Training and Development

Chapter

8
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright 2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Training and Employee Development

Trainingis

any attempt to improve employee performance on the job, and usually includes changes in the knowledge, skills, or abilities of the person, or some combination of these three.
training

is exceptionally popular in the US, a multi-billion dollar industry, and falls under the larger umbrella of development

Developmentbroadly

covers anything that helps employees grow. This includes job-related training, career planning, and general personal development such as assertiveness training or budgeting workshops. Training as high performance work system characteristic

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Extent of 2004 Training and Development

U.S.

organizations with more than 100 employees spent $51.4 billion on formal training. Financial and technology industries spent most on training per employee. Manufacturing durables, and wholesale and retail trade spent least on training per employee.

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Most Frequent Types of Training Offered

Types of Training
Computer systems/applications New hire orientation Management development, nonexecutive Performance management/appraisals Sexual harassment Leadership Product knowledge Customer education Diversity/cultural awareness Quality/process improvement Ethics Wellness

Percentage of Firms Offering

96% 96% 91% 85% 88% 85% 79% 68% 72% 65% 61% 54%

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Needs Assessment Phase

Systematic, objective determination of training needs.

organizational analysisdetermines the area of the organization that is in need of training

if available, use HRIS information to test hypotheses about training needs (e.g., sales, productivity, complaints, customer data) use (or collect) performance data

job analysisdetermines what should be taught in the training so that the trainees may perform their jobs in a satisfactory manner

can be derived from performance data if available

person analysisassesses who needs training by determining where employee performance is falling short of what is desired

more cost effective to determine who really needs training can workers test out or be exempted by past performance data?

Instructional objectives derived for identified performance discrepancies.

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The Program Development Phase

There are multiple issues to keep in mind when developing a training program. To keep trainees interested, should do the following:
training environment should be conducive to learning (on or off site)
should have all necessary materials/equipment

check trainability of trainees (skill, ability, and motivation)

Work environment correlates.

assess readiness for computer-based learning

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The Program Development Phase

Conditions of the learning environment: whole vs. part learninglearn an entire system at once, or break into
modules

massed vs. spaced practicemassed practice occurs when lots of information is learned at once, spaced when information is learned over a period of time overlearningpracticing beyond the point of performing the task in a satisfactory manner goal settingimproves performance by directing and focusing behavior, increasing effort, encouraging trainees to persist through obstacles, and enabling trainees to set strategies knowledge of resultsmust provide timely and specific feedback attentionmaterials should be designed to keep trainee attention retentionmaterial must be meaningful to trainees

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The Program Development Phase

Transfer of trainingnot an automatic process to transfer training to performance. To help with transfer:

maximize the similarities between training and job practices require participants to practice training procedures encourage trainees to practice their new skills on the job include a variety of possible scenarios for each training exercise label important objectives develop job aids and make them available make sure all basic concepts are understood ensure a supportive environment for learning build the trainees self-efficacy give trainees opportunities to demonstrate job skills encourage continual learning

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The Program Development Phase

Method of trainingThere are two methods to choose from:

informationaltransmission of information is one-way through lectures, audio/video media, and self-directed learning

85% of firms use informational training very effective way to transfer theory, concepts, procedures, or other factual material

experientialhands-on teaching of physical and cognitive skills. These often include:

on-the-job trainingoften informal best used when one-on-one training is necessary computer-based traininginteractive training, often used to teach employees computer skills distance learning programscompleting coursework via the internet, either interactively with others or with a computer program

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The Program Development Phase

Experiential training programs continued:

equipment simulatorsreproduce physiological and psychological conditions of the real world when using machines games and outdoor experiential programsgames are primarily used to teach decision-making skills, while outdoor experiential programs are primarily used for team building case analysisreading in-depth studies of incidents in organizations. The incidents are then analyzed and reactions to the incident dissected role playingacting out roles and attempting to perform as required in a particular role behavior modelingwatching positive examples (video or live) of job behavior, then practicing what was observed

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The Evaluation Phase: Types of Criteria

Types of criteria for evaluation of training. reactionsmost basic type of data. Surveying trainee
attitudes toward whether they learned, the trainer, the training itself, materials used, etc

learningchanges in knowledge by trainee

performancechecking performance appraisals for changes in trainee job behavior organizational resultschanges in organizational outcomes such as sales, turnover, absences, performance productivity, customer data, error rates, etc. Most distal and macro criteria

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The Evaluation Phase: Effectiveness of Organizational Training

Overall

effects of training on productivity larger than other organizational interventions such as performance appraisal and feedback, MBO, and goal setting. Regardless of delivery method, the magnitude of training effects on a skill were generally moderate to large. even effects of training using lecture method were generally high Overall, effects varied depending on training method, skill or task being trained, and criterion used to operationalize effectiveness. Effect sizes using learning criteria much better than behavioral or results criteria. Environmental favorability may play a role in these findings

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The Evaluation Phase: Assessing Costs and Benefits

Assessing the costs and benefits of training.

costsinclude all expenses such as:

one-time costsconducting the needs assessment, costs of designing training, designing materials, etc costs associated with each sessiontrainer salaries, facility rentals, etc costs associated with the traineestime off of work, travel costs, lodging, etc

benefitsusually estimated as a dollar impact of performance increase. Be sure to have a systematic and realistic way of estimating the benefits, and avoid overstating

Return on investment (ROI)(benefits costs)/total costs. Utility analysismeasures economic contribution of a program according to how effective it was in identifying and modifying behavior.

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The Evaluation Phase: Evaluation Designs

Evaluation designsspecific quasi-experimental designs to answer the following questions:

question #1did a change occur in the criteria being measured (learning, performance, etc)? question #2can the change be attributed to the training?

Five basic designs, from least to greatest complexity. All of them answer the first question (did a change occur) The first two designs do not answer question #2 (whether the training caused the change in outcomes).

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The Evaluation Phase: Evaluation Designs

1.

2.

One-shot posttest designone evaluation of knowledge at the end of the training session. Tells you if a minimum qualification (e.g., 70% correct) has been met. One group pretest-posttest designevaluate the training group by giving them a test before and after the training session. Statistically significant differences between the two sets of scores indicates that a change has occurred. These first two designs help determine if a change occurred, but NOT whether the training caused the change in outcomes.

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The Evaluation Phase: Evaluation Designs

3.

Posttest-only control group designmeasures a single evaluation at the end of training on the group who have gone through training and a control group, a group that has not gone through training but is similar to the training group (same jobs, same age range, etc).

randomizationThe third design answers question #2 if the people placed in the two groups are randomly chosen from the organizations population, and randomly assigned to either the training or control group. This is known as randomization (random selection and random assignment), and it evens out things like levels of intelligence in the group, motivation, abilities, etc

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The Evaluation Phase: Evaluation Designs

4.

Pretest-posttest control group designboth groups are tested before and after the training has occurred. If significant differences between the groups at the pretest stage, training may not be the cause of any differences found at the posttest stage. this design does determine both if a change occurred AND whether the training caused the change in outcomes

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The Evaluation Phase: Evaluation Designs

5.

Multiple time-series designcontrol and training groups are tested several times at specific time intervals before and after training. Differences can tell you how long training lasts. this design does determine both if a change occurred AND whether the training caused the change in outcomes
Test #1 Test #2 Test #3

Control Group
Training Group

Test #4

Test #5

Training

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Special Training Programs

Employee orientation programs. employees are informed of their roles and responsibilities to help ease their transition into the organization Training for teams. often focuses on teaching members how to work more effectively or efficiently in team Information-technology training. training on how to use computers Diversity awareness training. for improving productivity and competitiveness, changing attitudes, reducing conflict, improving communication, enhancing creativity, improving progress of minorities and women into upper level management positions

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Special Training Programs

Sexual

harassment training. includes description of firms policy on sexual harassment, definitions of sexual harassment, procedure for reporting sexual harassment, procedure used to investigate claims, and descriptions/evaluations of incidents Creativity training. to instill a spirit of risk taking and innovativeness evidence that such training can work Training for international assignments. training on communication, decision making, commitment, ideals, and problem solving skills