,, IBM believ believed ed that that classroom training was also essential to develop people skills. Therefore, the fourth tier comprised a classroom training program, own as 'Learning Lab.' By the time time the the mana manage gers rs reac reache hed d this this tire tire,, they they all all reac reache hed d a simi simila larr leve levell of knowledge by mastering the content in the first three tiers. Managers had to pass an online test on the content provided in the above three tiers, before entering the fourth tier. In the fourth tier, the managers had to master the information acquired in the above three tiers and develop a deeper understanding and a broader skills set. There were no lectures in these sessions, and the managers had to learn by doing and by coordinating directly with others in the classroom. The tremendous success of the Basic Blue initiative encouraged IBM to extend training through e-Learning to its-sales personnel and experienced managers as well. well. The e-Learning e-Learning program program for the sales sales person personnel nel was known as 'Sales 'Sales Compass,' and the one for the experienced managers, as 'Managing@ IBM.' Prior to the implementation of the Sales Compass e-Learning program, the sales personnel underwent live training at the company's headquarters and training campuses. They also attended field training program, national sales conferences and other traditional methods of training. However, in most of the cases these methods proved too expensive, ineffective and time-consuming. Apart from this, coordination problems also cropped up, as the sales team was spread across the world. Moreover, in a highly competitive market, IBM could not afford to keep its sales team away from work for weeks together. Though Sales Compass was originally started in 1997 on a trial basis to help the sale sales s team team in sell sellin ing g busi busine ness ss inte intellllig igen ence ce solu soluti tion ons s to the the reta retailil and and manufacturing industries, it-was not implemented on a large scale. But with the success of Basic Blue, Sales Compass was developed further. The content of the new Sales Compass was divided divided into five categories categories including Solutions Solutions (13 courses), industries (23 courses), personal skills (2 courses), selling skills (11 courses), and tools and job aid (4 aids). The sales personnel of IBM across the globe could use the information from their desktops using a web browser. Sales Compass provided critical information to the sales personnel helping them to understand various industries (including automotive, banking, government, insurance etc) in a much better manner. The infor informa mati tion on offe offere red d incl includ uded ed indus industr try y snap snapsho shot, t, indust industry ry tren trends, ds, marke markett segment segmentati ation, on, key proces processes ses,, positi positioni oning ng and sellin selling g indust industry ry soluti solutions ons and identifying resources. It also also enab enable led d the the sale sales s peop people le to sell sell certa certain in IBM IBM produc products ts desi designe gned d for for Custome Customerr Relati Relations onship hip Manage Managemen mentt (CRM), (CRM), Enterpr Enterprise ise Resour Resource ce Planni Planning ng (ERP), Business Intelligence (BI), and so on. Sales Compass also trained the sales personnel on skills like negotiating and selling services. Like the Basic Blue program, Sales Compass also had simulations for selling products to a specific
industry like banking, about how to close a deal, and so on. It also allowed its users to ask questions and had links to information on other IBM sites and related websites. Sales Compass was offered to 20,000 sales representatives, client relationship repre represen senta tati tive ves, s, terri territo tory ry repre represe senta ntati tive ves, s, sale sales s spec specia ialilist sts, s, and and servi service ce professionals at IBM. Brenda Toan (Toan), global skills and learning leader for IBM offices across the world, said, "Sales Compass is a just-in-time, just-enough sales support information site. Most of our users are mobile. So they are, most of the times, unable to get into a branch office and obtain information information on a specific specific industry or solution. IBM Sales Compass provides industry-specific knowledge, advic advice e on how how to sell sell speci specifi fic c solu soluti tion ons, s, and and sell sellin ing g tool tools s that that suppo support rt our our signature selling methodology, which is convenient for these users." IBM IBM also also launc launche hed d an e-Lea e-Learn rning ing prog progra ram m call called ed 'Man 'Manag aging ing @ IBM' IBM' for for its its experienced managers, in late 2001. The program provided content related to leadership and people management skills, and enabled the managers to meet thei theirr spec specif ific ic need needs. s. Unli Unlike ke the the Basi Basic c Blue Blue progra program, m, this this progra program m enab enable led d manager managers s to choose choose inform informati ation on based based on their their require requirement ments. s. The progra program m included included the face-to-face face-to-face Learning Learning Lab, e-learning, and Edvisor, Edvisor, a sophisticat sophisticated ed Intell Intellige igent nt Web Agent. Agent. Edviso Edvisorr offere offered d three three tracks tracks offeri offering ng variou various s types types of information. By implementing the above programs, IBM was able to reduce its training budget as well as improve employee productivity significantly. In 2000, Basic Blue saved $16 million while Sales Compass saved $21 million. In 2001, IBM saved $200 million million and its cost of training training per-employee per-employee reduced significant significantly ly - from $400 to $135. E-learning also resulted in a deeper understanding of the learning content by the managers. It also enabled the managers to complete their classroom training training modules modules in lesser time, as compared compared to the traditional traditional training methods used earlier. The simulation modules and collaboration techniques created a richer learning environment. The e-learning projects also enabled the company to leverage leverage corporate corporate internal knowledge as most of the content content they carried came from the internal content experts. IBM’s cost savings through E-Learning Program Saving in 2000 (in US $million) Basic Blue 16.0 Going global 0.6 Coaching simulators 0.8 Manager Quick-Views 6.6 Customer-Room 0.5 Sales Compass 21.0 E-LEARNING AT IBM - FUTURE PLANS
The e-Learning projects projects of IBM had been successful successful right from the initial stages of their implementation. These programs were appreciated by HR experts of IDM, and other companies. The Basic Blue program bagged three awards of 'Excellence in Practice' from the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) in March 2000. It was also included among the ten best 'world-class implementations of corporate learning' initiatives by the "E-Learning across the Ente Enterp rpris rise: e: The The Bench Benchma marki rking ng Study Study of Best Best Pract Practic ices es"" (Bran (Brando don n Hall Hall)) in September 2000. IBM continued its efforts to improve the visual information in all its e-Learning programs to make them more effective. effective. The company also encouraged encouraged its other employees to attend these e-learning programs. Apart from this, IBM planned to update these programs on a continuous basis, using feedback from its new and experienced managers, its sales force and other employees. IBM IBM used used e-Lea e-Learni rning ng not not only only to trai train n its its empl employ oyee ees, s, but but also also in othe otherr HR activities. In November 2001, IBM employees received the benefits enrollment material online. The employees could learn about the merits of various benefits and the criteria for availing these benefits, such as cost, coverage, customer service or performance using an Intranet tool called 'Path Finder.' This tool also enabled the employees to know about the various health plans offered by IBM. Besi Beside des, s, Path Pathfi finde nderr took took infor informa mati tion on from from the the empl employ oyee ees s and and retu return rned ed a preferred plan with ranks and graphs. This application enabled employees to see and manage their benefits, deductions in their salaries, career changes and more. more. This This obviou obviously sly,, increas increased ed employ employee ee satisf satisfact action. ion. The company company also also auto automat mated ed its its hirin hiring g proc proces ess. s. The The new new tool tool on the the comp compan any' y's s intr intran anet et was was capable of carrying out most of the employee hiring processes. Initially, IBM used to take ten days to find a temporary engineer or consultant. Now, the company was able to find such an employee in three days. IBM also started exploring the evolving area of 'mobile learning' Analysts felt that for mobile sales force of IBM, m-Learning was the next ideal step (after eLearning). IBM leveraged many new communication channels for offering its courses to employees. IBM also started offering the courses to its customers and to the the gene genera rall publi public. c. In early early 2002 2002,, Amer Americ ican an Airl Airlin ines es (AA) (AA) used used IBM' IBM's s eLearning package, which enabled its flight attendants to log on to AA's website and complete the 'safety and security training' from any place, at any time. The content included instruction clips, graphics, flash animation, and so on. This made the airlin airlines es annual annual safety safety trainin training g certif certifica icatio tion n program program guides guides more more effect effective ive.. Shanta Shanta HudsonHudson-Fie Fields, lds, AA's AA's manage managerr for line line traini training ng and specia speciall projects, commented, "The full service package that IBM offers has allowed us to develop an effective online course for our large group of busy attendants. In addition to providing a flexible training certification experience for our attendants, American American has also brought efficiency efficiency and cost savings to our training processes using using IBM' IBM's s e-Lea e-Learn rning ing solut solutio ion. n."" The The compa company ny had had trai traine ned d 24,00 24,000 0 flig flight ht attendants by November 2002.
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