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Training And Development Analysis Essay Training and education have been increasingly conceived as contributing to the quality and productivity of work and thus the profitability of the organization. When good employees are hired, the organization is benefited by investing in their skill development. The training and development of the employees serve many purposes, apart from quality and productivity improvement. The organization becomes ready to adopt advanced technologies and is also able to find replacements when personnel move up the organization or leave it (ZeroMillion, 2002). Employees become more efficient and motivated and the organization also has adequate human resources for its expansion plans. In earlier times, people were selected and developed as managers based on knowledge of their work and understanding of the organization’s requirements. Workers were told on the requirements and expectations of the management, and the workers delivered it. There were no programs directed at career counseling and performance reviews. The need for stress counseling, interpersonal skills improvement, career advancement, recognition and rewarding was not felt. However in the 1950s to 1980s, the management began focusing on the need to train on core functioning areas like planning, finance, sales and accounting etc. Participants deeply involved themselves on a topic and then moved to another topic. Most management schools did not emphasize on an integrated curriculum of all topics. These managers could hardly solve problems as problems were integrated and the approach to solving them was only restricted to the topic relevant. A manager can solve problems effectively by integrating his knowledge and expertise across various domains. With wider recognition of human relations aspect in managing organizations, training programs were developed to improve efficiency and productivity through coaching, motivation, career development etc. (McNamara, 1997)   Today management schools review diverse management topics, analyze them, and apply that understanding to workplace requirement. Training and development play a vital role in an organization’s attempt of total quality (TQ). Training workshops facilitate stimulation of the attendees’ interest and knowledge, which would drive them towards TQ realization. When training workshops fail to encourage the attendees towards TQ realization, then such workshops have very little or no bearing. Many management personnel believe that interest in TQ would be automatically inculcated when employees mingle and share with each other. Thus, they anticipate great positive changes with every training session. However, many people in the managerial and supervisory roles would see the impending changes as a threat to their position and authority, and therefore indulge in tactics to avoid the implementation of changes. Training can bring about changes and wonders when planned and implemented properly. It should be noted here that training is not considered necessary by all companies, as most training events and sessions cannot be directly attributed to outcomes. Therefore some managers tend to perceive training as a luxury of larger companies who can afford to absorb the costs. Training initiatives need to be related to specific outcomes (Atkinson, 1998). By appropriate planning, the trainer is focused to deliver positive and tangible outcomes. When training is managed properly, the required changes or outcomes are successfully realized. However generalized training using inappropriate material, video presentations and irrelevant case studies are more directed towards the self interest of the trainer rather than the organization. Along with technological innovation and, research and development, training and development is also one of the most important investments a company can make for its progress. The quality of the employees is determined by their experiences and exposure within the organization. When these experiences are restricted in terms of time or opportunity for development, then the employees cannot be expected to solve bigger problems. The employees only tend to keep improving their expertise within the scope of their narrow field. Training in management is similar to athletic training in several ways. In athletics, the successful coachers are those who have undergone similar experiences like those of their trainees. The coach here understands how skills are acquired and how mental blocks like attitudes, hinder effective training. The athletic coach wouldn’t straight away plan a training strategy to make the athlete competitive for the Olympics.   The coachers learn the past performances of the athletes, their ups and downs and appropriately design training strategies. Similarly in management training too, the earlier experience and performance of the managers, their strengths and weaknesses are looked into, while planning their training. Past experiences and its associated success and failures, would help in predicting future behavior with and without training. Sometimes training can create problems by fueling hostility from mangers, mainly because of previous disappointments and sustained ill repute, rendering the training a waste of time and resources. However, determined policy makers can convert hostility into meaningful partnerships. Effective partnering can be developed by trainers crediting success and achievements to the managers. Historically, disappointments associated with training are less intense and take longer time to surface. This is because of the strategy adopted by trainers to play safe by ensuring their programs look successful. The trainers incorporate only standard, mild designs and methods to avoid slipping on the outcomes and attempt to camouflage this by asking for more time, staff and resource requirements. Even when managers have a slight positive attitude, there exists opportunities for better collaboration. Such managers would only demand evidence of the worth of the training. The training partner should welcome this and be ready to slow proof. Managers may sometimes want trainers to design programs or modify them to address their needs. By appropriately creating or modifying programs, a partnership is forged and strengthened. There are other managers who support training and partner with it without any critical examination. These managers don’t listen or speculate on informal concerns and go about answering, signing and scheduling the training. Such kind of cooperation and support would be sufficient for training programs that have been well established. However for training associated with change strategies, this support would not be sufficient. When managers presume ownership of training and are in charge of training, they assume a powerful role (Lynton and Pareek, 2000). They actively participate with the trainers and explore opportunities, options and situations for effective training. Proceeding further, managers acquire required competencies in training and join the training team. Managers have detailed understanding of the work settings and work process and their presence in the training team can be very beneficial. Preparing a training budget is an important administrative responsibility of the training manager. An organization’s concern for training is reflected by the amount sanctioned for training against the requested, budgeted amount. It is important for training managers to strive hard to position training within the organization as something that would enable employees to gain what the organization wants them to acquire. Training should not be perceived by internal customers as a mere classroom program or a teaching department. When, due to any finance crunches, budget cutting is required; it would most probably come down to the training budget. However, if the organization at any later date wants to impart some training or sees a need for training, can easily bring in funds from other programs or departments. Thus learning, if deemed necessary, would always be funded. An organization funds its training programs in several ways. Some organizations have a central training budget from where funds are efficiently transferred to the training department to take care of the organization’s training needs. Sometimes the training department is allocated sufficient money to run its own affairs, like its department’s salaries, supplies and over heads etc. The funds required for the conduct of the programs comes from the budgets of the departments requiring the training. The training department normally raises a charge for its services. Organizations use various terminologies for its budget like budget accounts or chart of accounts; and its own terminology for budgeted items. However a typical budget for the training department includes salaries, benefits, recruitment, consulting, supplies, postage, travel, communications etc. After allocation of funds, the training department tracks its spending on the basis of the same categories. Using a spread sheet, a report is generated showing the expenses for each category in the current month, year-to-date expenses, budget amount for the year and the remainder left for the year. All organizations have their own policies and format for reporting financial data and the training manager too has to conform to this. Employees rely on training, not only to improve their expertise on their current job, but also to help them prepare for responsibilities and prospects. Each job must be designed to provide opportunities for learning and growth. The jobs must be able to enhance skill variety, incorporate task significance and also include autonomy and feedback. Job dissatisfaction is an obvious outcome caused by jobs that are seemingly unrewarding in themselves. Employee resignations and turnover is also increased when people are not trained properly. Employees begin to feel that the demands made on them cannot be fully delivered without proper training. When new employees are not provided adequate training, they experience an ‘induction crises’. Learning and training programs raise existing skills and competences among employees to expected standards, while increasing their morale and confidence. Employees must be encouraged to acquire new skills so that they can assume bigger responsibilities and perform various tasks. Such multi-tasking would also help them to earn more under skill-competency based pay structure. Training is very important when organizations experience change. All successful change implementation efforts need to be supported by enabling structures like retention programs, rewards system and outplacement programs. Retention programs are very crucial as change implementation can turn out to be a major cause for employee turn over. Employees are generally encouraged to those aspects of work, which are rewarded and discard those aspects, which are not rewarded. Thus employees can be reallocated by appropriate training. Sometimes, change implementation may involve downsizing. However, the organization should work out to ensure minimal damage by downsizing, as downsizing can jeopardize any change implementation effort. Before laying off any employee, the manager must consider if the employee has any skills that can be deployed in another position or division of the organization. Here again the prospects of training for adapting is considered. Only when the employee looks incapable of acquiring newer skills or when the employee is not very enthusiastic of training should lay off be considered. If layoff is inevitable, the organization should ensure that a comprehensive outplacement services are offered to him, so that the employee holds the organization in high esteem in his further association with the industry (Harvard, 2005). When organizations introduce technological changes, the work processes are changed and training is required to help employees to perform their new responsibilities with ease and confidence. The machine and its human operator are two complementary units of the work process, and none can replace the other. Science-driven changes are fast and multidirectional. The impact of technology and its bearing on competition is very vast. Different technologies have varying impact on management systems. Technologies used in their work processing in banking, insurance, production line etc., require system redesign and new operator skills. In steel and power generation plants, the central control is carried out by electronic technology. Genetic, bioengineering and instrumentation technology backed procedures require considerable amount of decentralization and cooperation at operator levels. Thus change of technology or introduction of new technology into the work cycle, create certain demands to redesign the work process and work environment, for which training is necessary (Saini and Khan). While training programs are mainly proposed at the employer levels, work unions can also play a crucial role in training and development. The achievements of British trade unions is a standing example of what it can achieve for its members when it’s focused on training and learning. During the last few years, the British trade unions have adopted training and learning as an important element of their agenda. The role of unions in establishing ‘learning agreements’ with employers, creating union learning representative (ULR) and several union learning programs are seen as success stories associated with unions. Unions have also been provided a stakeholder role in the vocational education and training system (VET). Today, most of the important institutional bodies include a formal representation of unions. Unions are represented in the learning skills council (LSC) and the sector skills council (SSC). New sector skills agreements and regional skills agreements have been formed in sectors where unions are present. The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has a formal representation on the National Skills Alliance to advice government on the implementation and progress of skills strategy. Although unions have very limited role at the policy formulation level, they have a larger new role in improving workplace learning. The establishment of the union learning representative is perceived as an innovation of the central union. The role of the representative is to support and motivate workers in taking up workplace learning. The success of workplace learning is evident from the associated facts and figures. As of December 2006, the TUC claims to have trained over 13,000 ULRs. More than 3000 workplaces have been covered with over 450 union learning projects, while over 67,000 learners benefit from these courses each year. There have also been many cases where unions have been in partnership with employers to develop learning and skills acquirement. It is important to note here that employers and employees perceive training and training success in different ways. Employers prefer to develop-specific skills that directly help their business. Union and employees on the other hand, would want to develop broad transferable skills, which can help in an individual’s employment and career. Such programs are very valuable to the employees and sometimes be a life changing experience for many. It helps them to advance their career, while also encouraging them to become more active in the union. A unionlearn random postal survey has highlighted an enormous latent demand for learning (Unionlearn, 2007)  Ã‚   Over 96% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that it is important to always be learning. People also wanted to take to learning for various reasons. About 81% of people wanted to study for their personal development or as a leisure time activity, while 56% wanted to learn, to benefit at their work. Sometimes workplace training is imparted remotely too through e-learning. The benefits of technology in learning is not just restricted to classroom learning alone, but also to workplace learning. The workplace trainer here needs to have appropriate teaching skills to help the understanding of remote students. The remote workplace trainer requires technology-based instructing skills, comparable to that of an academic teacher. In the coming years, probably all teachers, academic or workplace, would be trained to handle remote teaching, given the trend of e-learning. Successful e-learning for the American workforce calls for combined action by the public and private sectors. Quality issues, assessment and certification, and access to e-learning opportunities are vital areas that need to be focused to make e-learning more beneficial. Business houses need to realize the potential of e-learning and integrate e-learning into their strategies and operations. A training program is designed based on the assessed needs or requirement of the members.   The learning needs are separated into groups and the groups connected in a logical manner. Each group is then associated with goals or outcomes to be realized at the end of the training program. The goals are split into learning objectives, which are specific requirements that a trainee must know or be capable of, once the program is completed. For instance, if an organization’s needs are assessed and found that its supervisors should learn more on performance management, then the training program should have the following outcomes: 1) Supervisors should know the company policy on performance management. 2) Supervisors should manage employee performance only according to the rules and procedures of the company. 3) Supervisors must conduct themselves with the legal limits when addressing performance management issues. When a training program is to designed, it is essential that all departments are involved in it with the training department (O’Connor, Bronner and Delaney, 2003). A wider representation and involvement is necessary as the training outcomes would virtually affect everyone in the organization. The design team should also be represented by members from HR and Legal Departments. Based on the identified needs and the training outcomes, the duration of the training program and the modules are planned. The training professional must ensure that the program activity incorporate good instructional and adult learning principles. The program should have various activities giving priority to group work and interaction than individual readings or lectures. The programs should reflect the organizational culture while being focused on individual learning. The design of the training program should have relevance to the experience and knowledge existing already with the participants. The program should stop once the required learning has been accomplished. Segmenting a designed program helps the training team and the participants to focus on packets of contents, one at a time, for more clarity. The program content may be divided into days, with each day divided into units and each unit divided into modules. The effectiveness of a training session can be evaluated by several parameters. The training can be said to be efficient and effective when it has achieved its objectives. The validity of the training is determined by ascertaining whether the training has been able to solve problems associated with output, service and outflow. The validity of the training program is also seen from the perspective of the participants, whether it has met their needs.   The training program is evaluated by measuring the overall cost benefit of the program while validation is the judgment of objectives achievement. Using a series of tests and assessments, internal validation can be carried out to ascertain whether the participants have acquired knowledge, skills or experienced attitude modification. Common measuring instruments are the opinion of the attendees, opinion of trainers, opinion of managers and opinion of peers and colleagues.   The knowledge gained by training can also assessed through oral, written, objective or practical tests. The skills acquired can be assessed by asking the trainee to demonstrate the skills with a checklist and without a checklist, before judges (Ramaswami, 1992). The checklist must reflect the actions or procedures required to be performed. The attitudes of trainees are measured by actual observation of behavior, by judges, or by an attitude scale for reference. Apart from the training imparted, it has been perceived that certain attributes of the trainer itself can contribute to the influence of the participants. When the trainer is prepared and confident, the participants are convinced and feel at ease. When the trainer is enthusiastic and purpose-oriented, the trainees become interested and get a clear objective. The responsibility and involvement in enhancing productivity has gradually shifted from the management level executives to the capable and knowledgeable workers. The management facilitates and encourages workers to work independently and determine ways of doing things in a better way. This approach is significantly different from its earlier approach of controlling and instructing workers. The management also wants its employees to share their knowledge and expertise with others so that the organization benefits from the new knowledge. With more work being automated, workers have to think of ways and techniques appropriate to the speed and requirements of the automated facility. Learning is necessary to realize and understand better, the ways to doing things that would benefit the customer. Learning is very different from training, which is imparting of skills required for a particular task or work requirement. Learning is an ongoing process, which doesn’t require exclusive sessions or classes; and is perhaps the heart of productive activity (Thite, 2004). Given the globalization and intense competition in the market place, a suitable idea from anyone is appreciated as long as it contributes to process improvement. Ideas even help transform organizations by breaking new grounds. People are encouraged to think of solutions and apply them to their daily work. Organizations need to realize the power of learning and benefit from it to successfully face global competition. REFERENCES Unionlearn.(2007) The role of trade unions in the formation and distribution of learning and skills, [Electronic Version] downloaded on 12th May, 2008 from http://www.unionlearn.org.uk/policy/learn-2042-f0.pdf ZeroMillion (2002). Employee training and Development [Electronic Version] downloaded on 13th May, 2008 from 4. Employee Training and Development McNamara C. (1997) Brief History of Management training and Development. [Electronic Version] downloaded on 13th May, 2008 from http://www.managementhelp.org/mgmt_dev/history/history.htm Atkinson P., (1998) Creating Culture Change; Strategies for Success, Jaico Publishing House O’Connor, Bronner and Delaney (2003) Training for Organizations, Thomson Learning, Singapore Ramaswami N, (1992) A Handbook of Training Development, T.R. Publications Lynton R.P, Pareek U., (2000) Training for Organizational Transformation Sage Publications    Harvard (2005), The Essentials of Managing Change and Transition. Publisher: Harvard Business School Press. Thite M., (2004). Managing People in the New Economy. Response Books. Sage Publication Saini D.S, Khan S.A., (2000), (Eds) Human Resource Management. Perspectives for the New Era, Publisher: Response Books, Year of publication 2000.