Chapter 8: Designing and Evaluating Training 1.

Performance appraisal score - A rating

Systems representing some aspect of an employee’s
● Training - A planned effort by an work performance.
organization to facilitate the learning of 2. Surveys - Questionnaires asking
job-related behavior on the part of its employees about the areas in which they
employees. feel they need training.
● is the “systematic acquisition of skills, 3. Interview - usually done with a selected
rules, concepts, or attitudes that result in number of employees. The main advantage
improved performance” of interviews is that employee feelings and
Determining Training Needs attitudes are revealed more clearly than
● Needs analysis - The process of with the survey approach. The main
determining the training needs of an disadvantage of interviews is that interview
organization. data is often difficult to quantify and
1. Organizational analysis - The process of analyze.
determining the organizational factors that 4. Skill and Knowledge Tests
will either facilitate or inhibit training ● The fourth way to determine training needs
effectiveness. is with a skill test or a knowledge test.
● A properly conducted organizational ● Skill test - A test that measures an
analysis will focus on the goals the employee’s level of some job related skill.
organization wants to achieve, ● Knowledge test - A test that measures the
● the extent to which training will help level of an employee’s knowledge about a
achieve those goals, the organization’s job related topic.
ability to conduct training (e.g., finances, 5. Critical Incidents - The fifth method for
physical space, time), determining training needs is the
● and the extent to which employees are critical-incident technique. To use this
willing and able to be trained (e.g., ability, technique for needs assessment, the critical
commitment, motivation, stress incidents are sorted into dimensions and
2. Task Analysis - If the results of the separated into examples of good and poor
organizational analysis indicate that a performance.
positive organizational climate for training Establishing Goals and Objectives
exists, the next step is to conduct a task ● Once the needs analyses have been
analysis. conducted, the next step in developing a
● The most common job analysis methods training program is to establish the goals
used for this purpose include interviews, and objectives for the training.
observations, and task inventories. Training goals and objectives should concretely
● Once the tasks and competencies for a job state the following:
have been identified, the next step is to ● What learners are expected to do
determine how employees learn to perform ● The conditions under which they are
each task or obtain each competency. expected to do it
3. Person Analysis - The process of ● The level at which they are expected to do
identifying the employees who need it
training and determining the areas in which Goal statements usually include an action word,
each individual employee needs to be an item, a condition, and a standard. For
trained. example:
● The third and final step in the needs ● By the end of this training session, you will
analysis process is determining which be able to answer (action word) customer
employees need training and in which questions about loan rates (item) without
areas. asking others (condition) 90% of the time
To determine the individual training needs for (standard).
each employee, person analysis uses:
 Choosing the Best Training Method presented with a real or hypothetical
● Once goals and objectives have been workplace problem and are asked to
established, the next step in developing a propose the best solution.
training program is to choose the training ● Living case - A case study based on a real
method situation rather than a hypothetical one.
● If the goal is for employees to learn an 3. Using Simulation Exercises to Practice
actual skill, some type of hands-on training New Skills
will be necessary (e.g., role-plays, ● Simulation - An exercise designed to place
simulations). an applicant in a situation that is similar to
1. Using Lectures to Provide Knowledge the one that will be encountered on the job.
● Lectures are a good training source if the 4. Practicing Interpersonal Skills Through
goal is for employees to obtain knowledge, Role-Play
but unless they are accompanied by such ● Role-play - A training technique in which
techniques as simulations and role-plays, employees act out simulated roles.
they are not usually effective at teaching ● Role-play is used in many types of training
skills. situations, from supervisors practicing
● An important part of any training performance appraisal reviews to sales
presentation is the handouts to the clerks taking customer orders. One
audience. interesting variation of the role-play
● The purpose of handouts is to provide exercise has an employee playing the role
material that the trainees can take back to of “the other person.”
their jobs. Providing comprehensive notes 5. Increasing Interpersonal Skills Through
is important because people forget about Behavior Modeling
half the training content once they leave the ● Behavior modeling – It is a training
room and then forget another 25% within technique in which employees observe
48 hours correct behavior, practice that behavior, and
Handouts should include: then receive feedback about their
● a cover sheet with the title of the training performance.
program as well as the date and location in ● Similar to role-play except that trainees
which the training took place role-play ideal behavior rather than the
● a list of goals and objectives behavior they might normally perform.
● a schedule for the training (e.g., breaks, ● The behavior modeling technique is a
ending times) structured training method that starts with
● a biographical sketch of the trainer discussing a problem and the behaviors
● the notes themselves in outline form, full needed to address it.
text, or copies of the PowerPoint slides ● Behaviors are called learning points and are
● activity sheets such as personality essentially rules to follow in solving a
inventories, free writes, or group activity problem.
information Strategies to motivate employees to attend
● references and suggestions for further training:
reading
● Relate the training to an employee’s
● and a form to evaluate the quality of the
immediate job.
training program.
● Make the training interesting.
2. Using Case Studies to Apply Knowledge
● Increase employee buy-in.
● Once employees have received the
● Provide incentives.
information they need through lecture, it is
● Provide food.
important that they be able to apply what
● Reduce the stress associated with attending.
they have learned. One way to do this is
through the case study.
● Case study - A training technique in which
employees, usually in a group, are
 Delivering the Training Program ● Massed practice – concentration learning
A. Conducting Classroom Training into a short period of time.
1. Initial Decisions – Prior to conducting 2. Preparing for Classroom Training
classroom training, several decisions need Adjusting for the audience
to be made by an organization. ● The characteristics of the audience play an
Who Will Conduct the Training? important role in developing a training
● Training conducted by a variety of sources program.
including in-house trainers who are ● A trainer must consider the size,
employees of the organization, outside demographics, and ability of the audience.
trainers who contract with the organization, ● The ability level of the audience members
videos, and local universities. is another important factor.
● Needs analysis is crucial to determine the ● Most trainers present material at a
necessity of training seminars offered by moderate pace.
consultants. 3. Delivering Training Program
● Seminars should only be utilized if they Introducing the Trainer and the Training
directly relate to job aspects or the people Session
performing the job.
● This can be done by the trainer
● Videos offer economic advantages for
introducing himself or by another person
repeated training sessions, with options for
doing the introduction. The introduction
purchasing or on-demand access.
should be short and should establish the
● Many organizations use local colleges and credentials of the trainer.
universities for training needs, benefiting
● After the introduction of the trainer, the
from lower costs and access to excellent
objectives of the training seminar, the
facilities and faculty.
training schedule (e.g., starting times,
Where will the Training Be Held?
break times, meal times, quitting times),
● Training can be offered on-site or at an and seminar rules (e.g., turning off cell
off-site location such as a hotel, university, phones, not smoking, not criticizing
or conference center. audience members) are covered.
● The obvious advantage of conducting Using Icebreakers and Energizers
training on-site is that it is less expensive.
● However, many organizations have neither ● Following the introduction of the trainer,
the space nor the equipment needed for most training programs start with some
on-site training. sort of icebreaker or energizer.
● Holding training off-site has the advantage ● Introductions such as asking each trainee
of getting the employees away from the to introduce the person next to him or her.
work site and allowing them to concentrate ● Jokes or stories.
on their training. ● Activities in which trainees, either
How Long Should the Training be? individually or in small groups, are given a
● From a cost-efficiency perspective, it is question or problem to solve.
better to conduct a weeklong training ● Open-ended questions to elicit audience
session rather than divide the training into response and encourage discussion.
10 half-day sessions spread over a ● Free writes in which audience members
one-month period. are asked to write about the topic.
● However, from an interesting perspective, There are three considerations in choosing an
few employees enjoy attending 40 hours of icebreaker:
training in a week. ● the goal of the ice-breaker
● Training material should be presented in ● the length of the training session
small, easily remembered chunks ● the nature of the audience
distributed over a period of time Delivering the Presentation
(distributed learning) rather than learned all ● Use a conversational style.
at once. ● Be confident.
 ● Speak at a pace that is neither too fast nor ● Fast-growing sources of synchronous
too slow. distance learning are teleconferences,
● Avoid swearing, making offensive remarks, webinars, and webcasts.
and demeaning other people, groups, or ● Webinar – Short for “web seminar,” an
organizations. interactive training method in which
● Try to make the presentation interesting. training is transmitted over the Internet.
● Don’t force humor. ● Webcast – A non-interactive training
● When answering audience questions, repeat method in which the trainer transmits
the question if the room is large. training information over the Internet.
B. Conducting Training Through Distance ● Teleconference – Trainees are sent a
Learning PowerPoint presentation that they view on
● One disadvantage of traditional classroom their computer while the trainer conducts
instruction is that all employees must be the audio portion of the training over the
taught at the same pace and in the same phone.
location. ● Blog – A website in which the host
● Asynchronous technologies – Distance regularly posts commentaries on a topic
learning programs in which employees can that readers can respond to.
complete the training at their own pace and ● Wiki – A collection of web pages in which
at a time of their choosing. users can create web pages on a topic and
● Synchronous technologies – Distance readers can freely edit those pages.
learning programs that require employees ● Listserv – A program that automatically
to complete the training at the same time distributes e-mail messages to a group of
and at the same pace although they may be people who have a common interest.
in different physical locations. C. Conducting On-the-Job Training
1. Asynchronous Distance Learning ● How employees learn through on-the-job
● This method of learning involves training (OJT).
providing employees with media materials ● OJT is informal training by experienced
for learning content and a series of exams peers and supervisors that occurs on the
to measure their understanding. job and during job tasks.
● Most asynchronous distance learning ● OJT works best for teaching skills that
training takes advantage of the concept of require supervision to learn, are best
programmed instruction. learned through repetition, and benefit
● Programmed instruction – A training from role modeling.
method in which employees learn 1. Learning by Modeling Others
information at their own pace. ● Modeling (also called Social Learning) –
Programmed instruction is effective learning through watching and imitating
because it takes advantage of several important the behavior of others.
learning principles: Characteristics of the Model
● Learning is self-paced. ● We tend to model behavior of people who
● Each trainee is actively involved in the are similar to us, who are successful, and
learning. who have status.
● Programmed instruction presents Characteristics of the Observer
information in small units or chunks, For an employee to model another’s behavior, three
because learning smaller amounts of conditions are necessary:
material is easier than learning larger ● the employee must pay attention to the
amounts. behavior of other employees.
2. Synchronous Distance Learning ● the employee must be able to retain the
● Programs are conducted live where the information that is being modeled.
trainer communicates to an audience that ● the employee must have the ability or skill
might “attending” over the phone, through to reproduce the behavior that is seen.
the Internet, or by satellite TV.
 2. Learning Through Job Rotation is assigned to an experienced employee,
● Job rotation – A system in which who is told to “show the kid the ropes.”
employees are given the opportunity to ● Coaching can be highly effective,
perform several different jobs in an allowing the new employee the chance to
organization. learn from a job expert.
● With job rotation, these organizations c. Professional Coaches
believe their managers will perform better ● Many organizations are using “corporate
by understanding more clearly how each coaches.”
employee performs his job. ● Corporate coaches – similar to
● Advantage: allows for both lateral consultants, yet rather than working with
transfers within an organization and greater the organization as a whole, they are hired
flexibility in replacing absent workers. to coach a particular employee, usually a
● Cross-training – teaching employees how manager.
to perform tasks traditionally performed by d. Mentoring
other employees. ● Mentor – An experienced employee who
3. Learning Through Apprentice Training advises and looks out for a new
● Apprentice training – A training employee.
program, usually found in the craft and ● A mentor is a veteran in the organization
building trades, in which employees who takes a special interest in a new
combine formal coursework with formal employee and helps him not only to
on-the-job training. adjust to the job but also to advance in the
Apprenticeship programs have been organization.
criticized for two major reasons: ● As with coaching, not all employees
● the emphasis during the apprenticeship make good mentors; thus, both the mentor
often is on the production of work as and the mentor-employee match must be
opposed to teaching new skills to the carefully chosen.
apprentice e. Performance Appraisal
● unions use apprenticeships to limit entry ● One excellent method of on-the-job
into their trades, leading to inflated wages training is to have a supervisor meet with
due to high demand and a shortage of an employee to discuss his strengths and
workers, as well as unfair minority hiring weaknesses on the job.
practices Three factors account for the difficulty:
4. Learning Through Coaching and ● The focus on salary administration is on
Mentoring past behavior, whereas the focus for
a. Coaching training is on future behavior.
Takes one of two forms: ● Performance appraisal for salary
● experienced employees working with new administration often is subjective and
employees emotional, whereas such appraisal for
● professional coaches who work with all training is objective and unemotional.
employees ● Salary administration looks at overall
Problems performance, whereas training looks at
● Good workers are not necessarily good detailed performance.
trainers, and good trainers are not Motivating Employees to Learn During
necessarily good workers. Training
● Pass-through programs – A formal A. Providing Incentives for Learning
method of coaching in which excellent ● Types of incentives - money, job security,
employees spend a period of time in the self- improvement, advancement, fun (an
training department learning training interesting training program), and
techniques and training employees. opportunity to enter a new career.
b. Experiences Employees as Coaches ● Skill-based pay – Compensating an
● In this form of coaching, a new employee employee who participates in a training
 program designed to increase a particular after it has been mastered in order to
job-related skill. retain learning.
Four common skill-based pay plans: C. Provide Employees with the
● Vertical skill plans – pay for skill in a Opportunity to Apply their training
single job. ● For information learned in training to
● Horizontal skill plans – focus on skills transfer to behavior on the job, employees
used across multiple jobs. must be given the opportunity and
● Depth skill plans – reward employees for encouraged to apply what they have
learning specialized skills. learned.
● Basic skill plans – focus on such basic ● One other method for getting employees
skills as math and English. to apply what they have learned in
Interest training is to train all the employees in a
● Employees will be more motivated to work area (team) at the same time.
learn when the training program is ● One advantage of doing this is they can
interesting. help and encourage each other.
Feedback D. Ensure Management Is Supportive of
the Training
● Providing employees with specific
● Employees are most likely to apply their
information about how well they are
new knowledge and skills if supervisors
performing a task or series of tasks.
encourage and reward them to do so.
● The employee will not learn if too little
E. Have Employees Set Goals
feedback is given. However, overly
● The use of knowledge and skills learned
detailed feedback causes frustration, and
in training can also be encouraged by
the employee will not learn at an optimal
having employees set goals.
level.
● Goal setting works best when goals are
● Negative feedback – Telling employees
individually set by each employee, are
what they are doing incorrectly in order to
concrete rather than vague, and are high
improve their performance of a task.
enough to be challenging but not so
Ensuring Transfer of Training
difficult as to be impossible.
● Transfer of training – The extent to
Putting It All Together
which behavior learned in training will be
If employees already possess the necessary skills
performed on the job.
and knowledge but aren’t performing well, the
A. Use Realistic Training Programs
problem is probably one of motivation,
● Research in learning has indicated that
communication, or work design rather than a lack
the more similar the training situation is
of training. If training is to be the desired
to the actual job situation, the more
intervention, several factors will affect its success:
effective training will be.
● Employees must have the skills and
● Employees will also be motivated to
abilities to complete the training
apply what they learned in training if the
successfully.
training program has a reputation among
● There should be minimal outside factors
them as being effective and useful.
that might distract the employee and keep
B. Have Opportunities to Practice
him from concentrating on the training
Work-Related Behavior During the
program.
Training
● Employees must be motivated to learn.
● Transfer of training is increased by
● The training method (e.g., programmed
having the trainee practice the desired
instruction, behavioral modeling, lecture)
behavior as much as possible.
must be a good match for the employee’s
● Such practice is especially important for
learning style, ability, and personality.
tasks that will not be performed on a daily
● The training method must be a good match
basis after training has been completed.
for the type of material being learned (e.g.,
● Overlearning – Practicing a task even
knowledge vs. a physical skill).
 ● The training program must allow for goal
setting, positive feedback, distributed
practice, overlearning, and the chance to
practice and apply the material learned
(transfer of training).
● There must be an opportunity and
encouragement to use the newly acquired
knowledge at work.
Evaluation of Training Results
A. Research Designs for Evaluation
Ways to evaluate effectiveness of a training
program:
- Practicality
- Experimental rigor
● Pretest – A measure of job performance
or knowledge taken before the
implementation of a training program.
● Posttest – A measure of job performance
or knowledge taken after a training
program has been completed.
● Solomon four-groups design – An
extensive method of evaluating the
effectiveness of training with the use of
pretests, posttests, and control groups.
B. Evaluation Criteria
There are six levels at which training
effectiveness can be measured:
● Content Validity - Content validity of
training is assessed by comparing its
content with the required job knowledge,
skills, and abilities. While this ensures
relevance to the job, it doesn't guarantee
effectiveness.
● Employee Reactions - A method of
evaluating training in which employees
are asked their opinions of a training
program.
● Employee Learning
● Application of Training
● Business Impact - A method of
evaluating the effectiveness of training by
determining whether the goals of the
training were met.
● Return on Investment