ASSIGNMENT-2

RESEARCH & EXPLORATION

ON CURRENT AFFAIRS

(Challenges in Training & Development)

Submitted To:

Mr. Riswo R. Gorkhali

4th June 2021

Submitted By:

Rishabh Sarawagi | Prashant Sharma | Suresh Saud

 Training & Development

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1. About the topic

Training & Development, as the words itself defines that, it is a sort of educational activity that
is done within or outside the organization by the company with a motive to enhance the
knowledge and skills of the employees. In other words T&D basically described as the formal
ongoing efforts that are made within the organizations to improve the performance & self-
fulfillment of their employees through variety of educational methods & programs. In the
rapidly changing organizational environment and the increased competition, the Knowledge,
Skills, Talent, Potential of the human capital are considered as the main drivers of the
organization's effectiveness & efficiency. It is believed that the Organization's effectiveness
depends on the organization's capacity to acquire, share, use, and retain the valuable &
knowledgeable employees. With this belief the need & trend of Training & Development has
increased rapidly in the last few decades. With the changing modality the necessity of Training
& Development has been rapidly increasing and the sources for T&D are also increasing. T&D
has now become a popular tool for enhancing employee & managerial performance. For this
reason, the organizations has now started to increase their budget and spending on the T&D of
their employees, managers etc. With the change in time, the organizational priorities shift and
demands a new skill / knowledge and an effective way of training, which makes the T&D
Industry even more complex & diversified.

1.2. Is Training & Development Different?

Yes there is a slight difference between the terms Training & Development. Training is a
program organized to develop the knowledge & skills which are required to perform the Job
effectively, whereas Development is an organized activity in which the human resource of the
organization learn and grow, basically it is a self-assessment act.

1.3. Process of Training & Development

1.3.1. Decide if Training is needed
In the age of highly competitive environment, the company need to keep their employees well
trained. SO the 1st step in the process of T&D is to identify weather the current effectiveness &
efficiency or the overall productivity can be improved by Training & Development. The
organization must see and decide if the training is needed or not.
1.3.2. Determine the Type of Training
In this step the employees themselves can provide the valuable information on the training they
need. They know their current skillset & knowledge, so they know their area for improvement
and necessity for training. It can also be based on the regulatory considerations, as per the
requirement of certain training in certain industry / Job. So a proper module to be made which
comprises of all the type and specifications of the training needed.
1.3.3. Identifying Goals & Objective
Once the type of training is finalized, the employers need to prepare the employees for the
training and clearly state the major objective of the training. This is not necessarily to be in
written form, but it needs to be clearly identified and conveyed to make the T&D effective and
fruitful for the employees as well as organization.
1.3.4. Design the Training
Once the Goals & Objectives are finalized, now the crucial decision is to be taken, which type of
training is needed and suitable for the situation i.e. On the Job Training or Off the Job Training?
Both are necessary and have their own significance, so this decision needs to be taken. Along
with this, the potential platform or trainer or training agency should be searched for the purpose.
And all the factors such as Cost | Duration | Modality and everything is to be considered before
finalizing.
1.3.5. Implement the training
Training should be conducted by the professionals with knowledge and expertise in the given
subject area. An effective Training program allows employees to participate in the training
process and to practice their skills and knowledge. This step is important, because if the training
was not implemented properly, it can result in the wastage of the time, money & energy, so
manager / employers need to pay more attention to it.
1.3.6. Evaluation of the Training Program
The final step is to evaluate the training program, which will help the organization to determine
the amount of learning achieved and whether the employee's performance has improved or not
and whether the training was fruitful or not, and will it be beneficial for the company or not.
Generally the evaluation is done in terms of increased productivity | effectiveness | efficiency.
With the new technologies there are many more methods of measurement of the effectiveness of
the training programs, depending on the type and nature of industry.

1.4. Rationale for selecting the topic

The concept of Training & Development has now become an inseparable part of organization,
whether it’s a SME or an MNC, they need to provide Training & Development to their
employees. So we considered it as one of the important topic that we need to enlighten ourselves
on. Along with this there are a numerous challenges | issues faced by both the Organization &
employees in training and development, so we will be highlighting those points also provide the
Recommendations & Solutions on the basis of our finding & analysis.
Some of the major Importance of Training & development which influenced us to select this
topic:
 It increases the productivity of the individual and the organization as a whole.
 T&D improves the quantity & quality of the workforce, it increases the skills and knowledge
base of the employees.
 T&D reduces the constant need of supervision and observation for the effectiveness &
efficiency of the Job.
 T&D helps to identify the highly skilled & talented employees, so that the company can give
them jobs of higher responsibilities which can use their skills & knowledge
 T&D increases the Job satisfaction & acts as a non-monetary incentive for the employee,
which keeps him / her motivated & dedicated to the organization

2. MAJOR ISSUES | CHALLENGES IN TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT

In the Training & Development, we have been observing that the organizations are facing
constant challenges in providing T&D to their employees. There are a numerous challenges and
issues in T&D, in terms of Budget | allocation of resources | effectiveness of T&D program |
Availability of T&D Opportunity and many more. Along with this the risk factor is also
included, that weather the training will help the organization or it will prove to be a complete
waste of Time | Money & Energy. Constantly changing environment & technology arises the
need to T&D time and again, which is a burden for the organization. Although there are these
many challenges & issues in T&D, the organizations still choose to accept it and provide the best
possible T&D to their employees. In this research we will be highlighting the major issues &
challenges that we came across during our research. Along with this, we will also provide the
recommendation & solutions to overcome this challenges.

2.1. Limited Budget & Allocation of Resources

The very common and general challenge faced by the organization is budgetary issue. There are
limited funds available with the companies. With the lack of fund, it is difficult for them to
allocate the resources among the employees. They also need to see that the fund they are
allocating for particular T&D Program is feasible or not. Facilitation, equipment, venue, cost of
employee's time, and many other small expenses gets added to the T&D Budget. It is a
commonly seen that the Training & development budget tend to be small while the demands are
always steep.

Recommendation | Solution
Various research from different organizations suggests that for most the employees Training &
Development is the company’s most important policy. This shows the employees value learning
to a great extent. Creating organizational structures such as policies, standards, regulations,
budget, and expenses so that they motivate your employees to learn and improve themselves
even if the resources is limited can help an organization to implement creative & effective ways
to build learning into the day-to-day activities of the organization.

2.2. Employee Schedules | Timing

For the purpose of Training & development, the employees may have to leave their Job for a
certain period of time and move to another location in case of Off the Job training. While in "On
the Job Training" also, the employee needs to mitigate his / her timing and substitute the Tasks
assigned for certain period of time. At times, the Tasks assigned or Job performed by particular
employee can neither be postponed nor transferred to another employee. Also the lack of Human
Resource can lead to such challenge. For the Training & Development the employee needs to
have sufficient Time & free schedule to get the training & make if effective. So the hectic
employee schedule has been acting as one of the major challenge in Training & Development.

Recommendation| Solution
A self-directed learning approach for employees can help with unstructured schedules. 24-7
online access to a learning library can be given to employees so that they can view training
content when it’s convenient for them. Micro learning can also be applied which breaks
information into videos that are about seven to nine minutes long. Research shows that this is
short enough to maintain people’s attention during a busy day. Traditional ways include healthy
learning culture, use engaging training materials, and recognize or reward employees who meet
training goals.

2.3. Changing Technology

We are in a time when the innovation is at its peak, and the new technologies, concepts, modality
are been introduced on a daily basis. This has been bothering the managers and the owners. As
they provide the training for certain technology or subject, by the time training ends, it's
implemented in the work space, the development or introduction of another technology has
already started. And time and again the Training cannot be given to the employee due to the cost
factor.

Recommendation | Solution
A digital adoption program with structured process can be one of the best ways to ensure that
employees continue their organizational learning regardless of technological changes. New
software is easier to understand if proper guidelines are followed to lead users through business
processes and workflows modifications. Managers and owners can have a structured visibility
into how employees are using new or existing software which can pinpoint areas of confusion.
Then workflows can be adjusted or helpful content can guide users through work processes.

2.4. Lack of Engagement

For the training to become successful and effective, the employees are supposed to be engaged in
the training process. Also they are required to show some engagement. These engagement can
broadly be classified into three categories – Cognitive | Emotional | Behavioral. Without all three
in place, poor knowledge retention, passive learning, and a lack of commitment contribute to the
challenges in Training and development. And moreover behavioral change is impossible without
engagement, when the training feels irrelevant or unnecessary, most learners mentally and
emotionally resist engagement, which makes the Training completely ineffective and useless.

Recommendation | Solution
Individual employees have different motivations when it comes to learning at work, but there are
some general principles you can apply to your employee engagement efforts. One is to provide
training that is experiential and interactive. Unlike traditional methods of training, such as
classroom session, watching webinars, are consulting manuals, experiential training is engaging
and interesting. Also when employees have the chance to learn in the flow of work, they will be
able to retain new information better and actually do something active, instead of passive. They
will have the chance to see what the work looks like, ask questions as they arise, and feel the
satisfaction of having successfully done something new.

2.5. Lack of Support from Top Management

For any training & development program to become successful, the most important thing is the
support from Top Management. Without the support of Top Management, the allocation of
funds, prioritization of the program will be difficult. The Training & Development program can
only succeed if they are reinforced by clear and consistent support. As the Top management are
the most public figures of the organization, they have the power to shape culture & emphasize on
the need of Training & Development.

Recommendation | Solution
Organizational learning must be prioritized in a top-down manner and channeled into different
stages, with top management involved at each stage. Management must be well equipped to
boost employee confidence and morale. The Top-Management also need to see the performance
report of the employees and the managers should keep them updated about the new training
opportunity and the need for it.

2.6. Different Learning Habits

As we know that each & every individual is different in terms of Psychology, behavior, learning
habit, learning capacity. So it is very important to consider learner's preferences and habits
before designing a training campaign. We can see at least three generations, and each generation
have different relationship with technology. So, the training can be less effective if all the
employees are assumed to be equally tech-savvy or have the same knowledge levels and learning
habits. Therefore this act as a challenge of Training & Development for the organization.

Recommendation | Solution
Through personalized training we can address to difference in learning habits. Basically,
personalized training is allowing a person to learn based on objectives and approaches that are
most effective in addressing his/her needs driven by the sequence, timing and content the learner
himself sees fit.

2.7. Resistance to Change

Employee resistance to change is a significant barrier to Organizational learning. Individuals
who are accustomed to a particular way of functioning over a long period, tend to avoid doing
something new. They don’t want to learn or change to new processes. It is common for some
employees to feel like they might lose familiarity that they have with existing systems &
processes.

Recommendation | Solution
To prevent employee resistance, Organization must explain their employees why the change is
essential. Organization can highlight the benefits and try to implement some great factors in
there to gain their trust. Also the manager can show them the need & requirement of the change,
and a fear of replacement should also be presented indirectly.

2.8. Non-Learning Culture

Non-learning culture prevents the employees from wanting to learn something new. In an
organization where learning is not encouraged or promoted, it is difficult for employees to make
the most of their trainings. Organizations can provide a learning environment but must be aware
of various problems that will arise and end up as barriers to organizational learning.

Recommendation | Solution
Identifying the pain points of employees and to address them as early as possible is essential in creating
a good-learning environment. Providing value and opportunities for learning in the workplace and
showcasing the benefits of learning and can motivate the employees.

2.9. Short-Term Focus

Short-Term focus is a challenge in Training & Development, because learning is a serious
process which is done from the point of Long term focus. Temporary solutions and short-term
vision are barriers to Organizational Training and development. Leaders usually tend to gravitate
towards the most obvious problem without considering all the future consequences. The
organization needs to look after the vision and the long-term implications before designing the
T&D Program.

Recommendation | Solution
Organizational learning is an on-going process and so it adds up when focus is on the big picture
rather than short-term goals. Leaders must allocate time for deciding long-term vision and
providing employee learning opportunities all the time. Organizational learning might involve
complex content. Complexity can overwhelm the employees and act as a barrier to training in the
workplace. The long-term focus must consider all these complexities and provide an easy &
effective way of learning to your employees.

2.10. Different Specification

Different culture give different regard to age, gender, and professional qualification. In many
organizations we have seen and observed the biasness on various basis, may be its culture, race,
gender, background, language etc. This biasness adds on to the challenge of Training &
Development, as it resists the availability of equal opportunities to the employees. The manager
or the employer should not differentiate among the employees on the basis of their appearance,
gender or any other basis.

Recommendation | Solution
Difficulties in training due to different specifications can be resolved mainly by designing
different training for different specification groups which is difficult and costly to implement.
Alternatively training can be generalized which is appropriate for all specifications groups. Some
of the following points can be considered.
3. Challenges in Training & Development due to COVID 19
Training and Development is an important activity which helps organizations to grow and
increase their efficiency by helping their employees to learn and gain knowledge required to
perform a good job. Organizations face certain challenges which might affect their effort to train.
Covid 19 has also become a great challenge for training and development as Covid 19 has forced
people to change the way they live and work.

3.1. Engaging Learners:

Training is a learning process which requires willingness and favorable environment for desired
results. Engaging employees in learning process is a challenge for HR. It is not easy to convince
someone to learn if they are not interested. Trainee’s willingness to learn, location of training,
means used for training play vital role in training process. In current situation, most of the people
are disturbed psychologically. Everyone is in fear associated with the Pandemic. Convincing
employees for any kind of physical/online training in this situation is a challenging matter. Most
of the people are focused toward just surviving the pandemic rather than growing or learning
something new.
Recommendation | Solution
Employees need to spend time with their family or loved ones in such period of crisis and fear.
They need to support their family with routine task to avoid them from getting stressed. In the
same way, organizations need to think about their employees. They need to understand that
employees should not be stressed during such pandemic by getting them involved in office
related job during off hours. Organizations should organize trainings during office hours only to
keep the confidence and interest of employees.

3.2. Communication:
Training process requires effective communication between trainer and trainee. Results of
training depends on quality of communication between members. Offline trainings take place in
a contained environment (offices, training centers, etc.) which makes it bit easier when compared
to online trainings which are conducted through various video conferencing software. As this
pandemic has forced the organizations to adopt WFH mode due to its fatality, communication
issues have increased due to lack of familiarity with online mediums and technical issues like
slow internet, power cut, etc. which is very common in developing countries.
Recommendation | Solution
Organizations should follow micro learning approach for effective learning. Micro learning
approach means dividing or simplifying the learning process into small and easy to understand
segments with lots of graphics rather than words. Short videos, documents, learning apps, etc.
can be used for easy and effective learning during this pandemic. Long trainings through online
platforms might be hectic and unproductive in such situation. Employees can be provided with
short video on how to use certain software or tools for communicating or performing job, etc.

3.3. Dispersed Workforce:

A steady rise in remote work and a decentralized workforce has led to new challenges in training
and development. With a geographically dispersed workforce, training can be quite hard:
misunderstandings are common, and cultural differences may even lead to inconsistent training.
This pandemic has forced organizations to operate remotely, and dispersed workforce creates
difficulty in training. Most employees are in their hometown with their family and working from
home.
Recommendation | Solution
Organizations should provide easy to use, mobile accessible documents and software for
learning. All employees might not have laptops or PCs, but they all have mobile phones with
them every time. Mobile accessible trainings and materials will encourage them to go through
materials whenever they are free.

3.4. Digitization – Online:

Most of the businesses are going online and changing their business model accordingly due to
modernization and inclination of customers towards online shopping/ electronic payments, etc.
But many businesses went online during pandemic as they had to survive in the market. Such
organizations are working to train their employees to new normal. Trainings are carried out with
the help of training software, videos, and other tools. Organizations cannot replace old
employees only because they are not familiar with new technology but training them is a
challenge as most of the employees are not used to latest technologies. With businesses going
online, employees also need to see their growth if they are willing to adopt to new changes and
learn new skills to perform online and remotely.
Recommendation | Solution
Offline trainings within city or in foreign countries are not possible currently due to increasing
cases of Covid 19. The only means of communication available now is electronic mediums.
There are ample of software which help people to connect each other. Skype, Zoom, etc. are
some of the most common apps used by organization for communication. School-X,
360Learning, etc. are some of the employee training software which are being used worldwide
currently.

3.5. Offline Training:

Offline training has become a challenge in this pandemic. Employees might not feel comfortable
gathering for a training due to their safety concerns. Also, government guidance to limit
gatherings and travelling has also caused problem for offline trainings. Earlier, Company use to
send employees to different places for training but now due to travel ban that is not possible too.

Recommendation | Solution
Learning can be interesting if they are more practical, and case based in nature. Training with
most theory is less captured by trainees than learning with real case scenario. Also, the things
they are going to learn, and their final outcomes plays major role in convincing employees to
engage in training. Organization should clearly mention what employees are going to learn and
how it is going to benefit them during work.

3.6. IT Infrastructure:
At the time when world is going online, IT infrastructure plays very important role in connecting
this world. The country’s IT infrastructure, local ISPs, etc. must be good and dependable for
organizations to conduct their business flawlessly. Due to the pandemic, even the learning
process has started through online mediums and trainings are also conducted with the help of
platforms like Skype, Zoom, etc. The sudden rise in use of internet and online mediums have
forced many people to get internet connection and numbers of users have increased, surprisingly.
Developing countries like Nepal are facing issues due to weak infrastructure and slow
development. Due to lack of continuous stable connection and support from service providers,
organizations are facing blackouts as without internet it is not easy to communicate with
employees.
Recommendation | Solution
Organization should use LMS for training and development of employees. These systems are
designed to deliver the learning experience with ease. LMS makes learning process simple,
training materials and documents are easy to access and can be used remotely.

3.7. Effectiveness of T & D:

Trainings provided by organizations must be result oriented as the organization is investing
money on employees training to increase effectiveness of their work or to develop their skills for
a new job. Effectiveness of training depends on both the trainee and trainer. Employee’s
willingness to learn, prior knowledge, experience, technical skills, trainer’s ability, means used
for training, etc. will determine the effectiveness of training. Outcomes of training during
pandemic cannot be expected to be great as there are many issues which will impact the results.
Even the most trained people fail to perform in conditions in which they must worry about their
family and themselves.
Recommendation | Solution
To overcome this challenge, the company or the organization needs to plan and implement the
T&D Program considering the current situation. There are new modality and new methods of
training & development available, which can be looked into and modified as per the need. The
employer or the manager needs to analyze the situation and start looking for alternatives and do a
comparative analysis. From comparison, the manager will select the best suitable training
method or opportunity which can give the best result for the employees and the organization.

4. Conclusion
From all the research & exploration that we did made our conceptual clarity even more sharp and
we were able to know the deeper image of the topic, and get to know many more new challenges
that is being faced in Training & Development. Above mentioned challenges are based on our
personal experience, friends / colluges, research articles and more. We have tried our best to
come up with some fruitful and effective solution & recommendations for the challenges, which
can be helpful for the company.
 ANNEXURE - 1
References
Article – 1: Training and Development – Challenges & Solutions in the work place
Published on: 11 April 2018 by Nikolas Andriotis
Link: https://www.talentlms.com/blog/training-challenges-solutions-workplace/

Article-2: Training Challenges in the workplace

Published on: 27 August 2020 by Ryan Eudy
Link: https://www.ej4.com/blog/training-challenges-in-the-workplace-2020-edition

Article-3: Overcoming 5 common workplace T&D Challenges

Published on: 22 April 2019
Link: https://visibilitysoftware.com/employee-training-and-development-in-2019-overcoming-
five-common-workplace-td-challenges/

Annexure – 2
Group Member's Profile
Rishabh Sarawagi Prashant Sharma SureshSaud
Social Media Marketer Recovery Audit Analyst System Administrator
Ad-Hub Marketing Agency Flextecs Nepal Pvt Ltd. F1 Soft - Fonepay
Work Experience: 2 Years Work Experience: 2 Years Work Experiece: 2 Years
Sinamangal, Kathmandu Mahalaxmi -1, Lalitpur Imadol, Lalitpur