TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

Training and Development Process

In the present day knowledge based environment, things are changing at a very fast pace. Even to
maintain its position, an organization has to do a lot as well as act very fast. Organization achieves
strategic advantages only due to its core competencies and core competence is developed only by the
employees of the organization. Hence for achieving a level of excellence, organizations are to invest in
updating the skills of its employees. This is done through training and development process. The process
of training and development is shown in Fig 1.

Fig 1 Process of training and development

Training and development process is an organizational activity aimed at improving the performance of the
individuals and groups of employees in the organizational settings. It is an organized activity for
increasing the knowledge and skills of the employees. It involves systematic procedures for transferring
technical and management skills to the employees. Training process is an important activity both for the
organization as well as for the employees. Skills acquired by the employees through training are assets
for the organization. The enhancement of the skills also provides the employees job security as well as
opportunities for career advancement.
In the modern industrial environment, where technological development is outpacing all other things,
there is a continuous need for systematic training and development of the employees. Through ‘training’
employees are taught specific skills while through ‘development’ employee’s personality and
management skills are enhanced. The training in an organization is necessary since there are:
 Advancement in technologies
 Demanding customers
 Thrusts for boosting productivity
 Requirements for improving the motivation levels
 Needs for improving the quality of output
 Necessities for effectiveness in management.
Training is a continuous process and it should not stop at any stage. The management should ensure that
a training programme should attempt to bring about positive changes in the knowledge, skills, and
attitudes of the employees. The objectives of a training programme are as follows.
 To prevent obsolescence in the organization
 To improve employees knowledge for doing specific job
 To impart skills to the employees systematically so that they learn the same quickly
 To impart multi skills in the employees so that they become capable of handling different jobs
 To bring about the change in attitude of the employees towards organization and the fellow employees
 To improve the overall performance of the organization by inculcating technological discipline in the
employees
 To train the employees in efficient handling of materials, plant and equipment
 To educate employees towards conservation of resources, pollution prevention and avoidance of
wastages
 To provide safety as well as occupational health training to the employees for man and equipment
health and safety
 To develop management skills in the employees so that they are prepared to take up higher
responsibilities and position
Benefits of training
Training of employees is costly but the ultimate cost is much more if an organization ignores to train its
employees. Hence investment in training is necessary since the training brings a number of benefits to
the organization as well as to the employees. The benefits to the organizations are listed below.
 Faster learning of new skills
 Increased productivity
 Standardization of procedures
 Reduced need of supervision
 Increased motivation and morale of the employees
 Economy of operations
 Managerial development
The benefits to the employees are as follows.
 Increase of the confidence level
 Learning of new skills
 Helps in career advancement and higher earnings.
 Developing resilience to change
 Improving safety at the workplace
 Helping in teamwork and hence improving interpersonal relationship
Training needs of an organization are identified by any of the following analysis.
 Organizational analysis – It is basically a systematic study of the organization’s objectives, resources,
resource allocation and utilization, growth potential and its environment. Its purpose is to determine
where the emphasis for training is to be placed in the organization so that effectiveness of the
organization increases.
 Task analysis – In task analysis the main focus is on the job. It requires the study of various types of
skills and training required to perform the job effectively. It is systematic analysis of jobs to identify job
contents, knowledge, skills and aptitudes needed to perform the job. The important aspects are the
tasks to be performed, the methods to be used, the way the employees learn these methods as well
as the performance standards required from the employees.
 Manpower analysis – Both the internal and external environments influence the quality of manpower
needed by an organization. The quality of manpower also depends upon the social, economical,
political and technological environments in which the organization operates. The manpower analysis is
done taking into considerations these factors to determine the quality of manpower needed. Specific
training needs for the manpower are determined for meeting the quality standards needed as per the
manpower analysis. These needs include (i) specific areas where employees need training, (ii) the
capability of present employees to learn new skills and behaviour, (iii) the time frame for imparting
training, and (iv) designing and redesigning of jobs with introduction of new work methods and
technologies.
Needs and types of training
In an organization, training needs can arise due to job changes, person changes and performance
deficiency. Job change occurs when an employee is given a new job within the organization. Person
change happens when an employee leaves the organization and a new person takes over his position.
Training need due to performance deficiency exists when there is a gap between the present skills and
knowledge of the employees and the skills and knowledge they require for their effective performance.
There are mainly three categories of the training needs. The first category of the organization training
need is that covers each and every employee of the organization. The second category of training need
relates to specific group of people within an organization. The third category relates to the training needs
of individual employees who have been identified to take up the new positions within the organization.
Training needs can be identified through appraisal sheets, self assessments, peers review, supervisor’s
assessment, structured assessments, and by systematic investigations. The need of training can be one
time requirement, recurring requirement or continuous requirement. The need of training can also be
changing with time. Further the scope of training can be limited or substantial. It can be a short time
learning course or a long term education. It can be acquisition of a skill by learning through practicals in a
workshop or can be enhancing qualification through studying in an institution. It can be on job training or
in class room training. It can be technical training or training in management practices. It can be training
for implementing a standard in the organization or can be in implementation of procedures with the
required discipline. The training can be orientation or induction training, job training, apprenticeship
training, internship training, refresher training or training to enhance skills for employee’s promotion.
Planning for training
Like any other management functions, training also needs proper planning in order to get maximum
efficiency and effectiveness from training and development process. In fact proper planning is a precursor
for effective training. For proper implementation of training and development process, both long term and
short term training are to be planned. Planning of training is to include operational level planning. The
training is to be planned keeping in view the capabilities of the participants. It is to be correctly
conceptualized and is to be well organized. The planning of a training session includes identification of
objectives and selection of appropriate contents, materials, training strategies and evaluation techniques.
The planning of a training session must include information of prior knowledge of trainees, format of
training, focus on behavioural aspects, contents of training, instructional procedures, and training aids etc.
Learning curve is an important factor to be considered while planning for training. It is a well known fact
that learning does not take place at constant rate. A number of factors such as the difficulty of task, and
the ability of an individual to learn influence the learning process. A learning curve (Fig 2) has three
stages. Stage I is rapid initial learning stage, stage II is the tapering of the learning stage while the stage
III is the fluctuating learning stage.

Fig 2 A typical learning curve

A properly designed and planned training process can create the potential for a virtuous learning circle
which is shown in Fig
 Fig 3 Virtuous learning circle
Principles of development of a training programme
The following principles are important for the development of a training programme.
 The person to be trained must have motivation to learn
 The training material must be meaningful and should relate to the purpose of the training programme.
 Training should provide variety to prevent boredom and fatigue.
 Since human beings tend to forget what they learn within the first 48 hours, it is necessary that the
employees should start practicing the new things which they learn in a training programme.
 Training material is to be well organized and should not only be properly presented but should also be
made available to the trainees.
 For a trainee to absorb the new learnings effectively, it is advisable that training programme is divided
into short sessions spread over long time instead long sessions held in short time.
 Getting a feedback on training from the trainees helps in improvement in the training programme.

What is Training and development Program

Training is a program that helps employees learn specific knowledge or skills to improve
performance in their current roles. Development is more expansive and focuses on employee
growth and future performance, rather than an immediate job role.

Why training is so important

Improved employee performance – the employee who receives the necessarytraining is more
able to perform in their job. ... A training program allows you to strengthen those skills that each
employee needs to improve. A development program brings all employees to a higher level so
they all have similar skills and knowledge.

How to conduct Training Needs Assessment

A training needs assessment identifies individuals’ current level of competence, skill or

knowledge in one or more areas and compares that competence level to the level
required for their position or another position within the organization. The difference
between the current and required competencies can help determine training needs.
Rather than assume that all employees need training or even the same training,
management can make informed decisions about the best ways to
address competency gaps among individual employees, specific job categories or
groups/teams.

Assessments can be conducted at any time but are often done after hiring, during
performance review times, when performance improvement is needed, for career
development plans or succession planning, or when changes in an organization involve
changes in employees’ jobs. It is beneficial to perform these assessments periodically to
measure changes in employees’ knowledge and skills and also training program
effectiveness.
Step 1: Identify the Business Need

A training assessment is the first step to any successful training program and is
critical as part of succession planning. Conducting this analysis allows an organization
to focus its efforts on areas of training that are necessary for employees to successfully
carry out the organization’s goals, make optimum use of the company’s training dollars,
and motivate employees by contributing to their career development. The person
conducting the training needs assessment must clearly understand the overall
organization and department goals and priorities, so he or she can properly assess the
training options and identify which training opportunities will contribute most to the
overall success of employees, the business units and the organization as a whole.

Essentially, why are you conducting a training needs assessment? What is the end
result that the employee, manager or executive team is trying to accomplish? Will
training contribute to this accomplishment? Sometimes training is not the answer. There
may be other organizational issues that would be best addressed through another
means—for example, through job analysis, goal clarification, reorganizing or realigning
a department, or employee engagement. See, Aligning Workforce Strategies With
Business Objectives.
Step 2: Perform a Gap Analysis

Performing a gap analysis involves assessing the current state of a department or

employee’s performance or skills and comparing this to the desired level. The difference
between the existing state and the desired state is the gap. There are many different methods
for conducting a gap analysis. The method for identifying the gap will depend on the
organization and the situation. Depending on the situation, it may be helpful to use one or more
gap analysis methods. Some gap analysis assessment tools are the following:

 Individual interviews. Individual interviews may be conducted with employees,

supervisors, senior managers and even sometimes clients/customers or outside
vendors. For example, with safety training, it would be important to talk with the
employees who not only had the accidents but also witnessed the accidents. In
addition, talking to employees who have never had accidents may be helpful to
find out what they may be doing differently. If the accidents involved equipment, it
may be fruitful to talk to the vendor that made the equipment or that services the
equipment.
 Focus groups. Unlike individual interviews, using focus groups involves
simultaneously questioning a number of individuals about training needs. Best
results would occur with a department or group of employees who would have
similar training needs. The participants brainstorm about all the training needs
they can think of and write them on a flip chart. Then each person is provided five
dots or sticky notes. (Note: You may only want to provide three dots, or maybe
you want to provide more than five—whatever works best for your organization.)
Each individual places the five sticky notes on the training ideas he or she
believes are the most important. An individual could choose to place one dot on
five different items, or all five on one training item.
 Surveys, questionnaires and self-assessments. Surveys generally use a
standardized format and can be in writing, electronic or by phone. Depending on
the situation it may be helpful to conduct surveys with employees as well as
customers. For example, when doing a customer service training needs
assessment, employers should ask employees what would help them provide
better customer service; employers should also get opinions from customers
about their experiences with employees. See, Skills Analysis Form and Training:
Needs Analysis Form.
 Observations. Sources for observation include on-the-job simulations of work
settings and written work samples.

Step 3: Assess Training Options

 The gap analysis generates a list of training options/needs. Now you can assess
the list based on the goals and priorities of the organization, both currently and in the
future.

A scale of 1 to 3 could be used with number 1 being critical, 2 being important and 3
being not important at all. Here are some example criteria for rating the level of
importance for training options:

 Solution to a problem. For example, when there is an employee performance

problem that has clearly been identified as a training issue, then providing the
training would generally solve the problem and the company would have a fully
competent employee.
 Cost. Cost of training is a significant factor that needs to be weighed in terms of
importance. Depending on the situation the organization may be willing to invest
a significant amount in one training but not in others.

Step 4: Report Training Needs and Recommend Training Plans

Considerations for the report and recommended training plans include:

 What training is already being offered, and should it continue to be offered?

 Will the training be conducted in-house or externally?
 Does it make sense to bring in a trainer to train several employees on the same
subject matter, rather than send everyone to an offsite training?
 Does the company have the subject matter expertise within HR or the training
department or in another department to conduct the training?
 Can and should the training be conducted online?
 What is the learning style of the participants?
 Are all participants at one location, or are they decentralized?