Employee Training and Development

1
Employee Training and Development

• Chapter 11

2
Training Defined

• Training is the process of aiding employees to
  gain effectiveness through the development of
  appropriate habits of thought, action, knowledge
  and attitudes

3
Objectives of Training

• Provide employees with specific skills
• Provide employees with information needed
• Make employee attitudes more consistent with
  operating policies
• Provide employees with an understanding of the
  objectives and programs
• Retrain employees when management changes job
  content/method
• Train employees for promotion

4
Establishing a Training Program

• Requires 3 actions
• Establishing a training policy
• Conducting a needs assessment
• Developing an organization for training

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Types of Training

• Once training needs have been assessed, a
  training program must be designed which defines
  goals and objectives
• Types of training
• OJT
• Mentoring
• Job rotation
• Career development
• Off-the job-training
• Off-the-premises

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Off-The-Job Training

• Something that cannot be taught on the job
• Training for promotion, supervisory methods, or
  execution of new programs frequently require off
  the job. Some methods are
• Lecture
• Conference
• Case study
• Demonstration
• Role playing

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Off-The Premises

• Utilizes outside resources because it is more
  economical than setting up program for a few
• Run by professionals and are of a higher quality
  than in house

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Evaluation of Training Programs

• Quite difficult because training deals with
  intangibles
• Opinions should be avoided
• Preferable to determine if employees have
  introduced any new ideas or have supervisors
  noticed any change in behavior or work patterns
• Sometimes the training subject lends itself to
  statistical evaluation (reduction in time-lost)

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Evaluation of Training Programs

• Training effectiveness is measured by comparing
  training objectives with programs results
• Reaction of participants
• Training material learned
• Assessing changes in behavior
• Determining whether objectives have been reached

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Evaluation of Training Programs

• ICMA survey found
• That many cities make no attempt to evaluate
  their training programs
• That even where evaluation is tried, there is
  little effort to compare results against goals
• That most evaluation was done through informal
  feedback (opinion should be avoided)
• If training is to be effective, there must be a
  needs assessment, goal setting and evaluation
  design

11
Canton v Harris

• Harris alleging violation of her right to receive
  medical attention while in custody
• Court held that the inadequacy of police training
  may serve as a basis for liability
• Employees must be equipped with skills

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Training in the Public Sector

• Valued by program managers, administrators and
  employees
• Federal program funding requires training for
  persons employed in the programs
• Government Employees Training Act
• Executive order 11348

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Training in the Public Sector (cont)

• The U.S. Bureau of Training
• Clinton authorized a program of individual
  learning accounts.
• OPM authorizes pilot programs
• Agencies use programs aimed at their own
  specialized needs
• State and local governments are also committed to
  the development of their employees

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Professionalization of Public Service

• Public service emphasis on training has resulted
  in the creation of advanced degree programs
• MPA programs tend to emphasize the environment
  and the need to instill a sense of public
  accountability
• Management programs are equally applicable to
  both sectors

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Professionalization of Public Service (cont)

• Some argue education should shift toward an
  emphasis on learning that can be applied
  immediately
• Others argue that theory and practice are not
  mutually exclusive
• Recognition of the special needs has resulted in
  innovative program delivery systems that depart
  from traditional academic semester

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Professionalization of Public Service (cont)

• Government has traditionally been the principle
  employer of certain professions
• Unfortunately, the curricula of most professional
  schools lack a public service orientation and
  place emphasis on managerial and supervisory
  training
• Not all positions require advanced degrees

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Organizational Perspective of Training

• Training involves more than developing managerial
  skills
• Includes activities related to service delivery,
  organizational changes, socialization of
  employees and management conflict
• The type of training used depends on nature and
  complexity of traits and skills to be developed

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Commonly Cited virtues of Training

• Improves level of productivity
• Improves quality of work
• Reduces/prevents obsolescence
• Increases job satisfaction
• Reduces the number and cost of work related
  accidents
• Reduces the cost of equipment repair and
  maintenance

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Production

• Refers to the principal activity of the
  organization
• New employees learn the expectations of their
  positions through training
• The delivery of skills and orientation training
  involves supervision and work groups
• Training for supervisors and managers receives
  greater emphasis than training for rank file

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Adaptation

• Refers to an organizations need to deal
  effectively with changing demands from its
  environment
• It is particularly important for public
  organizations that are accountable to external
  authorities

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Organizational Development

• Occurs when organizations engage in systematic
  assessments of themselves and their environment
  to achieve goals more effectively
• OD can be defined as change that increases
  organizational effectiveness across entire
  organization
• OD methods are discussed on page 232

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Socialization

• Training aimed at shaping the attitudes, values
  and perceptions of employees
• Training is provided to those who promote into
  supervisory ranks
• Orientation programs
• Should emphasize a client service orientation and
  high personal professional standards
• Focus on accountability and public service
• Supervisors and managers should develop new
  skills or supplement others

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Total Quality Management

• Aimed at quality productivity improvement
• Responsibility for quality control on line
  workers not inspections
• TQM uses OJT and cross training
• Widely adapted in government
• TQM reduces costs
• TQM emphasizes relationships with customers and
  suppliers
• Provides internal processes

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Coordination

• Thought of as critical management activity
• Subunit goals must not sub-plant organizational
  goals
• The importance of work unit coordination is also
  reflected in the skills training
• Employees must be cross-trained
• The organizations must elevate training and
  development to an organization priority

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Conclusion

• Training is essential to being efficient and
  avoiding liability
• Employers must be continually aware of the need
  for training
• The need for training is always there
• The law requiring adequate training is there as
  well