B8204 Human Resource Management: Training and Education

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B8204 Human Resource Management Training and
Education

• Thursday March 16, 2006

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Agenda

• Managing Training Education
• Chapter 6
• Cottrill (1997). Give your teams time and
  training. AME.
• Tuesday March 28th Case Presentation 5
• Thursday March 30th Managing Compensation and
  Rewards
• Exam Tuesday April 18, 1230-230

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Training

• Successful organizations and managers typically
  see people as a key resource in maintaining
  competitive advantage.
• These organizations and managers view employee
  training as an investment in their people, not an
  expense.
• Consists of an organizations planned efforts to
  help employees learn job-related competencies
  (i.e. knowledge, skills, abilities, and
  behaviours), with the goal of applying these on
  the job

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Training

• Can be valuable
• Increase employee competence and performance
• Increase employee motivation
• Increase employee adjustment and well-being
• Not always effective because training
• Is for the wrong thing
• Given to the wrong people
• Uses the wrong methods
• Characteristics of organizational training
• Much is crisis motivated
• Much is frivolous no particular goal
• Many fads and fashion
• Nontheoretical

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Why Spend on Training?

• When organizations were asked
• Technological change
• Customer complaints
• Legislation
• Changes in product or service
• Skill deficiencies

• Performance Problems
• Quality or other initiatives
• Lack of qualified people in external labor market
• Everyone else is doing it
• Too costly to hire or downsize
• Retention

• Why/when would it make sense NOT to spend on
  training?

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Transfer of Training

• 100 billion spent on corporate training every
  year
• Only 10 of training transferred to the job
• Trainee characteristics, training design, work
  environment all affect learning and retention,
  and subsequently generalization and maintenance

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Training Linked to Organizational Needs

• Workplace training is a key ingredient for
  organizational and Canadian competitiveness.
• Rapid changes e.g. employee expectations, use of
  teamwork, diversity and globalization requires
  employees to learn new skills.
• Training programs
• Prepare employees for future positions
• Enable the organization to respond to change
• Reduce turnover
• Enhance worker safety
• Improve customer service and product design
• Instructional design Process of systematically
  developing training to meet specified needs.

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How does Canada Compare?
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Systematic Training Design Process
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Needs Assessment

• Process of evaluating the organization,
  individual employee, and employees tasks to
  determine what kinds of training, if any, are
  necessary
• Conditions that prompt a needs assessment
• Some employees lack basic skills or are
  performing poorly
• New products, technology, or jobs are planned
• Outside forces e.g. customer requests or legal
  requirements
• Outcome of needs assessment
• Decisions about how to address the issues that
  prompted the needs assessment.

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Ensuring Readiness for Training

• Employee Readiness
• Motivated to learn See potential benefits
• Positive Work Environment
• Situational constraints e.g. resources, time,
  tools, etc.
• Social support e.g. encouragement, management and
  peer support
• To Maximize Employees Readiness for Training
• Communicate purpose
• Show training successes
• Provide information
• Highlight benefits
• Show link between employees skills and training
  content
• Provide necessary resources
• Opportunities to practice

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Planning the Training Program

• Should directly relate to the needs assessment
• Effective training objectives state
• What the employee is expected to do
• The quality or level of performance that is
  acceptable
• The conditions under which the trainee is
  expected to apply what is learned
• In-house, or contract out
• Depends on quantity of training, organizations
  experience
• Qualifications and experiences of staff
• Evidence that in-house programs work

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Case

• The Real World of TrainingWhat might be wrong
  here in terms of the training design?

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Choice of Training Methods

• Three Broad Categories
• Presentation methods Information is provided by
  instructors, computers, or other media
• Hands-on methods Actively involves the trainee
  in learning by trying out the behaviours being
  taught
• Group-building methods Helps trainees share
  ideas and experience, build group or team
  identity, understand how interpersonal
  relationships work

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Training Methods

• Classroom Training
• Audiovisual Training
• Computer-Based Training
• On-the Job Training
• Action Learning

• Business Games and Case Studies
• Behaviour Modelling
• Experiential Programs
• Team Training

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Case

• Evolution of Training at Mr. Lube
• What could be done to ensure that every employee
  has the competencies needed to meet Mr. Lubes
  standards, and keep the cost down? That is, what
  is the best method (s) of training in this case?

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Measuring Results of Training
Reaction Satisfaction with Program
Learning New knowledge or skills
Training Evaluation
Behaviour Behaviour change
Results Improvement in individual and/or
organizational performance Return on investment
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Evaluation of Training

• Transfer of training
• On-the-job use of competencies enhanced in
  training
• Training outcomes
• Evaluate what (if anything) has changed as a
  result of the training

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Trainee Characteristics that can Influence
Increase Transfer Outcomes

• Ability, personality, motivation
• Self Efficacy task specific confidence
• Becoming key variable in training
• Relates to post-training outcomes
• Can be increased by
• Enactive mastery experience
• Vicarious experience/modeling
• Persuasion from significant others
• Physiological and affective states

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Training Design that can Increase Transfer and
Outcomes

• Communicate learning objectives clearly
• General principles (general rules theoretical
  principles underlying training)
• Present information in memorable ways
• Break information into chunks include visual
  images
• Link content to trainees jobs
• Use familiar concepts, terms, and examples
• Identical elements in training and transfer
  settings
• Opportunities to demonstrate and practice
• Provide feedback
• Stimulus variability
• Varied stimuli during training

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Work Environment Characteristics that can
Increase Transfer Outcomes

• Favorable organizational climates
• Freedom to set goals
• Supportive environment
• Manager/employer buys-in

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Case

• Training Designed to Change Behaviour and
  Attitudes
• What might the results indicate? Is there a
  problem with training evaluation?

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Applications of Training

• Two categories of training that have become
  widespread among Canadian companies
• Orientation training designed to prepare new
  employees to perform their job effectively, learn
  about the organization, and establish work
  relationships
• Diversity training training designed to help
  create an inclusive environment for all employees

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Case Rough Edges at Central Lumber

• Central Lumber Company is a retail lumber and
  home improvement operation catering to both
  contractors and do-it-yourselfers
• Outlets across the country largest is Lakeside
  Central
• Head Office wants to improve customer service and
  its outlets sales performance, and intends to
  use Lakeside Central as a model operation

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Lakeside Central

• 22 salespeople
• Many employed for many years (10)
• High levels of product knowledge
• Spotters found that employees
• focused on contractors, not do-it-yourselfers
• various behaviour issues
• poor customer service skills
• lack of professionalism
• chit chat
• dissatisfaction with policies and procedures

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Lakeside Central

• The regional manager Ann was not happy
  recommended to the general manager of Lakeside
  Central that he should consider getting rid of
  most of the salespeople and bringing in higher
  quality
• What should the general manager do?
• Options?

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Lakeside Central

• HR Options
•   A Eliminate the poor performers and hire
  new employees.
• OR
• B Train and develop current staff.
• Do you think Lakeside Centrals problem should
  be solved through replacement or training? Why?
  Identify the pros and cons of each option

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Lakeside Central Option A replace

• PROS
• elimination of bad employees
• will eliminate the mentality of being focused on
  contractors
• introduction of new blood
• opportunity to start fresh
• CONS
• loss of huge product knowledge base and wealth of
  industry experience
• cost of terminating employment without just
  cause, i.e. reasonable notice amounts (as
  determined by employee age, length of service,
  level of position, availability of similar
  employment, experience / training /
  qualification) and potential outplacement
  services.
• impact on survivors, i.e. moral and motivation
• challenges associated with recruiting (important
  characteristics, measurement, evaluating,
  deciding who to hire)
• cost or recruiting new employees (recruitment,
  selection, socializing, training, turnover)

 
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Lakeside Central Option B training and
development

•  

• PROS
• retain knowledge and experience base,
• reduced costs, i.e. no separation costs
• elimination of learning curve associated with new
  employees
• results in stronger employees
• CONS
• may not be the solution to the problem
• may not be effective if training goals are not
  clear and realistic
• may not be a good investment
• may not work

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Lakeside Central

• Recommendation?
•  

Retain current employees and create training and
development programs to achieve new corporate
goals.
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Lakeside Centrals Solution

• Training existing employees will allow employees
  to be given specific skills and help them correct
  deficiencies in their performance
•  
• Development programs will allow employees to
  learn the abilities that will be necessary for
  the future success of the company.

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Systematic Training Design Process

• Needs assessment
• Determine Objectives
• Development Conduct of Training
• Evaluation

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Lakeside Central

• Utilize the training and development process to
  identify training and development options for the
  Lakeside Central sales staff.
• Step 1
• Needs assessment to identify the problems with
  current employees.
• What are some of the problems?

• Focused on contractors, not do-it-yourselfers
• Various behaviourly issues
• Poor customer service skills
• Lack of professionalism
• chit chat

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Lakeside Central

• Step 2 and 3
• Development of Appropriate Training Program
  (Determine Objectives,
• Development Conduct of Training)

• Objectives are to address the following areas
• Focused on contractors, not do-it-yourselfers
  Various behaviour issues Poor customer service
  skills Lack of professionalism chit chat
• Short Term Training Programs
• Customer Service Training
• On the Job Training
• Peer Training

• Long Term Training Programs
• Diversity Training
• Cross Functional Training
• Team Training

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Lakeside Central

• Step 4
• Evaluation
• What is the GOAL of the Training?, and to what
  extent is this GOAL being met?

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Next Week

• Tuesday March 21st
• Case Presentation 4
• Learning Technologies in the Workplace SaskTel
• Thursday March 23rd
• Employee Development