Chapter 07 – Training Employees
Chapter Seven: Training Employees
Welcome to your guide to teaching Chapter Seven, Training Employees!
This guide will provide you with a chapter summary, learning
objectives, lecture outlines, solutions to in-chapter case questions
and end of chapter discussion questions and possible responses.
Chapter Seven Roadmap
We hope you find each chapter of your Instructor Manual practical and useful, but also,
exciting! You can adapt the chapter text, the PowerPoints, and the video to work in an online
class environment, a guided independent study environment, or a face to face or on-ground
environment.
When presenting Chapter Six, have the students first read the chapter and encourage
them to absorb the “big picture” of Training Employees.
Use the PowerPoint for Chapter Six to frame your lecture.
Have students read and discuss the Cases and their respective Questions.
Have students validate their knowledge of the chapter by working through the
Discussion Questions at the end of the Chapter.
Lastly, have students review, journal, or discuss the Key Vocabulary Terms at the end of
the chapter.
ROADMAP: THE LECTURE
TRAINING EMPLOYEES
This chapter describes how to plan and carry out an effective training program. It begins with a
discussion on how to develop effective training in the context of the organization’s strategy.
Next, the chapter discusses how organizations assess employees’ training needs. It then
reviews training methods and the process of evaluating a training program. The chapter
concludes by discussing some special applications of training orientation of new employees and
the management of diversity.
Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter, the student should be able to:
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Chapter 07 – Training Employees
1. Discuss how to link training programs to organizational needs.
2. Explain how to assess the need for training.
3. Explain how to assess employees’ readiness for training.
4. Describe how to plan an effective training program.
5. Compare widely used training methods.
6. Summarize how to implement a successful training program.
7. Evaluate the success of a training program.
8. Describe training methods for employee orientation and diversity management.
I. Introduction
The opening chapter vignette discusses how some companies expect to hire new employees
who are already completely trained. Grainger CEO, Jame Ryan, states that some companies
have been sitting on the sidelines when it comes to training and they need to invest in training
and education. Microsoft is an example of a company that invests in training. They assessed
their employees and found they knew the products well but didn’t always know how to discuss
business solutions with customers. Instead of complaining about the gap, Microsoft invested in
a training program called Pitch Perfect to help the employees improve their skills..
Discussion Question and Suggested Response
1. What are some signs that companies are “on the bench” with training and signs they are
“investing in training and education?”
Student answers will vary. Answers should focus on if companies are assessing their
employees and staying current with job skills and giving ongoing training and development.
1. Training consists of an organization’s planned efforts to help employees learn job-
related knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors, with the goal of applying these on the
job.
2. A training program may range from formal classes to one-on-one mentoring and it may
take place on the job or at remote locations.
3. No matter what its form, training can benefit the organization when it is linked to
organizational needs and when it motivates employees.
II. Training Linked to Organizational Needs
1. The nature of the modern business environment makes training more important today
than it ever has been.
2. Rapid change, especially in the area of technology, requires that employees continually
learn new skills.
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Chapter 07 – Training Employees
3. The new psychological contract has created the expectation that employees invest in
their own career development.
4. An effective training program actually teaches what it is designed to teach and it teaches
skills and behaviors that will help the organization achieve its goals.
5. Growing reliance on teamwork creates a demand for the ability to solve problems in
teams, an ability that often requires formal training.
6. The diversity of the U.S. population, coupled with the globalization of business, requires
that employees be able to work well with people who are different from them. Successful
organizations take the lead in developing this ability.
7. Instructional design: a process of systematically developing training to meet specified
needs.
8. Figure 7.1, Stages of Instructional Design, identifies the individual stages of an
instructional design process. A complete instructional design process includes the
following steps:
a. Assessment of the needs for training – what the organization requires that its people
learn
b. Ensuring that employees are ready for training in terms of their attitudes, motivation,
basic skills, and work environment
c. Planning the training program including the program’s objectives, instructors, and
methods
d. Implementation of the program
e. Evaluation of the results of the training and providing feedback for planning future
training programs.
f. To carry out the process more efficiently and effectively, a growing number of
organizations are using a learning management system (LMS), a computer
application that automates the administration, development, and delivery of a
company’s training program.
Best Practices
A Strategic Approach to Learning at ConAgra Foods
ConAgra has grown to over 25,000 employees and has a strategic plan to continue to grow and
have the fastest growing sales and profits by 2017. The HR managers are developed a strategy
for sharing training resources to help meet training needs at all their facilities. The team
developed a three stage sales training strategy to ensure their sales people could act as trusted
advisors to the customers. The strategy includes: a set of simulations, videos ,and reading
materials to support classroom training, sales teams gather for two days of workshops to
practice skills, and managers sets goals for the salespeople and monitor the results. Another
target training area is for the leaders and it is called the Foundations of Leadership program.
This is for front line leaders to develop critical leadership skills. As a result of the training,
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Chapter 07 – Training Employees
ConAgra has saved an estimated $116,100 for every class of 28 supervisors trained because of
reduced turnover.
Discussion Questions with Possible Responses
1. What were the training objectives for salespeople? How did ConAgra measure the
results of training them?
The training objectives were for the salespeople to know the product line and customers so well
that they could act as trusted advisors. They had to understand financial data and how sales
contributed to ConAgra’s profits. They measured the results of the training by measuring profits.
2. Why was there a need to train first-line supervisors? What results of that training
program did ConAgra observe?
Many first-line supervisors had not had an opportunity to practice the skills of being a leader so
the training was needed to increase their knowledge and ability. ConAgra lowered turnover and
saved an estimated $116,100 for every class of 28 supervisors.
III. Needs Assessment
1. Needs assessment: the process of evaluating the organization, individual employee,
and employee’s tasks to determine what kinds of training, if any, are necessary.
2. A variety of conditions may prompt an organization to conduct a needs assessment:
a. Management observes that some employees lack basic skills or are performing poorly
b. The organization has decided to produce new products, apply new technology, or
design new jobs
c. Outside forces such as customer requests or legal requirements may prompt a needs
assessment
3. The outcome of the needs assessment is a set of decisions about how to address the
issues that prompted the needs assessment. These decisions do not necessarily include
a training program, because some issues should be resolved through other methods than
training.
A. Organization Analysis
1. Usually the needs assessment begins with the organization analysis. This is the
process for determining the appropriateness of training by evaluating the
characteristics of the organization.
2. The organization analysis looks at training needs in light of the organization’s
strategy: resources available for training and management’s support for training
activities.
3. Training needs will vary depending on whether the organization’s strategy is based
on growing or shrinking and whether it tries expanding to serve a broad customer
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Chapter 07 – Training Employees
base or focusing on the specific needs of a narrow market segment, among other
possibilities.
4. For an example of a company where a commitment to training supports corporate
strategy, see the “Best Practices” box.
5. Managers increase the success of training when they support training through
such actions as helping trainees see how they can use their newly learned
knowledge, skills, and behaviors on the job.
6. Conversely, managers will be most likely to support training if the people planning
it can show that it will solve a significant problem or result in a significant
improvement relative to its cost.
B. Person Analysis
1. Person analysis: a process for determining individuals’ needs and readiness for
training.
2. Person analysis involves answering several questions:
a. Do performance deficiencies result from a lack of knowledge, skills, or ability?
b. Who needs training?
c. Are these employees ready for training?
3. The person analysis is critical when training is considered in response to a
performance problem.
4. In assessing the need for training, the manager should identify all the variables
that can influence performance. The primary variables are the person’s ability and
skills, his or her attitudes and motivation, the organization’s input, performance
feedback, and positive consequences to motivate good performance. Of these
variables, only ability and skills can be affected by training.
C. Task Analysis
1. Task analysis: the process of identifying the tasks, knowledge, skills, and
behaviors that training should emphasize. Usually, task analysis is conducted
along with person analysis.
2. To carry out task analysis, the HR professional looks at the conditions in which
tasks are performed. These conditions include: the equipment and environment
of the job, time constraints, safety considerations, and performance standards.
IV. Readiness for Training
1. Effective training requires not only a program that addresses real needs, but also
employee readiness. Readiness for training is a combination of employee
characteristics and positive work environment that permit training.
2. Readiness for training exists when employees are able and eager to learn and when
their organizations encourage learning.
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Chapter 07 – Training Employees
A. Employee Readiness Characteristics
1. Employees need basic learning skills, especially cognitive ability, which includes
being able to use written and spoken language, solve math problems, and use logic
to solve problems.
1. Employees learn more from training programs when they are highly motivated to
learn.
3. Managers can influence this attitude in a variety of ways: providing feedback that
encourages employees, establishing rewards for learning, and communicating with
employees about the organization’s career paths and future needs.
B. Work Environment
1. Readiness for training also depends on two broad characteristics of the work
environment: situational constraints and social support.
2. Situational constraints are the limits on training’s effectiveness that arise from
situation-to-situation. Constraints can include: lack of monetary resources for
training, lack of time for training or practicing, and failure to provide proper tools and
materials for learning or applying the lessons of training.
3. Social support refers to the ways the organization’s people encourage training. This
can include: praise and encouraging words and sharing information needed for
participating in training programs
4. Table 7.1 summarizes some ways in which managers can support training.
5. Support can also come from the employees’ peers. Readiness for training is greater
in an organization where employees share knowledge, encourage one another to
learn, and have a positive attitude about carrying the extra load when co-workers
are attending classes.
V. Planning the Training Program
1. Decisions about training are often the responsibility of a specialist in the organization’s
training or human resources department.
2. The planned training program should directly relate to the needs identified by the needs
assessment.
3. Planning begins with establishing objectives for the training program.
A. Objectives of the Program
1. Formally establishing objectives for the training program has several benefits:
a. The program will be more focused and more likely to succeed
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Chapter 07 – Training Employees
b. Trainers can communicate the objectives to the employees participating in the
program
c. Provides a basis for measuring whether the program succeeded
2. Effective training objectives have three components:
a. A statement of what the employee is expected to do
b. A statement of the quality or level of performance that is acceptable
c. A statement of the conditions under which the trainee is expected to apply what
he or she learned
distribution in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in
whole or part.