Training and Development (T & D)

Introduction and Overview

Introduction
Training and development play an important role in the effectiveness of organisations
and to the experiences of people in work. Training has implications for productivity, health
and safety at work and personal development. All organisations employing people need to
train and develop their staff. Most organisations are cognisant of this requirement and invest
effort and other resources in training and development. Such investment can take the form of
employing specialist training and development staff and paying salaries to staff undergoing
training and development. Investment in training and development entails otaining and
maintaining space and equipment.
It also means that operational personnel, employed in the organisation!s main usiness
functions, such as production, maintenance, sales, marketing and management support, must
also direct their attention and effort from time to time towards supporting training
development and delivery. This means they are required to give less attention to activities that
are oviously more productive in terms of the organisation!s main usiness. "owever,
investment in training and development is generally regarded as good management practice to
maintain appropriate expertise now and in the future.
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HUMAN REOUR!E MANA"EMENT
If an organi&ation is to achieve its goals, it must not only have the required resources, it must
also use them effectively. The resources availale to a manager are human, financial,
physical, and informational. 'hile human resources (")* have always een critical to the
success of any organi&ation, they have assumed an increasingly greater importance that is
eing recogni&ed inside and outside work organi&ations.
"uman resources departments typically include individuals with a wide variety and range
of knowledge, skills, and ailities who are expected to perform +o activities in a manner that
contriutes to the attainment of organi&ational goals. "ow effectively employees contriute
to the organi&ation depends in large part upon the quality of the ") program (including
staffing, training, and compensation* as well as the aility and willingness of management,,
from the -./ to first,line supervisors,,to create an environment that fosters the effective use
of human resources.
#$% tud% Human Re&ource& Management (HRM)'
Anyone who emarks on a course of speciali&ed study typically wonders aout its relevance
to his or her interests and goals. The answer to the question 0'hy study ")M10 should
ecome apparent as we explore the importance of ")M and examine the contriutions it can
make to an organi&ation. 'hether you are working in the ")M function of your organi&ation
or as a staff professional or line manager, you will definitely need to e aware of the various
roles and responsiilities in dealing with employers in your organi&ation.
T$e Importance o( HRM
2or many decades such responsiilities as selection, training, and compensation were
considered asic functions of the area historically referred to as personnel management.
These functions were performed without much regard for how they related to each other.
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2rom this narrow view we have seen the emergence of what is now known as human
resources management.
)er&onnel management
*a&ic (unction& o( &election+ training+
compen&ation+ etc,+ in t$e management o(
an organi-ation.& per&onnel
"uman resources management (")M*, as it is currently perceived, represents the
extension rather than the re+ection of the traditional requirements for managing personnel
effectively. An understanding of human ehavior and skill in applying that understanding are
still required. Also required are knowledge and understanding of the various personnel
functions performed in managing human resources, as well as the aility to perform those
functions in accordance with organi&ational o+ectives. An awareness of existing economic,
social, and legal constraints upon the performance of these functions is also essential.
Human re&ource& management (HRM)
e/ten&ion o( t$e traditional re0uirement& o(
per&onnel management+ w$ic$ recogni-e& t$e
d%namic interaction o( per&onnel (unction&
wit$ eac$ ot$er and wit$ t$e &trategic
and planning o*1ective& o( t$e
organi-ation,
")M, as it is practiced today, recogni&es the dynamic interaction of personnel functions
with each other and with the o+ectives of the organi&ation. Most important, it recogni&es that
") planning must e coordinated closely with the organi&ation!s strategic and related
planning functions. As a result,

efforts in ")M are eing directed toward providing more
support for the achievement of the organi&ation!s goals, whether it e a profit, not for profit,
or governmental organi&ation.
HRM2 !urrent !$allenge&
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According to a survey of senior ") executives in Personnel Journal's top #55 companies
(ased on #663 revenues*, the most challenging ") issues are health care costs, reorgani&ing
and downsi&ing organi&ations, and mergers and acquisitions. These issues are followed y
prolems in managing diverse groups of workers who have different attitudes, values, and
work ehaviors7 managing for top,quality performance (T8M*7 team uilding7 and
responding to the needs of the families of employees. /ther areas presenting challenges are
workers!

compensation, laor relations, and management development. International
companies face increased gloal competition.

/ne may expect to see new issues and challenges emerging in the future that require
appropriate action. .volving usiness and economic factors forge changes in the ") field
requiring that preparation for change e an ongoing process.
Role o( t$e HR Department
Top management generally recogni&es the contriutions that the ") program can make to the
organi&ation and thus expects ") managers to assume a roader role in the overall
organi&ational strategy. Thus ") managers must rememer the ottom line if they are to
fulfill their role. Investment in sophisticated ") practices contriutes to greater financial
performance and productivity and to reduced turnover.
In the process of managing human resources, increasing attention is eing given to the
personal needs of the employees. The ")M 9epartment activities influence oth the individ,
ual and society.
Increasingly, employees and the pulic at large are demanding that employers
demonstrate greater social responsiility in managing their human resources. -omplaints that
some +os are revitali&ing the lives and in+uring the health of employees are not uncommon.
-harges of discrimination against women, minorities, the physically disaled, and the aged
with respect to hiring, training, advancement, and compensation are eing leveled against
some employers.
Issues such as comparale pay for comparale work, the rising costs of health enefits,
day care for children of employees, and alternative work schedules are concerns that many
employers must address.
All employers are finding that privacy and confidentiality of information aout
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employees are serious matters and deserve the greatest protection that can e provided.
'here employees are organi&ed into unions, employers can encounter costly collective
argaining proposals, strike threats, and charges of unfair laor practices. -ourt litigation,
demands for corrective action y governmental agencies, si&ale damage awards in response
to employee lawsuits, and attempts to erode the employment,at,will doctrine valued y
employers are still other ha&ards that contemporary employers must try to avoid.
T$e HR Role o( Manager& and upervi&or&
Students who are now preparing for careers in organi&ations will find that the study of ")M
will provide a ackground of understanding that will e valuale in managerial and
supervisory positions. Although ") managers have the responsiility for coordinating and
enforcing policies relating to the ") functions, all managers and supervisors are responsile
for performing these functions in their relations with suordinates.
It is in such positions of leadership that the ma+ority of students will e employed. ")M
is therefore oriented to help you in managing suordinates more effectively, whether you
ecome first,line supervisor or chief executive officer.
9iscussions concerning the role of the ") department can serve to provide one with a
etter understanding of the functions performed y this department. A familiarity with the
role of the ") department should help you to cooperate more closely with the department!s
staff and to utili&e more fully the assistance and services availale from this resource.
The present status of ")M was achieved only after years of evolutionary development. ;ou
need to understand the forces that have contriuted to this process and to ecome more aware
of forces acting today that will have an effect on ")M in the future.
Development o( Human Re&ource& Management
")M, at least in a primitive form, has existed since the first attempts at group effort. -ertain
") functions, even though informal in nature, were performed whenever people came
together for a common purpose. 9uring the course of this past century, however, the
processes of managing people have ecome more formali&ed and speciali&ed, and a growing
ody of knowledge has een accumulated y practitioners and scholars.
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An understanding of the events contriuting to the growth of ")M can provide a
perspective for contemporary policies and practices.
=SA "IST/)I-A> 9.?.>/%M.@T /2 ")M %)A-TI-.S
;.A) .?.@T
#A6B .arliest authenticated strike in America7 %hiladelphia printers seek to gain minimum
weekly wage of CB.
#D:D %assage of a law in %hiladelphia setting a minimum wage for workers in commercial
occupations.
#DD# Eeginning of 2rederick '. Taylor!s work in scientific management at the Midvale
Steel %lant in %hiladelphia.
#DD4 .stalishment of the =.S. -ivil Service -ommission.
#DDB 2ounding of the American 2ederation of >aor (A2>*.
#6#3 %assage in Massachusetts of the first minimum wage law.
#6#4 .stalishment of the =.S. 9epartment of >aor.
#6#< 2irst course in personnel administration, offered at 9artmouth -ollege.
#635 2irst text in personnel administration, pulished y /rdway Tead and "enry -.
Metcalf.
#63: %oint method of +o evaluation developed y the @ational .lectric Manufacturers!
Association and the @ational Metal Trades Association.
#63A "awthorne studies egun y Mayo, )oethliserger, and 9ickson.
#64< .stalishment of the -ongress of Industrial /rgani&ations (-I/* y several unions
previously affiliated with the A2>.
#<46 %ulication of the first edition of the Dictionary of Occupational Titles.
#6:# Eeginning of =.S. involvement in 'orld 'ar II, demanding the moili&ation of
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individuals trained in personnel management and the rapid development of
personnel programs in the military and in industry.
#6<< Merger of the A2> and -I/.
#6<A 2ederal 'omen!s %rogram estalished y the =.S. -ivil Service -ommission to
enhance the employment and advancement of women.
#6A< Eeginning of a professional accreditation (now certification* program y the
%ersonnel Accreditation Institute.
#6AD %assage of the -ivil Service )eform Act, which estalished the /ffice of %ersonnel
Management (/%M*, the Merit Systems %rotection Eoard (MS%E*, and the 2ederal
>aor )elations Authority (2>)A*.
#6D3 Eeginning of the erosion of the employment,at,will doctrine, with increasing
attention to 0+ust cause0 terminations.
#6D< Increased emphasis on employee participation in organi&ational decision making to
improve productivity and competitive position.
#665 "eightened awareness of privacy rights of employees as employers monitor
employee performance.
#66# Increased emphasis on gloal ") practices7 greater use of temporary employees7
oserved
#66< .mphasis on sexual harassment7 heightened attention to greater diversity in the
workforce7 increased emphasis on total quality management7 and downsi&ing or
0rightsi&ing0 of organi&ations.
Emplo%ee Training and Development
)urpo&e o( t$e polic%
The purpose of this policy is to set out specific procedures and performance
standards to ensure quality induction, training and development of employees. This
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policy is framed around Standard D of the 9isaility Services Standards (#664* and
provides for theF
Identification and documentation of specific employee training needs.
9ocumentation of financial resources availale and utilised for employee
induction, training and development.
Investigation and approval of specific training programs.
Identification and documentation of work,related improvements achieved from
training.
This policy applies to all of the agency!s programs and activities.
T$e )olic%
.nale Southwest Inc. is committed to ensuring that all employees are trained and
resourced to achieve the agency!s mission and o+ectives. The policy aims to
achieve this o+ective y linking training and development to a formal supervision
process and performance ased appraisal system and y promoting sound working
practices. The policy will assist the agency to meet its oligations under Standard D
of the 9isaility Services Standards (#664* to practice sound management standards
which maximise outcomes for consumers.
T$e )rocedure
The following procedures are to e implemented to ensure that .nale Southwest
Inc. meets its policy o+ective of ensuring that all employees are inducted, trained
and resourced appropriately to achieve the agency!s mission and o+ectives.
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The agency willF
#. .stalish formal induction procedures for all agency employees and
volunteers. The agency will ensure all newly appointed staff and volunteers
have attended a formal orientation program within one week of
commencement of employment.
3. The induction program will e co,ordinated y the "uman )esource section.
4. The induction shall include, as a minimumF
a. Introduction to fellow staff memers and welcome7
. Mission, vision and values of .nale Southwest Inc7
c. /rganisational structure, including reporting responsiilities7
d. /ccupational safety and health overview7
e. %rocess to sight and record employee!s documentation and
qualifications in relation to position requirements and filed.
3. Identify further training and development opportunities for individual
employees through the formal supervision and performance review system
outlined in the %olicy on .mployee Supervision and Appraisal.
4. Identify management training opportunities for senior staff of the agency.
:. .ncourage and utilise industry provided training programs wherever feasile.
<. .nsure that training opportunities are properly researched, costed against
udget parameters and promptly approved.
B. Maintain a record for agency employees and volunteers which include
training goals, actual training undertaken and susequent work gains.
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A. Make provision for staff training and development in the annual udget of
the agency.
D. %romptly investigate and consider any employee!s grievance regarding
training and development.
)er(ormance tandard&
The following performance standards must e met to ensure that the procedures
specified in this policy are implemented effectivelyF
#. All new employees have een provided with an .mployment %ack and access to
a copy of .nale Southwest!s %olicy Manual.
3. @ew employees and volunteers have successfully completed the induction
program within one month of appointment.
4. The induction program shall e reviewed at least annually signed y oth the
employee and the employer and updated as necessary.
:. @ew employees and volunteers have successfully completed the training
specified in the %olicy on /ccupational Safety and "ealth within (three* months
of appointment.
<. A record of employee training and development is kept in the employees
%ersonnel file.
B. Annual audit of performance documentation has een undertaken demonstrating
timely feedack on performance and outcomes y line managers.
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A. All training and development activities have een recorded on the individual
employee personnel records, which have een collated and reported to the (-./*
on an annual asis.
D. Any grievances that have een lodged have een addressed in accordance with
the training and development principles and procedures outlined in this policy
and the %olicy on Staff Grievances.
Aim& and o*1ective& o( Training and Development2
H )elate concepts and principles from the psychology of training and development to real
occupational issues in order to make a constructive contriution to organisations.
H )ecogni&e the psychological assumptions made in making training and development
decisions and to manage these assumptions appropriately.
H Appreciate the contextual factors of real organisations and work situations that affect
decisions concerning the application of training and development concepts.
H %rovide a asis for making useful training interventions within organisations and
evaluating such interventions.
In doing these things, this learning material aims to enale students to develop appropriate
understanding of using occupational psychology within organisations with respect to issues
of training and development.
T$e relevance o( occupational p&%c$olog% to training and development
-ontriuting to training has long een one of the main concerns of occupational
psychology I this is not surprising given that training involves learning and that learning is a
central issue in psychology. Training is one of the core skills of occupational psychology.
%eople with qualifications in and experience of occupational psychology have een employed
in different capacities in training and development roles in government organisations, private
companies and consultancy groups.
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The discipline offers many enefits and perspectives to help resolve training issues
and prolems and has also een at the root of many methods and techniques that have now
ecome part of the routine practices within human resource management. Training specialists
must e alert to the wider issues regarding the prolems presented to them and need the skills
and confidence to deal with them. They must understand how training fits into the wider
organisational context. An occupational psychology perspective is extremely eneficial in
helping the practitioner to understand how training relates to other interventions aimed at
improving +o performance.
Opportunitie& o( emplo%ment in training and development
Governments have traditionally played a significant role in the promotion and
development of occupational psychology with regard to training, ecause of their
responsiilities for employment, military, health and other services.
%eople with an occupational psychology ackground have een employed directly y
governments in areas such as +o training, military training and health and safety.
Government agencies have also een a ma+or sponsor of training research and development7
such investment has often provided the ma+or underpinning of developments in this area.
Governments can also affect the impetus for change in organisations through
legislation, taxation, and the general health of the economy, which in turn can create more
disposale income to create new demands for products and services, affect the supply of raw
materials and services, or put such pressure on consumers that markets are adversely affected.
Also, government initiatives can affect health and safety requirements, fiscal issues,
competition laws, and ecological concerns, working with new technology and employment
practices. Such changes prompt new ways of organising and delivering these products and
services, creating new training needs.
The other ma+or source of employment and funding in training and development,
where occupational psychology plays a specialist role, is private companies.
Specialists might e employed directly within an organisation!s training and development
functions or in consultancy offering services to clients. /rganisations often employ their own
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specialist training and development staff who have een recruited from the organisation!s
own ranks. /rganisations often prefer this approach ecause they feel it is more appropriate
for their training staff to have operational and usiness experience than for them to e experts
in training or occupational psychology.
It is often assumed that training is simply a matter of following well,estalished procedures
and principles. This is an ill,informed view ecause often training cannot always proceed
simply y application of standard methods. It is often necessary to understand variations that
have not een responsive to the standard procedures. This entails understanding how people
learn and how training can support this learning.
Training and development staff are generally responsile for maintaining company
training and development systems, to +udge training needs and to organise the delivery of
training and development.
%ractitioners with an occupational psychology ackground may e encountered in
departments concerned with organisational development where they are engaged with the
processes of organisational change of which training and development is a part. It is
impossile to e more specific than this.
/pportunities for occupational psychology specialists to ecome engaged in training arise in
different contexts and circumstances. It is important to remain alert to where these
opportunities might occur and e adaptive and constructive in responding to opportunities.
Re&earc$ into t$e p&%c$olog% o( training and development
There is sustantial literature concerned with the psychology of training and
development, much of which has emerged from past government and military funding
initiatives. Some has een funded from the commercial sector.
Applied training and development research is less likely to have een funded y research
councils, who tend to focus instead on pure rather than applied science.
)esearch into training generally requires sustantial funding and opportunity for
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access to real situations. 'ithout funding or access, it is difficult for applied psychologists to
contriute effectively to this area or for their findings to e accepted as credile. In university
research it is possile to set up and run asic laoratory or small,scale studies in human
learning and social interaction with minimal resources as a asis for pulication and for
theory development, ut these do not match the complexity that needs to e addressed to
resolve practical training issues in a rigorous way.
Some comparatively inexpensive laoratory studies in areas of training and instruction have
een important in clarifying issues and demonstrating the potential enefits of applying
different principles to training. Eut laoratory studies are limited in this field ecause
research findings may e confined to the laoratory context and not deal effectively with
practical issues when the complexities of the real situation are encountered.
This means that there is no wholly reliale ody of research to enale training
decisions to e made with complete confidence. This may sound like a weakness, ut it is a
reflection of the fact that new operational contexts can change the applicaility of research
findings that were otained in a different operational context.
It also makes for more interesting work, ecause prolems generally have to e investigated,
solved and then outcomes tested, rather than simply following a simple recipe.
To this end, this learning material will set out the asic ideas involved in the
psychology of training and development, so that it ecomes clearer how work in this area can
e conducted. It will introduce the main concepts and themes, with a view to providing a
framework for your later work.
In particular, it will present these ideas in the context of organisations, showing how they
can e applied and how they might e constrained. The material will not aim to provide a
comprehensive account of all aspects of the occupational psychology of training and
development. Such issues will e left for you to investigate as future requirements present
themselves in your professional career. 'hat we will focus on, however, is providing you
with an overview of the main issues in the management and development of training for
which a knowledge of occupational psychology can contriute towards helping solve
practical prolems of training in an effective way.
!$aracteri&tic& o( Training Re&earc$
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3earning and training re&earc$
Application of occupational psychology to training and development needs to relate
this work to the occupational psychology literature in order to understand how this area has
developed. 'ork that emerged from laoratory studies of learning was dominant.
This involved examining training principles associated with simpler tasks, such as learning
lists or learning to carry out simple +udgment tasks that could e said to contain features that
are present in real +os, ut at a far simpler level. This reductionist approach to psychological
research is often a cause for concern when we try to apply psychology to practical things.
Many learning experiments can e viewed as training experiments. A researcher
controls an independent variale that influences the conditions under which an experimental
participant is ale to learn a task under controlled conditions in the laoratory. 2rom these
research findings, the researcher will speculate aout the processes underlying learning.
Eut these also provide insights into training methods, ecause if someone learns something
more effectively as a result of a different experimental condition, this experimental condition
can, in principle, e offered as a training condition that might e applied in other contexts.
"owever, when we design experiments, we know that research findings are influenced y
other features of the experiment in which they are studied. This is why experimental
psychologists are careful to design and specify learning conditions carefully and to use
control conditions in order to make inferences aout what has caused learning and what has
not.
=nfortunately, this need for careful control of learning conditions also means that it is
difficult for us to draw generalisations aout learning and training, ecause, when applied in
a different context, these features may work differently. This is always a prolem in applying
psychology.
Another common approach has een to reduce complex tasks to simpler analogies so
that they are easier to study. In this way we might e tempted to assume that the same
psychological components apply in these simpler versions as in the more complex version,
thus findings that have emerged from studying a simpler, more controllale, version of a task
may e applied to the more complex version.
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Again, simple generalisation is not really +ustified. 'hen something is simplified, it is easier.
'hen something is studied out of context of a real +o, the pressures and complexities of
events and the consequences of error are generally missing, so the person!s strategy may e
different.
Things that have een shown to e eneficial in one context cannot automatically e
assumed to enefit a new context I this makes for difficulties in applying training research. It
means that every time we assert that a particular approach to training is appropriate to that
new situation we need to otain evidence that this is indeed the case , +ust ecause we think a
particular training method is appropriate, it does not mean that it will work in practice,
4
That every intervention is an experiment is why it is necessary to understand
something of scientific method. It is an area where an understanding of occupational
psychology is invaluale to the trainer. =nfortunately clients often fail to appreciate the
hypothetical nature of training , or, indeed, any organisational change , and they assume it is
possile to deal in certainties.
Many consultants reinforce this incorrect view y maintaining they are offering proven
solutions, rather than simply working as effectively as they can in a given set of
circumstances.
'hile simple application of training and learning research is far from straightforward,
knowledge of principles of learning and training is still useful. >earning research is generally
undertaken with a view to developing theories rather than simply accumulating individual
findings.
As such, learning research is useful to training ecause it provides important pointers to how
learning takes place. This enales us to generate ideas aout what a person should experience
in order to help them learn. %roviding these opportunities for experience is what training
actually is. 'e shall e looking at this again with regard to definitions. This means that such
a training intervention is a sort of experiment and that the belief that it will work is an
experimental hypothesis. Despite this formal way of presenting the problem often in practice
the evidence that we seek to test the hypothesis might simply be the line manager's
satisfaction with the outcome.
Training re&earc$
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In recent decades, learning theories ecame more effective in their insights and
readths of coverage, and the tasks studied oth in the laoratory and in the field, have
tended to e more complex.
)eported research often reflects greater complexity over the years as more involved
situations are examined. Added to this has een a growth in the interest of individual
differences among learners reflecting either differences in aility (general or specific* or
other variales such as age, sex, personality, and ethnic ackground.
Training research often emerges as a y,product of investigating a real prolem that
an investigator has encountered. It can take different forms and provides different enefits
that we can use in future applications. /ne approach considers training methods and
principles.
The researcher demonstrates how an idea can e applied to deal with a particular type
of prolem. /ften, ideas are tested in a controlled experiment, gaining credence if a
significant difference is oserved. Eut a significant result might only apply to that work
context7 a non,significant result does not logically mean that the idea would not work in a
different context.
/ften such studies cannot e taken as categorical evidence for or against a particular
training method investigated, ut are est regarded as a demonstration of how this type of
training method might e applied.
Another form of training investigation compares two or more alternative training
programmes to see which is est suited to the organisation. 2rom an applied perspective, a
training Jprogramme! should e regarded as the sum of procedures adopted in order to achieve
a desired training outcome , when we see people trained for real +os, we generally see a
sequence of training activities that uild to an appropriate outcome. The training experiment is
used to decide which of these should e adopted. 2or example, managers might e required to
assimilate information aout health and safety in the workplace, with a view to them making
management decisions in the est interests of the workforce and also to defend the company
against litigation in the event of an accident.
/ne training method might e to provide managers with an intranet site containing
information and case studies for them to study, followed y a test of their understanding. An
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alternative training method might e to require all managers to attend a 3,day course, followed
y the test of their understanding. Such a study should provide data on which of these
alternatives will e most successful in influencing the retention,test scores of participants.
Making a choice etween these two training options on the asis of this criterion would e
straightforward. Eut would the experiment prove anything1 In the asence of more detail,
this looks like a rather poor study ecauseF
'e have no evidence that the two options are teaching the same thing.
'e have no evidence that the content of the training is relevant to the actual
requirements of that organisation.
'e have no indication that the managers presented with the intranet took any time to
study it.
'e have no evidence that simply rememering what was learned will transfer to any
susequent performance y managers that might e useful to the organisation.
'e have no evidence of the respective costs of these two training methods.
So, as a definitive study to show the relative enefits of these two methods, the experiment is
unsatisfactory. This comparison could e used within an organisation to make a +udgement
aout whether the organisation should invest its effort and other resources in an intranet. Eut
it tells us little aout training principles in general.
This section has argued that instances of pulished training research are limited with regard
to making definitive statements aout how to train or how not to train. Such studies, however,
are useful in providing demonstrators for how such training might e conducted and how
investigations into training within organi&ations might e conducted.
.fforts are periodically made to organi&e the very large ody of research and to look for
general principles of application (%atrick, #6637 Morrison, #666*. The training designer can
make reference to such sources if confronted with a situation in which they are not sure of the
est training principles to employ.
T$e 5actor% %&tem
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9uring the nineteenth century, the development of mechanical power made possile a factory
system of production. The concentration of workers in factories served to focus pulic
attention on their conditions of employment, which were often unhealthy and ha&ardous.
9uring the late #DD5s, laws were passed in some states to regulate hours of work for
women and children, to estalish minimum wages for male laor, and to regulate working
conditions that affect employee health and safety. It was also at this time that laws were
enacted to provide payments for in+uries suffered in industrial accidents. .ventually, as the
result of legislation and collective argaining, employment conditions egan to improve.
T$e Ma&& )roduction %&tem
Mass production was made possile y the availaility of standardi&ed and interchangeale
parts designed to e used in assemly,line production. 'ith this system came improvements
in production techniques and the use of laor,saving machinery and equipment. The
accompanying increases in overhead costs and wage rates, however, forced companies to
seek ways of using production facilities and laor more efficiently. 2rederick '. Taylor!s
work at the Midvale Steel plant in %hiladelphia stimulated the scientific management
movement.
According to Taylor, scientific management required accurate performance standards
ased on o+ective data gathered from time studies and other sources. These standards
provided a asis for rewarding the superior workers financially and for eliminating the
unproductive ones. TaylorKs approach was in sharp contrast to the then,prevailing practice of
attempting to gain more work from employees y threatening them with the loss of their +os.
T$e Hawt$orne tudie&
Eegun in the #635s, the "awthorne studies were an effort to determine what effect hours of
work, periods of rest, and lighting might have on worker fatigue and productivity. These
experiments constituted one of the first cooperative industry,university research efforts. As
the studies progressed, however, it was discovered that the social environment could have an
equivalent if not greater effect on productivity than the physical environment.
-onducted at the 'estern .lectric -ompany!s "awthorne 'orks near -hicago, Illinois,
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these studies were a pioneering endeavor to examine factors affecting productivity. ")
specialists generally agree that the "awthorne studies played a very important role in the
development of ")M.

The studies spurred efforts to humani&e the workplace and to find more,sensitive ways to
motivate workers. /ut of the interviewing techniques used y the "awthorne researchers
grew the nondirective approach to counseling, which recogni&es the importance of Lfeelings.M
=ntil that time, it was generally considered inappropriate in employment situations to study
attitudes, eliefs, ehaviors, and feelings.
!onclu&ion
The purpose of this learning material is to explain to the reader issues and concepts that
should e understood in order to think constructively aout the application of the psychology
of training to real work issues. It is not presented as a literature review you will need to read
further for that information
N
. Instead, the material has een written in an informal way to
explain key principles and concepts and how they relate to each other in dealing with applied
training issues. It does not deal in detail with the research literature underpinning these ideas.
This is left for you to examine using the )eadings provided as a starting point to exploring
wider literature. This learning material offers one perspective with a view to providing a
coordinated story, ut there are other perspectives in occupational psychology that you will
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encounter in a professional capacity and which you must try to accommodate.
Reading
The )eadings included have een selected to provide more detailed explanation and illustration
of concepts and approaches descried in the text. /ther )eadings have een included to offer
views that may e at variance with some points in the main notes
O
. Indeed, when reading, you
might decide that you take a different stance from the stance adopted in this learning material.
This does not matter, provided you can defend the stance you take, ecause you may e called
to do so when applying psychology to training. Many ideas in training are long,standing and
have stood the test of time. Some ideas have gone in and out of fashion. Some new ideas are
repackaged old ideas.
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;ou should consider the readings provided as a general resource. They are all useful to read, ut
more importantly, they should e read in con+unction with the learning material as different
issues arise. Indeed, training ideas are often inseparale from each other and you will find many
of these readings relate to different topics.
Re(erence&
Morrison, P. .. (#66#*. Training for performance. -hichesterF Pohn 'iley and Sons >td.
%atrick, P. (#663*. Training !esearch and Practice. >ondonF Academic %ress.
'arr, %. E. (3553*. >earning and training. In %.E. 'arr, (ed* Psychology at "ork.
>ondonF %enguin Eooks.
Re0uired Reading
'arr, %. E. (3553*. >earning and training. In %. E. 'arr, (ed* Psychology at "ork (<th
.dn.* (pp. #<4,#AA*. >ondonF %enguin Eooks.
Aut$or&$ip
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This learning material was written y 9r Andrew Shepherd.
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