Chapter 8 & 9

Chapter 8: Training Workforce

Difference Between Training & Development

Training is the process of providing employees with specific skills or helping them correct deficiencies in their performance. Training focuses on the current job and on individual employees. Training is job specific and focus is on particular performance deficits or problems. The goal is quick improvements in workers’ performance. Training can be negative, removing performance deficiencies or improvement opportunity. To have more positive attitudes towards training, it can be portrayed as development and offering potential improvement. Training is a necessity because of the changing nature in many workplaces. Development is defined as the effort to provide employees with abilities the organization will need in the future. Development focuses on both current job and jobs in the future, and long-term requirements. The scope is on entire work group or organization. In development the focus is on workforce’s skills and versatility. The goal is overall enrichment of the organization’s human resources. (Balkin, Cardy, & Gomez-Mejia 2016, 265.)

Challenges in Training

Training might not be always the solution. Performance deficits can’t be improved through training such as unclear and conflicting requests and morale problems. Training can be executed poorly. Goals should be clearly articulated and targeted. Effective designed training needs to be related to organizational goals. Balkin, Cardy, and Gomez-Mejia (2016, 265) suggest that training is a good investment and pays off as more capable and loyal workers and higher profitability. However, before beginning training the cost of training should be compared with the trainings’ potential economic benefits and extent to which training impacts job performance. (Balkin, Cardy, & Gomez-Mejia 2016, 265.)

The Training Process

Formal training process consist of three phases: needs assessment, development and conduct of training, and evaluation. (1) Determining is training is needed and identifying the problems and needs that training will address. Needs assessment consists of analysis: organizational, task, and person. Organizational analysis’ purpose is defining overall needs and level of support for training. Analysis of external environment, for instance labor resources or changes in technology, and analysis of organization’s goals and values to determine if training is needed. Task analysis involves thorough job analysis to understand job requirements and determining the kinds of training needed. Person analysis determines which employees need training assessing their performance. (2) Effective training is designed based on the assessment phase and then offering training. Objectives should be precise, achievable, understood by all, and objectives should be stated in behavioral terms. Specific behaviors are identified to guide training effort and evaluate if the training was successful. (Balkin, Cardy, & Gomez-Mejia 2016, 265.)

Conduct of Training

On-the-job training (OJT) happens in actual job setting, usually under guidance of experienced worker, supervisor, or trainer. Different forms of OJT are job rotation, apprenticeships, and internships. In job rotation the employee gains experience in different kinds of narrowly defined jobs in the organization to get a broad overview. Apprenticeships are typically for skilled trades and certain blue-collar jobs. Practice of apprentice learning a trade from an experienced worker. Internships are common for white-collar or managerial jobs. Opportunity for students to gain job experience and possibly the offer of a full-time job. Examples of off-the-job training are courses, simulations, and role-playing exercises in a classroom setting. Different presentation techniques are used such as slides and videotapes, teletraining (useful option when trainees dispersed in various physical locations), computers, simulations, virtual training, classroom instruction, and role-plays. (Balkin, Cardy, & Gomez-Mejia 2016, 265.)

Types of Training

• In skills-training the need of deficit is identified through assessment. Based on that training objectives are generated. Based on those objectives training content is developed. Often a specific task is given to employees that provides the needed knowledge.
• A performance support system or job aids are external sources of information, such as pamphlets or reference guides, that workers can access when they need help in making a decision or performing a specific task.
• Retraining gives the employees the skills they need for job’s changing requirements.
• Cross-functional training is training employees to perform operations in areas other than their assigned job. Organization’s today emphasize versality rather than specialization.
• Peer trainer can provide instructions for workers who are being cross-trained into peer’s area. Peer trainers are high performing employees as internal on-the-job trainers.
• Team-training can be divided into content tasks and group processes. Content tasks directly relate to team’s goals and group processes focus on how the members function as a team.
• Creativity training is based on the assumption that creativity can be learned, and it can help problem solving. One approach is brainstorming and generating ideas. Creativity has two phases: imaginative and practical. The ideas are then assessed based on their cost and feasibility.
• Literacy training focuses on the basic skills such as reading, writing, arithmetic, and their uses in problem solving. General literacy is a person’s general skill level and functional literacy is person’s skill level in specific content area. Balkin, Cardy, & Gomez-Mejia (2016, 276) suggest that functional literacy training focuses on basic skills to perform a particular job.
• Diversity training is a method to ensure that diverse groups of people get along and cooperate, which is especially important in team structures. It involves teaching employees about cultural and sex differences, and how to respond to these in workplaces.
• Crisis training is teaching employees how deal with accidents, disasters, and violence that can occur. In addition to after-the-fact crisis management, crisis training can focus on prevention, which often includes stress management, conflict resolution, and team building.
• Ethics training can clarify organization’s policies and help to apply them to work. Ethics training should make the translation from company’s principles to actual on-the-job behavior. It involves also training workers to recognize and confront unethical actions for instance unsafe work practices or bullying.
• Customer service training involves establishing philosophies, standards, systems, and giving employees skills to improve customer service.

(Balkin, Cardy, & Gomez-Mejia 2016, 276-279.)

Evaluating Training Process

Balkin, Cardy, & Gomez-Mejia (2016, 282) suggest that in the evaluation phase the effectiveness of training process is assessed in monetary or nonmonetary terms. There are four measurement levels for evaluating effectiveness of the training. (1) Subjective reaction to training, such as perceived usefulness. (2) Objective measure of learning, such as a test of concepts covered in training. (3) Application of training back on the job, such as behaviors and decisions made on the job. (4) Financial impacts of the training, such as return of investment estimate. (Balkin, Cardy, & Gomez-Mejia 2016, 282.)

Legal Issues and Training

The major requirement is that employees must have access to training and development programs in nondiscriminatory manner. Equal opportunity regulations and antidiscrimination laws apply to training process. (Balkin, Cardy, & Gomez-Mejia 2016, 282.)

Orientation & Socialization

Orientation is the process of informing new employees about what is expected of them in the job and helping them cope with the stress of transition. Balkin, Cardy, and Gomez-Mejia (2016, 282) define socialization as long-term process with several phases that helps employees acclimate to the new organization and understand its culture and expectations. The authors define orientation as a short-term program that informs employee about their new position and the company. Socialization is often informal, but a more systematic approach involves three phases (1) anticipatory, (2) encounter, and (3) settling in. (1) A realistic job preview (RJP), is a method to of creating realistic expectations about the job and work environment. (2) In the encounter phase involves giving information about policies and procedures, reporting relationships, rules and so on after the new hire has started work. (3) In settling-in phase new workers begin to feel like part of the organization. In employee mentoring program an established worker serves as an adviser to new employee. (Balkin, Cardy, & Gomez-Mejia 2016, 283.)

Chapter 9: Developing Careers

Career development is an organized and formalized effort that focuses on developing enriched and more capable workers. Career development is a different type of training, with wider focus, longer time frame and broader scope. Career opportunities and paths are less structures today. Jos security and loyalty are replaced by marketability of skills. The emphasis of career development has changed from meeting only employers needs to address organizational and individual needs. Career development must be a key business strategy for it to survive in an increasingly competitive and global business environment. Balkin, Cardy, and Gomez-Mejia (2016, 291) argue that in the Information Age, companies will compete more with workers’ knowledge, skills, and innovation levels rather on the basis of labor costs or manufacturing capacity. (Balkin, Cardy, & Gomez-Mejia 2016, 289-290.)

Challenges in Career Development

• Who will be responsible for career development activities? Organizations have concluded that employees should take active role in planning and implementing their own development plans. Taking an employee-empowered approach and encouraging employees to take responsibility of their own personal development.
• How much emphasis is appropriate? Too great emphasis on career enhancement can be detrimental to organization’s effectiveness, if employees will become more concerned about their image than performance, employee dissatisfaction, and turnover. Especially if expectations for advancement are unrealistic.
• How will the needs of a diverse workforce be met? Women as well as minorities are often held back from top executive positions, and lower-managerial positions and directorship. Dual-career couple is a couple whose members both have occupational responsibilities and career issues at stake. Organizational approaches, to prevent a crisis for companies and the couple, include flexible work schedules, telecommuting, and child-care services.

(Balkin, Cardy, & Gomez-Mejia 2016, 291-294.)

Challenges of Effective Development

Creating a development program, consists of three phases:

(1) the assessment,

(2) the direction phase, and

(3) the development phase.

(1)The assessment phase includes activities from self-assessment to organizationally provided assessment. The goal is to identify employees’ strengths and weaknesses. This assessment helps employees to choose a career that is realistically obtainable and do determine the weaknesses to overcome and achieve their goals (Balkin, Cardy, & Gomez-Mejia 2016, 294).

1. Self-assesment (career workbooks, career-planning workshops, career websites)
2. Organizational assessment

The assessment phase, self-assesment

Tools for self-assessment are for instance career workbooks, career-planning workshops, and career websites. Career workshops provide information about career options in the organization and usually give feedback on their career aspirations and strategies. Skills assessment exercises that are designed to identify an employee’s skills underlying the accomplishments. Another skills assessment exercise is rating skills on two dimensions: their level of proficiency at that skills and the degree to which they enjoy using it. An interest inventory is a measure of person’s occupational interests, by asking how strong or weak an interest they have in activities in different occupations. Values clarification involves prioritizing personal values, which can help employees to make satisfying career choices. (Balkin, Cardy, & Gomez-Mejia 2016, 294-296.)

The assessment phase, organizational assessment

Assessment centers are situational exercises, such as interviews, in-basket exercises, and business games, that are usually used for selecting managerial talent. Psychological testing is used to help employees understand their skills and interests. Performance appraisal, which include assessment of past-performance and should include learning and lead to future performance improvements and directions. Promotability forecasts involve managers making decisions regarding the advancement potential of subordinates. Succession planning focuses on preparing people to fill executive positions. It involves identifying organization’s future direction and challenges and derives the competencies new leaders need. Informal succession planning means that high-level managers identify and develop their own replacements. Succession planning is crucial for small companies specifically, because the sudden departure of key player can cause the business to flounder (Balkin, Cardy, & Gomez-Mejia 2016, 297-298.)

The Direction Phase

1. Individual career couseling
2. Information services (job-posting systems, skills inventories, career paths, career resource center)

The direction phase involves determining the type of career employees want, and steps they must take to realize their career goals (Balkin, Cardy, & Gomez-Mejia 2016, 298). It should be based on understanding the current position. A Healthcare Financial Management Association defined competencies for growth.

Component (1) understanding the business environment:

• strategic thinking, ability to integrate knowledge of the industry with an understanding of the vision of an organization
• system thinking, awareness of how one’s role fits within an organization and knowing when and how to take actions that support effectiveness

Component (2) making it happen:

• Result orientation, the drive to achieve and ability to diagnose inefficiencies and judge when to take entrepreneurial risks.
• Collaborative decision making, actions that involve key stakeholders in the decision-making processes.
• Action orientation, going beyond the minimum role requirements to boldly drive projects and lead the way to improved services, processes, and products.

Component (3) leading others:

• Championing business thinking, the ability to energize others to understand and achieve business-focused outcomes. Fostering an understanding of issues and challenges through clear articulation and agenda setting.
• Coaching and mentoring, the ability to release the potential of others by actively promoting responsibility, trust, and recognition.
• Influence, the ability to communicate a position in a persuasive manner, thus generating support, agreement, or commitment.

(Healthcare Financial Management 1999.)

The competency model is most useful for career development by focusing on the type of role the person desires. The direction phase should be based on thorough assessment of what is needed in the profession and should be integrated with other HRM efforts such as staffing, performance appraisal, and training. (Balkin, Cardy, & Gomez-Mejia 2016, 298-299.)

Individual career counselling involves one-to-one sessions with the goal of helping employees to examine their career aspirations. Topics discussed are for instance current job responsibilities, interests, and career objectives. Counseling can be conducted by manager, HR staff, professional counselors or other career planning resources that can be found for instance online. Information services provide career development information to employees. Employees have the responsibility to then determine what to do with this information. Job-posting systems provide information on opening jobs in the organization. When organization promotes from within, it might motivate employees to maintain and improve their performance and reduce turnover. Postings should include clear descriptions of job’s specifications and the criteria used in selection. (Balkin, Cardy, & Gomez-Mejia 2016, 299.)

Skills inventories are company-maintained record of employees’ abilities, skills, knowledge, and education. It can be used to evaluate workforce’s training or development needs, or to identify talent. Career path is a chart that shows the possible directions and career opportunities available in an organization. It presents the steps in a possible career. In addition, career paths should specify the qualifications necessary to proceed to the next step and minimum length of time employees must spend at each step. A career resource center is a collection of career development materials such as workbooks, tapes and texts. Career resource centers can help people identify their strengths and weaknesses, career options, and educational and training opportunities. (Balkin, Cardy, & Gomez-Mejia 2016, 300.)

The Development Phase

1. Mentoring
2. Coaching
3. Job rotation
4. Tuition assistance programs

The development phase involves taking actions to create and increase skills to prepare for future job opportunities. Mentoring is a developmentally oriented relationship between senior and junior colleagues or peers that involves advising, role modeling, sharing contacts, and giving general support. It can be involuntary and formal, and most effective when voluntary and formal. Membership in professional and trade associations is a form of ‘’group-mentoring’’. Coaching consists of ongoing, sometimes spontaneous, meeting between managers and their employees to discuss employee’s career goals and development. It enchases productivity and can encourage a manager’s own advancement. (Balkin, Cardy, & Gomez-Mejia 2016, 304.)

Job rotation assigns employees to various jobs so that they acquire a wider base of skills and broader job experience. Job rotation results in offering more career options, and in more broadly trained and skilled workforce. Tuition assistance programs support employees’ education and development. Costs of education programs may be fully covered, partially covered, or covered conditionally upon sufficient performance in the program. Investing in employees may increase job performance and reduce turnover. (Balkin, Cardy, & Gomez-Mejia 2016, 304.)

Self-Development

In order to find satisfaction with the work you do and navigate the ever-changing business environment, you need to manage and be responsible of your own. The first step is to determine what success means to you. Starting point is to recognize your own preferences regarding balance between work and personal life, and a successful career. (Balkin, Cardy, & Gomez-Mejia 2016, 305.)

The three domains:

1. Money: How much do you want to make?
2. Work: What kind of work do you want to do? What kind of work fits your strengths and values?
3. Life: What do you want outside of work?

(Balkin, Cardy, & Gomez-Mejia 2016, 306)

Development & Advancement Suggestions

Development is enhancing your skills and potential. Responsibility for development is increasingly being shifted to individual workers. (1) Identify your mission and indicate the business you would like to be in and a role you’d like to play. Set your core values. Personal mission statement should help you set your strategic direction, clarify your priorities,  and avoid investing time and energy in pursuits that are not instrumental to achieving your mission. (2) Keep learning continually to improve your skills and potential. (3) Develop competencies in areas that are likely to be required in your industry in the future. (4) Find a mentor who can give honest feedback and support. Mentor can help to identify your strengths and weaknesses. (Balkin, Cardy, & Gomez-Mejia 2016, 307.)

Advancement is positioning yourself to move ahead in the organization. (1) Make yourself know your organization and industry, for example attending seminars and conferences, which also provides networking opportunities. (2) Understand business trends especially in your area of business. You should also know your competitors. Demonstrate your knowledge of the business environment, which can help to differentiate you from competition for advancement. (3) Resolve problems and confront conflicts. If your intent is positive, dealing with the conflict can have positive impact on your advancement. (4) Improve your communication skills, written and verbal, can help you in career advancement. (Balkin, Cardy, & Gomez-Mejia 2016, 307.) 

Case 1

Milne (2016) writes that McDonald’s educates their employees to deliver better customer service by using gamification techniques. McDonald will be introducing a 3D virtual replica of its restaurants designed to train managers (Milne 2016). A new production process, where food is prepared for managers to order instead of stacking it up ready to go, is more complex and requires managers to think differently of the ratio of front to back-room staff (Milne 2016). Milne (2016) refers to author Dan Pink’s ideas of what motivates people: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. The approach should be engaging and fit for purpose (Milne 2016).

McDonald’s created an online game to train front-line staff how to use new tills (Milne 2016). Milne (2016) writes that the game went viral and saved huge financial costs in direct training. It worked because it was challenging and people where excited about game rather than using it for work. Balkin, Cardy, and Gomez-Mejia (2016, 265) argue that making training fun and active experience, where people can be involved add motivation to learn. Electronic learning methods can be cost effective and easily accessed for employees. E-learning, simulation, and virtual reality provide comfortable pace to learn, highly job-related training and easier transfer of training back to the job (Balkin, Cardy, & Gomez-Mejia 2016, 274).

Case 2

Nando’s Training Practices

Nando’s has won the National Training Award for management coaching, training new employees, improving internal communications and its ‘’buddy’’ system of training (Pollitt, 2006). Here are the training programs and their purpose explained briefly. Pollitt (2006) argues that many of the company’s managers are from different countries, backgrounds and cultures, which is why management coaching program was introduced to improve management teams’ communication skills and develop their understanding of how teams behave and how people cope with pressure. Program was intended to also help managers to embed the values of the organization to create a fun and supportive working environment to motivate employees (Pollitt, 2006). The purpose is to increase self-awareness and tolerance of the differences in others, and understand their role within a team (Pollitt, 2006) ‘’Since the training began Nando’s sales have grown from 20 million to 90 million pounds (Pollitt, 2006). Pollitt (2006) quotes regional director of Nando’s Rob Papps: ”Our main objective when launching the coaching program was to establish a culture where people would take more responsibility for their own development, the development of others and the growth of the business’’. The management program comprises of two workshops. (1) Based on pre-reading material attendants role-play different leadership styles and afterwards arrange coaching sessions back in their restaurant. (2) At the second workshop they reflect on the coaching sessions involving managers and employees (Pollitt, 2006).

Two other programs have been added: (1) skills development program, where attendants run a coaching session that is videoed and played back with feedback (Pollitt 2006). (2) For managing directors and central support staff a four-day advanced coaching residential course (Pollitt 2006). Managing director Grant Hawkins said of the course ‘’it offered insight into their natural strengths and weaknesses and how these affect team dynamics’’. Pollitt (2006) writes that new employees go through ten days of on-site training in Nando’s values, food hygiene, health and safety, Nando’s standards, use of equipment, and team building. The company has improved restaurant communication through weekly management meeting, monthly staff meeting and quarterly one-to-one reviews with all staff (Pollitt 2006). Pollitt (2006) distinguishes that the company has a turnover of managers well below average for the catering industry. Pollitt (2006) writes that Nando’s has a system whereby every restaurant has two ‘’buddies’’, who are responsible for training and they no longer rely on HR department for training staff. They are trained how to run interactive, dynamic and fun training sessions and they are recruited for their passion for training and developing others (Pollitt 2006).

Article 1

Several Fortune 500 companies, such as Boeing and Walmart are folding virtual reality into worker education and training programs (Morris 2019). Morris (2019) argues that the companies have seen retention rates and productivity increase due to using VR as a training tool. ‘’Virtual reality is the use of number of technologies to replicate the entire real-life working environment in real time’’ (Balkin, Cardy, & Gomez-Mejia 2016, 275). Walmart uses VR to train employees to learn new technologies, improve customer service and compliance, and to train employees disaster preparedness and other difficult situations (Morris 2019). Brock McKeel the senior director of digital operations at Walmart states that the program engages workers unlike any training program before: ‘’We has associates standing in line to get trained’’. Morris (2019) writes that the test’s academies have increased 10 to 15 percent when students use VR. Boeing uses augmented reality in training, which gives technicians access to hands-free, interactive 3-D diagrams as they install electrical wiring in its aircrafts (Morris 2019). According to the company using this method has improved productivity by 40 percent. Balkin, Cardy and Gomez (2016, 275) argue that tasks that virtual technology suits well are those that require rehearsal and practice and in which there is a high potential for damage to equipment. With the virtual system the technician can generate 3D view of the engine and focus on subsystem (Balkin, Cardy, & Gomez-Mejia 2016, 275).

Article 2

‘’Since a company is the sum total of what employees achieve individually, organizations should do everything in their power to ensure that employees perform at their peak’’ (Chopra 2015). Chopra (2015) argues that especially in changing and fast paced corporate world, training and development in an indispensable function. Balkin, Cardy, and Gomez-Mejia (2016, 265) define training as the process of providing employees with specific skills or helping them correct deficiencies in their performance, and development as an effort to provide employees with the abilities the organization will need in the future.

Training helps employees acquire new skills, sharpen existing ones, perform better, increase productivity and be better leaders (Chopra 2019). Chopra (2015) argues that training is particularly important for new employees to speed up with the processes of the company and address any skill gaps. Training and development addresses shortcomings that every employee has (Chopra 2015). When shortcomings and weaknesses are tackled it improves the performance and amplifies strengths (Chopra 2015). Chopra (2015) argues that investing in relevant training and development, it increases employee satisfaction. Training and development also helps employees to use new technology, which increases efficiency and productivity (Chopra 2015).

References

Balkin, D.B., Cardy, R.L. & Gomez-Mejia, L.R. 2016. Managing Human Resources.  Global Edition 8th ed. Pearson. London. pp. 289-308.

Chopra B. 2015. Importance of training and development in an organization. URL: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/hr-leadership/people/importance-of-training-and-development-in-an-organization/articleshow/48739569.cms. Accessed: 5 February 2020.

Morris C. 2018. Why Walmart and other F500 companies are using virtual reality to train the next generation of American workers. URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/29/why-f500-companies-use-virtual-reality-to-train-workers-of-the-future.html. Accessed: 5 February 2020.

Pollitt, D. (2006). Nando’s tastes success through training. Human Resource Management International Digest, 14(2), 19-21. URL: https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.haaga-helia.fi/docview/214889678?accountid=27436. Accessed: 4 February 2020.