CENTRE FOR OPEN AND DISTANCE LEARNING

TEZPUR UNIVERSITY: NAPAAM: SONITPUR

SELF-LEARNING MATERIAL

HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

CR 4

DHR 201

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SELF-LEARNING MATERIAL

Course Code: DHR 201

Course Title: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT CR 4

Course Advisors
Prof S.S.Sarkar
Dr Anjan Bhuyan
Dr Runumi Das
Dr Papori Barua

Programme Coordinator/s

Dr Anjan Bhuyan

Course Contributors
Dr. Papari Baruah
Course Editor/s

Prof. S.S. Hhanka

March 2012
@ CODL, Tezpur University
Published by
Director, Centre for Open and Distance Learning (CODL),
on behalf of Tezpur University.

The material provided here can be freely accessed but cannot be reproduced or reprinted for
commercial purposes.

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COURSE INTRODUCTION

COURSE 1: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

UNIT-1 : INTRODUCTION TO HRD
UNIT-2 : IDENTIFYING TRAINING NEEDS (FIRST PART)
UNIT-3 : IDENTIFYING TRAINING NEEDS (SECOND PART)
UNIT-4 : SPECIFYING TRAINING NEEDSUNIT -1 :
UNIT-5 : TRANSLATING TRAINING NEEDS INTO ACTION
UNIT-6 : TRAINING
UNIT-7 : TRAINING SPECIFICATION
UNIT-8 : TRAINING EVALUATION

COURSE 2: LABOUR LAWS

UNIT 1 : THE WORKMEN’S COMPENSATION ACT, 1923
UNIT 2 : THE PAYMENT OF WAGES ACT, 1936
UNIT 3 : FACTORIES ACT, 1948
UNIT 4 : INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES ACT, 1947
UNIT-5 : THE TRADE UNIONS ACT, 1926
UNIT-6 : MINIMUM WAGES ACT, 1948
UNIT-7 : PAYMENT OF BONUS ACT, 1965
UNIT-8 : LAW FOR LABOUR WELFARE

COURSE 3: COMPENSATION MANAGEMENT

UNIT-1 : INTRODUCTION
UNIT 2 : COMPENSATION ADMINISTRATION
UNIT-3 : WAGE PAYMENT SYSTEM
UNIT 4 : WAGE COMPONENTS
UNIT 5 : EXECUTIVE REMUNERATION AND INDUSTRIAL SCENARIO
UNIT 6 : WAGE DIFFERENTIALS
UNIT 7 : WAGE FIXATION
UNIT 8 : WAGE POLICY IN INDIA
COURSE 4: ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE AND
DEVELOPMENT

UNIT 1 : INTRODUCTION
UNIT-2 : MONITORING THE ORGANIZATION'S ENVIRONMENT FOR CHANGE
UNIT-3 : MANAGING CHANGE
UNIT-4 : ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT
UNIT-5 : OD APPROACHES
UNIT-6 : DIFFERENT OD INTERVENTIONS1
UNIT-7 : DIFFERENT OD INTERVENTIONS 2
UNIT-8 : OD PRACTICES IN INDIAN ORGANIZATION

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DHR-201: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT CR 4

UNIT 1 INTRODUCTION TO HRD

UNIT STRUCTURE
1.0 OBJECTIVE OF THIS UNIT
1.1 INTRODUCTION
1.2 TRAINING, DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION
1.3 BUSINESS NEEDS
1.4 CONCLUSION

1.0 OBJECTIVE OF THIS UNIT

At the end of this unit a learner must develop the concept of Human Resource Development and
the various types of business needs both planned and unplanned that give rise to the HRD
needs.
1.1 INTRODUCTION
In the last semester you were exposed to the area of knowledge called Human Resource
Management. Within this subject you went through the concepts and practices related to Human
Resource Development (HRD). In this course you will be provided very specialized knowledge
of this subject including details of certain components.

HRD can be said to be a continuous process to ensure the development of employees

dynamism, effectiveness, competencies and motivation in a systematic and planned manner.
Developing a congenial organizational climate is also one of the major objectives of HRD.

HRD is a continuous process in the sense that it is a routine activity and not confined to only
certain days of the year. In today’s world employees need to be dynamic and full of energy and
enthusiasm to excel. For this their work has to be effective and they must possess the right kind
of competencies. HRD tries to help them to achieve that. But this whole effort has to be properly
planned so as to realize the desired results and wastage of time, money and effort does not
happen.

In an organization employees need to have a variety of competencies in order to perform their job
well. These include knowledge, skills and attitudes in technical areas, human relation areas and
conceptual areas to perform the different tasks and functions. HRD efforts in an organization
must try to see what kinds of competencies are demanded by different jobs and what
competencies do the persons occupying those positions have.

Motivation is passion for working for the organization. From your knowledge of this subject in
Organization Behaviour you know that without having this, competencies are of no use. In order
to give good or an effective performance employees have to be motivated enough. Thus HRD

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gives much emphasis on motivating employees through training and other means so that they
willingly exert effort to excel. You also know that people might be at different levels of hierarchy
and at each of these levels they may have different needs, and are motivated by fulfillment of
those needs. Also different people might be motivated by different things, some by intrinsic
things whereas some by extrinsic things.
A good organizational climate helps in developing appropriate organizational culture that
encourages people to enhance their capabilities and efficiency of work.

Thus we can say that the aim of HRD is to

• bridge the competency gap to perform the present role effectively
• develop potential for future needs

From the previous section we know that employees must have the right kind of competencies to
perform their present job effectively. In case there is a lack of that, organizations must strive to
fill up that gap through training. Further organizations as well as the employees must look for a
long term relationship. This means employees have to grow in their career in the organization. As
they go up the ladder, their jobs will demand new competencies. Hence organizations must look
for employees’ development so that they are capable to handle future positions efficiently.

HRD in an organization hence has the following purposes

 To increase productivity of the employees thereby that of the organization by reducing the
competency gaps of the individuals and motivating them adequately so that they willingly
exert their cent percent effort to perform.
 To improve quality i.e the quality of performance/outputs.
 To help a company fulfill its future manpower needs through training and development so
that the employees are adequately equipped to take up higher responsibilities in future.
 To improve the organizational climate by making people aware of managing conflicts,
fostering good interpersonal relationship amongst the peers, the subordinates and the
superiors, effective communication, need for organizational support, creating congenial
work environment etc.
 To improve health and safety by making people aware of these issues
 Obsolescence prevention by updating knowledge and skills
 Personal Growth through planned developmental effort and career growth
 Building a learning culture where people are eager to develop their knowledge and share
it with others.
1.2 TRAINING, DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION
The above three terms though look very similar but have certain aspects that distinguish one from
the other. The use of the terms “Training and Development” is quite common. We are used to
hearing the term “Education” since our school days. The following sections will discuss the
same.

Training

Training is a process of learning a sequence of programmed behaviour. It is application of

knowledge. It gives people an awareness of the rules and procedures to guide their behaviour.

Thus from the above lines we come know that the expected behaviour is already laid down and
employees are given the appropriate knowledge at an adequate level to achieve that behaviour.

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It attempts to improve their performance on the current job or prepare them for an intended job.
This is the main aspect of training. The focus is thus short term. The main objective is to enhance
their present competency or capabilities.

Development
It covers activities which not only improve performance of a person in his present job but also
bring about growth of his/her personality. Development related activities help individuals
progress towards maturity and actualization of their potential capacities so that they become not
only good employees but better individuals.

Again one of the major objectives of development is to equip persons to earn promotion and hold
greater responsibility in future. This ensures that the organization has a supply of competent
people to fill up the vacancies that are created though expansion, retirement, transfer,
attrition/employee turnover, firing etc. and that the organization doesn’t have to suffer as they
have people who are ready to occupy those positions. So the focus of development is long term.

Education
Education is the understanding and interpretation of knowledge. Imparting knowledge is prime
focus of education. It develops a logical and rational mind that can determine relationships
among pertinent variables and thereby understand phenomena. It helps a person to develop
intellectually so that he or she can use the knowledge gained to perform better at the workplace.

Organizations today are expected to create a learning culture and hence HRD function has the
responsibility of educating their people. Thus sponsoring employees to undergo various
educational programmes is quite common.

Read►

The Strategic Roles of Human Resource Development

Torraco, Richard J., Swanson, Richard A., Human Resource Planning

Human resource development (HRD) has served the needs of organizations to provide employees
with up-to-date expertise. Advances in HRD models and processes have kept pace with the
increasingly sophisticated information and production technologies that continue to diffuse
throughout our nation's most vital industries (Swanson and Torraco, 1994). During this period of
rapid technological development, the HRD function could be relied upon to support a broad range
of business initiatives that required a competent workforce. Critical business issues, from new
marketing strategies to innovations in production technology, were based on, among other
factors, the performance capabilities of those expected to use these new work systems. As a
factor integral to business success, employee expertise itself has been expanded through effective
programs of employee development. Expertise is defined as the optimal level at which a person is
able and/or expected to perform within a specialized realm of human activity (Swanson, 1994). In
short, the development of workplace expertise through HRD has been vital to optimal business
performance.

Yet today's business environment requires that HRD not only support the business strategies of
organizations, but that it assumes a pivotal role in the shaping of business strategy. Business
success increasingly hinges on an organization's ability to use employee expertise as a factor in
the shaping of business strategy. This article examines the strategic roles of HRD. As a primary
means of sustaining an organization's competitive edge, HRD serves a strategic role by assuring
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the competence of employees to meet the organization's present performance demands. Along
with meeting present organizational needs, HRD also serves a vital role in shaping strategy and
enabling organizations to take full advantage of emergent business strategies. Both the strategy
supporting and strategy shaping roles of HRD have distinctive features that are evident in the
business practices of successful companies. This article examines the origins and distinctive
features of the strategic roles of HRD, and illustrates these roles with examples from today's most
innovative organizations.

HRD to Support Business Objectives

The HRD function has long been relied upon to support a broad range of business objectives that
require competent employees. Business objectives themselves are almost as diverse in nature as
the wide range of organizations that articulate them. Business objectives can span long- and
short-term time frames, and can focus on broad business issues (e.g., diversification in the
defense industry in the post-cold war era) and more specific issues (e.g., reduction of employee
turnover in company field offices). The rationale for using HRD interventions to support business
objectives is quite straightforward: Enhancing employee expertise through HRD increases the
likelihood that business objectives will be achieved (Jacobs and Jones, 1995; Swanson, 1994).

There are numerous examples of how HRD is used to support business objectives. Indeed, most
HRD programs referred to as somehow having "strategic" value assume roles that are supportive
of a given business strategy. The education and training used to support business objectives at
Motorola is typical of the challenges and opportunities faced by many organizations in today's
business environment. What Motorola discovered earlier than most organizations that began
introducing new sophisticated technologies into the workplace was that their employees did not
have the skills to make full use of the technologies (Agrawal, 1994). Companies that compete in
the fast-paced communications market where customers are particularly innovation-conscious
must deliver high-quality, reliable products despite short product development cycles. Motorola
sought production advantages through both the integration of new technology and the
development of employee expertise. Motorola offers on- and off-site classroom education and
training, laboratory training, and structured training in the workplace for employees at all levels
of the organization. In addition to supporting Motorola's successful pursuit of its business
objectives, many of its education and training initiatives serve as examples of best practices
against which other organizations' HRD functions benchmark their performance. Thus, Motorola
provides an early and influential example of HRD used to support business objectives.

Many additional cases in which HRD supports the implementation of business strategy can be
cited. Training and other initiatives associated with total quality management have been critical
in transforming marginal manufacturing plants into successful facilities (Sullivan, 1994). HRD
continues to be a primary vehicle for assuring mandated levels of employee competence and
public safety in highly regulated sectors like the nuclear power industry (Paquin, 1994). Several
leading corporations consider the value added through state-of-the-art employee expertise so
important to their operations that they have created extensive internal systems for providing
education and training. Examples of these systems include the Texas Instruments Learning
Institute, the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, and Disney University (Brown, 1991; Mancuso,
1994).

HRD, Expertise, and Strategy

HRD is moving beyond a role that is exclusively supportive of business strategy. Increasingly,
HRD is assuming a more influential role at the point of strategy formulation and is becoming one
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of the key determinants of business strategy. Successful business strategies increasingly turn on
the organization's ability to apply state-of-the-art expertise to new and emerging business
opportunities. In today's marketplace, organizations that possess or can quickly achieve the levels
of employee expertise required to meet emerging business needs will win; those that don't will be
left behind. This rapidly changing business environment requires a dynamic strategic planning
process and flexible use of resources. As will be demonstrated in this article, HRD has assumed a
formative role in both the strategic planning process and in developing innovative, competent
human resources.

However, present conceptions of the strategic role of HRD, if HRD is even thought of in a
strategic context at all, view it in a role that is simply supportive of a given strategy. Strategies
for product innovation or cost leadership, for example, are usually conceived and adopted by the
organization, and when implementation constraints surface, only then is formal consideration
given to employee expertise and the training implications of the strategy. Although the role HRD
serves in support of strategy is necessary and important to operational success, HRD can offer an
organization even greater strategic value.

This section lays the groundwork for demonstrating a more influential role for HRD in becoming
an important determinant in the formulation of strategy. First, two factors that have had a major
influence on expanding HRD's strategic role are examined. These two forces are: (a) the
centrality of information technology to business success; and (b) the sustainable competitive
advantage offered by workforce expertise. Although not always obvious, there is a natural fit
between initiatives for developing employee expertise and the organization's strategic direction.
This "HRD - business strategy linkage" is the basis for HRD's influential role as shaper of
strategy.

Source: http://www.questia.com/read/1G1-18397000/the-strategic-roles-of-human-resource-
development

1.3 BUSINESS NEEDS

We often see that training activity start from a wrong end. It happens when the “Brochure of
training courses is prepared by the Human Resource Department and sent around to managers of
different departments for recommending their staff to undergo various training courses as
mentioned in the brochure.

When the HRD personnel are asked on what basis the brochure was prepared, they would reply
that
“This catalogue was compiled after an analysis of what was required”. In this context few
important questions that need to be put forward are as follows,
• How long ago this analysis was carried out?
If the analysis was carried out quite some time back, it does not serve today’s purpose.
• Are the training needs still the same?
The training needs that were relevant a year back may not be so today.
• Who requires what training?
It would give the answer as to whether an appropriate analysis was carried out to find out
the training needs of different individuals.
• To what extent are these courses related to the business needs?
Usually training programmes should be selected and delivered to suit the business needs
of the organization and not based on somebody’s whims.

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Many a times it is observed that training is conducted as a “Shotgun Approach” believing that a
few of the several bullets fired would hit the actual target that is the real training need. But it is
heartening to see that in most cases these are misfired thus leading to great waste of money, time
and effort.

It is very well seen that when things get tough, the training budget is one of the first to face the
axe. Normally that should not happen. During difficult times organizations are supposed to thrive
on with lesser manpower and lesser resources, and HRD has a major role in making this possible.
Logically the HRD budget should not be the first one to be cut down. However, if that has
happened, it implies that the HRD department in that particular organization has not been able to
create an impact in terms of showing positive gains. Hence the expenditures associated with this
department are believed to be not so useful. Thus if the HRD department likes to be respected it
must enhance its credibility by showing positive end results.
Thus as said previously, Business Needs should be the starting point for any training initiative in
an organization rather, training must be driven by the business needs of the organization. It must
be aligned to the strategic function of the organization.

Every organization is embedded in the external environment. By now you very well know that
the forces from the external environment affect the performance of the organization. It also bring
forth new opportunities for the organization to explore and gain. Thus Business Needs are
created. These needs are both planned and unplanned. Planned in the sense that, the organization
had elaborately thought of certain business idea, which had led to the creation of these needs. But
in many occasions these needs are created abruptly without giving much thought.

As depicted below, the planned business needs are proactive, where as those that are unplanned
are reactive.

Proactive (Planned pressure of the Business Strategy)

Reactive (knee jerk reaction to unforeseen and unexpected pressures)

In order to fulfill the above needs organizations take up the following business strategies.

• Consolidation: this implies strengthening the current position of the organization by

being good at whatever it is doing presently. Here the organization will try to retain its
current market position, sustain the quality in all spheres. Thus we see that HRD has an
important role in positive reinforcement of people in the organization to perform well and
keeping them updated with the latest knowledge and skills.

• Growth via Market penetration, market development, diversification. This would require
a lot of HRD effort to equip people about new markets and new products. This strategy
would also require intake of new employees to fulfill the growth strategy, which would
demand a huge training on company operations and knowledge of the organization’s as
well as the competitor’s markets, products and services, work approaches etc.

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 • Contraction (reducing activities) via: Withdrawing from the market, withdrawing
products, selling off/closing down parts of the business. Here too HRD has a role in
making limited number of people carry out the business of the organization. In several
occasions a company would require to train its people to handle diversification.
• Closure: here HRD effort may concentrate on issues related to separation. It may also see
that their previous workforce is fit to be absorbed by the new employer. Sometimes
organizations also arrange counseling for their employees at this stage.

Read►

Lifelong learning: the role of human resource development within organizations

Context of the Research

Lifelong learning has become, and will remain, an important issue for Europe, as it develops into
a “learning society”. Work organizations are becoming important partners in this learning
society, as they provide ever more opportunities for continuous learning to their employees, in
order to optimize organizational learning. Companies that explicitly encourage and support
worker learning, from a strategic perspective, are called ‘learning organisations’.

The new focus on employee learning changes the role of the Human Resource Development
(HRD) function. The role of HRD within 'learning organizations' is becoming clearer, but many
uncertainties remain for HRD professionals, especially with regard to the question of how to
bring their new roles into practice. There are only a few instruments to help HRD officers in this
regard. Yet, many interesting initiatives are being undertaken by HRD practitioners throughout
Europe to support strategic learning processes of the organization as a whole.

This project has examined these HRD initiatives with the objective of firstly clarifying the
specific European outlook on the role that HRD, (in learning oriented organizations) can fulfill in
lifelong learning, thus contributing to the discussion on a ‘European model of lifelong learning’.
Secondly the project aimed to contribute to the further professionalization of HRD in Europe, by
providing both conceptual perspectives and practical examples.

Case study descriptions were made from HRD functions within 30 large “learning oriented”
organisations throughout Belgium, Finland, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and the United
Kingdom. Additionally, a survey was held under a larger group of 165 companies. Based on a
literature review comparisons were made with Japanese and US organisations.

Key research questions, guiding data collection, were:

1. How do HRD departments in learning oriented organisations envision their

own role in stimulating and supporting employee learning?

2. What strategies do they adopt to realize their envisioned role?

3. What factors inhibit the realization of this new role? How do HRD
practitioners cope with them?

4. What factors facilitate the realisation of HRD’s new role?

Key Conclusions
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The following key conclusions were reached: -

1. The “learning organization” is an important metaphor for HRD professionals to assist them in:

a) Developing collective intelligence within organizations and organizational forms supporting

such a need thus eliminating the holding of knowledge in separate compartments at different
levels.

b) Understanding the importance of knowledge and in particular tacit knowledge, which has to
be recognized and valorized insofar as it is embedded in human resources.

c) Moving from training-based development policies towards new policies fostering learning in
different ways (support for competencies development, learning networks, learning self-
assessment in the communities of practice).

2. Learning oriented organizations do employ a rich bouquet of change initiatives, in which,

no one type of change is particularly dominant.

3. The main motivator for wanting to become a learning organization is the desire to become
more client centered by continuous improvement and innovation. However, more people-
oriented reasons such as improving the quality of working life seem to play a role as well.

4. The envisioned role of HRD professionals within learning organizations is to: -

a) Support the business.

b) Support (informal) learning.

c) Support knowledge sharing (as a special form of supporting informal learning).

d) Develop and coordinate training.

e) Change HRD practices.

5. Although HRD professionals, consider that this is still their main responsibility, managers
and employees are important active partners in supporting learning, and are expected to become
more so in the future. Their role is predominantly one of identifying learning needs, stimulating
and supporting informal learning, ensuring the continuous learning of themselves and others.
HRD professionals will continue to provide support like organizing training and supporting
informal learning efforts.

6. However, it was found that HRD training-related strategies still fulfill a significant role,
with instruments and initiatives to increase employee responsibility for learning, being of least
importance.

7. Thus HRD practices to some extent appear to fall behind HRD visions and do not paint a
picture of very innovative HRD practices, dominated by new methods such as knowledge
management networks and a stimulating learning climate in the workplace. This may be
partially because HRD objectives are not that wide-ranging.

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8. No specific influencing factors were found to stop HRD professionals from changing their
practices more significantly. Although some barriers to change were found: -

a) Insufficient time for learning on the part of the employees.

b) Insufficient time for performing HRD tasks on the part of the managers.

c) Lack of clarity on the role of HRD.

9. The type of organization does not influence the way in which the organization envisage
the role of HRD; the strategies they employ to implement HRD activities and the factors that
facilitate the attainment of the envisioned role of HRD.

10. There is no one single European model for HRD, although there are subtle but meaningful
differences as to the philosophies, strategies, and practices on HRD across the countries in the
study.

11. Nor, is there any overriding 'Japanese' or 'US' HRD vision as the differences between the
companies are huge.

12. Line-managers are increasingly taking up a role in the development of human resources
due to: -

a) The convergence of management of organizational competences (aimed at internal

effectiveness and competitive advantages on the market), and the management of
individual/communities competencies (based on explicit and tacit knowledge)

b) New ways of organizing firms.

Key Recommendations

The following recommendations were made: -

1. Managers fulfill a key role in changing HRD practices but it was found that it is
sometimes difficult to get them to fulfill this active role, either because of their workload, lack
of affinity with HRD tasks or a lack of skills in this field.

2. Therefore in the short term, it is necessary to find strategies to involve managers in HRD,
by changing their views on learning and increasing their motivation to support learning. In the
long run, consideration should be given to incorporating HRD skills in all management training
programmes.

3. HRD functions should be more precisely defined and recognized by top management as a
major part of the global development strategy of the company and seen as an investment rather
than a cost.

4. Professional associations from different European countries should organize events where
HRD professionals can reach a common terminology, exchange ideas and collectively try to
solve difficult challenges.

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5. There is a need to change the view that learning is just a classroom, teacher-based
activity.

6. Companies should seek cooperation with (higher) institutions for vocational education
and with universities in order to assist in the creation of an infrastructure for lifelong learning.

7. Administrations and governmental agencies should set the example in adopting a clear
learning organization approach and more sophisticated human resources development policies.

8. Since competence development is seen as a key element of implementing the concept of

the learning organization, further research is needed to develop valid and useful competence
profiles; better understanding of the facilitating and inhibiting factors in competence assessment
and development; and in coping strategies of organizations that try to overcome problems in
implementing competence systems.

Adapted from- http://www.pjb.co.uk/npl/bp22.htm

1.4 CONCLUSION
From above discussion and illustrations it can be well understood that HRD has a vital role in
maintaining a workforce that is ready to fulfill the objectives of the organization; people who
are updated and competent to carry out their current jobs and are also trained to take over higher
level jobs that may arise in future. It is important that instead of just designing a training
brochure/calendar, the HRD department in organizations should know the actual business needs
and the training needs of its people. This way the department will be able to add value to its
efforts and enhance its credibility in the organization.

Tasks assigned►

Find out how organizations plan their training and development programmes by visiting them
and holding discussions with the HRD personnel.

Questions►

1. What do you mean by Human Resource Development?

2. What are the key elements of HRD?
3. What are the purposes of HRD?
4. Distinguish between training, development and education.
5. What is the wrong way of initiating HRD?
6. What are planned and unplanned business needs? How can HRD be useful in this context?

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DHR-201: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT CR 4

UNIT 2: IDENTIFYING TRAINING NEEDS (FIRST PART)

UNIT STRUCTURE

2.1 INTRODUCTION
2.2 OBJECTIVE
2.3 TRAINING NEED ANALYSIS
2.3.1 STAGES IN TRAINING NEED ANALYSIS
2.3.2 TOOLS FOR TRAINING NEED IDENTIFICATION
2.4 CONCLUSION

2.1: INTRODUCTION
From the previous sections you know that imparting certain kind of training to the employees
without really knowing what they actually need can be very unproductive. Infact we had talked
about training starting from a wrong end when first a brochure of training is designed and
circulated to the different heads of the departments for recommending their subordinates to
undergo those trainings. Thus we had seen that these most of the time is not linked to the
business needs or the individual need for training. The best combination will be giving a training
which serves both the purposes. Hence, an alignment between the two has to be reached. At this
juncture finding out the training needs of the organization as well as the individuals becomes
important. But to actually achieve the results, the training needs should be identified carefully by
using different tools. This is discussed in this unit as well as in unit 3.

2.2: OBJECTIVE
To understand training need identification through Human Resource Planning, Succession
Planning and critical incidents.

2.3 TRAINING NEED ANALYSIS

Training need analysis means analyzing the data related to the training requirements of the
individuals by using different tools so as to find out the different kinds of training needs of the
individuals working in an organization. Depending on the number of people and also the number
of jobs this can be simple or quite elaborate. It can be subjective or objective, but a precise
identification of the training need is essential. Use of computers can help in storing, retrieving
and analyzing the data. Careful and systematic documentation of the data is an integral part of the
process.

2.3.1 STAGES IN TRAINING NEED ANALYSIS

Training Need Analysis is carried out in certain stages. This is discussed below.
The three stages are,
i. Identifying the range and extent of training needs from the business needs
Basically as discussed previously the business needs are the foundation of training needs.
People have to execute work in order to fulfill the business needs of the organization.
Thus people have to be competent enough to do so. Further each individual may also have
their individual developmental needs that is focused on their career goals etc.
ii. Specifying those training needs very precisely
Once data on range and extent of training needs is identified it needs to precisely defined.
For example a sales executive may require training on effective communication and
relationship management.
iii. Analyzing how best the training needs might be met
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 Here an effort is given to analyze how training needs can be addressed. You are already
aware that there are several methods of training. Hence there is a necessity to plan as to know
by which method the training needs can be effectively fulfilled. Further, it is also essential to
think whether the organization has internal expertise to train or in absence of that the same
need to be outsourced. Budget for training is also an important component that has to be
taken into account.

2.3.2: TOOLS FOR TRAINING NEED IDENTIFICATION

There are five main tools to identify training needs they are as follows,

i. Human Resource Planning

ii. Succession Planning
iii. Critical Incidents
iv. Management Information System
v. Performance Appraisal systems

i. Human Resource Planning

From your knowledge of management and specifically human resource management, by now
you are aware that after an organization is formed and the organizational vision, mission and
objectives have been laid down, you will need people to carry out the numerous tasks in order
to fulfill the work demands or achieve the objectives. But an organization cannot recruit or
take people haphazardly. Rather it should be in a planned manner. Thus Human Resource
Planning attempts to meet this requirement. It tries to ensure that adequate numbers of
competent personnel in particular occupation, at given times, consistent with, and
related to, the overall strategy are available at all times. This implies that the
organizational work does not suffer due to lack of competent people.

Aim of Human Resource Planning is to ensure that the organization:

 Obtains and retains the quantity and quality of people it needs
 Can develop a well trained and flexible workforce, thus contributing to the
organization’s ability to adapt to an uncertain and changing environment

Human Resource Planning (HRP) is futuristic and planned for long term. Thus depending on
organizational strategy human resource requirements would vary. In the previous unit we had
talked about how different planned business needs emerge from different organizational
strategy, like consolidation, growth, contraction and closure. For example the number and
kind of human resource required during expansion will be different from a situation of
diversification.

But here more than the concept of HRP (that you had learnt in HRM), we will focus on
identification of training need from HRP.

Case: The expanding company

Homecomfort Pvt. Ltd. is planning for a phase wise expansion of its operations. The
company would like to create demand and extend its services door to door. For this they have
to recruit some new sales executives apart from the existing ones.

The important information that is included in this case are as follows-

 The existing number of sales executives in the company are 200.
15
  The extra/new sales executives that would be required over next five years due to
expansion in new areas are: Year 1:- 0%, Year 2:- 25%, Year 3:-30%, Year 4:- 33.3%,
Year 5:- 0% (these figures refer to the end of the year and indicate year on year
percentage changes).
 The crude index of employee (in this case the sales executives) is: Year 1:- 10%, Year
2:- 20%, Year 3:-20%, Year 4:-20%, Year 5:- 10%
 A wastage rate of 10% is forecast for new recruits failing training during the year.
This can be represented in table 2.1 below.

Table 2.1: Sales Executive recruitment

YEAR
1 2 3 4 5
Numbers of sales executives needed at the 200 200 250 330 440
start of the year
Increase due to business needs 0 50 80 110 0
Number of sales executives needed at the end 200 250 330 440 440
of the year
Employee turnover (based on % of average 20 45 58 77 44
yearly figure)
Numbers available at the end of the year if no 180 155 192 253 396
action is taken to recruit
Deficit 20 95 138 187 44
Trainee failures 2 10 14 19 4
Total trainees to be recruited 22 105 152 206 48

Something sort of table 2.1 will be received as the HRP information sheet. Now from this
information the Training Needs can be identified. The organization must have a supply of
sales persons/executives. By analyzing the above information we find that there is a five
fold increase in training need in year 2. Then after only a slight increase in year 3, it will
be more than double in year 4, before getting substantially decreased in year 5.

Some of the significant issues are,

 More trainers/training programmes will be needed in year 2 and again in year 4. Does
the company have its own trainers or training facilities to impart training to them, or
should it be outsourced.
 What are the different training needs? In this case a comparison with the Job analysis
information (job description and specification) is important so as to train them in
competencies they lack. For example Sales Executives might require training on
communication, relationship building, personality grooming etc.
 As the company plan to recruit new people giving ‘orientation’ training is a must.
 Additional supporting staff will be required to support the training function.
 Training might also be required for those personnel who will be involved in the
recruitment and the selection process, for example on interviewing skills.

ii.Succession Planning

It is a type of HR Planning. It is rooted in the business strategy of the organization and provide a
powerful link between business needs and the needs for performance changes/training needs.

16
The aim of succession planning- is to ensure that as far as possible, suitable managers are
available to fill vacancies created by promotion, retirement, death, leaving or transfer. It also
aims to ensure that a cadre of managers is available to fill the new appointments that may be
established in the future.

Succession planning is both at the organization and occupation (for eg. Department) level

Many organizations are in a difficult position because they have sudden vacancies and do not
have at the moment a competent individual to fill up that position and thus the organization
suffers.

Succession Planning can be a very important tool for Training Need Identification. It can provide
a variety of HRD related information like where and when likely vacancies might arise; if so who
can fill up those vacancies; whether the manpower are suitably trained to take up higher positions
etc.

A glimpse of succession planning is presented in fig.2.1 below for a hypothetical organization.

In this case the designation of the jobs/posts is followed by the name of the person occupying that
position, the age and the time he plans to remain in the organization. Each position is attached
with the name of the person who can be his or her probable successor, the age and the time that
person will take to get ready to occupy that particular higher position. That means the time the
person will require (in this case the figures indicate the years) to get equipped with the necessary
competencies like knowledge of the work, the right skills etc. Some people are indicated as ‘RN’
that implies that they are ‘Ready Now’ to occupy that particular higher position. Some of the
positions do not have successors below that imply that new recruitment has to be done to fill up
those positions. In this case, a new position called the Deputy MD has been brought to existence,
which is supposed to be the launching post for the post of the Managing Director. The Deputy
MD should be highly competent to lead the organization when the post of MD becomes vacant.
In this case the MD, Mr. S.Singh is right now 55 years and has made it clear that he is retiring at
the age of 60. Now by looking at the figure who seems to be the most suitable one to occupy the
post of Deputy MD? The conditions that you should look for are that he or she must be a good
performer; should have successors below and must commit for working in the company for a
longer term. By analyzing fig.2.1 you will know that though M. Ram is ready now and seems to
be the right choice, but if he is promoted to the post of Deputy MD, he will be retiring at the
same time as the MD, and then you will have double crisis. Few of them though seem to be very
good performers by seeing to their young age and positions they hold in the organization like, the
Marketing Manager and the Head HR, but they have not made clear their commitment in terms of
years to stay in the organization. Where do you see training needs? These could be as follows:

 Counseling people to choose the organization to stay for those who have not made their
plans clear.
 In some positions people are not ready to take up higher positions yet and hence need to
be adequately trained to become fit to take up higher responsibility at the right time.
 Training new people in positions that are lying vacant or are adequately covered.
 What about people who are Ready Now to take up higher positions, but due to lack of
vacant higher posts they cannot be promoted? It will be good if these people are given
some additional responsibility and made to lead some initiatives so that they remain
motivated.

17
 Thus succession plans are to be carefully chalked out and need for training has to
be determined from it so that the organization does not have to suffer later.

Fig 2.1: Management Succession Plan 2011-2016 of Metrocon ltd.

Succession planning
framework
Managing Drector
S.Singh, Age 55 (5)

Deputy MD

M.Ram, age 60(RN)

Marketing Manager Chief Engineer Buying manager Head HR Admin Manager

G.Gopal, Age 37 (?) S.Malick, age 57 (8) R. Prabhu, age P.Barman,age 49(?) G.Das, age 60(5)
64(1)
B.Bora, age45(2) P. Soni, age Jack, age 59(RN)
P.Singh, age 46(3) R.John, age 27(5) 49(RN) R.Sen, age30(5)
K.Brown,age 33(4) M.Rishi,age30(5)

Sales manager Executive Engineer

F.Azad, age 62(3) B.Bora, age45(?) Senior buyer
R.John, age 27(?) Head training
Assistant O. Zaveri,age30(?)
J.Dey, age45(1) Engineer
R.Kumar, age 39(2) P.Singh, age Head IR
G.Pal,age30(4
M. Patel, age 36(3) 46(1) P. Soni, age
49(?) )

K.Brown,age 33(1)

STEP 1:
Identifying key positions or key groups
(current and/or future)
STEP 2:
Identifying competencies
STEP 3:
Identifying and assessing potential
candidates
STEP 4:
Learning and development plans
STEP 5:
Implementation and evaluation

►Read
Description
Succession planning is a process used to prepare for future staffing needs through identification
of critical roles and the focused development of employees who can potentially fill those roles.
While it is not recommended that you make promises to individuals regarding promotions or
future positions, the information from your succession plan should be used as part of talent
management so that you provide appropriate development opportunities for targeted individuals.

18
Benefits
 Your organization is better prepared and can move more quickly should a key role
become open, either through attrition or internal job moves
 You can begin to develop needed skills in the identified individuals so they are better
prepared for future opportunities
 Any gaps are identified early so that you can take action to address them (for example,
through more strategic hiring decisions or development programs)

How to Use
Step 1. Determine the key roles that require a succession plan. Start with your organization’s
goals and objectives. Are there critical roles or skill sets that will be required to achieve your
objectives? Don’t limit yourself to management positions but also consider individual contributor
roles that are key to delivering on your customer service objectives. For example, if the role of
patient care coordinator is critical to your operation, but you only have one person with that skill
set, then this role requires a succession plan.
Step 2. Identify the competencies required for each role and potential succession candidates in
your organization. Where possible, try to identify pools of candidates rather than only one or two
individuals. However, it is useful to do an analysis of the required competencies for each
individual in your organization. A training/competency matrix can be a useful tool for doing this
and will help you identify potential candidates as well as where you have gaps.
Step 3. Using your analysis from step two, identify: 1) individuals who already have the skills
to step into the targeted positions, 2) individuals who need targeted development to take on the
roles, and 3) roles where you have no viable potential candidates.
Step 4. Use the information from step 3 in performance and development planning. For
example, individuals who already have the skills could be given assignments that demonstrate
their abilities for the targeted positions. Individuals who need development could be given
training and stretch assignments to better prepare them for the possibility of a future role. For
roles where you found no viable candidates, start developing them now or consider the needed
skills when you make hiring decisions.

19
Step 5. Monitor your progress on an ongoing basis and adjust your plans as needed.

Training/competency matrix is a tool used for determining development needs by listing roles,
the required competencies for the roles, and the current skill level of each individual.
Example

Source: http://asq.org/service/body-of-knowledge/tools-succession-planning

iii. Critical incidents

HR planning and succession planning are concerned with planned business of the organization,
whereas Critical Incidents are unplanned. These are unforeseen events that occur in organizations
and can be positive or negative in nature. These incidents just happen and are unpredictable, thus
these can be valuable in finding out the training needs of the individuals or groups in an
organization. Examples of positive Critical Incidents can be suddenly gaining a new customer or
an existing customer unexpectedly requires new products or services. In the first case, training on
providing quality services to satisfy and retain the customer may be required. In the second case
an unexpected demand for new products come from an existing customer. This may require
getting some new expertise which will call for training. In certain case if an urgent and
unexpected large order for products is placed by a customer that may require more working shifts
and may be more/new people need to be engaged at work. This again calls for different kinds of
training like that of technical skills, interpersonal skills, managerial skills, knowledge, work
culture etc. But here time available at hand is an important consideration.

Negative Critical Incidents are the unforeseen events like major breakdown of a machinery, loss
of customer, poor audit results, customer complains, loss of life and property or may be an
external reason like a piece of legislation. It is very important to unearth the reasons behind
presenting a poor situation or showing poor outcomes. Next it is important to analyze as to which
all reasons can be taken care of by training.

By using the word critical means that these incidents are of significant importance to the business
and therefore relate to the organizational or occupational/group levels for identification of
training needs. They come along with the label ‘Super Urgent’. Hence there is a risk of training
being developed in a hurry without a clear understanding of the causes of the problem. Thus the
expected results are not achieved and the money and time goes waste. There are greater chances
that the resulting training will have unclear objectives, will be wasteful, and at worst totally
ineffective. Is training the solution to the problem? At times it might happen that non-training
solutions were actually required.

Case: The unwanted accidents

A new Depot Manager has just taken charge of a newly built depot. This new structure had to be
constructed in order to stock some heavy products. Some new picking up equipments have been
20
used. But within the first fortnight there came to fore several accidents and two of them with
severe staff injury. All these involved the picking up vehicles. The Depot Manager seriously feels
that the problem lies with the people handling picking up equipments/vehicles, and requests the
HRD managers to immediately train them. The HRD manager is worried as arranging such
training at a short notice is costly and further they have limited money left. The HRD manger
wonders as to whether all the staff handling these picking up equipments/vehicles require
training?
How to proceed?

The starting point should be to think of all the questions as given below and find out the answers.
 Who were involved in the accidents?
This will give you a better understanding of training needs of specific people who need to
be trained.
 What actually happened?
Detailed report in this context will be useful.
 When did they occur?
For example if the accidents had occurred in the evening when the visibility is less that
calls for non-training solutions. If they occur in the afternoon a probable reason might be
that the operators were feeling drowsy after taking lunch.
 Where did they occur?
If they have occurred in the same place, maybe there is a problem with the design of the
depot.
 Could it be operator performance error? or
 A problem with the design of the depot? or
 A weakness with the supervision of the operators? Or
 A problem with the way the products are stacked? Or
 A conspiracy?
If it is operator performance error, answer to the following questions need to be found
 Instead of training, could a rewrite of the job manual or operating procedures be the
answer?
 Are the staff suitable for this type of work?
If training is the answer,
 Do all operators need retraining? Or do they need complete retraining or in certain skills
only?
 What was the problem with the previous training? Was it poorly designed or poorly
delivered?

Thus, as a person responsible for training you have:

 Tried to identify the exact nature of the problem
 Tried to ensure that the non-training solutions are also considered and
 If training is the solution, tried to focus on the right people and on the right skills.

A careful examination of reasons of critical incidents will provide information regarding specific
training needs of the individuals.
►Reading
The Performance Technologist’s Toolbox: Critical Incidents
by Anne F. Marrelli, CPT, PhD
This sixth article in the Performance Technologist’s Toolbox series focuses on the critical
incident method of data collection. Critical incidents are narrative descriptions of important
events that occur on the job and how employees behave in those situations. Critical incidents
21
document the work context, the specific situation that arose, the persons involved, each person’s
actions, and the results. The incidents may be confined to a particular topic or may cover the
breadth of work experience. John Flanagan pioneered the critical incident technique during
World War II as a means of collecting information about the training needs of pilots.
Interviewees were asked to describe key successful and unsuccessful events that had occurred on
the job (Hoge, Tondora, & Marrelli, 2005; Rothwell & Kazanas, 1992). For example, below is an
actual critical incident that was captured for an employee relations case in a medium-sized
organization.
Jack leads a team of 40 consultants in a private sector firm that provides management consulting
services. Linda, one of the consultants, had been performing poorly for about a year, but both
Jack and her direct manager, Larry, were reluctant to address the issue because on the few
occasions they had tried to do so in the past, Linda had become very upset. Linda, in fact, had
asked Jack if she could be assigned to a new manager. He assigned her to Amy, a senior
consultant who was respected for her managerial abilities. Amy initiated biweekly meetings with
Linda to monitor her progress and provide coaching and feedback. She also worked with Linda to
create and implement a performance improvement plan. When the time came for Linda’s annual
performance evaluation, Amy prepared a thorough and candid evaluation, including both Linda’s
successes and performance improvement needs. She reviewed the evaluation with Jack, who
approved it. As was the practice in the firm, Amy then orally presented the evaluation to a review
team of 10 senior managers. As she was making the presentation, Jack interrupted her and stated
that the evaluation was not accurate. Amy began to explain that he had approved the evaluation
and that she had secured agreement from Linda’s primary project manager for the rating she was
proposing. Jack continued to interrupt. The vice president instructed Jack to address the
disagreement outside the meeting. After the meeting, Jack stormed into Amy’s office, slammed
the door, and started shouting that Amy had “trashed” Linda. Amy replied that the evaluation was
accurate and that Jack had approved it. Jack claimed that Amy had used the wrong tone of voice
in presenting the evaluation and had done Linda a grave disservice. He also shouted that he
would never recommend Amy for a promotion to the senior leadership position to which she had
applied. Two days later, Amy filed a complaint with the human resources department and later
left the firm.
Information about critical incidents in an organization, such as this example, can be collected
through several different vehicles. These include focus groups, individual interviews, surveys,
performance records, and work diaries.

Focus Groups
In focus groups, a facilitator leads a small group of people in a structured discussion to identify
and describe specific examples of past performance. The discussion may be focused on one or
more targeted areas of performance or on the job as a whole. For example, in a study my
colleagues and I conducted at an aerospace firm to identify management development needs, we
conducted focus groups with employees to ask them to provide examples of how their
supervisors helped employees do their best work and examples of situations in which their
supervisors made the employees’ jobs more difficult.

Interviews
A common method of collecting critical incidents is through individual interviews. The
interviewer will ask the interviewee to orally recount an example of a time the interviewee faced
a particular situation. For example, the interviewer may ask, “Could you give me an example of
how you coped with a very heavy workload?” As the interviewee responds, the interviewer will
probe to ensure all the needed information is obtained. An example of the use of interviews to
collect critical incidents is the Behavioral Event Interview (BEI), first developed by David

22
McClelland and his colleague C. Dailey and based on John Flanagan’s critical incident technique.
The BEI is
commonly used in competency modeling studies. Top performers are individually interviewed to
identify the behaviors that are critical to their success in challenging situations. The interviewer
will ask questions such as “Tell me about a time when you were given an extremely challenging
assignment” or “Give me an example of a situation at work in which you had to make a difficult
ethical decision.” The interviewer asks the performers what they did, thought, said, and felt, and
the results. The competencies critical to their success are inferred from the information supplied.
Average and below average performers may also be interviewed to provide comparison points
(Marrelli, Tondora, & Hoge, 2005).

Surveys
Surveys are another common approach to collecting critical incidents. The surveys can be
administered in print or online; the employees completing the surveys may be assembled together
in a room, or they may complete the survey on their own. The critical incidents are obtained by
providing a series of structured questions. By answering the questions, the employee is providing
a critical incident. For example, employees may be asked to describe a situation in which they
managed multiple, competing priorities. They might then be asked the following questions:
• Please briefly describe the situation.
• Who was involved?
• What did you do?
• What did you say and to whom?
• What was the result?
• Would you do anything differently now?
• What did you learn?
Performance Records
Another source of critical incidents is existing performance records. For example, critical
incidents focused on leadership and employee satisfaction issues are often available in
large organizations from the employee relations department or the office of the ombudsperson.
Exit interviews and performance appraisals are other potential sources of critical incidents. All
personal data, of course, must be expunged from these incidents before they can be used, but they
can offer valuable insights into problems the organization faces.

Work Diaries
Employees or their supervisors are asked to record incidents of successes or failures as they occur
during the work day. The incidents are recorded in a diary-type log that is kept
daily or weekly and classified under pre-specified dimensions such as following up on sales calls
or communicating customer information (Schermerhorn, Hunt, & Osborn, 2000).
Critical incidents are used to identify the learning needs of employees. One approach is to ask
experienced performers or their immediate supervisors to share anecdotes from their own
experience about situations in which performers must make crucially important decisions. These
become the key topics for training (Rothwell & Kazanas, 1992).

Critical incidents are also a valuable approach for employee development and feedback
(Schermerhorn et al., 2000) because they provide specific examples of the employee’s
actual behavior. Employees are much more likely to accept and apply the feedback if it is based
on concrete examples than if the feedback is general and abstract.

Guidelines for Collecting and Using Critical Incidents

23
• The key to collecting useful critical incidents is to ask the right questions. Be sure to provide a
structured set of questions to guide your respondents through the process of telling their stories.
Keep the questions simple and direct.
• People are often much more willing to provide candid accounts of their experiences if they are
assured of anonymity, or at least confidentiality. In a survey, do not ask them to attach their
names to their incidents unless you think you will need to follow up with them.
• As with any other data collection method, it is essential to pilot test and then refine your
approach.

Conclusion
Critical incidents provide a rich, personal perspective of life in an organization that facilitates
understanding of the issues and obstacles people face and illuminates potential
avenues for improvement. Critical incidents offer a versatile Performance Improvement
method of data collection that can be effectively applied in a wide range of situations. They
provide a fun and fascinating addition to the performance technologist’s toolkit.
References
Hammond, S.A. (1998). The thin book of appreciative inquiry (2nd ed.). Plano, TX: Thin Book
Publishing.
Hoge, M., Tondora, J., & Marrelli, A. (2005). The fundamentals of workforce competency:
Implications for behavioral health. Mental Health Policy and Administration, 32(5), 509-531.
Marrelli, A.F. (1990). Planning and conducting information systems evaluations. Los Angeles,
CA: County of Los Angeles.
Marrelli, A.F., Tondora, J., & Hoge, M.A. (2005). Strategies for developing competency
modeling. Mental Health Policy and Administration, 32(5), 533-561.
Meister, J.C. (1994). Corporate quality universities: Lessons in building a world-class work
force. New York: Irwin.
Rothwell, W.J., & Kazanas, H.C. (1992). Mastering the instructional design process: A
systematic approach. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Schank, R. (1997). Virtual learning: A revolutionary approach to building a highly skilled
workforce. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Schermerhorn, Jr., J.R., Hunt, J.G., & Osborn, R.N. (2000).Organizational behavior (7th
ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Worthen, B.R., & Sanders, J.R. (1973). Educational evaluation:Theory and practice.
Worthington, OH: Charles A. Jones.

Source: Volume 44 • Number 10 4344 www.ispi.org • NOV/DEC 2005

2.4 CONCLUSION
Training need analysis is an important part of HRD effort of any organization and should precede any kind
of training. Without this there is a greater chance that the training might go waste. HR Planning,
succession planning and critical incidents are the three important tools used for this purpose. While
analyzing the information collected from these tools scope of the non-training tools also need to be
considered.

Questions

1. What is training need analysis? What is its significance?

2. Name three tools for collecting information related to training need.
3. What is HRP? How is it used for training need analysis? Discuss.
4. What is succession planning? How is it used for training need analysis? Discuss.
5. What are critical incidents? How are they used for training need analysis? Discuss.

24
DHR-201: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT CR 4

UNIT 3: IDENTIFYING TRAINING NEEDS (SECOND PART)

UNIT STRUCTURE
3.1 INTRODUCTION
3.2 OBJECTIVES OF THIS UNIT
3.3 MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM (MIS)
3.3.1 CONCEPT OF MIS
3.4 PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL SYSTEMS
3.4.1 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PA AND TNA
3.4.2 WHAT IS THE MOST EFFECTIVE INTERVENTION OF TRAINING
PROFESSIONAL IN THE PROCESS?
3.4.3 CONCLUSION

3.1: INTRODUCTION
As discussed previously Training Need Analysis is an important part of HRD efforts in an
organization. This has been dealt with elaborately in the previous unit that is unit 2. Now you
also know that there are various tools available to assist you in gathering relevant as well as
reliable data related to training needs of the employees in an organization. We had earlier
mentioned about five kinds of training need identification tools. Three of them, namely Human
Resource Planning, Succession Planning and Critical Incidents are discussed in unit 2. In this unit
the other two, namely, management information system and Performance Appraisals as training
need identification tools will be discussed.

3.2: OBJECTIVES OF THIS UNIT

To understand how management information system and Performance Appraisals can be used as
training need identification tools.

3.3 MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM (MIS)

3.3.1: CONCEPT OF MIS
The following are some of the definitions related to the concept of MIS

It is a system to convert data from internal and external sources into information and to
communicate that information, in an appropriate form, to managers at all levels in all functions
to enable them to make timely and effective decisions for planning, directing and controlling
the activities for which they are responsible.

MIS is about the right information in the right form at the right time, so enabling the manager
effectively and efficiently to do his/her job.

MIS is a formalized computer information system that can integrate data from various sources
to provide the information necessary for management decision making.

MIS can be used as an important tool for identification of Training Need/ Training Need
Analysis but how?
Most managers might suffer from an over-abundance of irrelevant information that could
create difficulty in analysis of the data and consume more time. Today with the availability of
updated technology information can be precisely segregated for the required use.

25
MIS can help in Identifying training at the individual level, occupational level and organizational
level MIS reports on aggregate performance in an organization by department, factory, region,
individual etc. Thus deficiencies in performance of individuals and groups can well be found out,
and the extent of these deficiencies. Various performance related data (mentioned in the
subsequent section) can be obtained for any required period day wise, week wise, month wise,
quarterly, half yearly, yearly etc.

Examples of Performance measures that might be monitored:

• Levels of production output
• Levels of sales
• Quality indicators, eg wastage rates, defect rates, customer complaints
• Productivity indices, eg. Output/employee, man-hours/production unit, utilization of
machines and equipments
• Accident rates
• Labour turnover
• Absence rates

What sorts of things should the training professional be looking for?

• Trends over time
• Variances from targets
• Comparisons with norms, eg. Organization norm, industry norm or national norms.

The deficiencies in the above components call for finding out the reasons behind them. Many of
these may require training as the solution. In order to develop a better understanding, let us take
some hypothetical examples.

Case 1:
Over a period of time there has been a regular shortfall against production targets in
department x.

From the above statement we come know that one of the departments in an organization is
underperforming as it has a regular shortfall against production targets.
How should we proceed? The Production manager asks the HRD manager to arrange training for
the department urgently as she fears that if that poor show continues they will not be achieving
the annual performance targets. By now you know that before you jump to conduct training, you
must try to find out the reasons behind this and actually try to determine if training is the
solution, and if yes, what are the specific training needs of the individuals as well as the group in
general?

What might be reasons?

The reasons for the underperformance can be several which may require training or non- training
solutions. Records of earlier training including the content covered, the quality of the trainers, the
duration of training, the training methods used etc. can be useful so as to precisely delineate the
reasons.

Training needs?
Once the reasons are found out it becomes easier to determine the training needs. For example
when the employee records were matched with the Job Specification, it was seen that they have
lot of deficiencies. And also if the reasons are performance related then training on the right skills
and knowledge is required. If absenteeism, conflict, lack of team work etc. are the reasons, then
training on work culture, motivation, team building, attitude etc. may be required.
26
Case 2:
Region ‘x’ had above average labour turnover rates for the last three months compared with
the organization as a whole.

From the above statements we know that one of the regions (x) in the organization has higher
turnover rates for the last three months in comparison to other regions in the organization. Thus
this is an unusual scenario and your MIS report has given this information which needs to be
acted upon immediately otherwise not only the performance of this region is affected but also the
same may spread out to other regions. Now you must try to find out the reasons so as to
determine whether the situation can probably be changed through training or non- training
solutions.

Reasons?
Well the reasons can vary. It might be that a new competitor has come up in the region and has
committed to paying high to their employees. It might also be that the work environment has
become non-conducive from the last few months. It might be that a new supervisor has joined the
region few months back and the employees are not happy with him. The workers might also be
affected by certain diseases which hamper them from coming to the organization. All these
reasons require only non-training solution, except in case the reason is the supervisor, where he
may require training on interpersonal relationship.

But if the workers are leaving due to introduction of a new technology or process or system
which they are finding difficult to handle, this demands training.

Exit interviews might also help to find out the reasons.

Training needs?
In this case as stated above the training needs will depend on the reasons. Specially it needs to be
explored what happened in the last three months that forced people to leave the organization.
Vacancies in the region ‘X’ must be immediately filled up. This would require training on
recruitment/selection/interviewing, and also orientation for the new recruits.
MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN THE HOSPITAL (from the paper-ADOPTION OF
MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS (MIS) IN LAUTECH TEACHING HOSPITAL LIBRARY:
THE EFFECTS AND PROSPECTS ON LIBRARY SERVICE DELIVERY) by-AKEWUKEREKE MODUPE,
ADEOYE MOSES OLADELE, ABOYADE WAHAB AKANMU
and OLADAPO YEMISI OLUREMI, Ozean Journal of Social Sciences 3(1), 2010
Adoption of MIS in the Health sector, especially at the LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, will not
only pose an unexpected challenge that will turn around the institution roles, it will – give
practical solutions to problems confronting the general services of the health practitioners,
support staff and people within and outside the hospital community. Besides, MIS in the
Teaching Hospital if adopted will provide and enhance research through internet or network of
services which aims at solving management problems and help to get task achieved in a much
easier, quicker and faster way. Furthermore, MIS in medical field will maintain lots of prospects
in the hospital if adopted. To mention a few these are some of the ways through which MIS is
useful in the teaching hospital.
i. Management Information Systems (MIS) provides information which assists in the control and
evaluation of the organization’s performance. Take for instance at the end of each calendar year,
Annual Reports of events are recorded. This is necessary to determine organization’s
performance. Through the use of MIS, statistical figures will show the degree of improvement on

27
the performance recorded over the years. Graphically, number of deliveries, death cases,
successful operations etc are easily presented and used for decision making.

ii. Application of MIS promotes decision making. In the Teaching hospital, at the Human
Resources Management Unit, for example, the application of MIS in very important in recording
staff biodata, number of consultants, physiotherapists, senior staff, scientists etc. At the click of
buttons sought information is retrieved. Faults in staff data are easily and quickly detected using
MIS. Also at the pharmacy unit, data on different types of drugs in acquisition can be seen at a
glance; this helps pharmacists to decide what drugs are in or out of stock. This is similar to what
is obtainable at the medical store where services can be effectively discharged using MIS.
Records of goods supplied and issued out to different departments and units are efficiently
recorded for audit purposes.

iii. MIS is also useful in collecting, organizing and storing up data. For instance, through
staff profiles, data stored using MIS can be used to identify training needs of health care
providers in the hospital. Topmost in the objective of any teaching hospital are service
provision and medical training. The training can be acquired through formal or informal
education. Through workshops, seminars and conferences clinicians can be refreshed. This
is an essential ingredient of capacity building for health workers to develop personally and
perform effectively on their jobs.

iv. MIS also provide means to manipulate information for decision making. Through the use of
information from Internet, Intranet, and access to local and international journals and textbooks
new scientific discoveries are communicated world wide. This revolutionalized information
handling standard in medical practices. Application of these new methods ensure qualitative and
quantitative patient care.
v. Likewise, MIS permit use and re-use of stored information. To all health establishments,
information is an essential ingredient, absence of which might result in unpleasant consequences.
Information that concerns staff welfare, finances, infrastructures, facilities, equipment are
relevant to all levels of management be it at the lower, intermediate or top levels.

3.4 PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL SYSTEMS

It generally refer to the regular meetings between an employee or his/her manager to review and
assess the employee’s performance in the job, identify any action that is needed to improve
performance in the job and in some cases as a mechanism to identify potential and future
developmental needs.

It includes-

 A review of performance against specific objectives that had been set earlier

 A review of performance against general competencies- job management skills, people

management skills, personal skills that is demanded by the job, and the employee is aware of
it.

 A discussion on any action required to improve performance because the reasons for lack of
performance may differ. Some of them like lack of organizational support of resources may
infact be sorted out through non-training solution.

28
 Setting objectives for the next review period, which becomes the new performance measure
standard. The objectives should be Smart Measurable Achievable realistic and Time bound
(SMART).

 A discussion of potential and future development

Performance Appraisals are not complete without this. Here an effort is given towards linking
the individual development goals and the HRD goals of the organization. Data is gathered
from the individuals to determine his views and developmental needs.

The Performance Appraisals process I shown in figure 3.1 below.

Fig 3.1: Performance Appraisals Process

Thus we see that setting the performance standards is the first step in the process, foolowed by
communicating the same. It can be directive i.e ‘Top-Down approach/strategy’ where the
performance goals are set at a higher level and communicated down the line for achieving them.
Here the stakeholder or the performer is not involved in setting these standards/goals. The reverse
case is the ‘Bottom-up approach/strategy’, where the job holder/performer/stakeholder is
involved in goal setting and planning process. The goals for a particular review period are
communicated up the line for reference and approval. However today the most preferred is where
both the subordinate and the superior together set the goals or reach a consensus on the goals.
Increasingly organizations now prefer to link the performance goals to a ‘Performance
Management system’, where first for each job the Key Result Areas are set and then the Key
Performance Indicators (KPI) are demarcated which are SMART (discussed above). Performance
is measured against these standards/SMART goals. Performance Review discussions are held
periodically.Mid reviews should normally be held to look for changes and need for training, for
example when the job holder is unable to cope up to the demands of the skills that are required.
Corrective action would include efforts towards eliminating the reasons responsible for
underperformance.
29
There might be problems with goal setting itself which would then require some training on that.
In certain cases the standards that had been set were perhaps not communicated properly, thus
leading to a lack of clarity. Training on performance assessment and reviews might also be
essential.

3.4.1 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PA AND TNA

The extent to which Performance Appraisals can lead to an effective training need analysis
depends on the following:
 Quality of the system: ability to generate accurate, relevant and useful information on the
assessment of performance. Here use of MIS will be significant.
 Main focus would be on current performance or also on future development?
If it is on current performance the performance gaps at present should be looked into and
the reasons behind this should be determined. If it is also linked future development, HRD
efforts should take into account succession planning and career development plans for the
individuals.
 Design of forms, procedures for effective TN identification: the Performance Appraisal
formats must have the suitable space to mention the lack of specific performance of the
employees and a need for action or a training need than a course, priority and urgency of
the training needs etc. This needs to be taken care for all the appraisal formats whether
those are self-assessment forms or those where a superior assess the subordinates.

3.4.2 WHAT IS THE MOST EFFECTIVE INTERVENTION OF TRAINING

PROFESSIONAL IN THE PROCESS?
Is it to -
 Record and act on line manager’s request?
 Discuss the requirements only when problems come?
 Discuss the results of PA with the line manager?

The answer to the above questions will depend on the perceived role of the line managers, the
training professional’s workload and the relationship between training professional and line
manager’s ability to take up TNA. In several occasions the HRD managers thinks that it is the
job of the line manager to take note of deficiencies of the subordinate and recommend some
kind of training for them. At times the line managers wait until work related problems arise
and request the HRD people to immediately solve the problem. This you have seen in the
cases presented earlier. The line manager also sometimes feels that it is the job of the HRD
person to assess the training needs from time to time and accordingly arrange training and
development to take care of the same. Honestly most line managers as well as HRD people
wake up only when problems come up and are directed by the top management to change the
situation. We had in the previous section talked about designing a suitable Performance
Appraisal format that can record comments of the line manager regarding specific need for
training of the subordinates. Thus HRD should be a concerted effort of both the line managers
and the HRD department. They must together try to identify the training needs and determine
the best method to train the employees. The line manager must realize that he has an equal
responsibility to see that the training needs of his subordinates are adequately met and their
performance do not suffer due to lack of their competencies. Both the line manager and the
HRD person should have discussion towards this end. Though the HRD person will play the
expert role but it is also the duty of the line manager to monitor the system continuously so as
to look for gaps and also effectiveness of the HRD efforts exerted. If required some changes
can be carried out.

30
 Ultimately it can be said that the training professional must design a suitable system that
could be used to record, analyze, act and monitor the training related information.

3.4.3 CONCLUSION
In this unit we have seen how training needs can be identified with the help of Management
Information system and Performance appraisal system. These tools have the capability to
specify training needs precisely. A combined effort of the HRD department and the line
manager is required to achieve the desired results.

Read►

Training Needs Analysis Method

Below are three scenarios in which you may find yourself wanting to conduct a Training Needs
Analysis. This is not an exhaustive treatment, however, it will give you some tips on what to do.

Employee Performance Appraisal

In many organizations, each employee's manager discusses training and development needs
during the final part of the performance appraisal discussion. This method suits where training
needs are highly varied amongst individual employees. Typically, the manager constructs an
employee Performance Development Plan in collaboration with the employee being appraised.
The Plan takes into consideration:

 the organization's strategies and plans

 agreed employee goals and targets
 the employee's performance results
 the employee's role description
 feedback from internal/external customers and stakeholders, and
 the employee's stated career aspirations

The employee's completed Performance Development Plan should document the area that
requires improvement, the actual development activity, resource requirements, expected
outcomes and an agreed time frame in which the development outcome will be achieved.

You may find some commonality amongst individual training and development needs identified
in the various performance appraisals. In this case, it may pay the organization to review and
classify each of the needs and convert them into appropriate training courses (or other
interventions). The next step is to prioritize their importance and aggregate the results so that you
end up with a list of courses and participant numbers against each. Then negotiate a delivery
schedule that fits in with managers/supervisors and employees whilst keeping an eye on your
budget.

Improvement Project

Most, if not all, improvement projects have some employee training associated with them.
Examples of improvement projects include planned and structured attempts to reduce the
incidence of product defects, increase sales volume and decrease the number of customer
complaints. Here, the Training Needs Analysis begins by clarifying the measurable organizational
improvement targets and the employee behaviors required to meet these targets. For example, the

31
organization might set a target of a 50 percent reduction in customer complaints by the end of the
year. Employee behaviors required to achieve this target might be:

 empathetic listening to customer complaints

 regular follow up of complaint resolution

and so on.

To get to this point, though, the cause of the underperformance needs to be determined through a
series of structured questions. If there is no one else to perform this initial diagnosis, you as the
training professional may be called upon to do this job. A performance consulting approach can
help you here. With this approach, the person doing the diagnosis first asks managers to identify
their problems in concrete terms. Next, possible causes and solutions are discussed and training
solutions identified, where appropriate.

To do this successfully, the performance consultant needs to be well-versed in process

improvement methods and employee motivation theory and practice. For small projects, you can
use a simple employee performance flow chart in working with managers to help identify the
cause of performance deficiencies.

Where training is identified as an appropriate solution or as part of the solution, we then

recommend that you work through a Training Needs Analysis questionnaire with the appropriate
stakeholders. This will give you the information you need to move to the training program design
phase.

Source:http://www.businessperform.com/workplace-training/training_needs_analysis.html

Questions
1. What is MIS? How can it help in identifying the training needs?
2. What are the different kinds of information that can be available through MIS?
3. What is Performance appraisal system? How can it help in identifying the training needs?
4. What are the things that should be considered while designing a Performance appraisal
system that can take care of the training needs?
5. What is the role of the line manager in the whole process of identifying the training
needs?

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DHR-201: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT CR 4

UNIT 4: SPECIFYING TRAINING NEEDS

UNIT STRUCTURE
4.1 INTRODUCTION
4.2 OBJECTIVE
4.3 JOB SPECIFICATION
4.3.1 PURPOSE OF JOB SPECIFICATION
4.3.2 PREPARING A JOB SPECIFICATION
4.3.3 STAGES AND STRUCTURE IN WRITING A JOB SPECIFICATION
4.4 INVESTIGATING THE PERFORMANCE GAP
4.4.1OBSERVATION
4.4.2 INTERVIEW
4.5 CONCLUSION

4.1 INTRODUCTION
Once it is agreed that training intervention is actually needed, it is desired that the training needs
are specified very precisely. This will ensure that the training needs are met in the most cost
effective way. The first aim of all training programmes is to meet the business needs of the
organization and that the employees should be able to carry out their present tasks effectively.
They must possess the necessary competencies for doing so. These are expressed in terms of
knowledge, skills or attitudes. Job specification helps to specify these requirements against the
key tasks. Further a clear and detailed assessment of the performance gap will provide the sound
foundation for specifying the training both accurately and precisely.
4.2 OBJECTIVE
At the end of this unit the learner must be able to understand the concept of Job Specification and
the process of writing down the same. Further he or she should develop the knowledge of
collecting the information for writing down the Job Specification of a certain job. The learner
must also know how to collect information related to performance gaps.
4.3 JOB SPECIFICATION
Before we talk about Job Specification, we have to take up Job Analysis. Job Analysis is the
precursor to recruitment, selection, placement, training and many organizational efforts. Usually
Job analysis is understood to be constituted of two parts viz. Job Description and Job
specification.
33
Any systematic procedure for obtaining detailed information about a job, task or role that will be
performed or is currently performed including the basic information about a job,
reporting relationships, overall purpose, principal accountabilities and tasks/duties etc. is referred
to as Job Description.

Job specification normally refers to the education, qualifications, training experience, abilities
and personal qualities job holders require to perform the job satisfactorily. It is specifically
concerned to set out what a job holder has to be able to do or the competencies required for
carrying out the job to a prescribed standard.
A competency is a set of behaviour patterns that an incumbent needs to bring to a position in
order to perform its tasks and functions with competence. It includes both the behavioural
dimensions and the specific knowledge, skill and attitude dimensions.
4.3.1PURPOSE OF JOB SPECIFICATION
It helps to understand as to what kind of person in terms of abilities /competencies is required for
a particular job. Thus this information helps to recruit and select the most suitable person for that
job. Further this is most significant in Training Need Analysis and ultimately precisely defining
the training need.
4.3.2 PREPARING A JOB SPECIFICATION
For preparing or writing down a job specification one would require information related to the
job like role definition, key tasks, key competencies for each task, and performance standards and
measures for each key competency. Much of this information may come from the Job
description, but some amount of generation of primary data will also be required. It can be
carried out by-
i. Interviewing the current job holders and managers regarding their tasks, responsibilities,
performance, competencies that they possess etc. Only while collecting information care
should be taken to interview a good performer. Sometimes interviewee has the tendency
to exaggerate the information.

ii. Observing qualified and experienced job operators carrying out work: specially useful in
observing the behavioural dimensions. It also helps to understand the process of doing a
work. Sometimes the person who is observed has a tendency to reflect a behaviour that is
not original when he or she has the knowledge of being observed.

34
 iii. Actually doing the job can help in gathering the first hand knowledge of the requirements
of a job, but most of the jobs need expertise knowledge/skills to perform. Hence may not
be feasible.

4.3.3 STAGES AND STRUCTURE IN WRITING A JOB SPECIFICATION

This consists of the following steps-
• Writing a role definition
• specifying key tasks
• specifying key competencies for each task
• specifying performance standards and measures for each key competency
Writing a role definition
This information can be obtained by asking the question-Why does this job exist? That is the
basic reason for existence of the job. For example, to provide a high standard of secretarial and
administrative support to the directorate (purpose) by planning and organizing diaries, preparing
agendas and minutes for meetings, filing and retrieving documents.
The above is in context to the job of ‘Secretary’.
Specifying key tasks
This information can be obtained by asking the question-What are the important parts of the job?
Specifying key competencies for each task
This information can be obtained by asking the question-What does the job holder need to know
or be able to do to perform each of the tasks?

Once the above information is obtained, one can proceed with specifying performance standards
and measures for each key competency.

But you may be wondering as to what are the Performance Standards?

Well these indicate the-
• level of performance at the end of training
• level of performance when a person is fully competent on the job
The aim of each job incumbent that is a person occupying a particular job should be to achieve
the Performance standards specified before.

Measures should be something tangible that can be observed on the job and be capable of
measurement. The performance of a person on a job is assessed against these measures.

35
Let us look at a few key tasks, key competencies, Standards and measures.
Position: Health and safety auditor
key tasks key competencies Standards and measures
Carry out regular health and  Demonstrate knowledge  Achieve a score of at least 80%
safety audits. of relevant health and on H&S test conducted at
safety issues, including regular intervals without
legislations. warning.
 Complete H&S reports  Documentation completed
on a quarterly basis. accurately within one week of
the date to which it refers.

Some examples related to Job specification for different jobs are included in the subsequent
section which will help you in further grasping the subject. Further an illustration of template for
collecting Job specification information has been added which will be useful to you.
Read►
JOB SPECIFICATION FOR MARKETING MANAGER
Source: http://humanresources.about.com/od/jobdescriptions/qt/specification_marketing.htm

Experience - Marketing Manager:

 10 years of progressively more responsible positions in marketing, preferably in a similar

industry in two different firms.
 Experience supervising and managing a professional staff of seven.

Education - Marketing Manager:

 Bachelors Degree in Marketing or a related field required.

 Masters in Business or Marketing preferred.

Required Skills, Knowledge and Characteristics - Marketing Manager:

These are the most important qualifications of the individual selected as the marketing manager.

 Strong effective communicator.

 Highly developed, demonstrated teamwork skills.
 Ability to coordinate the efforts of a large team of diverse creative employees.

36
  Demonstrated ability to increase productivity and continuously improve methods,
approaches, and departmental contribution. Commitment to continuous learning.
 Expert in Internet and social media strategy with a demonstrated track record.
 Demonstrated effectiveness in holding conversations with customers, customer
evangelism, and customer-focused product development and outreach.
 Demonstrated ability to see the big picture and provide useful advice and input across the
company.
 Ability to lead in an environment of constant change.
 Experience working in a flexible, employee empowering work environment. Structured or
large company experience will not work here.
 Familiarity and skill with the tools of the trade in marketing including PR, written
communication, website development, market research, product packaging, Microsoft
software suite of products, visal communication software products, and creative services.
 Experience managing external PR and communication consulting firms and contractors.
 Experience in the global marketplace is a plus.

High Level Overview of Job Requirements - Marketing Manager:

The selected marketing manager must be able to perform effectively in each of these areas:

 Researching and evaluating new product opportunities, demand for potential products,
and customer needs and insights.
 Overall marketing strategy and execution of plans for the existing products.
 Working with product development teams to manage new product development.
 Managing launch campaigns for new products.
 Managing distribution channels for products.
 Ensuring effective, branded marketing communications including the company website,
print communication, and advertising.
 Managing media and marketing staff and external PR agencies.
 Analysis of the effectiveness of all marketing efforts.

JOB SPECIFICATION FOR MARKETING DIRECTOR

Source: http://www.acdp.pt/privado/docs/SAMPLE_JOB_SPECS.pdf

37
 JOB SPECIFICATION
POSITION: Sales & Marketing Director-EMEA (THE COMPANY)
LOCATION: Anywhere, Europe GRADE: V
BUSINESS DIMENSION
BUSINESS DIMENSION REPORTS TO
Expenses: c. $5.0MM Marketing Budget Global Marketing Director (London)
(EMEA total)
AUM goal: $907MM
FTE: 15

KEY CHALLENGES/EXPECTED CONTRIBUTIONS

Marketing Role: Help wholesale activities and investment advisors effectively

sell/retain sale of company products

- create distinctive, relevant product launch and on-going support materials
- help define new products and existing product improvements that profitably
meet client needs
- provide motivating sales ideas (e.g. local promotion programs)
- manage third party needs
- manage the production of marketing materials in various languages for the
support of IPB & PBG businesses in EMEA
- assess GCB & third party needs and suggest specific course of action and
necessary adaptations to the core EMEA Marketing materials and activities
Sales Role: Achieve expansion of distribution channels to include third party
distributors
- manage sales activities so as to achieve and maintain AUM targets
- provide training and sales process support to investment advisors
- Assist Business Manager in identifying and tapping on institutional opportunities in
EMEA and lead the marketing / Sales efforts.
TASKS NEEDED TO ENSURE CONTRIBUTIONS ARE ACHIEVED / GENERAL
RESPONSIBILITIES
Marketing & Sales:
• Manage origination of marketing and sales materials for local product range (e.g.

38
fact sheets, brochures, mailers, letters, advertising, selling cards, sales arguments,
sales/customer seminars) - Program development
- Project management plan and execution
- Agency briefings
- Writing of sales/customer seminars
• Manage production activities, including suppliers of creative, production and
translation services – Ensure highest quality, timely: editing, proof reading and
translating of materials
• Develop the necessary processes to ensure quality, cost-efficient and timely
delivery of materials
• Control Sales & Marketing budget
• Provide creative ideas for Sales activities, events & gifts to help increase sales
volumes and provide incentive to GCB & third party investment advisors to sell
company products.
• Act as a catalyst in closing third party deals and manage the entire pre-RPC and
post RPC process up to the deal closure
• Manage the third party relationship in terms of Sales & Marketing needs
(Training, Materials, Events etc.)
• Manage new product development/improvement process in partnership with
product development group
• Engage in continuous dialogue with sales management to assure proactive
development of programs
• Develop sales & marketing plan for the local business
• Adapt global & EMEA strategy, policy and goals to the local market
• Assist Business Manager in identifying and tapping on institutional opportunities
in Greece and lead the marketing / Sales efforts.
Risk & Control:
• Ensure compliance with company policies and local laws and regulations
• Assist Business Manager in his Legal / Regulatory responsibilities & act as his
deputy (when necessary)
People Management:

39
• Communicate business goals to subordinate(s) to ensure commitment and
alignment with strategy
• Establish and communicate measurable performance standards and goals for
each team member
• Provide on going coaching and feedback to team member(s)
• Conduct formal performance evaluations and link performance and rewards
• Assist Business Manager in his people management responsibilities

JOB SPECIFICATION
Candidate Specs
POSITION: Sales & Marketing Director- EMEA
EXPERIENCE PERSONAL
Financial services marketing European national preferred
(investments products experience • English, French fluency
desirable) • Advanced University degree
• European markets (Pan European preferred
desirable) • Team player
• Strong Communication &
Interpersonal Skills
• Strong results orientation
• Strong project management skills
• Strong analytical and writing skills
• Management of staff, processes &
outside suppliers
• Strong familiarity with print
production processes
• 9 - 15 years work experience
Source: http://img.docstoccdn.com/thumb/orig/46610871.png

40
 Job Specification Template

Source: http://www.whatjobsite.com/Job%20Specification%20Template.htm

One of the key things that will ensure you recruit successfully is to create a job specification for
the role you are trying to fill in your organization. Only by really understanding what the role you
are trying to fill is will you fill find the right person to fill it.

Working through the form below will help you identify exactly the person you are hiring for.

JOB TITLE:

Provide an overview of the job, its context in the company, and the
PURPOSE OF THE JOB:
contribution that it makes.

41
DUTIES & Outline the main daily duties, tasks and responsibilities of the
RESPONSIBILITIES: position.

Think about the type of person suitable for the role. E.g will the
CANDIDATE:
person be working independently or in a team environment?

REPORTING TO: To whom will the person report.

WORKING HOURS: Full/Part Time; Contract/Permanent

SALARY: Indicate what salary you want or are prepared to pay.

E.g health insurance, subsidised canteen, car, gym

BENEFITS & PERKS:
membership etc.

42
 You may want to establish a probationary period (typically 3 or 6
PROBATION:
months.)

START DATE:

CLOSING DATE:

Person Specification

Indicate what knowledge is required to do the job, e.g. do you

KNOWLEDGE require an understanding of a defined system, practice, method or
procedure?

Essential

Desirable

43
 Indicate what skills specific to the job are required, e.g. language
WORK SKILLS
fluency, typing skills, etc.

Essential

Desirable

What more general characteristics are required to do the job

GENERAL SKILLS/
effectively, e.g., communication skills, writing skills, ability to
ATTRIBUTES
delegate, motivation etc.

Essential

Desirable

What experience and/or achievement in a field, profession or

EXPERIENCE specialism is required. E.g. a minimum period of experience in a
defined area of work etc.

Essential

44
Desirable

EDUCATION: Indicate the level of education required.

Essential

Desirable

Indicate the professional qualifications and/or specific occupational

QUALIFICATIONS
training needed.

Essential

Desirable

45
4.4 INVESTIGATING THE PERFORMANCE GAP
The importance of gathering data related to performance gap has already been highlighted
previously. The major approaches towards this are-
• Observation
• Interview
• Self- complete questionnaires/reports
• desk research
• Combination

4.4.1OBSERVATION
This includes direct observation of people at work, observation of the work samples and
assessment in simulated conditions.
Direct observation: Observation of people at workplace is perhaps the most common approach to
data gathering on job performance. It ranges from the use of detailed techniques such as work
measurement, time and motion study, work study etc. to relatively simply observing a colleague
at the workplace. In the work study precise recordings are made of all activities, including the
times of these activities, and the tasks are rated, that is the performance of the worker is assessed
against a qualified/standard worker. This approach also observes the behaviour of the person
being assessed by using checklists of key behaviours.
This method helps in getting the first hand knowledge on the job and how it is performed. It can
deliver highly relevant information on training needs but it can be very time consuming and
costly.

Work samples: It implies observing the finished product or the final output rather than the way it
is produced for examples an analysis report, a budget, an estimate or any other tangible product
produced. These samples are compared against the ideal in order to identify specific errors or
areas of weakness.
Though the method is very authentic but it may require a specialized knowledge for content
analysis.

Simulations: Here the observation is not carried out at the actual workplace but rather in a
simulated environment. For example the production is carried out in a simulated shopfloor and
not the original one. The skills of pilots are tested in mock situations like mock emergencies.
Role plays may be used to assess appraisal interview techniques. Though this method can be
46
highly useful to observe employees’ performance in work situations that do not occur often by
creating simulated situation, but the major disadvantage is the cost.
4.4.2 INTERVIEW
It is perhaps the most frequently used technique for obtaining data. Interview is a very flexible
technique in that it can be formal or informal, from being unstructured to highly structured, can
be one to one interface or involve groups. It can be conducted in the workplace, in private, on or
off the job, face to face or by telephone.

In the hands of a skilled interviewer, it can reveal large amount of data about the deficiencies in
knowledge, skills, attitudes, feelings, behaviour, causes of problems and their solutions. However
grouping the data, summarizing etc. can be quite cumbersome. Overabundance of irrelevant
information can also create problems specially for analysis and summarization. This aspect can
be taken care of if structured questions and close ended questions are used. Interviews to gather
data on job performance requires considerable skill. Bias can also creep in while recording the
answers because this might get influenced by the mindset of the person collecting the data.

Some of the important types of interview are discussed below.

Performance appraisal Interview
It is one of the most widely used methods to generate data on the performance gap. The main
intention is to assess the current performance i.e performance in a particular period whether
quarterly or half yearly or yearly against the standards fixed earlier, and identify the reasons for
lack in performance and the action that would be needed to improve the performance. Nowadays
Performance Interview discussions are very common in organizations, and can be a significant
tool to express and identify specific training needs with the involvement of both the subordinate
and the superior. Only care should be taken to see that the climate of discussion is proper and
open. No attempt should be made by the assessor to dominate the discussion. One good thing is
that in most cases Performance appraisal Interview is complemented by a Performance appraisal
report that had been separately filled up by the superior, the subordinates and may be by his peers
and stakeholders. But this will vary with the kind of appraisal in practice. A lot will also depend
on the design of the Performance Appraisal format. The successful assessment and specification
of the performance gap will depend on the quality of the appraisal documentation and critically
on the skills of the assessor, i.e the manager.

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Non-directed counseling interviews
Though this interview technique is similar to the Performance appraisal Interview for example, it
is carried out in private on a one to one basis and requires similar preparation from both the
parties but the difference is that it does not include any guidance from the counselor in terms of
what training should be prescribed. It is useful in generating deep personal data that could be
examined to specify training needs and also to deal with problems related to interpersonal
relations.
Critical Incident Interview
In the previous unit critical incidents as a training need identification tool had been discussed
elaborately. Critical Incident Interview is focused on the critical incidents. Once such an
incident(s) is identified, the interviewee is asked to describe it like, the background to the
incident, where and when it occurred, who else was there, the surroundings, the time, his/her
response etc. Though this method is easy to administer but the disadvantage is that it relies on an
individual’s memory of events. Further the interviewer has to believe in whatever has been told
by the interviewee.
Structured Interview
This can be conducted with the help of questionnaires that are available for specific purpose for
example Work Profiling System, Position Analysis questionnaire etc. Organizations can also
develop their own questionnaires for the said purpose.
Group discussions
They resemble one to one interviews but instead of two persons there are more participants. It can
be structured to unstructured, formal to informal. The discussion can focus on the job or role
analysis for the individuals or on group issues or the tasks. It can be a focused group discussion
or a brainstorming session or force-field analysis etc. It permits on-the-spot synthesis of different
viewpoints. In this technique through the evolving dynamics of the group the participants are able
to identify their own training needs. This technique though very useful face the difficulties
associated with quantifying and synthesizing the data specially when it is not structured.
Self- complete questionnaires
It involves only the target group and there is no external intervention in the form of an
interviewer or observer. The questionnaires are filed up by the respondents. It is an inexpensive
method and relatively quick to carry out but designing the questionnaire require expertise and
substantial time. Pilot testing on a representative sample is highly recommended.

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Diaries/logs
Usually they are used to record a typical day by listing at regular intervals all the activities
undertaken during that period. They are also used to generate information on critical incidents
that are recorded by the individuals including the probable reasons behind them. This approach is
particularly useful for jobs where the activities are not easily observable, such as cognitive
activities or where the cycle of activities are quite long and not feasible for observation.
Tests
These can be very useful in generating data on facts, attitudes, knowledge etc. They can help in
determining whether the business need is caused by a specific missing knowledge or skill
competency. Tests can be administered on individuals or groups. Nowadays tests can also be
administered online. Tests which include objective type and close ended questions can be easily
quantified, summarized and compared with other results. On the other hand open ended and
descriptive type questions can make the data analysis time consuming. Today organizations
widely use psychometric tests to identify training needs and during selection because of the good
results that are obtained by using these standardized tests. But these need to be administered by
trained, skilled and qualified trainers only. The cost of purchasing of the test materials and the
training, and licensing of test materials are the aspects that need to be kept in mind.
Self-reports/assessments
Here the individuals assess their training needs against a checklist provided to them/key
competencies required in a job or by using some form of self-appraisal questionnaire. This
method can often lead to more precise outcomes required from the training and can be relatively
simple to organize. Though it is easy to generate data quite quickly and is inexpensive but the
main weakness is that the respondent’s training priorities may differ and may not be related to his
job in the organization or performance deficiencies. Further this method relies upon the
individuals who are thought to have sufficient knowledge about their present and future jobs to
give intelligent suggestions for training.
Documents/record analysis
This method is often referred to as secondary research. Here data is gathered using information
that already exists and has been collected for other purposes. For example organizational climate
survey data or competency mapping data can very well can be used to find out the training needs
of employees. The advantage in this approach is that it is an inexpensive method and data is
readily available. But the disadvantage is that the same is not available in a standard form that
can be used in specifying training needs. Hence a careful examination and analysis of the data is
essential.

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Key Person consultation
It is a process of collecting data from persons who by way of their position are responsible for
supervising the work of members and to whom these members report. The former is commonly
referred to as the superior and the latter subordinate. Thus the superiors are in a position to
specify the training needs of the subordinates. Key persons can also be some other persons who
meet the concern person often during day to day business. They can be senior managers,
internal/external customers and/or suppliers, other service providers and individuals within the
target population. Once the key persons are identified the data can be gathered by use of
interview, group discussions, questionnaires, etc.
Assessment/development centres
This approach like key person consultation utilizes combination of several data gathering
methods like tests, interview, observation, simulated tasks for example role playing, individual
and group exercises to collect data. Here the observed performance is assessed against the
standard performance and the gap therein is identified thus helping in determining the training
need. However a careful design of the instruments/tools should be done so that they accurately
reflect the requirements of the job. Further it requires skilled observers who are also aware of the
job requirements for the current as well as future positions. It is an expensive method and
requires elaborate analysis.
4.5 CONCLUSION
Thus in this unit we have discussed the concept of Job Specification and how it can help in
specifying training needs. The steps in writing down a Job Specification are also discussed in
detail and by way of giving examples. Further an effort is given to discuss means and ways of
investigating performance gap through different techniques so that these help in specifying
training needs of the employees. If the same are carried out carefully greater chances are there
that training needs can be very specifically identified and addressed.
Questions
1. Discuss the concept of Job Specification and its significance in an organization.
2. What are the different steps involved in writing down a Job Specification? Give
examples.
3. Examine the importance of investigating performance gaps.
4. What are the different methods used to investigating performance gaps?

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DHR-201: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT CR 4
UNIT-5: TRANSLATING TRAINING NEEDS INTO ACTION
UNIT STRUCTURE

5.1 OBJECTIVES
5.2 INTRODUCTION
5.3 FORMAL AND INFORMAL TRAINING
5.3.1 CONCEPT OF FORMAL TRAINING
5.3.2 TYPES OF FORMAL TRAINING
5.3.3 ADVANTAGES OF FORMAL TRAINING
5.3.4 CONCEPT OF INFORMAL TRAINING
5.3.5 ADVANTAGES OF INFORMAL TRAINING
5.3.6 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FORMAL TRAINING AND INFORMAL TRAINING
5.4 VARIOUS TYPES OF TRAINING
5.4.1 ON THE JOB TRAINING
5.4.2 MERITS AND DEMERITS OF ON - THE - JOB TRAINING
5.4.3 OFF –THE - JOB TRAINING
5.4.4 MERITS AND DEMERITS OF OFF - THE - JOB TRAINING
5.4.5 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ON - THE - JOB TRAINING AND OFF - THE - JOB
TRAINING
5.5 SUMMING UP
5.6 RECOMMENDED READINGS
5.7 QUESTIONS

5.1: OBJECTIVES
On completion of this module you should able to:

 Understand formal and informal training and their applied areas.

 Learn the situations where different training programmes may be arranged for the
employees in an organization in order to enhance the knowledge, skills and abilities to
perform a specific job.
 Evaluate the merits and demerits of different types of training in an organization.
5.2: INTRODUCTION
Training is an organized process of acquiring specific skills to perform a job in an efficient and
effective way. It helps people to become qualified and proficient in doing some jobs. Usually an
organization facilitates the employees' learning through training so that their modified behaviour
contributes to the attainment of the organization's goals and objectives. Van Dersal (1962)
defined training as the process of teaching, informing, or educating people so that (1) they may
become as well qualified as possible to do their job, and (2) they become qualified to perform in
positions of greater difficulty and responsibility.

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5.3: FORMAL AND INFORMAL TRAINING
We are all learning machines. We learn continuously and in several ways. We learn by doing, by
observing, by listening, by reading, and by teaching others. We also learn through formal and
informal means. First, what is ‘formal training’ versus ‘informal training’? These two terms refer
to the dissemination or acquisition of knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA) in an organization.
Formal training occurs through a controlled and structured approach on a broad-based
institutional level. Examples include formal training programs and/or formal written procedures.
Informal training happens more spontaneously among groups of people. An example includes
learning by sharing experiences with others at a company picnic party.

In our training departments, we spend a great deal of our time for designing and delivering formal
training programs for our employees. However, we can also create a conducive environment
where informal training among employees takes place. Therefore, you can think of the best times
to include both in your company in order to get our desired results for the betterment of the
organization.

5.3.1: CONCEPT OF FORMAL TRAINING

Formal training essentially refers to a line of teaching that has particular objective of learning and
is conducted outside the place of work. Formal training is based on predetermined standard form
and it might include certain learning objectives, using a variety of training methods and applying
evaluation activities. Formal training includes careful assessment and attention to determining
training goals, designing and building methods and materials that are directly aligned to achieve
the goals, implementing training and careful evaluation to ensure that training is carried out
effectively and that training goals were reached.

Formal training improves the nine essential skills and has many tacit benefits, such as an increase
in self-awareness and self-confidence, assertiveness and problem solving skills. Other benefits
contribute to a less stressful environment, more harmonious relationships and improved
communication by invested workers. These are skills that are transferable to one’s personal life.

5.3.2: TYPES OF FORMAL TRAINING

We have identified three levels of formal training available to employees. The type of training
selected should be based on the need of the individual, which can be determined through the
performance management review, individual request and supervisor’s observation. The types of
formal training available to employees are:

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1. Orientation Training

This training is conducted for the newly hired or reassigned personnel. These programs are
designed to give new employees the basic knowledge, understanding, and skill needed for
successful job performance. It includes various job skills training such as computer usage,
communication skills, phone usage, etc.

Orientation training also provides general orientation that is designed to give employees a general
knowledge of the policies, procedures and practices relating to the employment relationship.

2. Remedial Training

This training is designed to correct observed deficiencies in employee knowledge, skills and
attitudes. Programs include stress reduction, time management, presentation skill building,
assertiveness building, business writing, hands-on experiences in word processing, computer
software, etc.

3. Upgrading or Advanced Training

This training is designed to improve or upgrade individual job skills and knowledge. Programs
include advanced computer training, decision making, employment laws, managing conflict,
conducting performance evaluations, sensitivity training, supervisory responsibilities, resolving
grievances, etc.

4. Instructional Systems Design (ISD)

Under this formal training, the goals of the training are carefully determined often from various
types of assessments of the learners. Goals are established to address the results of the
assessments. Various methods of training are developed and designed to achieve those goals, and
evaluation plans are established in order to measure the quality of the training to achieve of those
goals.

ADDIE is one of the most popular ISD models. The steps are as follows:

(a) Analyze the organization’s and individual’s needs and then identify training goals to meet the
organization’s and individual’s needs. This phase also identifies the timings when training should
occur and who should attend as learners or trainees.

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(b) Design a training system that trainers can implement to meet the learning goals. This phase
typically includes identifying learning objectives, what strategies and activities are required to
achieve the objectives, what resources might be needed, any lessons and the sequence of lessons,
etc.

(c) Develop a training ‘package’ of resources and materials, including, e.g., developing audio-
visuals, graphics, manuals, etc.

(d) Implement the training package, including to deliver the training by implementing the
strategies and conducting the activities, sharing feedback about the program and training
methods, administering tests, modifying the design of the trainings and its materials based on
feedback from participants, etc. This phase can include administrative activities, such as copying,
scheduling facilities, taking attendance data, etc.

(e) Evaluate the training, including during and after implementation of training. Evaluation is of
the design of the training program, usage of the resources and the results gained by participants in
the program.

5.3.3: ADVANTAGES OF FORMAL TRAINING

The main advantages of formal training are as follows:

1. Large numbers of employees can get the same information at the same time.
2. Large numbers of employees can learn the same method or process at the same time.
3. Employees learning through formal training enhance the speed and accuracy of their jobs.
4. Properly designed formal training programs can include a variety of methods for the trainees.
5.3.4: CONCEPT OF INFORMAL TRAINING

Informal training is rather casual and incidental. Typically, there are no specified training goals
and evaluation to determine the efficacy of training. This type of training occurs so naturally that
many people probably are not aware that they are in a training experience at all. The most
prominent form of informal training is learning from experience on the job. Examples are
informal discussions among employees about a certain topic, discussion groups, reading
newspapers, journals and articles about a particular topic. A more recent approach is sending
employees to hear prominent speakers, sometimes affectionately called “the parade of stars”.
However, this form of training often provides the deepest and richest learning because this form
is what occurs naturally in life.

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5.3.5: ADVANTAGES OF INFORMAL TRAINING

The main advantages of informal training are as follows:

1. Creating informal training situations can be less costly and less time consuming process.
2. Informal training is more personal in nature.
3. Experts may be more willing to share their knowledge with others through informal training.
4. Employees may be less likely to resist learning new things.
5.3.6: DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FORMAL TRAINING AND INFORMAL TRAINING

1. Formal training is training that follows some designed form. On the other hand, informal
training does not have an intended and consistent form.
2. Formal training has a specific time period. On the other hand, informal training occurs
spontaneously and/or casually.
3. Formal training is conducted to achieve the predetermined results. On the other hand, informal
training does not have any predetermined results.
5.4: VARIOUS TYPES OF TRAINING

Training in an organization can be divided to two broad types. These are on-the-job training and
off-the-job training. On-the-job training is provided to the employees when the workers are
taught relevant knowledge, skills and abilities at the actual workplace. In this way, they do not
lose time while they are provided training or learning. After a training plan is developed for what
should be taught, employees should be informed about the details. A time table should be
established with periodic evaluations to inform employees about their progress. On-the-job
training technique includes job instruction training, apprenticeships, internships, job rotation,
committee assignments, coaching and mentoring.

Off-the-job training, on the other hand, requires that trainees learn at a location other than the real
work spot. Off-the-job technique includes lectures, audio visual conferences or discussions, case
studies, programmed instructions, vestibule and laboratory training. Most of these techniques are
very costly.

5.4.1: ON THE JOB TRAINING

In this method a trainee is placed on the job and then taught the necessary skills to perform his
job. Thus in this method the trainee learns by observing and handling the job under the guidance
and supervision of instructor or a supervisor. Thus it is also called the learning by doing method.
On –the –job training method includes the following:

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1. Job Instruction Training

JIT is a popular form of the job training. JIT is used for imparting or improving motor skills with
routine and repetitive operations. The JIT method is a four-step instructional process involving
preparation, presentation, performance try out and follow up. A trainer, supervisor or co-worker
acts as the coach. The four steps followed in the JIT method are:

a) The trainee receives an overview of the job, its purpose and desired outcomes, with a
transparent focus on the significance of training.

b) The trainer demonstrates the entire job in order to give the employee a model to copy. The
trainer shows a right way to perform the job.

c) The employee is permitted to copy the trainer’s way. Demonstrations by the trainer and
practice by the trainee are repeated until the trainee can accomplish the work in an efficient and
effective way.

d) Finally, the employee performs the job independently without any supervision or
demonstration.

Merits

• It is very cost effective as no extra space, equipment, personnel or other training facilities are
required for imparting this training.

• Trainee learns fast through practice and observation.

• The trainee gains confidence when he does the work himself in actual setting with the help from
supervisor.

• It is most suitable for unskilled and semi-skilled jobs where the job operations are simple in
nature and easy to demonstrate within a short span of time.

Demerits

• At the time of learning, trainee may damage equipment, waste materials, cause accident.
• The noise at the real work places makes it difficult for the new employee to concentrate on
work.

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• The trainee should be as good as the trainer; if the trainer is not good, transference of
knowledge and skills will be poor.

2. Apprenticeship

It is the oldest and most commonly used method of training in technical areas, crafts and trades
where the skills of the job are learnt over a long period of time. The industrial training institutes
(ITI) provide this kind of training in India. The Apprenticeship Act, 1961 requires the employers
in certain industries to train a particular number of persons in specific trades. For trades, like
mechanist, tool makers, carpenters weaver, Jeweler, this type of training is very helpful.
Apprenticeship helps in maintaining a skilled work force and is a combination of both theory and
practical. It also results in high level of loyalty by the employees and increases their chances for
growth but it is time consuming and extensive method. Many persons leave this training in
between because of the long training duration.

One important disadvantage of the apprenticeship method is the uniform period of training
offered to trainees. People have different abilities and learn at varied rates. Those who learn fast
may quit the programme in frustration. Slow learners may need additional training time. It is also
likely that in these days of rapid changes in technology, old skills may get outdated at a rapid
pace. Trainees who spend long time to learn specific skills may find that the job skills they
acquired are no longer appropriate after successful completion of the training.

3. Internship

It involves training the colleges or universities pass outs about the practical aspects of their study.
This method of training provides a chance to the students to implement the theoretical concepts
that they have learnt during their study. Thus, it balances the theoretical and practical aspects of
the study. Professional likes chartered accountants, MBA’s, company secretaries and doctors are
given training through this method.

4. Job Rotation

This kind of training involves the movement of trainee from one job to another. This helps him to
have a general understanding of how the organisation functions. The purpose of job rotation is to
provide trainees with a larger organizational perspective and a greater understanding of different
functional areas as well as a better sense of their own career objectives and interests. Apart from
relieving boredom, job rotation allows trainees to build rapport with a wide range of individuals
57
within the organisation, facilitating future cooperation among departments. The cross-trained
personnel offer a great amount of flexibility for organizations when transfers, promotions or
replacements become inevitable.

The main advantage of job rotation is to provide the employees with opportunities to broaden the
horizon of knowledge, skills, and abilities by working in different departments, business units
and countries. It also determines the areas where improvement is required.

Job rotation may pose several problems, especially when the trainees are rolled on various jobs at
frequent intervals. In such a case, trainees do not usually stay long enough in any single phase of
the operation to develop a high degree of expertise. Further, job rotation can be quite expensive.
A substantial amount of managerial time is lost when trainees change positions, because they
must be acquainted with different people and techniques in each department. Development costs
can go up and productivity is reduced by moving a trainee into a new position when his
efficiency levels begin to improve at the prior job. Inexperienced trainees may fail to handle new
tasks in an efficient way. To get the best results out of the system, it should be tailored to the
needs, interests and capabilities of the individual trainee.

5. Committee Assignments

In this method, trainees are asked to solve an actual organizational problem. The trainees have to
work together and offer solution to the problem. Assigning talented employees to important
committees can give these employees a broadening experience and can help them to understand
the personalities, issues and processes governing the organisation. It helps them to develop team
spirit and work unitedly toward common goals. Since immediate feedback is available, it
motivates trainees to observe and learn the right way of doing things.

6. Coaching

Coaching is a kind of daily training and feedback given to employees by immediate supervisors.
It involves a continuous process of learning by doing. It may be defined as an informal,
unplanned training and development activity provided by supervisors and peers. In coaching, the
supervisor explains things and answers questions; he throws light on why things are done the way
they are; he offers a model for trainees to copy; conducts lot of decision making meetings with
trainees; procedures are agreed upon and the trainee is given enough authority to make decisions
and even commit mistakes.
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7. Mentoring

Mentoring is an ongoing relationship that is developed between a senior and junior employee.
Mentoring provides guidance and clear understanding of how the organization goes to achieve its
vision and mission to the junior employee. The meetings are not as structured and regular than in
coaching.

Executive mentoring is generally done by someone inside the company. The executive can learn
a lot from mentoring. By dealing with diverse mentee’s, the executive is given the chance to
grow professionally by developing management skills and learning how to work with people with
diverse background, culture, and language and personality types.

Executives also have mentors. In cases where the executive is new to the organization, a senior
executive could be assigned as a mentor to assist the new executive settled into his role.
Mentoring is one of the important methods for preparing them to be future executives. This
method allows the mentor to determine what is required to improve mentee’s performance. Once
the mentor identifies the problem, weakness, and the area that needs to be worked upon, the
mentor can advise relevant training. The mentor can also provide opportunities to work on special
projects that require use of proficiency.

5.4.2: MERITS AND DEMERITS OF ON - THE - JOB TRAINING

The merits of on-the-job training methods are given below:

1. Training is provided to the employee in the work place itself. The employee will therefore, be
under the direct control of his superior.
2. The employee, in most cases, does his work while undergoing training. The enterprise work,
therefore, does not get affected.
3. As the employee learns by actually doing the work, progress during the period of training will
become clearly visible.
4. As every trainee learns the work from a senior employee of the same organization,
the training will be more relevant to the specific organization needs.
5. It does not require the development of potentially expensive training materials or
classroom/computer-based instruction.
The demerits of on-the-job training methods are given below:
1. The success of on-the-job training depends to a greater extent on the interest with which the
senior employees of the organization impart knowledge and skill. In most cases, the senior
employees may not be prepared to sit with trainees and teach them the work. They may briefly
59
explain the work and expect the trainees to pick up things fast. This may not be of any help to the
learner.

2. The employee, in the case of on-the-job training, has dual tasks. He has not only to learn the
work but also complete his target. As training and work go together, many trainees may find it
difficult to cope with a hectic schedule.

3. Traditional OJT relies heavily on an experienced employee to provide the instruction based on
what they feel are the most important topics. What is important to one employee may not be
important to another. The result is what is learned may vary greatly, depending on who is
assigned as the trainer.
4. Without a structured lesson guide, OJT trainers often forget to cover important information.
5.4.3: OFF –THE - JOB TRAINING

Training which is carried out away from your normal place of work is called off-the-job training.
Off –the –job training method includes the following:

1. Lecture
In lecture method, trainers used to communicate with spoken words which they want the trainees
to learn, it is primarily one way communication of learned capabilities from trainer to audience.
Lecture method is a popular training method despite of advanced new technologies such as
interactive video and computer assisted instruction. It is least expensive and least time consuming
way to present large amount of information efficiently in organized manner. It can be employed
with large groups of trainees.

Merits of Lecture Method

 It reinforces trainer’s credibility and authority.

 Information is concentrated and organized as desired.

 Simple and lots of material can be presented within given time.

 Can be personalized easily.

Demerits of Lecture Method

 One way communication with relatively less participation or passive participation.

60
 The attention span of listener is normally 15-20 minutes.

 Depends completely on trainer’s effectiveness and information.

 A clear and rigorous verbal presentation requires a great deal of preparation and hence
time consuming preparation.

2. Audio Visual Techniques

Audio visual instruction includes overheads, slides and video. Video can be used for improving
communication skills and customer service skills. It can also illustrate how procedures can be
followed. Video is rarely used alone. It is normally used along with lectures to show trainees real
life experiences and examples.
Merits of Audio Visual Techniques

 Trainers can review, slow down or speed up the lesson according to expertise of trainees.

 It can be watched multiple times.

 It gives exposure of equipment, problems and events that cannot be easily demonstrated,
i.e. equipment malfunctions, angry customers or emergencies.

 Training content is not affected by interests and goals of a particular trainer.

 It requires minimum technical knowledge.

Demerits of Audio Visual Techniques

 Too much content for trainee to learn

 Poor dialogue between actors

 Overuse of humor or music

 Important learning points of training can be confused by drama in the video

3. Case Studies

This method involves studying cases from all perspectives, analyzing the various options
available to the company for solving problems or address issues and arriving at most suitable

61
answers. Trainers develop a habit of looking at problems from various perspectives and hence
their decisions as managers will be more realistic and based on sound study and analysis.
Merits of Case Studies

 It promotes analytical thinking.

 It encourages open mindedness.

 It is acceptable to everyone as it deals with detailed description of real life situations.

Demerits of Case Studies

 It may suppress the voice of average trainees as only those having analytical and vocal
skills will dominate the sessions.

 Preparation of cases involves expenditure and time and the outcome is not quite certain.

4. Programmed Instruction

This method has become popular in recent years. The subject matter to be learned is presented in
a series of carefully planned sequential units. These units are arranged from simple to more
complex levels of instruction. The trainee goes through these units by answering questions or
filling the blanks. This method is, thus, expensive and time-consuming.

5. Vestibule Training

In this method a training centre which is known as vestibule is set up where real job conditions
are created and expert trainers train the new employees with equipment and machines that a
identical with the ones that employees will be using at their work place. This allows the trainees
to concentrate on their training because there is no noise of the real work place. As the same time,
the interest of the employee remains quite high as real work place conditions are simulated in this
training. It also saves new employees from a possible injury or any damage to the machines at the
real work place. Vestibule training is beneficial for training a large number of employees in a
similar type of job. But vestibule training involves the lot of expenditure as experts trainers along
with the class room and equipment are required to simulate the real work place environment
which is very difficult to create in reality.
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6. Transactional Analysis

It provides trainees with a realistic and useful method for analyzing and understanding the
behaviour of others. In every social interaction, there is a motivation provided by one person and
a reaction to that motivation given by another person. This motivation reaction relationship
between two persons is a transaction.

Transactional analysis can be done by the ego states of an individual. An ego state is a system of
feelings accompanied by a related set of behaviors. There are basically three ego states:

Child

It is a collection of recordings in the brain of an individual of behaviors, attitudes, and impulses

which come to him naturally from his own understanding as a child. The characteristics of this
ego are to be spontaneous, intense, unconfident, reliant, probing, anxious, etc. Verbal clues that a
person is operating from its child state are the use of words like "I guess", "I suppose", etc. and
non verbal clues like, giggling, coyness, silent, attention seeking etc.

Parent

It is a collection of recordings in the brain of an individual of behaviors, attitudes, and impulses

imposed on him in his childhood from various sources such as, social, parents, friends, etc. The
characteristics of this ego are to be overprotective, isolated, rigid, bossy, etc. Verbal clues that a
person is operating from its parent states are the use of words like, always, should, never, etc and
non-verbal clues such as, raising eyebrows, pointing an accusing finger at somebody, etc.

Adult

It is a collection of reality testing, rational behavior, decision making, etc. A person in this ego
state verifies, updates the data which he has received from the other two states. It is a shift from
the taught and felt concepts to tested concepts.

All of us evoke behavior from one ego state which is responded to by the other person from any
of these three ego states.
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7. Laboratory Training

Laboratory training adds to conventional training by providing situations in which the trainees
themselves experience through their own interaction. In this way, they more or less experiment
on themselves. Laboratory training is more concerned about changing individual behaviour and
attitude. It is generally more successful in changing job performance than conventional training
methods. There are two methods of laboratory training—simulation and sensitivity training.

A. Simulation
An increasingly popular technique of management development is simulation of performance. In
this method, instead of taking participants into the field can be simulated in the training session
itself. Simulation is the presentation of real situation of organizations in the training session. It
covers situations of varying complexities and roles for the participants. It creates a whole field
organisation, relates participants through key roles in it, and has them deal with specific
situations of a kind they encounter in real life. There are two common simulation methods of
training: role-playing is one and business game is the other.
(i) Role-Playing
Role-Playing is laboratory method which can be used rather easily as a supplement to
conventional training methods. Its purpose is to increase the trainee’s skill in dealing with other
people. One of its greatest uses is in connection with human relations training but it is also used
in sales training as well. It is spontaneous acting of a realistic situation involving two or more
persons under class room situations. Dialogue spontaneously grows out of the situation, as it is
developed by the trainees assigned to it. Other trainees in the group serve as observers or critics.
Since people lake roles every day, they are somewhat experienced in the art, and with a certain
amount of imagination they can project themselves into roles other than their own. Since a
manager is regularly acting roles in his relationship with others, it is essential for him to have role
awareness and to do role thinking so that he can size up each relationship and develop the most
effective interaction possible.

Role-playing has many advantages. By this method, a trainee can broaden his experience by
trying different approaches, while in actual situation; he often has only one chance. In evaluation
of role-playing in few firms, it was found that such sessions resulted in an increase in sensitivity
and improved quality of actions of a work sample involving a human relations difficulty. Role-
playing also has weaknesses which partly offset its values. It is time consuming and expensive. It
requires experienced trainers because it can easily turn sour without effective direction.
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(ii) Gaming
Gaming has been devised to simulate the problems of running a company or even a particular
department. It has been used for a variety of training objectives, from investment strategy,
collective bargaining techniques, to the morale of clerical personnel. It has been used at all levels,
from the top executives to the production supervisors. Gaming is a laboratory method in which
role-playing exists but its difference is that it focuses attention on administrative problems, while
role-playing tends to emphasize mostly feeling and tone between people in interaction. Gaming
involves several teams, each of which is given a firm to operate for a number of periods. Usually
the period is a short one, one year or so. In each period, each team makes decisions on various
matters such as fixation of price, level of production, inventory level, and so forth. Since each
team is competing with others, each firm’s decisions will affect the results of all others. All the
firm’s decisions are fed into a computer which is programmed to behave somewhat like a real
market. The computer provides the results, and the winner is the team which has accumulated
largest profit. In the light of such results, strengths and weaknesses of decisions are analyzed.

B. Sensitivity Training
Sensitivity training is the most controversial laboratory training method. Many of its advocates
have an almost religious zeal in their enhancement with the training group experience. As a result
of criticism and experience, a somewhat revised approach, often described as 'team development'
training, has appeared. It was first used by National Training Laboratories at Bethel, U.S.A. The
training groups themselves called ‘T- Group’. Since then its use has been extended to other
organizations, universities, and institutes.

Sensitivity training is a small-group interaction under stress in an unstructured encounter group

which requires people to become sensitive to one another's feelings in order to develop
reasonable group activity-group has several characteristic features: (i) the T-group is generally
small, from ten to twenty members; (ii) the group begins its activity with no formal agenda; (iii)
the role of trainer is primarily to call attention from time to time to the ongoing process within the
group; (iv) the procedure tends to develop interaction and self-examination, with emotional levels
of involvement and behaviour and the possibility of colleagues and some breakdown of
established insulation and self-defense on the part of individuals. The objectives of such training
are increased openness with others, more concern for others, increased tolerance for individual
differences, less ethnic prejudice, understanding of a group process, enhanced listening skills, and
increased trust and support.

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5.4.4: MERITS AND DEMERITS OF OFF - THE - JOB TRAINING

Merits of Off-the-Job Training are as follows:

 Trainers are usually experienced enough to train;

 It is systematically organized;
 Efficiently created programs may add lot of value.

Demerits of Off- the -Job Training are as follows:

 It is not directly in the context of job;

 It is often formal;
 It may not be based on experience;
 It is expensive;
 Trainees may not be much motivated;
 It is artificial in nature.

5.4.5: DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ON - THE - JOB TRAINING AND OFF - THE - JOB
TRAINING

The major differences between these two training methodologies have been listed here:

1.On-the-Job training involves imparting training in the real work environment i.e. it believes in
learning by doing; while off-the-job training involves imparting training outside the real work
environment i.e. the principle of learning by acquiring knowledge is adopted.

2.Under on-the-job training the training and performance goes simultaneously so production is
not hindered at the time of training; while under off-the-job training methods first training is
imparted and then the real performance follows and therefore does not add anything to actual
production during training.

3.On-the-job training aims at developing the best practices for a specific job and getting the job
done; while off-the-job training methods aim at learning basic facts and skills and is more general
in nature.

4.On-the-job training is usually imparted by experienced workers and first line supervisors at the
workplace; while off-the-job training is imparted usually by the academicians and professionals
at any place other than the real workplace.

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5.On-the-job training methods are suitable when the trainees are limited in numbers and the job is
not hazardous in nature; while off-the-job training methods can be utilized to train any numbers
of employees and for jobs that involve risks.

6.On-the-job training methods are simple and less-expensive because they utilize the actual
workplace and firm’s supervisors for imparting training; while off-the-job training methods are
quite expensive as they need a complete different set-up. Training is imparted in an artificial set-
up and outside experts are hired for the purpose.

7.Most popular on-the-job training methods include job rotation and apprenticeship training;
while the popular off-the-job training methods include classroom lectures and simulation
exercises.

8.On-the-job training is generally imparted in case of manufacturing firms for production-related

jobs; while off-the-job training is mostly imparted for managerial and non-production related
jobs.

5.5: SUMMING UP
The kind of training methodology to be adopted depends on several factors including the purpose
of training, the budget of training, the number of trainees, the level of trainees in organizational
hierarchy, the time available and the nature of job for which the training has to be imparted.
Selection of the proper medium for delivering training is important in order to be effective in the
given situation. If possible, a combination of the various delivery media should be used to have
the greatest effect.

5.6: RECOMMENDED READINGS

1. Flippo, E. B. (1961). Principles of personnel management. New York: McGraw Hill.

2. Jucious, M. J. (1963). Personnel management (5th ed.). Homewood, IL: Richard D. Irwin.

5.7: QUESTIONS
A. Short Questions

1.What is formal training?

2. What is informal training?
3.Distinguish between formal training and informal training.
4. Distinguish between On-the-job training and Off-the-job training.
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5.What is On-the-job training method?
6.What is Off-the-job training method?

B. Essay Type Questions

1. Write down the advantages and disadvantages of formal training and informal training.
2. Write down the advantages and disadvantages of On-the-job training and Off-the-job training.
3.Describe different types of On-the-job training method.
4.Describe different types of Off-the-job training method.
5.Go through the case and attempt the questions.
Modern Industries Ltd. (MIL) in Bangalore is an automobile ancillary Industry. It has turnover
of Rs. 100 crores. It employs around 4,000 persons.

The company is professionally managed. The management team is headed by a dynamic

Managing Director. He expects performance of high order at every level. It is more so at the
Supervisory and Management levels. Normally the people of high calibre are selected through
open advertisements to meet the human resource requirements at higher levels. However, junior-
level vacancies are filled up by different types of trainees who undergo training in the company.

The company offers one-year training scheme for fresh engineering graduates. During the first
six months of the training, the trainees are exposed to different functional areas which are
considered to be the core training for this category of trainees. By then, the trainees are identified
for placement against the available or projected vacancies. Their further training in the next
quarter is planned according to individual placement requirements.

During the last quarter, the training will be on-the job. The trainee is required to perform the jobs
expected of him after he is placed there. The training scheme is broadly structured mainly
keeping in mind the training requirements of mechanical engineering graduates.

Mr. Rakesh Sharma joined the company in the year 1983 after his B. Tech . degree in paint
Technology from a reputed institute. He was taken as a trainee against a projected vacancy in the
paints application department In MIL, the areas of interest for a trainee in Paint Technology are
few. Hence, Mr. Sharma’s core training was planned for the first 3 months only. Thereafter, he
was put for on-the-job training in the paints application department. He took interest and showed
enthusiasm in his work there. The report from the shop manager was quite satisfactory.

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The performance of the trainee is normally reviewed once at the end of every quarter. The
Training Manager personally talks to the trainee about his progress, strengths and shortcomings.
At the end of the second quarter, the Training Manager called Mr. Sharma for his performance
review. He appreciated his good performance and told him to keep it up. A month later Mr.
Sharma met the Training Manager. He requested that his training period be curtailed to 7 months
only and to absorb him as an Engineer. He argued that he had been performing like a regular
employee in the department for the last one quarter. As such, there was no justification for him to
be put on training anymore. Further, he indicated that by doing so, he could be more effective in
the department as a regular engineer. He would also gain seniority as well as some monetary
benefits as the trainees were eligible for a stipend only. The regular employees were eligible for
many allowances like conveyance, dearness, house rent, education, etc. which was a substantial
amount as compared to the stipend paid to a trainee.

The Training Manager turned down his request and informed him that it was not a practice of the
company to do so. He told him that any good performance or contribution made by the trainees
during the training period would be duly rewarded at the time of placement on completion of one
year of training. Further, he told him that it would set a wrong precedence. Quite often, some
trainees were put on the job much earlier than the normal period of three quarters for several
reasons.

Thereafter, Mr. Sharma’s behaviour in the department became different. His changed attitude did
not receive any attention in the initial period. However, by the end of the third quarter, his
behaviour had become erratic and unacceptable. When he was asked by the Department Manager
to attend to a particular task, he replied that he was still on training and such task shouldn’t be
assigned to a trainee. According to him, those jobs were meant to be attended by full-time
employees and not by trainees.

The Paint shop Manager complained to the Training Manager about Mr. Sharma’s behaviour and
he was summoned by the Training Manager. During the discussions, Mr. Sharma complained that
while all the remaining trainees were having a comfortable time as trainees, he was the only one
who was put to a lot of stress and strain; the department was expecting too much room him. He
felt that he should be duly rewarded for much hardwork; otherwise, it was not appropriate to
expect similar work output from him.

The Training Manager tried to convince him again that he shouldn’t harp on rewards as he was a
trainee; his sole concern should be to learn as much as possible and to improve his abilities. He

69
should have a long-term perspective rather than such a narrow-minded approach. He also
informed him that his good performance would be taken into account when the right occasion
arose. He warned him that he was exhibiting negative attitude for which he would be viewed
seriously. His demand for earlier placement was illogical and he should forget it as he had
already completed 8 months and had to wait only for 4 months. He advised Mr. Sharma that the
career of an individual had to be seen on a long-time perspective and that he should not resort to
such childish behaviour as it would affect his own career and image in the company.

Mr. Sharma apparently seemed to have been convinced by the assurance given by the Training
Manager and remained passive for some time. However, when the feedback was sought after a
month, the report stated that he had become more perverted. He was called again for a
counselling session and was given two weeks time to show improvement. At the end of those two
weeks, the Training Manager met the Department Manager, to have a discussion about Mr.
Sharma. It was found that there was absolutely no reason for Mr. Sharma to nurture a grievance
on poor rewards. It was decided that he should be given a warning letter as per the practice of the
company and, accordingly, he was issued a warning letter.

This further aggravated the situation rather than bringing about any improvement. He felt
offended and retaliated by thoroughly disobeying any instruction given to him. This deteriorated
the situation more and the relationship between the manager of the department and the trainee
was seriously affected
In cases of rupture of relationship, normally the practice was to shift the trainee from the
department where he was not getting along well so that he would be tried in some other
department where he could have another lease for striking better rapport. But unfortunately, in
the case of Mr. Sharma, there was no other department to which he could be transferred, since
that was the only department where his specialisation could have been of proper use. By the time
he completed his training, he turned out to be one who was not at all acceptable in the department
for placement. His behaviour and involvement were lacking. In view of this, the Department
Manager recommended that he be taken out of the department. When Mr. Sharma was informed
about it, he was thoroughly depressed.

One of the primary objectives of the Training Department is to recruit fresh graduates who have
good potential and train them to be effective persons, in different departments. They are taken
after a rigorous selection process which includes a written test, a preliminary and a final
interview. During the training period, their aptitudes, strengths and weaknesses are identified.

70
Their placement in departments is decided primarily on the basis of their overall effectiveness
there.

Here is a case where the person happened to be hard-working in the beginning but turned out to
be a failure in the end. The Training Manager was conscious of this serious lapse and was not
inclined to recommend his termination. But at the same time it was difficult to retain a person
whose track record was not satisfactory. He still felt that a fresh look be given into this case but
he was unable to find a way out. He was now faced with the dilemma whether to terminate or not
to terminate Mr. Rakesh Sharma.

Questions

(a) Where did the things go wrong?

(b) What options are open for the Training Manager other than termination of Mr. Sharma?
(c) How could you put Mr. Sharma back on the right track?

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DHR-201: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT CR 4
UNIT-6: TRAINING
UNIT STRUCTURE
6.1 OBJECTIVES
6.2 INTRODUCTION
6.3 E-TRAINING
6.3.1 LEVELS OF E-TRAINING
6.3.2 TYPES OF E-TRAINING
6.3.3 MEASURING RESULTS OF E-TRAINING
6.3.4 ADVANTAGES OF E-TRAINING
6.3.5 WHAT MAKES E-LEARNING UNIQUE?
6.3.6 E-TRAINING PITFALLS
6.3.7 BENEFITS OF E-TRAINING VERSUS TRADITIONAL
CLASSROOM SETTINGS
6.4 OUTDOOR TRAINING
6.4.1 TYPES OF OUTDOOR TRAINING
6.4.2 OBJECTIVES OF OUTDOOR TRAINING
6.4.3 ISSUES AND CONCERNS OF OUTDOOR TRAINING
6.4.4 DEBRIEFING IN OUTDOOR TRAINING
6.5 SUMMING UP
6.6 RECOMMENDED READINGS
6.7 QUESTIONS

6.1: OBJECTIVES
On completion of this module you should able to:

 Understand the concept of e-training and its applied areas.

 Evaluate the results of e-training in an organization.
 Learn the situations where e-training and outdoor training may be arranged for the
employees in an organization and their importance in today’s changing environment.
6.2: INTRODUCTION

Human Resource Management is concerned with the planning, acquisition, training & developing
human beings for getting the desired objectives & goals set by the organization. The employees
have to be transformed according to the organizations’ & global needs. This is done through an
organized activity called Training.

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Training is a process of learning a sequence of programmed behavior. It is the application of
knowledge & gives people an awareness of rules & procedures to guide their behavior. It helps in
bringing about positive change in the knowledge, skills & attitudes of employees.

Thus, training is a process that tries to improve skills or add to the existing level of knowledge so
that the employee is better equipped to do his present job or to mould him to be fit for a higher
job involving higher responsibilities. It bridges the gap between what the employee has & what
the job demands.

According to Jucious, “training is any process by which the aptitudes, skills and abilities of
employees to perform specific jobs are increased”.

E-Training has undergone explosive growth as enterprises have discovered its advantages as a
cost effective, flexible alternative to maintaining a knowledgeable, skilled workforce. At present,
one-third of corporate training is now online. E-Training has become the new learning paradigm
in today’s changing world.

You can update course materials with the click of a mouse. It can be cheaper and offerings cover
the gamut, from technical know-how to operational techniques to soft sills like leadership
development. Of course, E-Training has its shortcomings. While just about every company that
implements E-training say cutting costs is a big draw, the savings are not always significant.
Moreover, not all workers are receptive to it.

On the other hand, several organizations currently offer some type of outdoor training, also
known as adventure or experiential learning. Such programs are designed to develop leadership
and teamwork skills through structured outdoor activities. More organizations are investigating
outdoor training programs for individual, managers, management teams and work groups.

6.3: E-TRAINING

E-training is personal training where we communicate primarily or exclusively online and by

phone. We start with a personal assessment. We then design a personalized workout program to
suit your specific goals and email it to you. E-training gives you the freedom and flexibility to
learn when and where you want and at your own pace.

It can be a very rich learning experience that can even surpass the level of training you might
experience in a crowded classroom. It's self-paced, hands-on learning.

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The quality of the electronic-based training, as in every form of training, is in its content and its
delivery. The beauty of e-training, however, is that new software allows the creation of very
effective learning environments that can engulf you in the material.

6.3.1: LEVELS OF E-TRAINING

E-training falls into four categories, from the very basic to the very advanced. The categories are:
1. Knowledge Databases

These databases are the most basic form of e-learning. You have probably seen knowledge
databases on software sites offering indexed explanations and guidance for software questions,
along with step-by-step instructions for performing specific tasks. These are
usually moderately interactive, meaning that you can either type in a key word or phrase to search
the database, or make a selection from an alphabetical list.

2. Online Support

Online support is also a form of e-learning and functions in a similar manner to knowledge
databases. Online support comes in the form of forums, chat rooms, online bulletin boards, e-
mail, or live instant-messaging support. Online support offers the opportunity for more specific
questions and answers, as well as more immediate answers.
3. Asynchronous Training
This is e-learning in the more traditional sense of the word. It involves self-paced learning, CD-
ROM-based, Network-based, Intranet-based or Internet-based. It may include access to
instructors through online bulletin boards, online discussion groups and e-mail or it may be
totally self-contained with links to reference materials in place of a live instructor.

4. Synchronous Training

Synchronous training is done in real-time with a live instructor facilitating the training. Everyone
logs in at a set time and can communicate directly with the instructor and with each other. You
can raise your cyber hand and even view the cyber whiteboard. It lasts for a set amount of time
from a single session to several weeks, months or even years. This type of training usually takes
place via Internet Web sites, audio- or video-conferencing, Internet telephony, or even two-way
live broadcasts to students in a classroom.

6.3.2: TYPES OF E-TRAINING

E-training services have evolved since computers were first used in education. There is a trend to
move toward blended learning services, where computer-based activities are integrated with
practical or classroom-based situations.
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E-training lessons are generally designed to guide you through information or to help you
perform in specific tasks. Information based e-learning content communicates information to you.
These are known as inform programs. Examples include content that distributes the history or
facts related to a service, company, or product. With information-based content, there is no
specific skill to be learned. By contrast, programs designed to build specific skills as classified as
perform programs. In performance based content, the lessons build off of a procedural skill in
which you are expected to increase proficiency. Some typical examples of perform e-learning are
lessons on software use or designing a database

Many companies have implemented e-learning, which encompasses several different types of
technology assisted training, such as distance learning, computer-based training (CBT), or web-
based training (WBT).

1. Computer Based Learning (CBL)

It refers to the use of computers as a key component of the educational environment. While this
can refer to the use of computers in a classroom, the term more broadly refers to a structured
environment in which computers are used for teaching purposes. The concept is generally seen as
being distinct from the use of computers in ways where learning is at least a peripheral element of
the experience (e.g. computer games and web browsing).

2. Computer Based Training (CBT)

CBT is especially effective for training people to use computer applications because the CBT
program can be integrated with the applications so that you can practice using the application as
you learn. Historically, CBTs growth has been hampered by the human resources to create the
program, and hardware resources needed to run it. However, the increase in PC computing
power, and especially the growing prevalence of computers equipped with CD-ROMs, is making
CBT a more viable option for corporations and individuals alike. Many PC applications now
come with some form of CBT, often called a tutorial.

3. Web Based Training (WBT)

It is a type of training that is similar to CBT. It is delivered over the Internet using a web browser.
Web-based training frequently includes interactive methods, such as bulletin boards, chat rooms,
instant messaging, video conferencing, and discussion threads. Web based training is usually a
self-paced learning medium though some systems allow for online testing and evaluation at

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specific times. Recent years have seen an explosion in online training for educators by numerous
content providers.

4. Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL)

This is one of the most promising innovations to improve teaching and learning with the help of
modern information and communication technology. Collaborative or group learning refers to
instructional methods whereby you are encouraged or required to work together on learning
tasks. It is widely agreed to distinguish collaborative learning from the traditional model in which
the instructor is assumed to be the distributor of knowledge and skills.

6.3.3: MEASURING RESULTS OF E-TRAINING

When we measure the results of e-learning, do we have to evaluate e-learning differently from
traditional training methods? ASTD (2000) points out that current training evaluation techniques
and processes can be expanded to include e-learning as a method of delivery. Indeed, they
conclude that the techniques to evaluate e-learning are the same as evaluating other training
solutions.

How do we measure the results of e-learning, whatever the delivery method? Using Kirkpatrick’s
classic model, any training – traditional or e-learning – can be evaluated at four progressive
levels (Kirkpatrick 1979).

Level I: Reaction is a measure of learners’ reactions to the course.

Level II: Learning is a measure of what they learned.

Level III: Transfer is a measure of changes in their behavior when they return to the job after the
training program.

Level IV: Results is a measure of the business outcomes that occur because they are doing their
jobs differently.

Phillips (1996) recommends the addition of a fifth level to Kirkpatrick’s model where
appropriate. The new Level V is a measure of the Return on Investment (ROI), the cost-benefit
ratio of training. In this level, the Level IV data are converted to monetary values and then
compared with the cost of the training program.

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In spite of all the enthusiasm in corporate training programs for e-learning, An American Society
of Training and Development (ASTD) study found that 67 percent of the training directors
interviewed do not measure the effectiveness of their net-based programs at all (2000). This study
found that while 95 percent of surveyed organizations gauged trainees' reactions to courses (e.g.,
how well they liked the courses) [Level I measure], only three percent of respondents make a real
effort to measure the business results of training programs [Level IV measure].

While it is still early to draw solid conclusions about measuring the effectiveness of actual
learning that takes place as a result of e-learning – especially within corporate training programs
– we can analyze the somewhat controversial results that have come out of mainly academic
distance learning programs, using Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels of Evaluation.

Level I – Reaction

Evaluation at this level measures how the participants in a training program feel about their
experience. Are they satisfied with what they learned? Do they regard the material as relevant to
their work? Do they believe the material will be useful to them on the job? This level, therefore,
does not measure learning; it simply measures how well the learners liked the training session.

How do Learners Feel?

It is not hard to find learner enthusiasm for e-learning. The majority of 1,002 students who
responded to an e-college.com survey said they chose the online format because of the flexibility
and convenience of the program. Comments included: “I love that I have the flexibility to
continue to hold a full time job.” “To study any time that best suits my busy schedule.” “I travel
extensively.” “I was able to work with my instructor, receive tremendous technical support at all
hours of the night and gain the same quality content and evaluation as my peers taking the same
class on campus.” The survey reports that 75 percent of those students online were employed and
68 percent of the learners worked more than 30 hours per week (e-college.com 1999). This fact
makes this study particularly relevant for corporate trainers who seek to fit e-learning into an
already demanding work schedule.

Corporations are beginning to gather more data on how their trainees feel about the use of e-
learning technologies. For example, the following results were obtained from an ASTD-Masie
Center study involving the experiences of more than 700 e-learners (ASTD 2001).

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How do E-Learning Instructors Feel?

This question is really an alternate application at Level I evaluation, examining the trainer rather
than the trainee. For example, in a recent survey conducted by ecollege.com (1999), 85 percent of
the faculty said their students learned equally effectively online as on campus. Some said their
students did even better online than in traditional classroom settings. In another Tele Education
study of 130 faculty respondents, 62 percent said their students learned equally effectively in the
online environment; 23 percent of faculty stated that their students learned better online; while 90
percent indicated that they were satisfied with online teaching. One faculty comment was:
“Online students participate more, perform slightly better than, and are at least as satisfied as
their on campus counterparts. From that we conclude that online education appears to be very
effective.” (Tele Education, 2000).

Level II – Learning

According to Kirkpatrick, learning is defined as the principles, facts, and techniques that are
understood and absorbed by trainees. When trainers measure learning, they try to find out how
much the skill, knowledge, or attitudes of their trainees have changed. Measuring learning
requires a more rigorous process than a reaction survey. Ideally, both a pretest and posttest are
given to trainees to determine how much they learned as a direct result of the training program.
While many organizations do not measure at this level, other corporate training centers, such as
Sun Corporation’s Network Academy, keep careful track of what employees have learned
through the use of both pretests and posttests (By linsky, 2000).

What do Research Studies Show About Level II E-Learning?

A comprehensive research bibliography on e-learning has received much attention. Compiled by

Russell (1999), the No Significant Difference Phenomenon provides one of the most frequently
quoted rationales for the power of e-learning. This body of research demonstrates that no
significant difference can be found no matter what medium is used for learning. In many of these
studies, the model is asynchronous learning delivered to the learner on demand. The findings
demonstrate that even with no instructor or face-to-face interaction, there are no significant
differences in the amount of content learned. A related website, supported by Tele Education,
New Brunswick, Canada, includes extracts from more than 355 research reports, summaries, and
papers supporting the No Significant Difference phenomenon. This is one time that a finding of
no significant differences is actually a compelling factor in favor of e-learning. If corporations

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can get all of the advantages of e-learning with the same level of results as an instructor-led
classroom situation, then the economic advantage for e-learning becomes even stronger.

Wegner, Holloway, and Garton (1999) provide an example of a study showing no significant
differences between the test scores of experimental (e-learning) and traditional (classroom-based)
students at Southwest Missouri State University. Although there were no statistically significant
differences in test scores, this two-semester study yielded qualitative data that indicated that
students in the e-learning group had, overall, more positive feelings about their experience than
did the control group. This observation is consistent with those found in a number of the “no
significant difference” studies.

However, it is becoming more common not to find the same level of results. While some studies
show greater benefits in favor of face-to-face delivery, research results consistently demonstrate
superior benefits of e-learning in general. In addition to higher performance results, there are
other immediate benefits to students such as increased time on task, higher levels of motivation,
and reduced test anxiety for many learners. Nettles, et al., (2000) report that, while the majority
of the 49 studies they examined reported no significant difference between e-learning and
traditional classroom education, nearly 30 percent of the studies report that e-learning programs
had positive outcomes based on student preference, improved grades, higher cost effectiveness,
and a higher percentage of homework completion.

An alternate website to the No Significant Differences one, also supported by Tele Education
NB, features comparative studies that do show significant differences, most of which report
positive results in favor of e-learning. For example, Maki, et al., (2000) evaluated a Web-based
psychology course and reported that content knowledge, use of the WWW, and use of computers
for academic purposes increased while computer anxiety decreased. Navarro and Shoemaker
(1999) reported, “We see that cyber learners performed significantly better than the traditional
learners. Mean score [final exam] for the cyber learners was 11.3, while the mean score for
traditional learners was 9.8 with a t-test statistic of 3.70, this result was statistically significant at
the 99 percent level.”

Along these same lines, a California State University Northridge study reported that e-learners
performed 20 percent better than traditional learners (Tele Education 2000). Nelson (2001)
reported a significant difference between the mean grades of 406 university students earned in
traditional and distance education classes, where the distance learners outperformed the
traditional learners.
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In a study within the insurance industry, Redding and Rotzien (1999) report that the online group
is the “most successful at cognitive learning as measured by the end of course examinations. The
results of the study do provide strong support for the conclusion that online instruction for
individuals entering the insurance field is highly effective, and can be more effective than
traditional classroom delivered instruction.”

Similar results in support of e-learning came from Asynchronous Learning Networks (ALN)
(2001), which reported a summary of empirical studies submitted to them. From the 15 papers in
which the effectiveness of ALN was compared to that of traditional classroom instruction, two-
thirds reported e-learning to be more effective. The remainder of the papers reported no
significant difference.

As an extension of the more usual measures of Level II learning, Jonassen (2001) stressed the
crucial need to develop critical thinking and other higher order skills among students using e-
learning products. Earlier, Bates (1996) noted that: “the potential for developing higher order
skills relevant to a knowledge-based society is a key driver in developing computer-based
distance education courses.” Examining how learners engage in higher order thinking is the topic
of a research study at Massey University in New Zealand. In a study of the infusion of
technology in education, Serrano and Alford (2000) conducted research that clearly showed that
incorporating technology across the curriculum acts as a catalyst for all learners. They concluded
that e-learning empowers students to engage actively in language-content learning tasks and to
develop higher-order critical thinking, visualization, and literacy skills.

Level III—Behaviour

Even well informed, quantitative learning objectives do not typically indicate how the trainee will
transfer that learning to job performance. Changed on-the-job behavior is certainly the main goal
of most corporate training programs, but measuring this change is a more complex task than
eliciting trainees’ feelings or measuring their direct learning through test scores.

In their overview of the evaluation process, Bregman and Jacobson (2000) discuss the need to
measure business results rather than just evaluate trainee test results. They point out that all
important business results affect customer satisfaction, either directly or indirectly. Business
results that may increase efficiency or help short-term profits – but do not increase customer
satisfaction – are obviously bad for business. These authors claim that changes in customer
satisfaction due to training of sales or service personnel are easy to measure by asking the

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customers of the trainees to compile reaction surveys. Generally, reaction sheets for customers
get high response rates; therefore, a valid connection between the effects of training on the
employee and how the customer feels about that employee can be made. Bregman and Jacobson
summarize that a training program succeeds, by definition, when the training changes employees’
behaviours in ways that matter to their customers.

Unilever claims that e-learning helped their sales staff produce more than US$20 million in
additional sales (Hoekstra, 2001) – Level IV evaluation. They track the results of their e-training
programs by asking course participants to take part in a teleconference several months after the
course. Participants are asked to discuss how they have integrated their new skills into their work
and to share their best practices – Level III evaluation. Uniacke, the person in charge of
Unilever’s training program, points out that many results of e-training programs are difficult to
measure. For example, he is convinced many employees do not learn new material, but rather
they polish their overall skills and customer interaction techniques – still a significant benefit to
the company and its overall bottom line.

Level IV – Results

Level IV evaluation attempts to measure the results of training as it directly affects a company’s
bottom line – a challenging task for many reasons. Kirkpatrick (1999) noted that the number of
variables and complicating factors make it difficult, if not impossible, to evaluate the direct
impact of training on a business’ bottom line – and this is just as true for e-learning as for
traditional training programs.

While reduced costs, higher quality, increased production, and lower rates of employee turnover
and absenteeism are the desired results of training programs, most companies do not address this
complex evaluation process. However, some companies strive to make the difficult link between
training and improved business results.

Some firms are beginning to measure e-learning results for their sales force in terms of increased
sales, as in the Unilever case. In another example, Etera, a nursery supply company, uses e-
learning to train its national sales force. Their headquarters claims that an Etera-certified dealer
who has gone through the online training has 170 percent more sales than an untrained dealer
(Zimmerman, 2001).

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Level V – ROI

To use Phillips’ ROI calculation as an added level to Kirkpatrick’s model requires a lengthy and
complex evaluation and calculation process. Using Level IV evaluation data, the results are
converted into monetary values and then compared with the cost of the training program to obtain
a return on investment.

Phillips (1996) summarizes how Magnavox Electronics Systems Company derives its ROI
calculations as it evaluates all five levels of its 18-week literacy program, which covers verbal
and math skills for employees. While this is not an e-learning program, it does demonstrate the
process of moving through the levels of evaluation, a process that would be equally applicable for
the use of e-learning as the delivery method for training content.

6.3.4: ADVANTAGES OF E-TRAINING

The main advantages of e-training are mentioned below:

1.Effectiveness

A recent study conducted by the U.S. Department of Education titled, “Evaluation of Evidence-
Based Practices in Online Learning” had a most intriguing conclusion; “Students in online
learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction.”

The results of the U.S. Department of Education study are echoed in a study conducted by the
U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioural and Social Sciences titled, “The Effectiveness
of Web-based Training” which concluded; “In terms of instructional effectiveness, it appears that
current practices in Web-based instruction lead to an improvement in learning when compared to
the classroom.”
One of the key reasons for the instructional effectiveness of e-training is its ability to deliver a
learning experience that meets the needs of each of the three primary learning styles:

a) Visual Learners

Visual learners comprise 50% of the population. People with this learning style are most
successful with content delivered in a visual format using imagery. A good example of this would
be a technician learning, the sequence of operation in an electrical circuit by viewing an animated
schematic that shows the flow of electricity moving through the circuit. A visual learner can more
easily store the visual “image” of the animation for later recall.
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b) Auditory Learners

Auditory learners make up 30% of the population. People with this learning style are most
successful with content delivered using “words” – either audibly or in written form. A good
example of this would be another technician learning the sequence of operation in an electrical
circuit through a detailed description of the sequence in written or spoken form. Auditory learner
can more easily store the “words” for later recall. This is the traditional classroom method of
teaching – a teacher lectures in the classroom and students read the words in a text book. The
problem with this methodology is that it only addresses the learning needs of 30% of the
population.

c) Kinesthetic Learning

Kinesthetic learners make up 20% of the population. People with this learning style are most
successful with “hands-on” or “tactile” learning experiences. A kinesthetic learner remembers
what was “done” but has difficulty recalling what was said or seen. A good example of this
would be a child mastering how to navigate through the various levels of a video game, or a
golfer learning how to properly hit a golf ball through practice and repetition on the driving
range. Kinesthetic learners rely on what they can directly experience or perform.

2. Consistency

One of the key benefits of e-training is the ability to provide the exact same course content – in
its entirety. This means that no material is overlooked, rushed through, or passed over in the
classroom because the instructor ran out of time. E-training provides the ability to make certain
the content is taught accurately and entirely, exactly the same to you anywhere in the world.

3. Flexibility

E-training provides you access to training resources anytime, anywhere. It is most convenient for
them to learn – in the shop, in the office, between service calls and sales calls, at the start or end
of the business day, at home in the evening or on weekends, and even on the job site.

Imagine a service technician accessing troubleshooting and repair content on the job site,
reducing time and costs associated with calls to factory technical support.

Imagine a sales representative accessing a product overview and the technical information needed
to properly specify and sell a piece of equipment right before the sales call.
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E-training provides the flexibility for you to take the training at your own pace, on your own
schedule, as often as needed. In addition, updates to training content due to product changes are
easily managed by automatic notification to those, who have previously taken a course.

4. Trackability

Trackability is one of the key features of e-training and specifically, the training learning
management platform. Manager’s can view reports that identify how much time each trainee has
spent on a specific training module, review their final exam test results, and assess future training
needs that will help the trainees where they are the weakest.

5. Global Reach

An e-training approach provides the ability to instantly train global networks of employees, sales
professionals, equipment operators, field service technicians, and extended channel partners with
the exact same course content… in virtually any language… virtually anywhere in the world.

6. Economic Value

The total cost of training programs is very competitive when compared to the “total cost” of
traditional instructor-led classroom training.

7. Environmental Impact

E-training helps us to save our planet and keep us green by eliminating the need for trainees and
instructors to travel, and greatly reducing the paper waste associated with printed handouts and
product training manuals.

6.3.5: WHAT MAKES E-LEARNING UNIQUE?

All media cannot deliver all instructional methods. For example, the capability of a paper
document to deliver audio or animation is quite limited. The potentially valuable instructional
methods unique to e-learning are as follows:

1. Practice with Automated Tailored Feedback

The e-learning courseware can give automated, telling the user that the answer is incorrect. Hints
can be provided where the mistake is being made.

2. Integration of Collaboration with Self-Study

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In both virtual classrooms and asynchronous e-learning, learners can collaborate at independent
times by email and discussion boards. There is some evidence that under the right conditions,
learning and working together can result in better outcomes than learning and working alone.

3. Dynamic Adjustment of Instruction Based on Learning

The content of the course is changed depending on the mistakes by the users on practice
problems. E-learning is capable of making these adaptive changes.

4. Use of Simulation and Games

Realistic situations and job problems can be compressed into a short time frame. These
simulations can provide highly effective learning environments.

6.3.6: E-TRAINING PITFALLS

Despite the capabilities of technology-delivered instruction, there are two common barriers to the
realization of the potential of online learning. These are:

1. Failing to identify the job skills which lead to learning failure. Detailed job and task analysis is
a prerequisite and a labour-intensive process. E-lessons that bypass the job analysis process run
the risk of presenting knowledge and techniques out of context. This lack of job context risks
failure to teach the required skills. Teaching knowledge and skills that do not result in job
performance changes will not yield the required learning results.

2. Humans have limited capacity to absorb information and over-enthusiastic use of software
features can depress learning. On the other hand, if the capabilities of media to deliver a rich
learning experience is underutilized this will lead to sub optimal learning.

6.3.7: BENEFITS OF E-TRAINING VERSUS TRADITIONAL CLASSROOM SETTINGS

E-learning can provide the following major benefits for the organizations and individuals
involved.

1. Quality Education & Affordable

Instructors of the highest caliber can share their knowledge across nationals and international
borders with the trainees. Recognized experts have the opportunity of making information
available internationally, to anyone interested at minimum costs. This can drastically reduce the
costs of higher and specialized education, making it much more affordable and accessible to the
masses.
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2. Convenience and Flexibility to Learners

E-learning is self-paced and the learning sessions are available around the clock. Learners are not
bound to a specific day/time to physically attend classes. They can also pause learning sessions at
their convenience.

3. Reducing Environmental Impact

No travel is required for e-learning, thus reducing the overall carbon output. The fact that it takes
place in a virtual environment also allows some reduction of paper usage. With virtual notes
instead of paper notes and online assessments instead of paper assessments, e -learning is a more
environmentally friendly solution.

6.4: OUTDOOR TRAINING

More than 100 training organizations currently offer some type of outdoor training, also known
as adventure or experiential learning. Such programs are designed to develop leadership and
teamwork skills through structured outdoor activities. More organizations are investigating
outdoor training programs for individual, managers, management teams and work groups.

The most intriguing aspect of the outdoor training movement is the intensity of the debate regards
its usefulness as a training strategy.

Nalson, a vice president at Nike corporation, spoke about outdoor training on a news broadcast “
I think everyone of our employees should go through it, not just some people he said. “ We are
looking for ways to get people to open their minds and deal with the process of change, this
program will help our company”.

But outdoor training has also evoked fervent opposition. More than a decade ago, Ron Jemke
suggested in a training article, “Outdoor programming is nothing more than opportunity for
organizations to pack whole management teams off to risk life and limb together”.

Despite all the controversy about outdoor training and despite the dramatic growth in corporate
spending on such programs, many management training professionals have little understanding of
what outdoor training is, where it came from, or what it aim to do.

6.4.1: TYPES OF OUTDOOR TRAINING

There are two main types of outdoor training programs. These are: 1) Wilderness programs and
2) Outdoor centered programs.

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1) Wilderness Programs

In wilderness training, participants live outdoors and engage in strenuous activities such as
mountain climbing, whitewater rafting and sailing. Wilderness programs attract top executives
and middle level managers.

2) Outdoor Centered Programs

Outdoor centered training participants live and eat indoors, but most of the training consists of
structured outdoor activities. Much of the training uses specially designed facilities that are often
called ropes courses. Outdoor centered programs also attract lower level supervisors and non –
managerial workers. Groups that work together in the office often participate together in the
programs.

It consist of two kinds of ropes courses:

a) ‘High ropes’ activities take place well above the ground. The high ropes elements are
challenging activities that are literally high-above-the-ground. They are geared more toward
individual challenges. Trained facilitators and leaders will guide groups through the high
ropes elements.

b) ‘Low ropes’ courses can be ‘team courses’ that focus on team problem solving or ‘individual
initiative courses’ that focus on individual problem solving. The low ropes elements are
structured activities that are literally low-to-the-ground. They are purposefully geared toward
team building. A group can participate together in these activities on their own. Safety and
spotting techniques are utilized by all participants. Debriefing questions are available to
group leaders.

Low ropes courses consist of a series of real and imaginary obstacles designed to challenge
groups and individuals to work together to accomplish a task. The classification of low ropes
courses can be further broken into several types of activities:

i) Cooperative Game, Socialization Activity, Ice-Breaker

This activity is designed to reduce inhibitions and break down barriers. These activities are often
not based on a defined task but on a sequence of events. Users are often placed in positions where
they are encouraged to try new things that may place them outside their normal comfort zones.
Examples include: name games, people to people, raccoon circle etc.
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ii) Group Initiative

Problems involving real and imaginary ground-based obstacles (either natural or constructed)
that challenge a group to pool their resources and work together to find solutions. Success is
achieved only when all members have contributed to the outcome. Examples include: Spider's
Web, Carpet Maze, Crocodile Pit, Whale Watch, Peanut Butter River, Ragging River, T.P.
Shuffle, Nitro Crossing, and Group Wall etc.

iii)Trust-building Games

These activities are designed to provide members the opportunity to demonstrate their trust in
other members of the group through a series of sequenced actions. Examples include: Willows in
the Wind and Trust Fall.

iv) Low Ropes Elements

A series of cables, ropes, and obstacles are strung between trees or poles, 12 to 18 inches above
the ground. Low rope elements test the physical strength, stamina, agility, balance, and
flexibility, and invite participants to confront such emotional issues as the fear of falling, the fear
of failure, and the fear of losing control. Risk is managed by group members who assume critical
spotting roles. Examples include: Swinging Balance Beam, Triangle Traverse, Tire Swings, and
Mohawk Walk.
6.4.2: OBJECTIVES OF OUTDOOR TRAINING

a) Promoting individual risk taking, self esteem and trust.

b) Enhancing group problem solving and leadership skills.
c) Increasing productivity.

6.4.3: ISSUES AND CONCERNS OF OUTDOOR TRAINING

The success or failure of outdoor training can be determined only if the purpose of the program is
known. Unfortunately, most outdoor training programs do not start with any clear objectives. The
need to train trainers is crucial to the success of an outdoor program.

Many commentators question the physical aspects of the programs. It is true that high ropes
programs and wilderness programs can involve a high degree of physical ability.

But it is inappropriate to condemn all outdoor training programs as physically hazardous.

Participants in the more strenuous program must be carefully selected on physical ability to
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participate. Programs involving a high level of physical activity are obviously inappropriate for
those who have disabilities such as heart problem and high blood pressure.

6.4.4: DEBRIEFING IN OUTDOOR TRAINING

Debriefing can serve as an opportunity to reflect on an experience and make it meaningful by

identifying what we learned about ourselves and others. The technique of debriefing is useful for
group members following the completion of an activity or event. As a facilitator, your job is to
lead a thought provoking, safe discussion by asking meaningful questions in a pre-planned
sequence. A mature group will often lead their own discussion with little prompting from a
facilitator. A debrief usually follows this sequence: rules, what, so what, now what.

6.5: SUMMING UP
Today many technologies can be used in e-learning. These include webcasts, blogs, collaborative
software, and virtual classrooms. Most e-learning situations use combinations of these
techniques. E-learning is naturally suited to distance learning and flexible learning, but can also
be used in conjunction with face-to-face teaching, in which case the term blended learning is
commonly used. E-learning pioneer Bernard Luskin argues that the ‘E’ must be understood to
have broad meaning if e-learning is to be effective. Luskin says that the ‘e’ should be interpreted
to mean exciting, energetic, enthusiastic, emotional, extended, excellent, and educational in
addition to electronic that is a traditional interpretation.

Some of the controversy over outdoor training stems from confusion over the different types of
training available. For example, arguments about safety are more applicable to wilderness and
high ropes experiences than to low ropes courses due to the greater likelihood of serious
accidents.

6.6: RECOMMENDED READINGS

1.Palloff, R.M. & Pratt, K. (1999) Building Learning Communities in Cyberspace (San
Francisco, CA, Jossey-Bass).

2. Ravet, S. & Layte, M. (1997) Technology-based Training (Houston, TX, Gulf Publishing).

6.7: QUESTIONS
A. Short Questions

1. What do you mean by the term e-training?

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2. Mention the advantages of e-training.
3. What is outdoor training?
4. What is the meaning of debriefing in outdoor training?
5. Write down the objectives of outdoor training?
6. Mention two major limitations of e-training.

B. Essay Type Questions

1. Describe different levels of e-training.

2. Describe different types of e-training.
3. How can we measure the results of e-training?
4. Briefly describe different types of outdoor training.
5. In what way e-training is unique training program in comparison to other training programs?
6. Go through the case and attempt the questions.
Rajat Sharma has been employed for six months in the accounts section of a large manufacturing
company. You have been his supervisor for the past three months. Recently you have been asked
by the management to find out the contributions of each employee in the Accounts section and
monitor carefully whether they are meeting the standards set by you.

A few days back you have completed your formal investigation and with the exception of Rajat,
all seem to be meeting the targets set by you. Along with numerous errors, Rajat’s work is
characterized by low performance- often he does 20 percent less than the other clerks in the
department.
As you look into Rajat’s performance review sheets again, you begin to wonder whether some
sort of remedial training is needed for people like him.

Questions:

1. As Rajat' supervisor, can you find out whether the poor performance is due to poor training or
due to some other cause?
2. If you find Rajat has been adequately trained, how do you go about introducing a remedial
training programme?
3. If he has been with the company six months, what kind of remedial programme would be best?
4. Should you supervise him more closely? Can you do this without making it obvious to him and
his co-workers?
5. Should you discuss the situation with Rajat?

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DHR-201: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT CR 4
UNIT-7: TRAINING SPECIFICATION
UNIT STRUCTURE
7.1 OBJECTIVES
7.2 INTRODUCTION
7.3 DESIGN OF TRAINING
7.3.1 STEPS IN TRAINING PROGRAMMES
7.3.2 STRUCTURING THE COURSE CONTENTS
7.3.3 TRAINING MATERIAL
7.4 ADDIE MODEL
7.5 TYPES OF EVALUATION
7.6 INSTRUCTIONAL SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT (ISD)
7.7 PRINCIPLES OF GOOD TRAINING DESIGN
7.8 TRAINING POLICY
7.9 SUMMARY UP
7.10 RECOMMENDED READINGS
7.11 QUESTIONS

7.1: OBJECTIVES
On completion of this module you should able to:

 Understand the need and significance of design of training.

 Evaluate the results of training in an organization.
 Perform the identification of training needs.
7.2: INTRODUCTION
Designing a training programme is very important part of human resource management. This
module will give a broad overview of designing training program in an organization. It will
examine how the training should be planned so that it will meet identified training needs. It shifts
the focus from investigating the problem (which is the key issue in the analysis) to investigating
and scoping the solution.
7.3: DESIGN OF TRAINING
Training design is the process of creating a blueprint for the development of instruction. Whether
the training is to be conducted in a classroom, delivered using an electronic format or using some
combination of methods, the design process sets the stage for the development of a program that
produces results.

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The design of the training program cab be undertaken only when a clear training objective has
been produced. The training objective clears what goal has to be achieved by the end of training
program i.e. what the trainees are expected to be able to do at the end of their training.

7.3.1: STEPS IN TRAINING PROGRAMMES

Usually in the organization of training programmes, the following steps are considered necessary:

1. Identifying Training Needs

In order to identify training needs, the gap between the existing and required levels of knowledge,
skills, performance and aptitudes should be specified. Training needs can be identified through
the following types of analysis.

A. Organizational Analysis

It involves a study of the entire organization in terms of its objectives, its resources and the
utilization of these resources in order to achieve stated objectives and its interaction pattern with
environment. The important elements that are closely examined in this connection are:

i) Analysis of Objectives

This is a study of short term and long term objectives and the strategies followed at various levels
to meet these objectives.

ii) Resource Utilization Analysis

How the various organizational resources are put to use is the main focus of this study. The
contributions of various departments are also examined by establishing efficiency indices for
each unit. This is done to find out comparative labour cost, whether a unit is under manned or
over manned.

iii) Environmental Scanning

Here the economic, political, socio-cultural and technological environment of the organization is
examined.

iv) Organizational Climate Analysis

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The climate of an organization speaks about the attitudes of members towards work, company
policies, supervisors, etc. Absenteeism, turnover ratios generally reflect the prevailing employee
attitudes.

B. Task Analysis

This is a detailed examination of a job, its components, its various operations and conditions
under which it has to be performed. The focus is given on the roles played by an individual and
the training needed to perform such roles. The objective is to find out how the various tasks be
performed and what kind of skills, knowledge and attitudes are needed to the job needs.
Questionnaire, interviews, reports, tests and observation method are generally used to collect job
related information from time to time.

The output of the job analysis is a list of broad job tasks, based on importance, learning difficulty,
and frequency of doing the task. Each task is a complex set of procedures in itself, and therefore
it needs further analysis to find out which specific segment of the task is critical in designing a
training programme. To do this, it is necessary to follow a method called task analysis, which is
similar to job analysis.

Task analysis procedures include preparing a blank task analysis worksheet, writing down the
name of the job at the top of each sheet, and then making copies. Each of these forms will be
used for breaking down and analyzing each of the most important job tasks. Therefore, it is
necessary to write one important task identified for training on each of the task analysis
worksheets and to list all component parts of each task on its respective task analysis worksheet.
This is followed by the steps used for job analysis to find out the frequency, importance, and
learning difficulty for each step of the tasks. Then the score for each component part is put in the
“total score” column, and the results are discussed with concerned personnel in the organization.
The job analysis and task analysis processes are similar to each other, so the model for both
worksheets is the same.

The important difference between these two steps of analysis is that “the job analysis helps us
identify major blocks of content to include in training; the task analysis helps us understand what
comprises an individual block” (Wentling, 1992). Both are very important to the curriculum

development process. What needs to be taught and what steps are involved in the process are
completed by these analyses and comprise the major steps in curriculum development.

C. Manpower Analysis
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Here the focus is on the individual in a given job. There are three issues to be resolved through
manpower analysis. First, we try to find whether performances are satisfactory and training is
required. Second, whether the employee is capable of being trained and the specific areas in
which training is required. Finally, we need to state whether poor performances on the job need
to be replaced by those who can do the job. Other options to training such as modifications in the
job or processes should also be looked into. Personal observation, performance reviews,
supervisory reports, diagnostic tests help in collecting the required information and select
particular training options that try to improve the performance of individual workers.

2. Getting Ready for the Job

Under this step, it is to be decided – the new comer or the older employee, or the supervisory
staff, or all of them selected from different departments. The trainer has to be prepared for the
job. Before starting a training program, a trainer analyzes his technical, interpersonal, judgmental
skills in order to deliver quality content to trainees. Trainer is the key figure in the entire training
programme.

3. Preparation of the Learner

This step consist : i) in putting the learner at ease ; ii) in stating the importance and ingredients of
the job and its relationship to work flow; iii) in explaining why he is being taught ; iv) in creating
interest and encouraging questions, finding out what the learner already knows about his job or
other jobs; v) in explaining the ‘why’ of the whole job and relating it to some job the worker
already knows; vi) in placing the learner as close to his normal working position as possible; and
vii) in familiarizing him with the equipment , materials, tools and trade terms.

4. Presentation of Operation and Knowledge

The trainer should clearly tell, show, illustrate and question in order to put over the new
knowledge and operations. The learner should be told of the sequence of the entire job, and why
each step in its performance is necessary. Instructions should be given clearly, completely and
patiently. There should be an emphasis on key points, and one point should be explained at a
time. For this purpose, the trainer should demonstrate or make use of audiovisual aids and should
ask the trainee to repeat the operations.

5. Performance Try Out

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Under this step, the trainee is asked to go through the job several times slowly, explaining him
each step. Mistakes are corrected and the trainee is asked to do the job, gradually building up skill
and speed. As soon as the trainee demonstrates that he can do the job in a right way, he is put on
his own, but not abandoned. The detailed testing method consists of the following:

a) Individualized Instruction
Individualized instruction may be used when the number of trainees does not justify the resources
of group instruction. This instructional method should not be confused with the personal studying
required as part of any training program. Individuals who are participating in Individualized
instruction should have frequent contact with and easy access to instructors and should
demonstrate they can effectively study on their own.

Individuals should be given explicit instructions about study materials, required exercises, and
self tests that conform to established schedules. Individualized instruction should include written
assignments that are evaluated by an instructor.

b) Trainee Testing

Trainee performance should be tested regularly during and at the completion of each training
program or major segment of a training program. Possible training testing methods include
written tests, oral examinations, review of trainee participation during seminars and discussions,
performance tests, simulation and drills.

The test method, frequency and standards should be specified in the training program procedures
and / or policies .The type of test that is used, the content of the test instrument, and the standard
of acceptable performance should be based on the applicable learning objectives derived from job
performance requirements.

The type of questions or methods used in a test should reflect job knowledge and skill
requirements and should be varied when appropriate. Trainee tests should be evaluated promptly
and the trainees informed of their performance. Trainee should be allowed to review their errors
and be given the correct responses.

Written tests should be corrected, graded and reviewed with the trainees as soon as possible to
derive maximum benefit from the test. Representatives of the training and line organizations
should monitor trainee performance and progress towards completing training on schedule. They
should be alert for symptoms that may indicate misunderstanding, presentation weaknesses or the
need for remedial training and reevaluation.
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Trainees should be interviewed periodically on their performance in the training program and at
any time that significant deficiencies occur. Training and line management should be kept
informed of individual progress and performance.

Performance evaluation is important because it verifies that personnel can complete assigned
tasks properly. However, performance should not be evaluated solely on the basis of ‘ lock’ time
but rather on the effects of an individual’s actions or inactions and his/her ability to complete the
assigned task successfully.

c) Program Records

Auditable records of an individual's participation and performance in, or exception(s) granted

from, the training program(s) should be maintained.

6. Follow-Up

This step is undertaken with a view to testing the effectiveness of training efforts. This consist in
: a) putting a trainee on his own; b) checking frequently to be sure that he has followed
instructions; and give extra supervision and close follow up until he is qualified to work with
normal supervision.

A proper plan of action should be drawn to ensure a meaningful follow-up of the training. For
this, regular visits to the ex-trainees and frequent exchange of letters or regular contact through
pulling them on permanent mainly address will be quite frightful. In fact, it would be better to
integrate the two activities of follow up and reinforcement into a simple plan of action.

7.3.2: STRUCTURING THE COURSE CONTENTS

There is a need to structure the course contents of the training considering the following:

Who is to be trained?

This aspect should relate to the background of the targeted group in terms of such parameters as
age, education, income, occupation etc.

While outlining the course contents the needed steps are:

♦ Determine the type of changes expected in the knowledge, attitude and skill of the targeted
trainees.

♦ List out important aspects as per their importance.

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♦ Select the topics as per their priorities.

♦ Design the framework of the course as per the availability of needed resources, including the
time and technical support.

♦ Break down the topics into sub-topics or components and arrange them in a logical sequence.

♦ Decide the information and knowledge input needed for the training course.

The course contents, if designed on the basis of these guidelines, will to a large extent ensure the
fruitfulness of the training.

7.3.3: TRAINING MATERIAL

There are five suggestions for making training material more meaningful for employees. First, an
overall picture of the training material that will be presented should be provided at the start of
training. Second, familiar examples should be used. Third, the information should be logically
organized and presented. Fourth, the vocabulary used during training should be familiar to the
trainees. Fifth, many visual aids should be used.

7.4: ADDIE MODEL

If you are new to training and development and have been thinking of putting together any type
of training program, it is important to know and understand the most basic training tool used by
professional trainers; it is called the ADDIE model.

The ADDIE model is basically a generic, systematic, step-by-step framework used by

instructional designers, developers and trainers to ensure course development and learning does
not occur in a haphazard, unstructured way. It is designed to ensure:

Learners will achieve the goals of the course, allows for the evaluation of learner’s needs, the
design and development of training materials, and evaluation of effectiveness of the training
program using processes with specific and measurable outcomes.

Background

ADDIE came about with the development of the Cold War after World War II as the United
States military struggled with itself to find a way to create more effective training programs for
increasingly complex subjects. The result of this struggle for increased effectiveness bore fruit in
the form of Instructional Systems Design which in turn, led to the design models that are in use

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today. You will often hear ADDIE referred to as Instructional Systems Design (ISD),
Instructional Systems Design & Development (ISDD), Systems Approach to Training (SAT) or
Instructional Design (ID). Most of the current instructional design models you will find in the
workplace today are variations or spin-offs of the original ADDIE model.

The Model

The literature on ADDIE estimates that there are well over 100 different ISD variations in use
today, with almost all being based on the generic ADDIE model, which stands for Analysis,
Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation; with each step or phase leading into the
next as illustrated below:

The Analysis Phase is the most important phase in the ADDIE model. It identifies areas
requiring training taking into account views of subject matter experts, the target audience, and the
ultimate objectives and goals of the training.

During this phase, we define and develop as clear of an understanding of the audience\’s needs
and constraints, existing knowledge, skills, and the desired outcome of the training as we can. We
identify the learning problem, set the goals, objectives, any other relevant characteristics of the
desired training, and consider the learning environment, available delivery options, and the time-
line for the project.

Here are some areas that should be addressed during the analysis phase:

Who is the target audience? What is the minimum/maximum current knowledge of the participant
audience? What are their characteristics? What are their special needs? What knowledge and skill
deficiencies currently exist? What are the tasks currently performed by the target audience and
what new skill level is required following the training? What are the available delivery options
and methods for transferring the new skills to the workplace? What is the instructional setting;
e.g. classroom, on-the-job, self study, etc? How do these skills connect to the intended audience?
What is the timeline for project completion? What are the program constraints? Technological,
timing and duration. What is going to cost to provide the training?

The Design Phase is the systematic process of research, planning, identifying and specifying the
complete design of the course objectives, lesson planning, topic content, training methodology,
media, learner exercises, courseware content, and assessment criteria. Typically detailed
prototypes are developed at this time, and the look, feel, design and content are determined.

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During this phase, the following should be taken into account:

 The entry criteria or knowledge level the learner must demonstrate prior to training.
 Develop learning objectives for each task to be covered.
 Identify structure and sequence the learning steps required to perform the task from
easiest to most difficult.
 Based on the time allocated for the training, determine approximately how long it will
take to deliver the program taking into consideration the instructor’s pace, course format
and mode of delivery adjusting content and format accordingly.
 Develop participant assessments, program evaluation methodology, data collection
method, and reporting formats that will be used to determine mastery of the tasks to be
delivered.
 If possible, conduct mini knowledge presentations to validate the program will meet the
designated learning requirements.
 Review implementation and evaluation costs, effort required and schedule.
The Development Phase is the actual production and assembly of the materials that were
developed in the design phase. At this point, it is important to include whoever is responsible for
which elements, time schedules, and deadlines. In this phase, all audio, video, and courseware
materials are collected, prepared, created and ready to be tested.

During this phase, the following need be taken into account:

 List activities that will help the target audience learn the task.
 Select the delivery method most appropriate to the learning group.
 Develop and produce program materials, aids and instructional courseware.
 Combine the courseware into a smoothly transitioning presentation.
 Validate the material and presentation to ensure it meets all goals and objectives.
 Develop trainer guides, learner guides, job aids and participant resources as necessary.
 Prepare coaches and mentors who will be assisting with the training.
 Book venue, accommodations and travel arrangements.
 Schedule participants.
The Implementation Phase is where the developed course is actually put into action, and the
final product developed, based on needs and errors discovered while testing with a prototype
product, is presented to the target audience.

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Depending on the size of the audience and amount of time and resources allocated to this
endeavor, the following considerations should be taken into account the day before or the
morning of presentation day.

 Set up and prepare venue.

 The learning environment, i.e. room, is set-up and prepared prior to the arrival of the
learners.
 Registration area set when necessary with registration materials, instruction books, etc.
 Hands on equipment, computers, tools, software, etc. are in place at each station or seat.
Make sure that if using a learning application, an external link, web-site or Internet
connection that it is live and functioning.
Evaluation Phase

Evaluation is a process to determine the relevance, effectiveness, and impact of activities in light
of their objectives. In evaluating an extension training programme, one needs to consider that
most training activities exist in a larger context of projects, programmes, and plans. Thus Raab et
al. (1987, p. 5) define training evaluation as “a systematic process of collecting information for
and about a training activity which can then be used for guiding decision making and for
assessing the relevance and effectiveness of various training components.”

Kirkpatrick (1976) suggested four criteria to evaluate training programmes: (1) reaction, (2)
learning, (3) behaviour, and (4) results. Each criterion is used to measure the different aspects of
a training programme. Reaction measures how the trainees liked the programme in terms of
content, methods, duration, trainers, facilities, and management. Learning measures the trainees'
skills and knowledge which they were able to absorb at the time of training. Behaviour is
concerned with the extent to which the trainees were able to apply their knowledge to real field
situations. Results are concerned with the tangible impact of the training programme on
individuals, their job environment, or the organization as a whole.

7.5: TYPES OF EVALUATION

On the basis of the time dimension, evaluation may be classified as (1) formative evaluation and
(2) summative evaluation. Formative evaluation involves the collection of relevant and useful
data while the training programme is being conducted. This information can identify the
drawbacks and unintended outcomes and is helpful in revising the plan and structure of training
programmes to suit the needs of the situation. Summative evaluation is done at the end of the

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programme and makes an overall assessment of its effectiveness in relation to achieving the
objectives and goals.

Raab et al. (1987), however, classified evaluation into four major types: (1) evaluation for
planning, (2) process evaluation, (3) terminal evaluation, and (4) impact evaluation.

Evaluation for planning provides information with which planning decisions are made. Training
contents and procedures (methods and materials) are usually planned at this stage in order to
choose or guide the development of instructional aids and strategies. Process evaluation is
conducted to detect or predict defects in the procedural design of a training activity during the
implementation phase (Raab et al., 1987). Through this process the key elements of the training
activities are systematically monitored, problems are identified, and attempts are made to rectify
the mistakes before they become serious. Process evaluation is periodically conducted throughout
the entire period of the programme.

Terminal evaluation is conducted to find out the effectiveness of a training programme after it is
completed. The objectives of terminal evaluation are to determine the degree to which desired
benefits and goals have been achieved, along with the causes of failure, if any. Impact
evaluation assesses changes in on-the-job behaviour as a result of training efforts. It provides
feedback from the trainees and supervisors about the outcomes of training. It measures how
appropriate the training was in changing the behaviour of participants in real-life situations.

7.6: INSTRUCTIONAL SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT (ISD)

The ISD concept has been around for at least 25 years. Conceivably, there are as many approaches to the
process as there are practitioners of it. The basic model is simple to understand and easy to use in almost
any training environment. Essentially, it is a series of steps leading to the production of a successful
training program.

The ISD steps for building a course are analogous to steps for building a home. Building a quality home
requires a systematic process so the home meets standards---personal, structural, and community
standards among them. It could be disastrous if one left out a critical step, such as drawing up the
blueprints.

The same ideas apply to developing quality training. Most ISD approaches contain five major phases (see
Figure 1). The first four phases (analysis, design, development and implementation) are generally
sequential; the outputs of one phase are the inputs to the next. The fifth phase, evaluation, involves
feedback that applies throughout the model. This lesson looks at these phases and describes their purpose,

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relationships, and results.

Figure 1: The Phases of the Instructional Systems Development (ISD) Model

I. Analysis

Analysis involves research, and the skills required to conduct a good instructional analysis are similar to
those of any good investigation: thoroughness, objectivity, and a systematic approach. This phase
determines training needs and expresses them as information useful for training development. The ISD
model requires that training fulfill specific needs. This is done through the generation and evaluation of
such analysis elements as needs assessment, job analysis, and target audience analysis.

A. Needs Assessment

A needs assessment is conducted when a job performance problem has been identified. Needs assessment
involves a systematic identification of solutions to performance problems. The assessment determines the
root cause of the problem, and then proposes a solution. The problem may be due to inadequate training,
poor job documentation, poor equipment, lack of motivation, or other organizational issues. Conducting
training without repairing faulty equipment, for example, will not solve the problem; it will only exhaust
resources. Needs assessment determines whether training, alone, will solve the problem.

B. Job Analysis

Job analysis is a systematic method of listing all the tasks necessary to competently do a specific job.
These tasks represent the foundation on which we construct performance-based training objectives, course
content, and evaluation instruments. Simply put, the job analysis provides a detailed ‘picture’ of the job to
be trained. The job analysis can also provide information about entry-level skills and possible
prerequisites for training. Job analysis is particularly critical for designing performance-based training.

C. Target Audience Analysis

A target audience analysis identifies characteristics that affect trainee learning. The analysis includes
information about trainees' educational background, previous training experiences, relevant work
experiences, and motivation for training. This information helps designers customize training for the

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intended audience.

The analysis phase also identifies training requirements and training outcomes. Training requirements are
the knowledge and skills that must be taught during training. Training outcomes are the tasks that trainees
must demonstrate to ensure competent performance back on the job.

II. Design

The design phase is the planning stage of ISD. Its purpose is to transform relevant content into concise,
behavioral objectives, creating the instructional ‘blueprint’ that will direct the development of all training
materials, tests, and methods. Training requirements and outcomes identified during analysis are written
as goals and objectives. Then other design elements are addressed, such as instructional strategies, media
selection, types of training materials, evaluation methods, and the design document.

A. Goal Statements

A goal statement is a broad general description of the training outcome. It describes what the trainee will
be able to do at the end of the training. Goal statements are written for the entire course, as well as for
each lesson within it.

B. Instructional Objectives

An instructional objective specifies a measurable level of behaviour for a trainee after training, including
the conditions and standards for the performance. Objectives are used to ensure achievement of the larger
goal. Usually, several instructional objectives are written for each goal.

C. Instructional Strategies

Since objectives form the framework for the training structure, the sequence of objectives is a very
important part of training design. Objectives may be arranged in the order that tasks will be performed on
the job, by their ease of performance, by order of the complexity of the task, or according to other
appropriate strategies.

D. Evaluation Methods

Decisions on how trainees will be evaluated or tested are made in the design phase. Evaluation options
include knowledge tests and performance tests. If a trainee learns by practicing a skill during training, the
trainee must perform it when evaluated. He or she should not be evaluated with multiple-choice questions
or by describing the skill in writing.

E. Types of Training Materials

Training materials include such items as texts, training guides, workbooks, instructor guides, job and

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training aids, visual aids, and case studies. While these items are produced in the development phase, they
are identified in the design phase.

F. Media Selection

Taking target audience characteristics, number of trainees, and environmental requirements into account,
decisions are made about how to deliver the training to meet instructional objectives. One of these
decisions is media selection, the course designers' choice of appropriate instructional media for a course.
Media selection requires a close look at the strengths and weaknesses of each medium based on the type
of trainee, what he or she needs to learn, and how to teach it.

G. Design Document

The outcome of the design phase is an instructional ‘blueprint,’ a design document that guides
development, delivery, and evaluation of the training. Often a design document describes design decisions
that guide the training and development team in production of course materials. In addition, the design
document serves as a managerial review instrument in the approval process required at this stage of
training and development.

III. Development

The development phase translates design decisions into training materials. This is where the real work of
course development is done. Using the objectives, instructional approach, and media selections from the
design phase, development produces course materials for the trainer, course materials for the trainee, and
evaluation instruments.

A. Course Materials for the Trainer

Lesson plans are the major element constructed during this phase. They function as a written ‘advance
organizer’ for the delivery of lessons by the instructor. Course materials include anything the instructor
will need to present the lesson, including workbooks, handouts, visual aids, demonstration props, media
equipment, and administrative materials.

B. Course Materials for the Trainee

Course materials for the trainee are materials that support and supplement lessons. These may include
handouts that provide a summary of the presentation, replace or facilitate note taking, and provide
references or job assistance back in the workplace.

C. Evaluation Instruments

Testing and evaluating trainees' skills is a familiar part of learning and ISD. Often trainees are evaluated

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with cognitive or performance-based tests. Any form selected must test the trainees' mastery of lesson
objectives. Written tests may include multiple-choice questions, and performance checklists may be used
to record behavioural skills. The evaluation approach, form, and content identified in the design phase are
produced in the development phase.

The development phase produces a standardized, documented approach to training delivery. This outcome
assures that a trained, qualified instructor can deliver this training confident that training goals and
objectives will be met.

IV. Implementation

The implementation phase focuses on the details of training delivery. Logistical arrangements, such as
scheduling a training place, preparing an agenda, setting up the training environment, and even practicing
the presentation ensure delivery of a training session that captures trainee interest.

A. Logistical Arrangements

Logistical arrangements are addressed in the implementation phase. These are time-sensitive planning and
coordinating details such as scheduling training facilities, arranging for the set-up and use of equipment,
accommodating guest speakers, etc. Another step is generating the training schedule. This schedule
ensures that the trainer and trainees are informed of all events programmed to occur during training.

A good training environment is critical to good learning outcomes. Arranged well in advance, the training
environment should fully support delivery of training. In a classroom or other on-site setting, comfortable
yet functional furniture, work areas, equipment, safety plans, and training materials should be ready to
meet the learning needs of each trainee, including those with special needs. When using a distance-
learning medium, distant-site facilitators should prepare training environments at their sites. In the case of
on-line training, site facilitators or training department staff must schedule trainees' access to computer
terminals and server connections.

Training room heating and cooling, lighting, and trainee accesses to rest rooms, food facilities, smoking
areas, telephones, and parking are additional considerations that require preplanning. Most administrative
tasks should be completed well in advance of training: trainee registration, issuance of maps and
directions, etc. Another aspect of preparing the training environment is arranging for facilitation of a
social climate conducive to group formation and peer interaction. Placement of furniture, rules of conduct,
and ‘ice breaker’ activities are useful for creating a desirable social climate.

B. Delivery of Training

Delivery of the training is next in the implementation phase. The trainer must employ adult learning
principles throughout the presentation. Using effective verbal and nonverbal techniques, the trainer must

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engage the trainees and demonstrate the appropriate skills necessary to achieve instructional objectives.
He or she then must permit the trainees to practice their new skills, evaluate trainees' learning, and provide
the trainees with feedback and an opportunity for remediation. The desired outcome of implementation is
a roster of educated, skilled trainees.

V. Evaluation

The purpose of evaluation is to ensure that training-under-development stays on track, safeguarding

achievement of training goals. Decisions about revisions for future course iterations can be made after
evaluating the strengths and weaknesses in a completed training program. Finally, evaluation ensures that
training improves performance back on the job. The ISD process includes two types of evaluation:
formative and summative.

A. Formative Evaluation

Formative evaluation monitors the training as it proceeds through the ISD process. Monitoring involves
periodically reviewing the analysis and design documents to confirm that objectives are being developed
and delivered as originally intended.

B. Summative Evaluation

Summative evaluation is the process of reviewing a course or training after it is taught. It includes
measurement of training outcomes in terms of trainees' opinions about the training, test results, on the job
performance, and the benefit, or return on investment, of the training to the trainees' organization.

C. The Feedback Loop

Dynamic feedback loops are very important parts of the ISD evaluation process. If the training under
development does not satisfactorily proceed through a particular ISD phase, checking it against
specifications from an earlier phase may identify the problem. If a problem is identified, the training
product must be corrected in the deficiency phase. For example, if the implementation phase, training
does not teach actual job skills performed at the trainees' job sites, the initial job analysis may be in need
of revision. Back in the analysis phase, the training package must be corrected and re-developed from that
point forward.

Training developed with the ISD model depends upon systematic movement through all five phases. The
evaluation phase tells us if training was successful, how successful it was, and where to correct the
problems. Evaluation is the ISD phase that ties all other phases together through feedback. The outcome
of one phase becomes input for the next. Feedback ensures that the transition of training through the
phases stays on course.

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7.7: PRINCIPLES OF GOOD TRAINING DESIGN

i) Structure: the configuration of the various elements in a program considering the plan and goals and
taking note of the sequence of activities;
ii) Linkage: appropriate connection of topics;
iii) Specificity: detailing goals, leanings, and activities and avoiding overlaps and redundancies;

iv) Synergy: considering the leanings converge (integration or summary of learnings);

v) Openness and Flexibility: responding to anticipated needs and the degree of capacity to adopt to
varying circumstances

vi) Relevance: addressing the needs of trainees or participants and the organization as well;

vii) Compatibility: considering the background of the trainees or participants

viii) In-Process Evaluation and Feedback: presence of learning, validation during conduct of training

ix) Transferability: passing on skills to trainees or participants;

x) Cost-Effectiveness: providing the greatest benefit at minimum cost.

7.8: TRAINING POLICY

Training policy lays down the structure and guiding principles for training of employees to enable them to
achieve the needs of the organization without impairing individual goals- and needs. Training is
indisputably a major -factor for successful implementation of educational technology. The objectives of
Training Policy are as follows: -

i)Designing and developing faculty development strategy in technical education department through
mandatory training, refresher training and generic skill training;

ii)Keeping up to-date and enhancing professional knowledge and skills needed for better performance of
individuals and organizations;

iii)Promoting better understanding of professional requirements as well as sensitization to professional,

socio-economic and political environment in which work is done;

iv)Bringing about right attitudinal orientation;

v)Updating faculty on latest technologies, processes and ultimately for the effective skill development

vi) Integrate Departmental and individual developmental needs and goals.

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7.9:SUMMARY UP

Designing a training session is a lot of hard work for everyone involved. However, it can also be one of
the most rewarding things your organization does, because you get to see immediately the changes you
have made and what people have learned.

Analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation: these are the production steps of training.
They are also the phases of the systematic process for the development of training known as ISD. The
strengths of the ISD approach are its simplicity, reliability, self-adjusting mechanism, and applicability to
a broad range of training and educational needs. Withstanding the test of time, ISD persists as a strong
influence in contemporary training.

7.10: RECOMMENDED READINGS

1. Bass, B. M., & Vaughan, J. A. (1966). Training in industry: The management of learning. Belmont,
CA: Wadsworth Publishing.

2. Flippo, E. B. (1961). Principles of personnel management. New York: McGraw Hill.

3. Noe, R. A. (2002). Employee Training and Development. 2nd ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill.

7.11: QUESTIONS

A. Short Questions

1. Distinguish between Job analysis and task analysis.

2. Write down the principles of good training design.

3. Write a short note on ISD model.

4. Mention different methods of training evaluation.

B. Essay Type Questions

1. Briefly describe the steps in training programs.

2. Describe the ADDIE model in designing a training program.

3. How can we evaluate a training program?

4. Go through the case and attempt the questions.

Sales Training at ABC Company

Few years ago, ABC Company developed a training strategy for training its global sales force.
An important feature of the strategy was to create a master training plan for each year. The
organization’s strategic plans, objectives, and functional tactics would drive this plan. Once an
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initial procedure was designed it was then evaluated and critiqued by the top management,
different units, and training council. The input from these stakeholders would be summarized and
transferred into a master training plan.

The major question that was asked by the designers of training program was, “what results do we
want from salespeople after the training program is over?” Answer to this question becomes the
objective of the training program.

Then training content was designed, videos were made. The videos took 3 to 6 months to
produce. Video contains live production plants, clients’ offices, partner offices, suppliers,
manufacturers’ locations, and other locations.

Videos were used to train sales people in various areas, such as:

Market information i.e. about customer profile, market updates, and computer integrated
manufacturing applications, etc.

Sales Process i.e. how to deal in the situation of conflicts with customer, coaching on undesirable
behavior, supplement skills developed during live courses

Product information, such as, product usage, applications, system description, product
description, comparison with competitor’s products, etc

Policies and procedures, i.e. about sales contests, incentive plans on achieving targets, annual
bonuses, winners receiving the best salesperson award to motivate the sales force.

Around thousands of sales persons were getting a specific video training. The sales people were
getting training material along with the video. Sales representatives then watch video, follow the
directions, and refer to the material if faces any problem. When salespeople feel they have
mastered the material, they would take an exam and call a toll-free number to transmit responses
to exam.

Salespeople who successfully passed an exam were factored into performance and merit reviews
as well as promotional opportunities. Those who couldn’t pass the exam were asked to go
through the material and video again before retaking the exam. If the salesperson failed an exam
again, the reporting manager was notified.

Questions:
1. In today’s technological world, is video still the best way to deliver the training?
2. Is video the most effective way to achieve training objectives?
3. What role did cost of development, cost of delivery, and other constraints play in selection of
video delivery system?
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DHR-201: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT CR 4

UNIT-8: TRAINING EVALUATION

UNIT STRUCTURE
8.1 OBJECTIVES
8.2 INTRODUCTION
8.3 TRAINING EVALUATION
8.3.1 CONCEPT OF TRAINING EVALUATION
8.4 NEED OF TRAINING EVALUATION
8.5 TYPES OF TRAINING EVALUATION
8.5.1 FORMATIVE EVALUATION
8.5.2 SUMMATIVE EVALUATION
8.5.3 MODELS OF EVALUATION
8.6 SUMMING UP
8.7 RECOMMENDED READINGS
8.8 QUESTIONS

8.1: OBJECTIVES
On completion of this module you should able to:

 Understand the concept of training evaluation.

 Visualize the need of training evaluation in an organization.
 Learn the different types of training evaluation in an organization.

8.2: INTRODUCTION

This course is aimed at providing trainers and training managers with the skills and knowledge
required to evaluate their training and development activities, identify success and where
improvements can be made, and provide the foundation for on-going evaluation of the training
outcomes and their impact on the organization. The purpose of evaluation is to determine whether
or not the training achieved the desired objective. Evaluating training will help show how
effective it was at meeting the objective. All organizations, regardless of size or type, should use
some process of assessing the effectiveness of training undertaken by employees.

8.3: TRAINING EVALUATION

Evaluation involves the assessment of the effectiveness of the training programs. This assessment
is done by collecting data on whether the participants were satisfied with the deliverables of the
training program, whether they learned something from the training and are able to apply those

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skills at their workplace. There are different tools for assessment of a training program depending
upon the kind of training conducted.

Since organizations spend a large amount of money, it is therefore important for them to
understand the usefulness of the same. For example, if a certain technical training was conducted,
the organization would be interested in knowing whether the new skills are being put to use at the
workplace or in other words whether the effectiveness of the worker is enhanced. Similarly in
case of behavioural training, the same would be evaluated on whether there is change in the
behaviour, attitude and learning ability of the participants.

8.3.1: CONCEPT OF TRAINING EVALUATION

The process of examining a training program is called training evaluation. Training checks
whether training has had the desired effect. Training evaluation ensures that whether candidates
are able to implement their learning in their respective workplaces, or to the regular work
routines.

Evaluation acts as a check to ensure that the training is able to fill the competency gaps within the
organisation in a cost effective way. This is especially very important in wake of the fact the
organizations are trying to cut costs and increase globally.

8.4: NEED OF TRAINING EVALUATION

The five main purposes of training evaluation are:

Feedback
It helps in giving feedback to the candidates by defining the objectives and linking it to learning
outcomes.
Research
It helps in ascertaining the relationship between acquired knowledge, transfer of knowledge at the
work place, and training.
Control
It helps in controlling the training program because if the training is not effective, then it can be
dealt with accordingly.
Power Games
At times, the top management uses the evaluative data to manipulate it for their own benefits.

Intervention

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It helps in determining that whether the actual outcomes are aligned with the expected outcomes.
8.5: TYPES OF TRAINING EVALUATION
Training evaluation is of two types. Here’s a look at formative (before) versus summative (after)
training evaluation.

8.5.1: FORMATIVE EVALUATION

Formative evaluation occurs while a training program is forming or occurring. For example: a
formative evaluation could be a pilot test, a structured walk-through, a preview or collecting
continuous feedback from participants in a training program in order to modify it as needed.

How to Conduct Formative Evaluation

There are several steps to conducting formative evaluation:

 Review the training materials with one or two trainees.

 Hold group discussions with the trainees to gain feedback.
 Use the materials in a situation similar to that of an actual training program to see how the
materials work.
 Assess the materials with managers and supervisors who oversee trainees participating in
training program.
 Observe trainee behavior.
 Give short tests to trainees.

Answer the following questions:

 Did you identify training needs correctly?

 Have you noticed other areas that need attention?
 Are there indications that the training objectives will be met?
 Do the objectives need to be revised?
 Are the training topics being taught?
 Have additional training topics come up which need to be taught?

8.5.2: SUMMATIVE EVALUATION

Summative evaluation takes place after the training program has occurred. Most articles about
training evaluations and Kirkpatrick’s famous types of evaluation are summative. For example:
summative evaluation could be evaluating the attitudes and information learned after the training
program has been conducted, or determining how the information provided is used back on the
job.

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How to Conduct Summative Evaluation

There are several methods to conducting summative evaluation:

 Ask trainees for their opinions about the training program after it has been delivered.
 Test trainees to learn how well they grasped the information.
 Ask participants to demonstrate how they would use the information learned in training.
 Conduct surveys or interviews with each participant to gain better understanding of what
they learned.
 Measure changes in production and quality of work that has been accomplished after the
training program.

Answer the following questions:

 Did you meet the training objectives?

 Will you need to improve and modify some areas?
 Should you conduct the training activity again?
 How can you help the trainees attain further training?

Conclusion
Most trainers are familiar with formal methods of evaluation after a training program
(summative). Fewer may have thought seriously about the importance of formative evaluation
(although no doubt they would have used some of the core formative approaches such as a pilot
test). To get the best results use both forms of evaluation: formative and summative.

8.5.3: MODELS OF EVALUATION

Generally, the literature focuses essentially on goal or objective-based vs. systems-based
models. Goal-based models (such as the “bible” of evaluation models, Donald Kirkpatrick’s
“Evaluation Training Programs”) may help.

On the other hand, system-based models (e.g. CIPP, IPO and TVS) seem to be more useful in
terms of thinking about the overall context and situation but they may not provide sufficient
granularity. Systems-based models may not represent the dynamic interactions between the
design and the evaluation of training. Few of these models provide detailed descriptions of the
processes involved in each step. None provide tools for evaluation. Furthermore, these models

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do not address the collaborative process of evaluation, that is, the different roles and
responsibilities that people may play during an evaluation process.

i. Objective/Goal - based Models

a) Donald Kirkpatrick’s 4 levels

Donald Kirkpatrick, author of many books, such as Evaluating Training Programs: The Four
Levels and Another Look at Evaluating Training Programs, created a four-level evaluation
system more than 40 years ago, which has stood the test of time and continues to be utilized in
many training programs today. Kirkpatrick’s four levels of evaluation is described below:

Level I: Reaction

Kirkpatrick’s first level evaluates how well participants liked the training session. If you are
interested in running the best training program possible, you want participants to be motivated for
and engaged with training. This exercise gives trainees the opportunity to give feedback to the
trainer on the pros and cons of the session, which is valuable information that shows trainers
specific areas to improve.

Follow these tips when obtaining feedback on trainees’ reactions:

a) Observe trainees during the session for your own perception of their reception.

b) Get trainee feedback in writing immediately following the session.

c) Use measurable and meaningful terms.

d) Use uniform feedback forms so results can be quantified and tabulated for the whole group.

Reaction Surveys

Ideally, trainers will conduct reaction surveys as the final section of training sessions and will
insist on 100 percent participation. Make surveys easy to fill out by following these guidelines:

a) Use a numbered rating system, i.e. 1 to 5, with 1 being the low end of satisfaction and 5 being
the high end.

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b) Use close-ended questions, such as those requiring the numbered assessment mentioned above
to assess trainees’ impressions of the overall success of the session.

c) Use open-ended questions that require more than a Yes or No answer along with space for
trainees to write their comments in order to get detailed feedback on specific things that worked
or didn’t work.

d) Include space for undirected questions or comments on topics that trainees want to address.

Level II: Learning

This level measures how much of the desired principles, techniques, and skills trainees learned in
the training session. In order to determine what trainees learned during a training session, you
need to know what they knew before training.

Follow these suggestions for measuring learning:

a) Use pre- and post-knowledge and/or skills testing.

b) Use objective measurements to assess what trainees now know or can do that they didn’t know
or couldn’t do before training.

c) Use a control group of employees who did not attend the training session to compare their
performance to employees who received training.

Level III: Behaviour

The third level measures employee behaviour changes based on training. Your goal is to see how
well trainees incorporate learned principles, skills, and knowledge into their jobs on a permanent
basis—or at least until they learn a new and better way to perform.

Follow these methods for evaluating behaviour:

a) Solicit the help of trainers, supervisors, and others who work closely with trainees to observe
these employees before and after training, and to give their measurable, objective feedback on
their performance.

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b) Continue observations for 3 to 4 months after the training session, so you can get an accurate
assessment of whether trainees have made permanent performance improvements based on
training.

Level IV: Results

Kirkpatrick’s first three levels focus on trainees and the effect of training on their performance.
The last level in Kirkpatrick’s evaluation model focuses on the results of training on the company
in terms of:

a) Reduction of costs

b) Reduction of turnover and absenteeism

c) Reduction of grievances

d) Increase in quality

e) Increase in quantity or production

f) Improved morale

Follow these suggestions for measuring the results of training on the company’s overall
performance:

a) Measure statistics in each of the categories listed above (or whichever categories you included
in your goal-setting) before and after training.

b) Use a control group, if possible, for comparison.

c) Measure more than once over several months to allow time for changes from training to affect
the areas you listed.

b) Jack Phillips Return on Investment (ROI)

In his many books and articles Phillips has gone beyond even Kirkpatrick’s level 4 to focus on
real measurement of ROI (justification of the cost of training based on the return on investment
and organizational impact). Training in this sense has thus moved from satisfying trainees to

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improving organizational performance. Training is carried out to have a positive impact on the
organization. This is obviously a far cry from the “smile sheets” forming the basis of level 1
evaluation. Today, many evaluators point out that while the Kirkpatrick’s model is useful to
evaluate a) whether learners liked their instruction, b) whether they learned something from it,
and c) whether it had some positive effect for the organization, its weakness is that it cannot be
used to determine the cost-benefit ratio of training (ROI). These modern evaluators have
consequently recommended adding the so-called fifth level to Kirkpatrick’s model, at least for
some programmes. This may be too much for a UN agency since it requires collecting level 4
data, converting the results to monetary values, and then comparing those results with the cost
of the training programme.

Some training professionals consider ROI analysis to be one method for determining the results
of Kirkpatrick’s fourth level of evaluation. Others consider ROI its own level and make it the 5th
level of evaluation. In any case, this method is an effective way to measure the success of your
training program.

ROI analysis gives the trainer data about the financial impact of training programs have on the
organization. It differs from Level IV evaluation in the sense that Level IV takes into
consideration nonfinancial data such as employee satisfaction. ROI analysis deals strictly with
the financial impact of training. It answers the question “For every dollar invested in training,
how many dollars does the employer get back?”

There are three great reasons to use ROI analysis:

1. It’s a concrete way to validate your training program as a business tool.

2. It can be used to justify the cost of your training program.

3. It can be a useful tool for choosing future training methods.

Many business executives view training as a business expense and, therefore, measure its worth
in terms of profits made or savings earned from this expense. You need to make sure training is
seen as beneficial to your company. Use the following formula when measuring the ROI for your
company to get the percentage of profit earned for every dollar spent on training.

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ROI Formula:

ROI (%) = Monetary Benefits - Training Costs x 100

Costs
To get the figures for this formula, keep track of training costs, including:

 Design and development

 Promotion

 Administration

 Delivery (staff or technology)

 Materials

 Facilities

 Employee wages

 Evaluation

After training, keep track of monetary benefits, including:

 Labor savings

 Productivity increases

 Income generation

 New leads

 New products

 Lower turnover costs

ROI Analysis is fast becoming an essential level of evaluation for companies who invest in
training.

c) A.C. Hamblin’s Model

Organizations are under pressure to justify various expenses. The training budget is, often, not
exempted from this purview. There are a number of questions raised on the value derived from
training programmes—both directly and indirectly. Business heads and training managers are
under pressure to prove the effectiveness of training.

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One of the most popular methodologies for measuring training effectiveness was developed by
A.C. Hamblin. This model articulates a four-step process.

Level 1: Reactions

At this level, we measure the participants’ reaction to the programme. This is measured through
the use of feedback forms (also termed as “happy-sheets”). It throws light on the level of
learner’s satisfaction. The analysis at this level serves as inputs to the facilitator and training
administrator. It enables them to make decisions on continuing the programme, making changes
to the content, methodology, etc.

Level 2: Participant Learning

We measure changes pertaining to knowledge, skill and attitude. These are changes that can be
attributed to the training. Facilitators utilize pre-test and post-test measures to check on the
learning that has occurred. However, it is important to note that learning at this level does not
necessarily translate into application on the job.

Measuring the effectiveness of training at this level is important as it gives an indication about
the quantum of change vis-à-vis the learning objectives that were set. It provides critical inputs to
fine-tuning the design of the programme. It also serves the important aspect of being a lead
indicator for transfer of learning on to the job context.

Level 3: Transfer of Learning

At this level, we measure the application of the learning in the work context, which is not an easy
task. It is not easy to define standards that can be utilized to measure application of learning and
there is always this question that preys on the minds of various people: ‘Can all changes be
attributed to the training?’

Inputs at this level can come from participants and their supervisors. It makes sense to obtain
feedback from the participants on the application of learning on the job. This can be done a few
weeks after the programme so that it gives the participants sufficient time to implement what they
have learnt. Their inputs can indicate the cause of success or failure; sometimes it is possible that
learning was good at level-2, but implementation did not happen due to system-related reasons. It
can help the organization deal with the constraints posed by systems and processes so that they
do not come in the way of applying learning.

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Level 4: Results

The last level focuses on the results of training on the company in terms of:

a) Reduction of costs

b) Reduction of turnover and absenteeism

c) Reduction of grievances

d) Increase in quality

e) Increase in quantity or production

f) Improved morale

d) Guskey’s Critical Levels

Thomas Guskey (2002) has also elaborated Kirkpatrick’s 4 levels into 5.These five levels are
discussed below:

Level 1: Participant Reaction

The purpose of participant reaction is to gauge the participants’ reactions about information and
basic human needs through a well designed questionnaire. The key questions are: was your time
well spent? Was the presenter knowledgeable?

Level 2: Participant Learning

The purpose of participant learning is to examine participants’ level of attained learning through
test, simulation, personal reflection etc. The key question is: did participants learn what was
intended?

Level 3: Organizational Support and Learning

The purpose is to analyze organizational support for skills gained in staff development through
questionnaire, structured interviews or observation. The key questions are: were problems
addressed quickly and efficiently? Were sufficient resources made available, including time for
reflection?

Level 4: Participant Use of New Knowledge and Skills

The purpose is to determine whether participants are using what they learned and using it well
through questionnaire, structured interviews or direct observation or oral or written personal
reflections. The key question is: are participants implementing their skills and to what degree?

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Level 5: Student Learning Outcomes

The purpose is to analyze the correlating student and learning objectives through tests, classroom
grades and direct observation. The key question is: did student show improvement in academic,
behaviour or other areas?

e) Indiana University Taxonomy

Indiana University developed an evaluation taxonomy-based on six strata, which were not
intended to be a hierarchy of importance. The first and last strata provide additions to
Kirkpatrick’s framework:

Stratum 1: Activity accounting – which examines training volume and level per participant

Stratum 2: Participant reactions

Stratum 3: Participant learning

Stratum 4: Transfer of training

Stratum 5: Business impact

Stratum 6: Social impact

The sixth stratum examines the impact of changed performance on society.

f) Industrial Society Stages

The Industrial Society developed a six stage circular model which starts with a planning phase.
The stages are:

Stage 1: Identify the business need

Stage 2: Define the development objectives

Stage 3: Design the learning process

Stage 4: Experience the learning process

Stage 5: Use and reinforce the learning

Stage 6: Judge the benefits to the organization (quality measures, customer satisfaction and
financial benefits provide the main measures at this level).

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The Industrial Society differentiated between stages 3 and 4 which aim to validate the training,
and stages 5 and 6 which aim to evaluate it. True evaluation needs to take place long before and
after training has taken place and the process of identifying the business need is an essential
component of the evaluation model.

g) Kearns and Miller KPMT Model

Kearns and Miller’s KPMT model has many similarities to Phillip’s work. They argue that clear
objectives are an essential component of a training evaluation model. Where they differ is in their
aim to provide a sort of toolkit to help evaluators work through the process of identifying
bottom-line objectives by means of questioning techniques, evaluating existing training, and
using process mapping to identify the added value to organizations.

They argue that training can only bring added value to organizations if the business is not
performing effectively or there is a market opportunity which can be exploited. To identify
bottom line benefits, pre-training measurements need to be in place.

The four-stage KPMT model starts at the beginning of the training cycle by identifying the
business need rather than the training need. The emphasis is on clarifying objectives from a
business perspective rather than that of the trainees. Despite this, the evaluation levels look very
similar to Kirkpatrick’s:

Reaction to Training and Development

Learning

Transfer to the Workplace/Behaviour

Bottom Line Added Value, measured in relation to the base level measures taken Where Kearns
and Miller differ from some of the other models is in their belief that return on investment can
only be looked at in hard terms. They state that if a business objective cannot be cited as a basis
for designing training and development, then no training and development should be offered.

h) Nine Outcomes Model

Also worth mentioning is the “Nine Outcomes” model which aims to measure whether training
has been successful. In identifying the 9 outcomes, Donovan and Townsend pose 9 questions
with the training participants in mind:

Reaction to Training – did they like it?

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Satisfaction with the organization of a training event (facilities, logistics, meals, etc.)

Knowledge Acquisition – did they learn anything?

Skills Improvement – can they do something new or better?

Attitude Shift – have they changed their opinions about something?

Behaviour Change – have they changed their way of doing things following the training?

Results – how did the training impact on the organization’s key success factors?

Return on Investment – to what extent did the training give back more than it cost?

Psychological Capital – how did the training affect corporate image?

All four levels of Kirkpatrick’s levels incidentally are included among the 9 outcomes.

i) Organizational Elements Model

Kaufman and Keller (1994) argue that Kirkpatrick’s model was intended for evaluating training,
and that as organizations now seek to evaluate other types of development events, the framework
needs to be modified. They expanded Kirkpatrick’s model to include societal contribution as an
evaluation criterion. They argue that manufacturing organizations in particular are increasingly
being called to account for societal consequences such as pollution and safety.

The model also included some additions at the other levels, such as the inclusion of needs
assessment and planning in the evaluation, an examination of the desired or expected results, and
a review of the availability and quality of resources. They contend that evaluation at all levels
should be planned and designed prior to the implementation of any intervention.

With the additional help of Watkins in 1995, the team reclassified the criterion in their model into
the following six levels:

Level 1: Input – similar to Kirkpatrick’s reaction level, but has been expanded to include the
role, usefulness, appropriateness and contributions of the methods and resources used;

Level 2: Process – this level also has similarities to the reaction level, but is expanded to include
an analysis of whether the intervention was implemented properly in terms of achieving its
objectives;

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Level 3: Micro (Acquisition) – this is similar to the learning level and examines individual as
well as small-group mastery and competence;

Level 4: Micro (Performance) – links closely to the behaviour level and examines the utilisation
of skills and knowledge. The focus is on application rather than transfer of skills and knowledge;

Level 5: Macro – relates to the results level and examines organizational contributions and
payoffs;

Level 6: Mega – an additional level which looks at societal outcomes.

They argue that costs can be examined at each stage, from efficiency measures at the input level
to utility costs at the highest end level.

ii. Systems-based

Among these the CIPP, IPO and TVS models are perhaps the best known, though the distinction
between “goal-based” and “systems-based” is sometimes ambiguous.

a) CIPP (Context, Input, Process, Product)

The CIPP model was developed by Daniel Stufflebeam in 1971.It distinguishes four types of
evaluation:

Context Evaluation – which helps in planning and developing objectives.

Input Evaluation – which helps to determine the design by examining capability, resources and
different strategies.

Process Evaluation – which helps to control the operations by providing on-going feedback.

Product Evaluation – which helps to judge and react to the programme attainments in terms of
outputs and outcomes.

IPO (Input, Process, Output)

Bushnell developed the IPO model (input, process, output) which focuses more on the inputs to
training. The IPO model is used by IBM and helps to monitor employee progress by setting
performance indicators at each stage. The stages are:

Input – such as the instructor experience, trainee qualifications, resources.

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Process – the plan, design, development and delivery of the training.

Outputs – the trainee’s reactions, knowledge and skills gained and improved job performance.

Outcomes – profits, customer satisfaction and productivity.

TVS (Training Valuation System)

Fitz-enz (1994) developed a Training Valuation System (TVS) which is a four-step process
similar to Kirkpatrick’s framework at steps 3 and 4 but has been categorized as “system-based”:

Step 1: Situation Analysis – This is similar to an in-depth training analysis. Like Kearns and
Miller, he suggested that the manager’s answers are continuously probed until some visible,
tangible outcome is revealed and that the questions initially focus on the work process rather than
the training;

Step 2: Intervention – This involves diagnosing the problem and designing the training;

Step 3: Impact – This examines the variables that impact on performance;

Step 4: Value – This step places a monetary worth on the changed performance.

d) Pulley’s Responsive Evaluation Model

Another system-based evaluation model focuses on the purpose of evaluation, the “responsive
evaluation” model developed by Pulley (1994).

Responsive evaluation is a tool for communicating evaluation results more effectively by

tailoring it to the needs of the decision-makers. Pulley argues that the objective of the evaluation
should be to provide evidence so that key decision-makers can determine what they want to
know about the programme.

The stages involved are:

1. Identify the decision-makers so as to ascertain who will be using the information and what
their stake is;

2. Identify the information needs of the decision-makers – what do they need to know and how
will it influence their decisions?

3. Systematically collect both quantitative and qualitative data. Pulley argues that the qualitative
data is normally relayed in the form of stories or anecdotes and gives life to the numbers;
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4. Translate the data into meaningful information;

5. Involve and inform decision-makers on an on-going basis.

e) E-Learning Models

More recently, a range of system-based models have been elaborated for evaluating “new
technology delivery” – such as online learning and e-Learning, as part of a portfolio of training
options available to human resources managers less interested in instruction-led training.

One of many examples is the “Continuous Evaluation of Training Systems Based on Virtual
Reality”. These models often seem to have been specifically adapted to evaluate technical
scientific achievements.

f) Duignan’s Framework for Outcomes Systems

Paul Duignan is the main designer of a very complex system which develops intervention or
programme logics using the Outcome Hierarchies diagramming approach.

It is a complex and highly technical approach which culminates in the identification of 7 high-
level outcome attribution evaluation designs. Duignan’s approach is also referred to as the
OIIWA Systematic Outcomes Analysis, OIIWA standing for ‘Outcomes Is It Working Analysis’.

g) United Way of America Outcomes Evaluation

Outcomes evaluation (which is also an evaluation type) can be less complex than above. The
UWA describes a step by step plan for this kind of evaluation, in its “Measuring Program
Outcomes: A Practical Approach”. The notable interest is the identification of differences
between:

Outputs – which indicate little about changes in trainees and are usually just numbers?

Outcomes – which indicate real changes in trainees?

Outcome Targets – which specify how much of one’s outcome one hopes to achieve;

Outcome Indicators – which suggest progress towards the outcome targets?

h) Charities Evaluation Service Outcomes Triangle

The CES has applied an outcomes approach for a range of UK governmental entities, notably the
London Housing Authority. The CES defines outcomes as the effects of activities, the changes,
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benefits or learning that occur as a result of work carried out. Outcomes are neither outputs nor
user satisfaction. The former are the detailed activities, services and products of organizations;
the latter usually involves asking clients/trainees what they think about different aspects of the
services provided. While both are important they are not outcomes. The CES applies a triangular
“Outcomes Learning Cycle” to help in the process of clarifying and measuring outputs, in
analyzing what can be learned from the outcomes achieved, and planning/implementing changes
as a result of such learning. Additionally, it links outcomes to aims which need to be clearly
defined. The CES differentiates between aims and objectives, aims being the changes one hopes
to achieve as a result of one's work, while objectives are the activities undertaken and the services
offered to bring about the changes.

8.6: SUMMING UP
There are many methods and tools available for evaluating the effectiveness of training programs.
Their usability depends on the kind of training program that is under evaluation. Generally most
of the organizations use the Kirk Patrick model for training evaluations which evaluates training
at four levels - reactions, learning, behaviour and results.

After it was found out that organizations spend a lot of money for the purpose of training and no
evaluation measures the return on investment for training, the fifth level for training evaluation
was added to the training evaluation model by Kirk Patrick which is called as the ROI.

Most of the evaluations contain themselves to the reaction data, only few collected the learning
data, still lesser measured and analyzed the change in behaviour and very few took it to the level
of increase in business results.

8.7: RECOMMENDED READINGS

1. Bramley, P. (1990). Evaluating Training Effectiveness: Translating Theory into Practice.
London: McGraw-Hill Training Series.

2. Rae, L. (1996). How to Measure Training Effectiveness. 3rd ed. Vermont: Gower.

8.8: QUESTIONS
A. Short Questions

1. What do you mean by the term training evaluation?

2. Write down the importance of training evaluation.

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3. Mention different types of training evaluation.
4. Distinguish between formative and summative evaluation.
5. How to conduct formative evaluation?
6. How to conduct summative evaluation?
7. Distinguish between objective based and system based training evaluation.

B. Essay Type Questions

1. Briefly describe Kirkpatrick’s training evaluation method.

2. Briefly describe system based model of training evaluation.
3. Briefly describe objective based model of training evaluation.
4. Go through the case and attempt the questions.
XYZ was established in 1985 as a joint venture between various foreign companies. The
company has grown from a capacity of 15,000 AC units in 1985 comprising of largely an
assembly operation, into the largest and only integrated manufacturing unit in India for Auto Air
Conditioning systems. The company has the capability to manufacture compressors, condensers,
heat exchangers and all the connecting elements that are required to complete the AC Loop. The
company has three plants in Noida, one in Manesar and one in Pune. It also has a R&D centre
and Tool room in Noida. The manufacturing capacity has grown to a level of 7, 50,000 AC units
per annum and there is a plan to go to a level of 1,000,000 per annum by 2008.

The HR department of the company has its well developed training and development process but
wants to move one step ahead with the training effectiveness evaluation process and make it more
competitive. For the same they have implemented a policy wherein the employees are asked to
take up a project based on the training which they had undergone and should have the practical
application of learning in training. The employees are then to be evaluated for 'On-the-job
training effectiveness evaluation' on their performance accordingly. In simple words, to show
how they are applying their learning in their job. They give employees a duration of three months
to evaluate themselves and for doing a project on the basis of his/her learning. Then employees
rate themselves as per their learning. After that the employee is rated by his/her HOD (Head of
the department) on the basis of the project and his learning and on the basis of application of that
learning. Finally HOD rates his employees against the rating given by the employees themselves.
HOD then writes remarks and provides recommendations to the HR department, which gives the
HR dept. information to check whether there is any requirement of re-training or if their
investment on the training of the employee is successful or not. This is how HR dept. conducts on
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the job evaluation of training effectiveness. But the problem which the HR dept. faces is that the
employee takes this project work as a burden on their daily routine work and they escape from it.
They do not understand the importance of the filling of the Training Effectiveness Form and
taking up a project. Till the date of HR Audit the HR people keep on running after the employee
to collect the Training Effectiveness forms. And finally when those forms are compiled it is
observed that the employees just do it for formality sake.

After a lot of discussion on this topic, the AGM (HR) of the company conveys that if the
company keeps on changing policies then it will create a wrong impression among employees.
This wrong impression implies that the HR department will change the policies as and when a
problem arises. AGM follows a school of thought that policies are not meant to be changed
frequently. On the contrary the surprising fact is, while employee interacts with the HR Dept. the
issue is never raised, even after being probed.

AGM says that today if only 10-12% employees take this exercise seriously then in future then
only he will be on motivating his employees and make this policy successful, ignoring the fact
that majority of employees escape from this exercise. He is adamant on his stand but still strives
to find a solution for successful execution of this policy.

Questions:

1. Is the stand taken by the HR manager of not changing the policy is justified?

2. What would be your course of action had you been in the place of the HR manager?

3. Is the method implemented by the HR dept. to evaluate on-the-job training effectiveness

proper? If 'No', then what is the alternative as per your perception?

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