CRITICALANALYSIS OF TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

 Introduction

1. Most of us have, at some time been a ‘trainer’. As the training confirms, people, animals
even plants, can be ‘brought to a desired standard of efficiency, condition or behavior by
instruction and practice. Although there is legislation that requires statutory training to be
identified, organizations need to establish their own minimum standards for safe practice tailored
to their business demands and requirements. By publishing their mandatory training
requirements, they are establishing an organizational standard that offers clarity for the
workforce and ensures consistency and quality in their provision of statutory and mandatory
training. To provide proper training and after that its proper evaluation is essential for growth of
any organization.

Aims & Objectives

The aims and objectives of this paper are as follows:

a. Critical analysis of Training and its impact on the performance of the Organization

b. To identify the gaps that exists between current situation and what is/ will be required

c. To study the cultural change of the organization through training

d. Suggest ways to improve the training based on the identified needs

e. To build confidence in employees to work with clients

f. Improve life style of clients through training of employees

Critical analysis of Training and its impact on the performance of the Organization

Definitions of Training

a. According to Buckley and Caple training is:

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 “A planned and systematic effort to modify or develop knowledge/skill/attitude through
learning experience, to achieve effective performance in an activity or range of activities.
Its purpose, in the work situation, is to enable an individual to acquire abilities in order
that he or she can perform adequately a given task or job.”

b. Mayo noted that:

“Training is concerned with know-how, and should be driven by a clearly defined need
that is about improving a component of capability.”

c. The term training does not mean a traditionally defined program or event. It has
broader meanings because it covers a range of learning methodologies both within the
current job and beyond it.

Benefits from employee Training

 Trainee may get intrinsic or extrinsic job satisfaction. Intrinsic job satisfaction may come
from performing a task well and from being able to perform new skills. And extrinsic job
satisfaction involved extra earnings because of job performance and more chances of
promotion in and outside of organization. On the other hand Buckley and Caple (2007)
describes that organization also gets many benefits, including improved productivity
because of better performance, less absenteeism, low turnover, decrease in wastage, less
accidents and great customer satisfaction.
 Training gives confidence to employees to cope with the changes within and outside of
organization. An organization can only be successful by releasing and realizing the
potential of its workers and it can only be achieved by training. In service led industries,
people in an organization are its most important assets and training gives confidence to
these people to perform well. Training always plays a role in the performance of
employees and hence performance and success of organization.

Some of the benefits which an organization can achieve through training are given below:

a. Increased job satisfaction and morale

b. Increased motivation

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 c. Increased efficiencies in process, resulting in financial gain

d. Increased capacity to adopt new technologies and methods

e. Increased innovation in strategies and products

f. Reduced employee turnover

Organizational objectives

An organization is successful if its set objectives are being achieved regularly. It does not matter
if the organization is non-profit making or a commercial organization. Everyone in the
organization has to focus on their tasks to achieve these objectives. According to Truelove
(2007) training provides competence to individuals to perform their job efficiently. It also play
strategic role in long-term by involving leadership and organizational issues in training. It also
develops the organization by examining current methods, values and standards.

Identifying the training gap

a. Organizational training needs.  This type of need applies to the whole

organization. All mandatory trainings come under organizational training needs. For
example, fire awareness, health and safety, and first aid training.

b. Group Training needs. Occupational or group training need applies to a

particular category of employee. It deals with a particular group in an organization. For
instance, it is recommended after gathering primary data that in CCS group of those
employees who are working with company from more than three years, they need to go
through new induction process.

c. Individual training needs.  Individual training needs can be thought of as an

occupational need that applies to a specific employee and not to the whole group of
employees. For example, training for proper communication for a particular employee.
Torrington et al (2002) refers that for effective learning, individuals should have
knowledge of their own weaknesses and strengths.

Different types of training

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Training takes place not only in schools and colleges but also in many other settings. It can be
community based training or at workplace. So, it can be classed base or on the job training.
There are many ways of training described in books. The committee on Post-Secondary
Education and Training for the Workplace describes four types of training based on the
characteristics of trainees.

a. Qualifying Training, this is basic training

b. Skill improvement Training, this type of training is for employed people who
want to upgrade their job mobility and knowledge through training.

c. Retraining, this type of training is for those people who have been or are about to
be displaced from their jobs so need to prepare for new line of work.

d. Second chance training, this training is for those people who need some basic
education and also job skills in combination with other social services, to reach economic
self-sufficiency through employment.

Another way of classifying training is by the contents of training, for instance, differentiating the
‘on the job training’ from ‘general training’. In a general training the trainee can use the gained
skills in any firm or job. General training includes basic training skills, stress and time
management, basic computer skills, etc. But on the other hand on the job training is specific to
that job and usually cannot be used in any other firm. For example, training of handling of
customers through a specific machine or specific software used in a firm.

Methods of training

On the job training: On the job training is unstructured most of time. On the job training is not
restricted to trainees own current job. There are also other helpful ways to provide training, for
instance, job rotation, special projects and work shadowing. On the job training can be readily
provided on a just-on-time basis without any delay. Following are the examples of on the job
training.

a.        Job instruction

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 b.       Work diaries and log books.

c. Coaching

d, Mentoring

e. Peer relationships

f.         Self-development groups

g.         Learning logs

h.        Work shadowing

Comfort Care Services & Bluebird Care both companies are using work shadowing, learning
logs, work diaries and log books very successfully at the moment. It is recommended to provide
staff with books and other material at work place. So, they can gain more knowledge about
mental health issues and care plan of the Service Users. It is also recommended to use role play
techniques for learning. Managers can be trained off-the-job and then they can provide on-the-
job training to staff. It will reduce cost of training for the organization. For instance, cost
involved to send a member of staff on a training course and also cost of covering his/her shift.

Off the job training: Off the job training helps to get the background knowledge needed for
some jobs. Off the training is mostly provided at academic schools, colleges and universities. It
helps individuals to develop skills to get a job. Off the job training will help individuals to
acquire basic knowledge, theories and legislation governing specific type of job. Off the job
training is very helpful to build confidence in individuals. Following are other examples of off
the job training.

a.         Seminars and workshops

b.        Visits to other organizations

c.        Computer simulation

d.        Outdoor development training

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Disadvantages of Off-the-job training: Vickerstaff (1992) reports that a comprehensive research
was conducted on the management of training in 200 small firms in the UK. Almost all
companies in the study faced similar problems in the organization and management of their
training effort. Following were the main areas of difficulty:

a.    Investment in their training effort.

b.   Finding the right way of training which suit their needs.

c.   Good management of their training effort.

Employers are now giving more emphasis on ‘on-the-job’ training as compare to ‘off-the-job’
training because it is more effective and also cheaper, in terms of cost. To choose right method
of training it is very important to find out what the learning style of the trainees is? And then that
learning style should keep in mind while delivering required training. Different learning styles
are discussed in detail below. Honey and Mumford (1992) describe four different styles of
learning. These styles are as follow.

a. Activists: Activists learn best from trying something out without preparing.
Activists are those people who are very open-minded towards learning. They are always
happy to learn things as soon as possible with immediate experiences. They are always
enthusiastic about new things and new technology. They face challenges with courage
and always looking for new challenges. They like to center all activities on them.

b. Reflectors: Reflectors are very good at listening and observation. Reflectors

always gather and reflect of all available information before making a decision. They are
thoughtful people who think from every angle before making a decision. They prefer to
stand back, listen and observe people. When they act it is part of wider picture because of
their own knowledge and also observation of other people in past and present.

c. Theorists: Theorists think about problems in a logical way. They build

concepts on the basis of their analysis. They are also good at integrating different pieces
of information. They are perfectionists who will carry on working until things are tidy

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 and fit into a rational scheme. They are rational people they don’t believe in anything
subjective or ambiguous. Their decisions are always crystal clear. They learn through
theories, models and concepts.

d. Pragmatists: Pragmatists use practical approaches to solve problems. They

like to take first opportunity to experiment their ideas. These people are perfect to send
on management courses because they bring lots of ideas from those courses. They are
practical and down to earth people who like to solve problem through practical decisions.
They always keen to learn and will find a way to apply their knowledge in real
situation.         

The Training cycle

Training is an ongoing process. According to Martin and Jackson first of all it has to be analyzed
that what are the training needs usually it is called ‘training needs analysis’ then the next process
is to find out that how to plan a training program to satisfy all those training needs which has
been identified. Third step is to implement training program, it is recommended for a trainer to
keep in mind that what learning style is preferred by trainees. Last step is to evaluate the training
provided. This training cycle is continuous, because of today’s dynamic business world.

The most effective ways in which people learn in organizations

28. There are many methods of training. Organizations have to find best suitable method of
training for its employees. There are many factors which determine the method of training. These
factors include cost, culture of organization, nature of learner group or individual learner,
benefits, applicability of method and organization’s strategic goals. It is noted by Marching Ton
& Wilkinson that traditional ways of learning and development are still most common and
effective. At non-managerial level and junior manager level instructor-led training was most
effective way of training but for senior level managers external coaches or a mentor was seen to
be most effective.

Why should we evaluate training and development?

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Training and development activities are not ends in themselves. Unless, there are some positive
changes in the performance of organization, training method need to be improved. It is necessary
to evaluate training to improve performance of company. Evaluation is also necessary because
organizations invest heavy amounts of money in training. Without evaluation of training it is
impossible to improve the process of training. Following points are expanded from the reasons of
training evaluation Martin and Jackson (2002) has described:

a.        Providing feedback to the trainer.

b.         To see whether the needs and objectives of the training have been met.

c.        Identification of further needs and consequently improve training in future.

d.        Justification of expenses.

e.        To show the benefits of training to top management.

Vellios and Kirkpatrick (2008) explain that evaluation of training is essential and trainer has to
evaluate whether trainee has gained all required skills and knowledge during training and then
successfully transferred these skills and behaviors into the workplace. Top management of CCS
understand that it is hard to evaluate training but on the other hand they understand importance
of training. All senior managers are working hard to improve company’s performance and they
are finding new ways of training and planning to conduct training sessions in near future. To
evaluate and improve training and development activity, assessment should be perception-based
and consensus-oriented. (Krishnaveni and Sripirabaa, 2008).It is very important to set objectives
of the training and development. These objectives will give the basis for evaluation of training.
Martin and Jackson (2002) suggest that if the set objectives are achieved then training was
successful.

Why it is so hard to evaluate training in the workplace?

Training sometimes lacks planning, resources, time and also sometimes training is done for the
wrong reasons or in a wrong way. Evaluation of training is also difficult because most of time it
is hard to measure. Sometimes it is measurable but the expectations of outcome may be wrong.
For example, operating unit managers are looking for increased performance only after training

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and not necessarily the increased learning, but trainers usually judge their training by the
increased learning of trainee. According to Berge (2008) it is very important to know the causes
for difficulty in evaluating training in the workplace because it will be helpful for planners to
plan training evaluation and to develop ways to overcome the difficulties.

It is hard to evaluate training in a company which deals with people suffering from mental health
problems because it is difficult to see changes in service users’ life due to staff training and these
changes are also not measurable. Some changes might does not have direct link with staff
training at all. But still there are many things which can be noticed and judged after training and
hence training can be evaluated to some extent. Personal experience tells that training can be
evaluated by interviewing employees to check their confidence level after training, change in
their behavior and improved performance can be noticed.

What aspects of training should be evaluated?

33. According to Torrington, it is easy to evaluate training when outputs of training are clear
to see. For instance, increasing trainee’s typing speed or reducing errors while dispatching goods
in a warehouse. But it is very difficult to evaluate the success of management training program
or social skill development. Training can be evaluated at different levels with different
techniques for each level. Examples of these levels are given below:

a. Level 1:  At this level reaction of trainee observed about training and
methods of training. It is also recommended to observe that what the point of view of
trainee about training is.

b. Level 2:  At this level it is checked that whether the trainee learned what was
expected.

c. Level 3:  This level comes after providing training. At this level it is checked
that if there is any change in job behavior because of the training provided. At this level
observation of trainee is recommended after training. If employee is doing same job in a
better way then it means that training objectives has been achieved.

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 d. Level 4:  It is monitored that after training what are the changes in the
performance of that particular department.

e. Level 5:  This is an ultimate level. At this level, the effect of training
checked on the organizational level in terms of business objectives. At this ultimate level
training can be evaluated by comparing its performance objectives with its actual
performance. If set objectives of company have been achieved after training then it means
that training was successful.

Why are Training and development important?

34. To survive in this commercial world, all organizations have to continuously provide
training to their employees to make sure that they have up-to-date knowledge and up-to-date
skills (Martin and Jackson, 2002). These are essential for any organization to prosper. In a free
market economy all organizations has almost similar access to capital, customers and employees.
The only thing which distinguishes one organization from other is effectiveness and efficiency of
that organization. And this effectiveness and efficiency can only be acquired from knowledge
and skills of employees through training.

Management’s responsibility for training and development

35. The CIPD (2007) reported that in 74% of organizations, line managers had taken on
responsibility for learning and development. Most of them are doing this job efficiently.
According to Singer (1979) there are different types of managerial responsibilities for training
and development of their staff. These responsibilities include taking interest in employees’
careers by providing those opportunities to improve their abilities, knowledge and skills. It is
also a major responsibility of manager to motivate employees for continuous learning. Reid and
Barrington (2003) explained that it is responsibility for all managers to involve in training
process. They suggest that top management should involve them in creating a positive attitude to
human resource development. They should also involve in creating human resource policies and
providing resources for these policies. They should present themselves as a role model for their
subordinates with their personal involvement in training decisions.

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Marchington and Wilkinson (2008) are of the opinion that middle and junior level managers are
responsible for implementing the training policies developed by senior management. They
should provide all the relevant information to people involved in training. They should also
allow leave to those trainees who have to go for external training courses. Managers are
responsible for team activities, project teams, problem-solving group work, sharing knowledge,
conducting performance reviews, and agreeing development plans.

Managers sometime report some hurdles in training process. For instance, many organizations
has limited resources, hence they find it difficult to provide funds for training. Training requires
time which sometimes becomes hard because managers are extremely busy in other important
tasks at work. Lack of understanding about the impact of learning and development is also an
obstacle in learning process. According to Reid and Barrington (2003) some managers have
adverse feelings about learning. They think that they do not need any training because they are
already trained while studying at formal education institutions. These feelings have anti-
development influences.

Fortunately most of the managers in CCS are willing to get trained and they welcome more
knowledge about their work. Weekly meetings at head office also play a good role in discussing
day to day issues and bringing up problems at a level where all managers can share their opinion
and find out a solution for these problems. Whereas, in Bluebird after every 2 nd week of the
month staff meeting is arranging find out the best policies and solution to accommodate their
Service Users. Also Bluebird Care is regularly distributing the bulletin among the staff members
and get the feedback from their Service Users regarding with employee performance.  This is
perfect example of knowledge sharing. Time is main hurdle in managers’ training. They are very
busy in their daily tasks. It is recommended to divide their work with those staff which has
potential to do the job and it can also help them to become manager in near future. Some
managers themselves are not competent, motivated and good learners; they may find training as
an unnecessary expenditure and waste of time (Marchington and Wilkinson, 2008).

According to a report of CIPD in 2007 only 6% of line managers are provided with reward for
developing the skills of their staff. So, there is need to share the fact with senior management
about the importance of learning and development. Senior management has to realize that
training is essential for progress of any organization. CCS senior management is aware of
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importance of training but at the moment they have not developed any structured incentive
program for those managers who are trying to develop the skills of their staff. If senior
management announce some reward for those managers who are continuously striving to achieve
the objectives of organization through skills improvement of their staff, it will accelerate the
process of learning and development. It will also motivate other managers to do so.

Critical Analysis

Ideally, all organizations integrate training into a comprehensive human resource strategy. Each
member of staff should have a training profile, as part of their own personal development plan.
Social services agencies tend to play this game at the organization level and fail culpably at the
individual level. Their plans, like community care plans and children’s plan, make excellent,
even if soporific, few agencies put the same level of effort into planning for individual members
of staff, unless they are staff with problems who tend to receive a disproportionate amount of
attention in order to dot the i’s and cross the t’s before shifting them out of the workforce.

41. An analysis of who gets training in social work agencies tends to show that while some
staff put themselves forward for lots, other get none at all. Sometimes, provider-led courses are
put on with no reference to a training needs analysis simply because an in-house trainer has an
expertise in a particular area. Often, the staff who needs training most avoid it at all cost as part
of their general strategy to evade scrutiny. The social care organization of the future will be a
learning one. It will rely upon its own staff rather than external consultants. It will seek to rebuild
the camaraderie lost during the cold excesses of some public sector business planning regimes.

Discussion

In this section, a brief discussion to identify buzzwords for social care work for ‘collaboration’,
‘co-ordination’, and ‘multi-disciplinary’ would surely be safe. Indeed, exhortation or different
organizations and professions to collaborate in the social care field have been unceasing over the
past twenty years. Training is one of the most demanding and complex processes in which they
can be involved. Apparently basic forms of foundation training can become fraught with
anxieties, conflicts and complications when it is delivered in an inter-professional group. While
many of the issues confronted in inter-organization training are similar to those encountered in

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single discipline training, their intensity is much greater. Simply putting different professionals
together in one room for the training is no guarantee that mutual understanding and respect for
each other’s role will be enhanced. Indeed, it may even serve to consolidate pre-existing power
differences, occupational stereotypes and prejudices. This area of training may therefore stretch
even the most experienced trainer to their intellectual, emotional and facilitative limits.

Conclusion

This chapter has provided different theories and methods of training. It has also provided the
base to do the research in right way and to explore different angels of training in this research in
the light of the work done by experts of this field. It takes us to the next chapter to discuss
various research methodologies to gain an insight of the various prospects at offer in forms of
forming the right research pattern that could give us reliable results.

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