Training and DevelopmentQ) Meaning and Definition A business' most important asset is often its people. Training and developing them can be one of

the most important investments a business can make. The right training can ensure that your

business has the right skills to tackle the future. It can also help attract and retain good quality

staff, as well as increasing the job satisfaction of those presently with you - increasing the

chances that they will satisfy your customers.

Training and development refer to the imparting to specific skills’ ability and knowledge to an

employee. A formal definition of training and development is:

“… it is any attempt to improve current or future employee performance by increasing an

employee’s ability to perform through learning, usually by changing the employee’s attitudes or

increasing his or her skills and knowledge.”

The need for training and development is determined by the employee’s performance deficiency,

computed as follows:

We can make a distinction among training, education and development. Such distinction enables

us to acquire a better perspective about the meaning of the terms. Training, as was started earlier,

refers to the process of imparting specific skills. Education, on the other hand, is confined to

theoretical learning in the classrooms.

Training and Development need = Standard performance – Actual performance.

TRAINING AND EDUCATION DIFFERENTIATED :

Training Education

Application oriented

Job experience

Specific tasks

Narrow perspective

Theoretical oriented

Classroom learning

General concepts

Broad perspective

Development refers to those learning opportunities designed to help employees grow.

Development is not primarily skill-oriented. Instead, it provides general knowledge and attitudes,

which will be helpful to employees in higher positions. Efforts towards development often

depend on personal drive and ambition. Development activities, such as those supplied by

management development programmes, are generally voluntary.

THE TRAINING PROCESS

(1) ORGANIZATIONAL OBJECTIVES AND STRATEGIES:

The first step in the training process in an organization is the assessment of its objectives and

strategies. What business are we in? At what level of quality do we wish to provide this product

or service? Where do we want to be in the future? It is only after answering these and other

related questions that the organization must assess the strengths and weaknesses of its human

resources.

Organizational Objectives

and Strategies

Assessment of Training

Needs

Establishment of Training

Goals

Devising Training

Programme

Implementation of

Training programme

Evaluation of Results

(2) ASSESSMENT OF TRAINING NEEDS:

Organizations spend vast sums of money on training and development. Before committing such

huge resources, organizations would do well to assess the training needs of the employees.

Organizations that implement training programmes without conducting needs assessment may be

making errors.

Needs assessment occurs at two levels:

a) Individual

b) Group

Individual:

An individual obviously needs training when his or her training falls short of standards, that is,

when there is performance deficiency. Inadequacy in performance may be due to lack of skill or

knowledge or any other problem. The problem of performance deficiency is caused by absence

of skills or knowledge can be remedied by training. Faulty selection, poor job design, uninspiring

supervision or some personal problem may also result in poor performance. Transfer, job

redesign, improving quality of supervision, or discharge will solve the problem.

Individuals may also require new skills because of possible job transfers. Although job transfers

are as common as organizational personal demands vary, they do not necessarily require

elaborate training efforts. Employees commonly require an orientation to new facilities and jobs.

Recently, however, economic forces have necessitated significant retraining efforts in order to

assure continuous employment for many individuals.

Group:

Assessment of training needs occurs at group level too. Any change in the organization’s

strategy necessitates training groups of employees. For example, when the organization decides

to introduce a new line of products, sales personnel and production workers have to be trained to

produce, sell and service the new products. Training can also be used when high scrap or

accident rates, low morale and motivation, or other problems are diagnosed.

Needs Assessment Methods:

Several assessment methods for are available for assessing training needs. Some are useful for

organizational level needs assessment and others for individual needs assessment.

Benefits of Needs Assessment:

Needs assessment helps diagnose the cause of performance deficiency of employees. Causes

require remedial actions. There are specific benefits of needs assessment.

Trainers may be informed about the broader needs of the training group and their sponsoring

organizations.

The sponsoring organizations are able to reduce the perception gap between the participant

and his or her boss about their needs and expectations from the training programme.

Trainers are able to pitch their course inputs closer to the specific needs of the participants.

(3) ESTABLISHMENT OF TRAINING GOALS:

Once the training needs are assessed, training and developmental goals must be established. With

out clearly set goals, it is not possible to design a training and development programme and, after

it has been implemented, there will be no way of measuring its effectiveness. Goals must be

NEEDS ASSESSMENT METHODS

Group analysis

Organizational goals and

objectives

Personnel/skills inventories

Organizational climate indices

Efficiency indices

Exit interviews

MBO or work planning systems

Quality circles

Customer survey/satisfaction

data

Individual analysis

Performance Appraisal

Work sampling

Interviews

Questionnaires

Attitude survey

Training progress

Rating scales

tangible, verifiable, and measurable. This is easy where skill training is involved. For example,

the successful trainee will be expected to type 55 words per minute with two or three errors per

page. But behavioral objectives like attitudinal changes can be more difficult to state.

Nevertheless, clear behavioral standards of expected results are necessary so that the programme

can be effectively designed and results can be evaluated.

(4) DEVISING THE TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

Every training and development programme must address the following vital issues:

1. Who are the trainees?

Trainees are selected on the basis of:

Self Nomination

Recommendations of the Supervisor

By the HR Department itself

Whatever is the basis, it is advisable to have two or more target audiences. For example, rank-

and-file employees and their supervisors may effectively learn together about a new process and

their respective roles. It also helps facilitate group processes such as problem solving and

decision – making.

2. Who are the trainers?

Training and development may be done by:

Immediate Supervisors

Co – workers

Personnel Staff

Specialists in other parts of the company

Outside Consultants

Industry Associations

Faculty Members at Universities

Who among these are selected to teach, often depends on where the program is held and the skill

that is being taught.

Who are the trainees?

Who are the trainers?

What methods & techniques?

Where to conduct the program?

What principles of learning?

What should be the level of training?

3. What Methods and Techniques of Training should be used?

A multitude of methods and techniques is used to train employees. Training techniques are the

means employed in the training methods. Training methods are categorized into two groups –

on-the-job methods and off-the-job methods. The most commonly used techniques are shown in

the table given below.

On-the-Job Method (OJT):

Majority of industrial training is on the job training type. OJT method is mainly adopted

while orienting new employees, introducing innovations in products & services and in

special skills training. OJT is conducted at the work site and in the context of the job. Often,

it is informal, as when an experienced worker shows a trainee how to perform the job tasks.

Off-the-Job Training Method:

Off-the-job training is mainly adopted for orienting new employees, introducing innovations

in products and services, special skills training, safety education, creative, technical &

professional education and sales, administrative, supervisory and managerial education. The

advantages and disadvantages of some of the important techniques of off-the-job methods are

listed below:

a) Lectures :

Lecture is a verbal presentation of information by an instructor to a large audience. This

method can be made effective when combined with other means of training.

METHODS & TECHNIQUES OF TRAINING

On-the-Job Method Off-the-Job Method

Orientation TrainingJob-Instruction Training

Job RotationCoaching

Simulation LectureFilms & Television

Conference/DiscussionProgrammed InstructionCase Study

VestibuleRole Play

b) Audio-Visuals :

These include television slides, overheads, video-types, films and LCD Projectors.

c) Programmed Instruction (PI) :

Training is offered without the intervention of the trainer. Information is provided to the

trainee in blocks, either in a book form or through a teaching machine. PI involves:

1. Presenting questions, facts, or problems to the learner.

2. Allowing the person to respond.

3. Providing feedback on the accuracy of his or her answers.

4. If the answers are correct, the learner proceeds to the next block.

d) Simulations :

A simulator is any kind of equipment or technique that duplicates as nearly as possible the

actual conditions encountered on the job. It is an attempt to create a realistic decision –

making environment for the trainee. The advantage of simulation is the opportunity to ‘create

an environment’ similar to real situations the managers incur, but without the high costs

involved should the actions prove undesirable.

The other techniques of training are:

Leadership games: exercises to teach different styles of leadership.

Skill Games: Tests to develop analytical skills.

Communication Games: exercises to build bias – free listening and talking.

Strategic Planners: Games to test ability to plan ahead.

Team – building games: Exercises requiring collaborative efforts.

Lateral Thinking: thinking randomly to come up with new ideas.

Cross – cultural training: Programmes to teach specifics of varied cultures.

4. What should be the level of learning?

The inputs passed on to trainees in training and development programmes can be taught at three

basic levels.

Level I The trainee must acquire fundamental knowledge. This means developing a

basic understanding of a field and becoming acquainted with the language,

concepts and relationships involved in it. E.g. Orientation Training

Level II The goal is skill development, or acquiring the ability to perform in a

particular skill area.

Level III Aims at increased operational proficiency. This involves obtaining additional

experience and improving skills that have already been developed.

All the inputs of training can be offered at the three levels. How effectively they are learned

depends upon several principles of learning.

5. What should be the Principles of Learning?

Training and development programmes are more likely to be effective when they incorporate the

following principles of learning:

Motivation:

Motivation to learn is the basic requisite of making training and development programmes

effective. Motivation comes from awareness that training fetches some rise in status and pay.

Employee Motivation

Recognition of Individual Differences

Practice Opportunities

Reinforcement

Knowledge of ResultsGoals

Schedules of Training

Meaning of Material

Transfer of Learning

LEARNING PRINCIPLES

Internal pressures (self-esteem, quality of life, job satisfaction) are the most powerful

motivators. At the same time the individual must also have the ability to learn.

Individual Differences:

Individuals enjoy varying learning stimuli. Ability varies from individual to individual and

this difference must be considered while organizing training programmes.

Practice Opportunities:

People learn best through practice. The trainee should be given the opportunity to practice

what is being taught. Practice is also essential after the individual has been successfully

trained.

Reinforcement:

Reinforcement is anything that

a) Increases the strength of response

b) Tends to induce repetitions of the behavior that preceded the reinforcement.

Reinforcement could be positive and negative. Positive reinforcement strengthens and

increases behavior by the presentation of desirable consequences. The reinforcement consists

of a positive experience for the individual. Example: if an employee does something well and

is complemented by the boss, the probability that the behavior will be repeated will be

strengthened.

In negative reinforcement, the individual exhibits the desired behavior to avoid something

unpleasant. Example: an employee who does something to avoid incurring a reprimand from

his boss. The effect of negative reinforcement is avoidance of learning.

Knowledge of Results (feedback):

Knowledge of results is a necessary condition for learning. Feedback about the performances

will enable the learner to know where he or she stands and to initiate corrective action if any

deviation from the expected goal has taken place.

Goals:

Goal setting can also accelerate learning, particularly when it is accompanied by knowledge

of results. Individuals generally perform better and learn more quickly when they have goals,

particularly if the goals are specific and reasonably difficult.

Schedules of learning:

One of the most well – established principles of learning is that distributed or spaced learning

is superior to continuous learning.

Schedules of learning involve:

a) Duration of practice sessions

b) Duration of rest sessions

c) Positioning of rest pauses

All the three must be carefully planned and executed.

Meaning of material:

A definite relationship has been established between learning and meaningfulness of the

subject learnt. The more meaningful the material, the better the learning process.

Transfer of Learning:

What is learnt in training must be transferred to the job. The traditional approach to transfer

has been to maximize the identical elements between the training situation and the actual job.

This may be possible for training skills such as maintaining a cash register, but not for

teaching leadership or conceptual skills. Often, what is learnt in a training session faces

resistance back at the job. Techniques for overcoming resistance include creating positive

expectations on the part of trainee’s supervisor, creating opportunities to implement new

behavior on the job, and ensuring that the behavior is reinforced when it occurs.

Though, it is desirable that a training and development programme incorporates all these

principles, seldom is such a combination effected in practice.

6. Where to conduct the programme?

A training and development programme can be conducted:

i. At the job itself

ii. On site but not the job – for example, in a training room in the company.

iii. Off the site, such as in a university or college classroom, hotel, a resort, or a conference

center.

(5) IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROGRAMME:

Once the training programme has been designed, it needs to be implemented. Implementation is

beset with certain problems:

a) Most managers are action oriented and frequently say they are too busy to engage in training

efforts.

b) Availability of trainers is a problem. In addition to possessing communication skills, the

trainers must know the company’s philosophy, its objectives, its formal and informal

organizations, and the goals of the training programme. Training requires a higher degree of

creativity than, perhaps, any other personnel specialty.

c) Scheduling training around the present work is another problem.

Programme implementation involves action on the following lines:

a) Deciding the location and organizing training and other facilities

b) Scheduling the training programme

c) Conducting the programme

d) Monitoring the progress of trainees

(6) EVALUATION OF THE PROGRAMME:

The last stage in the training and development process is the evaluation of results. Since huge

sums of money are spent in training and development, how far the programme has been

successful must be judged or determined. Evaluation helps determine the results of the training

and development programme. In practice, however, organizations either overlook or lack

facilities for evaluation.

Need for Evaluation:

The main objective of evaluating the training programmes is to determine if they are

accomplishing specific training objectives, that is, correcting performance deficiencies. A second

reason for evaluation is to ensure that any changes in trainee capabilities are due to the training

programme and not due to any other conditions. Training programmes should be evaluated to

determine their cost effectiveness. Evaluation is useful to explain programme failure, should it

occur. Finally, credibility of training and development is greatly enhanced when it is proved that

the organization has benefited tangibly from it.

Principles of Evaluation:

Evaluation of the training programme must be based on the following programmes:

a) Evaluation specialists must be clear about the goals and purpose of evaluation

b) Evaluation must be continuous

c) Evaluation must be specific

d) Evaluation must provide the means and focus for trainers to be able to appraise themselves,

their practices, and their products.

e) Evaluation must be based on objective methods and standards.

f) Realistic target dates must be set for each face of the evaluation process. A sense of urgency

must be developed, but deadlines that are unreasonably high will result in poor evaluation.

There are various approaches to training evaluation. To get a valid measure of training

effectiveness, the personnel manager should accurately assess trainee’s job performance two to

four months after completion of training.

Two writers have suggested that four basic categories of outcome can be measured.

a) Reaction: evaluate the trainee’s reaction to the programme. Did he like the programme? Did

he think it worthwhile?

b) Learning: did the trainee learn the principles, skills and the fact that the supervisor or the

trainee wanted him to learn?

c) Behavior : Whether the trainee’s behavior on the job changed because of the training

programme?

d) Results: what final results have been achieved? Did he learn how to work on machine? Did

scrappage costs decrease? Was turnover reduced? Are productions quotas have been met?

Questionnaires or structured interviews with the immediate supervisors of the trainees are

acceptable methods for obtaining feedback on training. The supervisor is asked to rate the former

trainee on job proficiency directly related to the training objectives.

Besides, pre-and-post tests be administered to the training groups. Prior to the training, a test

related to the training material is applied, and the results of this pre-test are compared with

results on the same or similar test administered after the programme has been completed.

Q) Objectives of Training and DevelopmentStaying ahead in today's business world is more challenging than ever. Building trust and

promoting teamwork are just two expectations of any business leader.

Training and development programs are designed to keep an organization at the front of its

industry maximize performance and energize every level of the organization. Training and

Development is also seen to strengthen the tie between employee development and strategic

operation objectives.

The objectives of Training and Development are as follows: -

Efficiency: Employees become efficient after undergoing training. Efficient employees

contribute to the growth of the organization.

Fewer accidents: Accidents, scrap and damage to machinery and equipment can be avoided

or minimized through training. Even dissatisfaction, complaints, absenteeism, and turnover

can be reduced if employees are trained well.

Meeting manpower needs: Future needs of employees will be met through training and

development programmes. Training serves as an effective source of recruitment. Training is

an investment in human resource with promise of better returns in future.

Improves quality: Better-informed workers are likely to make less operational mistakes.

Quality of products or services will definitely increase. This can be well measured through

the reduction in rejections.

Personal growth: Training programmes also deal with personality development of the

employees (through goal setting, motivation, leadership skills, etc.) thus they personally gain

through exposure to training programmes.

Obsolescence prevention: Training and development programs foster the initiative and the

creativity of the employees and help to prevent the manpower obsolescence, which may be

due to age, temperament, or the inability of the person to adapt himself to technological

changes.

Versatility in operations: Training makes the employees versatile in operations. All

rounders can be transferred to any job. Flexibility is therefore ensured. Growth indicates

prosperity, which is reflected in profits every year.

Employee stability: Training contributes to employee stability in at least 2 ways.

Employees become efficient after undergoing training. Efficient employees contribute to

the growth of the organization. Growth renders stability to the work force. Further trained

employees tend to stay with the organization.

Q) Effectiveness and Evaluation of Training and DevelopmentEffectiveness of Training

Training and Development programmes are most likely to be effective when they incorporate the

following principles

1.Employee Motivation-motivation to learn is the basic requisite to make training and

development programmes effective. Motivation comes from awareness that training fetches

some rise in status and pay. Motivation alone is not enough; the individual must have the ability

to learn.

2.Recognition of individual differences

Regardless of individual differences, and whether a trainee is learning a new skill or acquiring

knowledge of a given topic, the trainee should be given the opportunity to practice what he is

taught. Practice is essential after individual is successfully trained.

3.Schedule of learning

Duration of practice sessions, duration of rest sessions and positioning of rest pauses are the

three schedules, which must be carefully planned and executed for an effective training

programme.

Besides, Training can be made effective, if action on the following lines is initiated: -

1.It should be ensured that the management commits itself to allocate major resources and

adequate time to training. This is what high performing organizations do. For example XEROX,

invest 300 $ million annually or about 2.5% of its revenue on training. Similarly Hewlet Packard

spends about 5% of its annual revenue to train 87000 workers.

2.It should be ensured that training contributes to competitive strategies of the firm. Different

strategies need different HR skills for implementation. Let training help employees at all levels

acquire the needed skills.

3.Ensure that a comprehensive and systematic approach to training exists, and training and

retraining are done at all levels on a continuous and ongoing basis.

4.Training can be made effective by making learning as one of the fundamental values of the

company. This philosophy should percolate down to all employees in the organization.

5.It should be ensured that there is proper linkage among organizational, operational and

individual training needs.

6.And finally to make training effective a system to evaluate the effectiveness of training needs

to be prepared so that the shortfalls can be easily looked at.

Why Training Fails?

The benefits of training are not clear to the top management.

The top management hardly rewards the supervisors for carrying out effective training.

The top management rarely plans and budgets systematically for training

The middle management, without proper incentives from top management does not account

for training in production scheduling

Without proper scheduling from above, first line supervisors have difficulty in production

norms if employees are attending training programmes.

Trainers provide limited counseling and consulting services to the rest of the organization.

Evaluation of Training

Organizations are under pressure to justify various expenses. The training budget is,

often, not exempted from this purview. There are a number of questions raised on the value

derived from training programmes—both directly and indirectly. Business heads and training

managers are under pressure to prove the effectiveness of training

Thus it can be seen,

The last and one of the most important stages in the training and development process is

the evaluation of results. Since huge sums of money are spent on training and development. how

far the training has been useful must be judged/determined.

Evaluation helps determine the results of the training and development programme.

In practice is however seen, organizations either overlook or lack facilities for evaluation.

Need for evaluation: -

The main objective of evaluating the training programme is to determine if

they are accomplishing specific training objectives, that is correctible

performance deficiencies.

Secondly training programme should be evaluated to determine their cost

effectiveness. Evaluation is useful to explain programme failure, if it

occurs.

And finally the credibility of training and development is greatly enhanced

when it is proved that the organization has benefited tangibility from it.

Principle of evaluation

Evaluation of training programme must be based ob following principles

1. The evaluation specialist must b clear about the goals and purposes of evaluation.

2. Evaluation must be continuous.

3. Evaluation must be specific.

4. Evaluation must provide the means and focus for trainers to be able to appraise

themselves

5. Evaluation must be based on objective methods and standards.

6. Realistic target dates must be set for each phase of the evaluation process. A sense of

urgency must be developed, but deadlines that are unreasonably high will result in poor

evaluation.

Criteria for evaluation.

HR professionals should try to collect four types of data while evaluation training programmes.

I. Measures of reaction.

Reaction measures reveal trainees’ opinions regarding the training programme.

II. Learning

Learning measures assess the degree to which trainees have mastered the concepts, knowledge

and skills of the training.

III. Behavioural change

Behavior indicates the performance of the learners.

IV. Organizational results

The purpose of collecting organizational results is to examine the impact of training on the work

group or the entire company.

Techniques of evaluation

Several techniques of evaluation are being used in organizations. It may be stated that the

usefulness of the methods is inversely proportional to the ease with which the evaluation can be

done.

The following are the techniques of evaluation: -

1.Experimental and control groups.

Each group is randomly elected, one to receive training and the other not to receive training.

The random selection helps to assure the formation of the groups quite similar to each other.

Measures are taken of relevant indicators of success. (E.g.-words typed per minute, pieces

produced per hour etc) before and after training for both groups.

If the gain demonstrated by the experimental group is better than those by the control group, the

training programme is labeled as successful.

2.Longitudinal or time series analysis

Measurements are taken before the programme begins and are continued during and after the

programme is completed. These results are plotted on a graph to determine whether changes

have occurred and remain as a result of training effort. To further validate, that change has

occurred as a result of training and not another variable, a control group can be included.

In order to conduct a thorough evaluation of a training programme, it is important to assess the

costs and benefits associated with the programme. This is a difficult task, but it is useful in

convincing the management about the usefulness of the training.

Some of the costs that should be measured for a training programme include needs assessment

costs, salaries of training department staff, purchase of equipment, programme development

costs, trainers cost during the training period.

The benefits to be compared to the costs are rupee payback associated with the improvement in

trainee’s performance, their behavioral change and the longevity of the period during which the

benefit would last.

Q) Follow – Up of Training

Following-up is the last step in the training process. Here, the training program is already

completed and the trainees go back to their departments or positions and start doing the work

assigned. However, the management feels that training / development is a means and not the

end in itself. Training is essentially for achieving certain objectives. Management will like to

know actual results / benefits of training. For this, follow-up of training in the form of

evaluation training is essential. Management spent huge amount of money on training of

employees and this expenditure should give positive return in terms of higher efficiency,

productivity, high morale, cordial industrial relations and so on. For this, critical evaluation

of training program is essential. This indicates the effectiveness of the training. Even suitable

modification / improvement in the training program is possible after analyzing the results

available from such evaluation. In brief, evaluation helps determine the results of training

and development program. Unfortunately, many organizations overlook this important step in

the training process. In some companies, suitable facilities required for evolution of training

are not available.

Follow-up is the key to ensuring that interventions improve performance. Various follow-up

approaches in the work place are used to support trainers, supervisors, service providers and

others responsible for implementing the performance improvement interventions.

The follow up technique will increase the probability that learning and behavior changes will

"stick" back on the job. These techniques are easy to use, don't require large amounts of time

or organizational integration and cost very little. They can be added on to existing training or

designed with new training.

On the whole, follow–up action is required to ensure implementation of evaluation report at

every stage of training.

Q) Importance of Training and Development

Training and development programmes help remove performance deficiencies in employees. This is particularly true when

(1) The deficiency is caused by a lack of ability rather than a lack of motivation to perform(2) The individual(s) have the aptitude and motivation needed to learn to do the job better,

and(3) Supervisors and peers are supportive of the desired behaviors.

There is greater stability, flexibility and capacity for growth in an organization. Training contributes to employee stability in at least two ways. Employees become efficient after undergoing training. Efficient employees contribute to the growth of the organization. Growth renders stability to the work force. Further, trained employees tend to stay with the organization. They seldom leave the company. Training makes the employees versatile in operations. All rounder can be transferred to any job. Flexibility is therefore ensured. Growth indicates prosperity, which is reflected in increased profits from year to year. Nobody else but well trained employees can contribute to the prosperity of an organization.

Accidents, scrap and damage to machinery and equipment can be avoided or minimized through training. Even dissatisfaction, complaints, absenteeism, and turnover can be reduced if employees are trained well.

Future need of employees will be met through training and development programmes. Organizations take fresh diploma holders or graduates as apprentices or management trainees. They are absorbed after course completion. Training serves as an effective source of recruitment. Training and development is an investment in human resources with a promise and it serves as an effective source of recruitment. Training and development is an investment in HR with a promise of better returns in future.

A company’s training and development pays dividends to the employee and the organization. Though no single training programme yields all the benefits, the organization which devotes itself to training and development enhances its HR capabilities and strengthens its competitive edge. At the same time, the employee’s personal and career goals are furthered, generally adding to his or her abilities and value to the employer. Ultimately, the objectives of the HR department are also furthered.

How to identify training needs?

Needs assessment diagnoses present problems and future challenges to be met through training and development. Organizations spend vast sums of money (usually as a percentage on turnover) on training and development. Before committing such huge resources, organizations would do well to assess the training needs of their employees. Organizations that implement training programmes without conducting needs assessment may be making errors. For ex- ample, a needs assessment exercise might reveal that less costly interventions (e.g. selection, compensation package, job redesign) could be used in lieu of training. Needs assessment occurs at two levels group and individual. An individual obviously needs training when his or her performance falls short of standards, that is, when there is performance deficiency. Inadequacy in performance may be due to lack of skill or knowledge or any other problem. The problem of performance deficiency caused by absence of skills or knowledge can be remedied by training. Faulty selection, poor job design, uninspiring supervision or some personal problem may also result in poor performance. Transfer, job redesign, improving quality of supervision, or discharge will solve the problem. Figure illustrates the assessment of individual training needs and remedial measures.

Assessment of training needs must also focus on anticipated skills of an employee. Technology changes fast and new technology demands new skills. It is necessary that the employee be trained to acquire new skills. This will help him/her to progress in his or her career path. Training and development is essential to prepare the employee to handle more challenging tasks. Deputation to a part-time MBA programme is ideal to train and develop such employees. Individuals may also require new skills because of possible job transfers. Although job transfers are common as organizational personnel demands vary, .hey do not necessarily require elaborate training efforts. Employees commonly require only an orientation to new facilities and jobs. Recently, however, economic forces

Performance Deficiency

Lack of skill or knowledge

Training

Other Causes

Non- training Measures

have necessitated significant retraining efforts in order to assure continued employment for many individuals. Jobs have disappeared as technology, foreign competition, and the force of supply and demand are changing the face of our industry. Assessment of training needs occurs at the group level too. Any change in the organization’s strategy necessitates training of groups of employees. For example, when the organization decides to introduce a new line of products, sales personnel and production workers have to be trained to produce, sell and service the new products. Training can also be used when high scrap or accident rates, low morale and motivation, or other problems are diagnosed. Although training is not a cure-all, such undesirable happenings reflect poorly trained work force.

Needs Assessment Methods: How are training needs assessed? Several methods are available for the purpose. As shown in Fig. 9.4, some are useful for organizational-level needs assessment and others for individual needs assessment.

Group or Organizational Analysis

Organizational goals and objectives Personnel/ skill inventories Organizational climate indices Efficiency indices Exit interviews MBO or work planning systems Quality circles Customer survey/satisfaction data Consideration of current and projected changes

Individual Analysis

Performance appraisal Work sampling Interviews Questionnaires Attitude survey Training progress Rating scales

Benefits of Needs Assessment: As was pointed above needs assessment helps diagnose the causes of performance deficiency in employees. Causes require remedial actions. This being a generalized statement, there are certain specific benefits of need& assessment. They are:

1. Trainers may be informed about the broader needs of the training group and their sponsoring organizations.

2. The sponsoring organizations are able to reduce the perception gap between the participant and his or her boss about their needs and expectations from the training programme.

3. Trainers are able to pitch their course inputs closer to the specific needs of the participants.