H U M A N R E S O U R C E S

M A N A G E M E N T

CHAPTER 5
TRAINING HUMAN RESOURCES
 THE CONTEXT OF TRAINING
Training: A process whereby people acquire capabilities
to aid in the achievement of organizational goals.
Balancing Costs and Benefits of Training
COSTS BENEFITS
• Trainer's salary • Increase in production
• Materials for training • Reduction in errors
• Living expenses for trainer • Reduction in turnover
and trainees • Less supervision
• Costs of facilities necessary
• Equipment • Ability to advance
• Transportation • New capabilities
• Trainee's salary • Attitude changes
• Lost production
(opportunity cost)
 THE CONTEXT OF TRAINING
Training Responsibilities
HR Unit Managers
• Prepares skill-training • Provide technical
materials information
• Coordinates training efforts • Monitor training needs
• Conducts or arranges for • Conduct on-the-job training
off-the-job training • Continually discuss
• Coordinates career plans employees’ growth and
and employee development future potential
efforts • Participate in
• Provides input and organizational change
expertise for organizational efforts
development
* HR serves more as a consultant and training planner with
managers, rather than as an entity controlling training
 THE CONTEXT OF TRAINING
❖ INTERNAL TRAINING:
▪ Informal training: Training that occurs internally through
interactions and feedback among employees.
❖ EXTERNAL TRAINING:
▪ It may be less expensive for an employer to have an outside
trainer conduct training in areas where internal training
resources are limited.
▪ There may not be sufficient time to develop internal training
materials.
▪ The HR staff may not have the level of expertise needed for
the subject matter where training is needed.
▪ There are advantages to having employees interact with
managers and peers in other companies in training
programs held externally.
 LEARNING PRINCIPLES: THE
PSYCHOLOGY OF LEARNING
❖ Intention to Learn:
Motivation to learn is determined by answers to questions
like these: “How important is my job to me?”
“How important is it that I learn that information?”
“Will learning this help me in any way?” and
“What’s in it for me?”
❖ Whole Learning (Gestalt learning): give trainees an
overall view of what they will be doing than to deal
immediately with the specifics.
Attention advice: providing trainees information about the
processes and strategies that can lead to training success.
 LEARNING PRINCIPLES: THE
PSYCHOLOGY OF LEARNING
❖ Reinforcement
A concept that people tend to repeat responses that give them
some type of positive reward and avoid actions associated with
negative consequences.
→ A person who is positively reinforced for learning is more likely to
continue to learn.
❖ Behavior Modification
▪ Positive reinforcement: A person receives a desired reward.
▪ Negative reinforcement: An individual works to avoid an
undesirable consequence.
▪ Punishment: Action taken to repel a person from an undesired
action.
▪ Extinction: The absence of an expected response to a situation.
 LEARNING PRINCIPLES: THE
PSYCHOLOGY OF LEARNING
❖ Immediate Confirmation:
The concept that people learn best if reinforcement is given
as soon as possible after training.
❖ Learning Practice and Patterns:
▪ Behavior modeling: Copying someone else’s behavior.
▪ Active practice: The performance of job related tasks and
duties by trainees during training.
• Spaced practice: Several practice sessions spaced
over a period of hours or days.
• Massed practice: The performance of all of the practice
at once.
 LEARNING PRINCIPLES: THE
PSYCHOLOGY OF LEARNING
❖ Learning curves People in different training situations learn
in different patterns, called learning curves
❖ Transfer of Training: For effective transfer of training from
the classroom to the job, two conditions must be met.
▪ The trainees must be able to take the material learned in
training and apply it to the job context in which they work.
▪ Use of the learned material must be maintained over time
on the job.
 ORIENTATION: TRAINING FOR NEW
EMPLOYEES
Orientation: The planned introduction of new employees to
their jobs, coworkers, and the organization.
Orientation Responsibilities:
Without an HR department: the new employee’s supervisor
or manager has the total responsibility for orientation
With an HR department: requires cooperation between HR
unit and managers, supervisors
 ORIENTATION: TRAINING FOR NEW
EMPLOYEES
Typical Orientation Responsibilities

HR Unit Managers
▪ Places employees on ▪ Prepare coworkers for new
payroll employee
▪ Designs formal orientation ▪ Introduce new employee to
program coworkers
▪ Explains benefits and ▪ Provide overview of job
company organization setting and work rules
▪ Develops orientation
checklist
▪ Evaluates orientation
activities
 ORIENTATION: TRAINING FOR NEW
EMPLOYEES
❖ Purposes of Orientation for Employers:
▪ Productivity enhancement
▪ Turnover reduction
▪ Organizational overview
❖ Purpose of Orientation for New Employees
▪ Favorable employee impression
▪ Enhance interpersonal acceptance
 ORIENTATION: TRAINING FOR NEW
EMPLOYEES
❖ Establishing an Effective Orientation System
▪ Preparing for new employees
▪ Providing new employees with needed information
▪ Presenting orientation information effectively
▪ Evaluation and follow-up
SYSTEMS APPROACH TO TRAINING
SYSTEMS APPROACH TO TRAINING
❖ TRAINING NEEDS ASSESSMENT

Organization-wide Sources
Grievances Accidents Waste/Scrap
Equipment Use Observations Complaints
Exit Interviews Training Observations

Task Analyses Sources

Job Requirements = Employee KSAs
Job Description Requirements = Job Specifications

Individual Employee Sources

Tests Questionnaires Assessment Centers
Attitude Surveys Records Performance appraisals
SYSTEMS APPROACH TO TRAINING
Using Job Performance to Analyze Training Needs
Job Analysis and Ability and
Job Description Motivation
Performance Job Performance
Standards Level

Comparison and Performance Appraisal

Identify Areas of Weakness
Pick Training Methods/Programs Specifically Aimed
at Weak Areas
Consider Measurement Methods, Cost, Time Frame
Conduct Training Activities
SYSTEMS APPROACH TO TRAINING
❖ Establishing Training Objectives and Priorities
▪ Quantity of work resulting from training (for example,
number of words per minute typed or number of
applications processed per day)
▪ Quality of work after training (for example, dollar cost
of rework, scrap loss, or errors)
▪ Timeliness of work after training (for example,
schedules met or budget reports turned in on time)
▪ Cost savings as a result of training
SYSTEMS APPROACH TO TRAINING
ON-THE-JOB TRAINING (OJT)
Job instruction training (jit)
Simulation
Cooperative training
Internships
Apprenticeships
Behaviorally experienced training
Classroom and conference training
Training media
Audiovisual aids
Computer- assisted instruction
Distance training/learning
SYSTEMS APPROACH TO TRAINING
❖ Considerations When Selecting Training Approaches:
▪ Cost
▪ Individual versus team
▪ Number of trainees
▪ Completion time line
▪ Time allotted
▪ Nature of subject matter
▪ Purpose of training
▪ Self-paced versus guided
▪ Training resources
SYSTEMS APPROACH TO TRAINING
Evaluation of Training
Cost/benefit analysis: Compares costs of training with
the benefits received.
Benchmarking Training: HR professionals in an
organization gather data on training and compare it to data
on training at other organizations in the industry and of
their size.
Levels of Evaluation: It is best to consider how training is
to be evaluated before it begins
▪ Reaction
▪ Learning
▪ Behavior
▪ Results
SYSTEMS APPROACH TO TRAINING
SYSTEMS APPROACH TO TRAINING
REACTION: conducting interviews or by administering
questionnaires to the trainees. ( about the training, the
style of the instructors, and the usefulness of the training to
them.)
LEARNING: measuring how well trainees have learned
facts, ideas, concepts, theories, and attitudes.
→ Can be given both before and after training to compare
scores.
SYSTEMS APPROACH TO TRAINING
BEHAVIOR: (1) measuring the effect of training on job
performance through interviews of trainees and their
coworkers and (2) observing job performance.
RESULTS: measuring the effect of training on the
achievement of organizational objectives.
→ Comparing records before and after training
→ The difficulty with measuring results is pinpointing
whether it actually was training that caused the changes in
results.
SYSTEMS APPROACH TO TRAINING
Evaluation Designs
▪ Post-measure
▪ Pre-/post-measure
▪ Pre-/post-measure with control group