Lesson 1: Training in Organizations

Overview

The human resources department supervises a number of functions within the organization,
like hiring and selecting new hires, training old and new employees, monitoring policies and
even handling arguments. Further, the human resources unit of the organization should keep
company employees updated on certain and discrimination. Thus, it is necessary that all human
resource managers and employees acquire the most fitting training.

Learning Objectives:

After successful completion of this lesson, you should be able to:

• Recognize the nature, importance, and benefits of training
• Identify legal issues on training
• Formulate training objectives that are important in all organizations
• Categorize types of training
• Correlate the basic steps of training systematically
• Adapt to trends in training practices
• Internalize training as a career opportunity

Course Materials:

THE NATURE OF TRAINING

Training is the process to develop employee performance on a presently held job or one
related to it. This usually means changes in specific, identifiable knowledge, skills, or behaviors
for use in their current jobs. In order to be effective, training must involve a learning experience,
be a planned organizational activity, and be designed in response to identified needs. Preferably,
training should be crafted to meet the goals of both the organization and the individual
employees. Frequently, training is confused with development. Development refers to learning
opportunities intended to assist employees grow. Such opportunities are not restricted to
improving employees’ performance on their current jobs. Most effective organizations consider
training and development as an essential part of a human resources development program that
must be parallel with corporate business strategies.
The effectiveness of organizations and the experiences of people in work rely
significantly on training. All organizations employing people need to train their staff on important
areas like productivity, health, and safety at work and personal development. Most
organizations are aware of this requisite and devote effort and other resources in training.
Investment in training involves acquiring and maintaining space and equipment. In addition, it
requires operational personnel, employed in the organization’s main business functions, like
production, maintenance, sales, marketing, and management support to direct their attention
and effort to supporting training development and delivery. Hence, they are obligated to provide
a reduced amount of interest to activities that are apparently more productive in terms of the
organization’s main business. Yet, outlay in training is normally considered as good
management practice to uphold suitable know how currently and in the future.
Training is beneficial for a number of reasons, namely:
1. Better job satisfaction and morale amongst workfaces.
2. Improve workforce motivation
3. Improves efficiencies in processes, ensuing to profitability
4. Better capacity to adopt new technologies and methods
5. Improves innovation in strategies and products.
6. Lessens employee turnover.
7. Creates better company image.
8. Helps people identify with organizational goals.
9. Enhances relationship between employer and employee.
10. Helps in organizational development. at
11. Promotes loyalty, faithfulness, sincerity, and trust.
12. Assists in promotion from within.
13. Assists in boosting productivity and work quality.
14. Assists in avoiding tension and conflict.
15. Lowers down costs in the functional areas.
16. Generates an environment for growth and good communication.

There are also legal issues that have to’ be considered in designing and delivering training.
Required and given to all employees. Otherwise, employers could be guilty of an offense. It is
illegal to oblige employees to sign training contract in order to safeguard the costs and time
investment for specialized training. An employee who left the company sooner must not be liable
to the company for the balance based on the contract.
OBJECTIVES OF TRAINING
In order to keep the workforce safe, productive and engaged in the company’s activities
and interests is one of the key roles of the human resources (HR) department. Through
educating employees and managers on the appropriate procedures, human resource training
objectives support this role. What the organization desires to attain and how to help employees
reach company goals are the focus of training objectives. Based on the form of business and
definite challenges the organization faces, there are several possible HR training objectives hat
could be formulated. Nevertheless, some are really vital in almost all organization.
1, Health and Safety- A safe and healthy working environment is a duty of every employer. On
the other hand, each employee has a responsibility to look after himself and those around him.
Both in small and medium-sized companies health and safety is often integrated as part of the
HR function. In big organizations, a dedicated health and safety department is always available.
Training on risk assessment and the importance of embarking on them frequently and properly
by managers while putting into practice any essential actions speedily is a necessity. Failure to
be trained in risk management have negative consequences like injury, illness, death and legal
action against the organization. The results of all of these could be significant financial costs that
may place the company’s future at danger. This is a striking ongoing training objective for every
company as al staff must be conscious of health and safety issues and company policies.
2, Equality and Diversity - Unlawful behaviors and potential lawsuits are often avoided by
organizations through making certain that all staff are sensitive of the essential legal
requirements on equalities and have an understanding of the benefits of diversity. Managers in
order to work within the legal structure and shun from bias in recruitment and how they treat
staff must be equipped with equality training. A range of skills and ideas comes from a diverse
workforce which brings many advantages to an organization. However, it is vital that everybody
is proficient to communicate effectively with a desire to work together, Human resource training
in diversity can
assist staff build the most of their working relationships. It also helps expand new approach into
manner the business interrelates with its customers and the business community.
3. Staff Management -It is crucial for every manager to be able to manage staff effectively.
Management of staff includes how to direct recruitment campaigns and pick the right people;
oversee them and exploit their performance; preserve good employee relations; and assemble
teams. While difficult issues can be given to an HR manager, daily staff management is the
accountability of line managers. Managers are frequently made advancement to their posts with
knowledge in their related fields although they have modest familiarity of employment law, HR,
policies or excellent practice in managing people. This makes capable staff management an
important objective for HR training programs.
4.Soft Skills- It is indispensable that ongoing training in a job-related skills must take priority in
company training programs. Yet, soft skills, which often neglected, can be just as imperative. For
many types of roles especially where there is front line customer contact, time management,
team leadership and communication skills are of the essence. Personal development skills on
confidence building and assertiveness training make individuals consider themselves
empowered in their personal lives and at work. As a result, they are better competent to
communicate with their colleagues, making them more effective in their respective jobs.
TRAINING CATEGORIES
Training is designed to fulfill some objectives that are vital to the success of the
organization. Some common groupings are the following:
1. Required and regular training - These are trainings which comply with legal requirements
and are provided for all employees.
a. Sexual harassment prevention - Sexual harassment prevention training typically embraces
wary description of the organization’s policies on sexual harassment, particularly regarding what
are improper behaviors.
b. Safety compliance - Safety compliance training is critical were working with heavy
equipment, hazardous chemicals, repetitive activities, etc., but can also be useful with practical
advice for avoiding assaults, etc.
c. Wage and hour rules - Wage and hour rules training is for managers and employees who
require a fundamental understanding of employer policies in order not to expose their
organization to major legal risk and liability.
d. Employee orientation. - Employee orientation training basics include introducing employees
to the company, its products, its culture and to the competition and showing new workers how to
perform their jobs safely and efficiently.
e. Benefits enrollment — Benefits enrollment training is for employees to learn more about
employee benefits. Employees are invited to bring their spouses as well.
2. Job/Technical Training- These trainings make possible employees to do their jobs well.
a. Computer skills - Computer skills are becoming a necessity for conducting administrative
and office tasks from simple use to more advanced usage of computers.
b. Customer service - Increased competition in today’s global marketplace makes it critical that
employees understand and meet the needs of Customers.
c. Quality initiatives - Initiatives such as total quality management, quality circles,
benchmarking, etc., require basic training about quality concepts, guidelines, and standards for
quality, etc.
d. Equipment operations- Training on equipment operations provides basic skills and
knowledge to safely handle and operate equipment’s.
e. Recordkeeping needs - Training on recordkeeping needs offers training on proper setting up
the right record keeping system for a business in order to work efficiently meet legal
requirements and strengthen customer and staff ‘relationships.
f. Telecommunications ~ Training on telecommunications entails providing a concrete
foundation in the details of telecommunications technology.
g. Product details - Training on product details involves knowing about the complete
specifications of a product in order to fully explain to possible customers the benefits of buying
the product.
3. Developmental and career training - These are trainings focus on both operational and
interpersonal troubles and endeavor to enhance the working environment of the organization.
a. Business trends - Business trends training is providing information on the latest
developments or changes in people, technology, and business environments.
b. Strategic thinking - Strategic thinking training equips the trainee on how to think strategically
every day in their roles as well as part of the business planning process. It helps them to widen
strategic insight, identify a strategic vision and generate new strategic ideas.
c. Leadership - Leadership training helps the leaders of the organization find out how to stir
trust and build credibility with their people, describe a clear and convincing purpose, create and
support systems of success, and let loose the talents and energy of a winning team.
d. Change management - Change management training ensures that changes are
systematically and effortlessly executed, and that the lifelong benefits of change are achieved.
e. Career planning - Career planning training helps in thinking about the interests, values, skills
and preferences of an individual; exploring the life, work and learning options available to the
trainee; ensuring that the trainee’s work fits with his personal circumstances; and continuously
fine-tuning his work and learning plans to help manage the changes in his life and the world of
work.
f. Performance management - Performance management creates both competence and
growth for employees. The focus is to help in assessing performance and making decisions to
develop the performance of others
4. Interpersonal and problem-solving training- these training center on long-term
improvement of individual and organization capabilities in the coming years.
a. Diversity- Diversity training usually includes explanation about how people have different
perspectives and views and includes techniques to value diversity.
b. Ethics - Today's society has increasing expectation about corporate social responsibility.
Also, today’s diverse workforce brings a wide variety of values and morals to the workplace.
c. Human-relations- The increased stresses of today’s workplace can cause
misunderstandings and conflict. Training can help people to get along well in the workplace.
d. Communications - The increasing diversity of today’s workforce brings a wide variety of
languages and customs, so training could assist in bridging the gap that may happen due to
miscommunication.
e. Writing Skills-Writing skills training helps an individual assess his current writing skills, set
goals for improvement, and apply tools and techniques to reach his goals. When people in an
organization participate in effective writing skills training, they espouse good writing practices
that benefit both their professional image and the image of their organization.
f. Team relations - Team relations training helps identify a number of ways to help create
harmonious team relationships by knowing what makes people tick in order to create a
motivating and inspiring environment.
g. Coaching skills - Training on caching skills focuses on principles and practice of
performance coaching and enables trainees to discover the true power of coaching within
organizations. Trainees will develop important new skills, tools and behaviors that are the
foundation for creating success in their organization.
h. Problem analyses- Problem analyses training helps improve skills of trainees in identifying,
analyzing, and solving work-related problems as well as assist in increasing management, staff
and customer commitment to their decision.
i. Conflict resolution- Conflict resolution focuses on ways supervisors can work with their
employees to resolve conflict in the workplace. It provides practical steps and techniques that
everyone can learn.

BASIC STEPS IN THE TRAINING PROCESS

In any business or industry one of the most profitable investments an organization can
make is training. The approach organizations organize and design their training shapes the
manner employees experience the training which most likely would have bearing on the
effectiveness of training.
In developing an effective training program, it is best to use the systematic training
process. There are four basic training steps in this process which are assessment, design,
delivery, and evaluation (see Figure 1).
STEP 1: Training needs analysis
The needs analysis is the first step for all training. This step requires data collection in
order to justify an investment for training. Surveys, observations, interviews, and customer
comment cards are some of the techniques being used for data collection. Customer
dissatisfaction, low morale, low productivity, and high turnover are several issues that specific
training needs could be designed from. Through determining training needs, an organization can
choose what specific knowledge, skills, and attitudes are required to get better the employee's
performance based on the company’s standards.
The objective in setting up a needs analysis is to discover the responses to the following
queries:
1. Why training is necessary?
2. What kind of training is considered necessary?
3. When is the training necessary?
4. Where is the training considered necessary?
5. Who requires the training?
6. Who will carry out the training?
7. How will the training be executed?

STEP 2: Training designs

This step establishes the training design appropriate depending on the training
objectives. The training must be designed in order to deal with the evaluated specific needs.
The effectiveness of the training relies on learning concepts and the wide variety of approaches
to training.
STEP 3: Training delivery
Once training design has been decided this step can begin. One-on-one training, on-the
job training, group training, seminars, and workshops are the most popular ways of training
delivery.
The following variables must be considered in selecting training delivery methods:
1. nature of training
2. topic of the training
3. number of participants in the training
4. individual vs. team
5. self-paced vs. guided
6. training resources/costs
7. e-learning vs. traditional learning
8. time allocated
9. completion timeline

In addition, the choice of trainer could significantly affect the effectiveness of a training
program. Therefore, proper selection of a trainer is necessary in order not to squander time,
money and effort in training. For a training program to be successful, the trainer should be
mindful of several vital essentials, like a controlled environment, excellent planning, the use of
diverse training techniques, proficient oral communication skills, and trainee participation. In
addition, an effective trainer should have the following characteristics:
1. an interest to lecture the subject being taught
2. an experiential knowledge of the subject being taught
3. an ability to encourage participants to learn
4. a good sense of humor
5. an energetic look and good posture
6. a strong enthusiasm for their topic
7. a strong empathy towards participants
8. fitting audio/visual equipment to better understand the topic of the training

STEP 4: Training evaluation

This step will determine how effective and profitable the training program has become
due to cost and time expenditure. Evaluation could be in the form of pre and post surveys of
customer comments cards, the establishment of a cost/benefit analysis outlining expenses and
returns, and/or an increase in customer satisfaction and profits.
There are numerous apparent benefits for evaluating a training program, namely:

1. evaluations will afford feedback on the trainer’s performance, which could allow improvement
for future programs
2. evaluations will show its cost-effectiveness
3. evaluations determine the effectiveness of the training program in general for the employees
and the organization itself
TRENDS IN TRAINING
Training is the most innovative and mature area of talent management. Training and
development have come a long way with latest technology improvements and the fast
embracing of social ‘collaboration. Five major trends and best practices that companies should
think about in training consist of the employment of mobile technology, embracing of social
learning tools, application of adaptive learning principles, alignment with corporate objectives,
and the talent to measure effectiveness.
1. Going Mobile - The manner companies work, interrelate, and work together has been
transformed by mobile technology. With the increased in globalization, organizations that do not
consider using mobile in all areas will have difficulty in competing for talent. Companies are still
sluggish to adopt and make use of mobile learning solutions in the face of this reality. Most
companies do not know how to carry out a mobile strategy that is why they are not fully aware
that mobile learning solutions can improve adoption, widen global reach, and connect users
better. Moreover, some organizations find it difficult to decide what options are available and
which providers to consider, in any case whatever obstacles they are facing, organizations
looking to develop their training functions need to embrace mobile technology. It is also best to
decide on the best technology partner.
2. Understanding Social - Companies are speedily accepting social media tools, plus investing
in social collaboration tools to better connect employees and promote a training culture.
However, companies still need the knowledge and insight around on how to make use of these
tools for training and development. One explanation is that companies are restricted in the
social tools they use. Most organizations are using document sharing, discussion forms, and
blogs. They are not generally using the most effective tools which are video or microblogs to
improve their training functions. Therefore, firms must start education themselves on the
importance of social learning. Further organizations must spend money in providers that
recommend solutions for good business results
3. Considering Adaptive Learning- Adaptive learning is a method that allows employees to be
trained at their own speed. In the workplace, employees can be observed in real tome
individually to find out what learning approach will be the best fit their requirements. Adaptive
learning is advantageous in improving efficiency and employee engagement and retention
because it permits employees to build confidence and overall proficiency.
4. Aligning with Business Objectives - The training of the earlier period is operated with
modest interaction or input from other areas of the business. Today training must be strongly
aligned to overall corporate strategies for companies to realize good results. In order to
guarantee that training is driving retention, engagement, and performance every program or
technology outlay should involve input from business leaders.
5. Measuring Effectiveness -Organizations must discover away to constantly appraise its
effectiveness in order to establish that the training strategy in place is encouraging good
business results. Beforehand firms ought to establish metrics and incorporate both business
metrics and training/Human Resource metrics. At present, the majority of organizations are
considering team support, employee commitment, and employee satisfaction above real
business metrics such as retention, turnover, and revenue per full-time employee.
OPPORTUNITIES OF EMPLOYMENT IN TRAINING
Human resources training consists of obtaining the Human Resource (HR) degree level
that is fitting for the job, plus acquiring further on-the-job training via observation and mentoring.
For those looking for entry level Positions is also common to have internships while in school,
during an internship, he opportunity to job shadow it seasoned professionals, to observe, and to
participate in their activities is feasible. Upon graduation it is Possible for those who have served
as interns to land on a rewarding position in training.
Numerous individuals who aspire to enter into human resources training role make use
of their past experiences and enhance it with formal education in a college or university
program. If seeking a trainer or professional role, those who have been formerly engaged in
teaching or training roles may use those cross-over skills to their gain. From having generalist
roles who wish to make the transition into a specialized role like human resource that will
complement earlier experience and help make the transition easier.
Master’s in business with a focus on Human Resources would facilitate HR training and
development manager or specialist move up the career ladder earn a better salary. Training and
development managers or Specialists can work for a wide range of companies all over the
country, and because of that and other factors, their incomes vary.
The average salary for a training manager is PHP 748,712 per year. Most people move
on to other jobs if they have more than 20 years’ experience in this field. Experience strongly
influences pay for this job (see Figure 2).
References

Training and Development Dr. Marivic F. Flores, Prof. Angelita Ong Camilar-Serrano