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Chapter 01 – Introduction to Employee Training and Development

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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION TO EMPLOYEE TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

Chapter One, “Introduction to Employee Training and Development,” discusses why training

and development are important to help companies successfully compete in today’s business

environment. The chapter provides an overview of training practices, the training profession, and

how to design effective training. This chapter is a basic introductory chapter explaining many of

the terms used in the area of training and development. The chapter begins with a discussion of

how companies such as Jiffy Lube International, Seattle City Light, Blue Cross, Blue Shield,

Scotiabank Group, and U.S. Airways Group used training to improve their competitive

advantage in the marketplace. The terms training and development are defined, and the various

forces such as globalization, workforce demographic changes, new technologies, the changing

roles of leadership, rapid development of knowledge, and development of e-commerce are

explained. The importance of training and development in today’s organizations, and today’s

global market is discussed, including the immense amount of money invested in training by U.S.

companies. A basic Instructional System Design model (ISD) or the ADDIE model is

introduced, and essential roles and competencies of trainer professionals are identified. Related

training and development Web sites, internet, and e-commerce examples are discussed at the end

of the chapter.

Objectives

1. Discuss the forces influencing the workplace and learning, and explain how training can help

companies deal with these forces.

2. Draw a figure or diagram and explain how training, development, informal learning, and

knowledge management contribute to business success.

3. Discuss various aspects of the training design process.

4. Describe the amount and types of training occurring in U.S. companies.

5. Discuss the key roles for training professionals.

6. Identify appropriate resources (e.g., journals, Web sites) for learning about training research

and practice.

I. Introduction

A. Competitiveness is the company’s ability to maintain and gain market share in an

industry.

B. Human resource management refers to the policies, practices, and systems that influence

employees’ behavior, attitudes, and performance.

C. Stakeholders refer to shareholders, the community, customers, employees, and all the

other parties that have an interest in seeing that the company succeeds.

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II. Training and Development: Key Components of Learning

A. Learning refers to employees acquiring knowledge, skills, competencies, attitudes, or

behaviors.

B. Human capital refers to knowledge (know what), advanced skills (know how), system

understanding and creativity (know why), and motivation to deliver high-quality products

and services (care why).

C. Training refers to a planned effort by a company to facilitate learning of job-related

competencies, knowledge, skills, and behaviors by employees. The goal of training is for

employees to master the knowledge, skills, and behaviors emphasized in training and

apply them to their day-to-day activities.

D. Development refers to training as well as formal education, job experiences, relationship,

and assessments of personality, skills, and abilities that help employees prepare for future

jobs or positions.

E. Formal training and development refers to training and development programs, courses,

and events that are developed and organized by the company.

F. Informal learning refers to learning that is learner initiated, involves action and doing, is

motivated by an intent to develop, and does not occur in a formal learning setting.

G. Explicit knowledge refers to knowledge which is well documented, easily articulated, and

easily transferred from person-to-person. Examples of explicit knowledge include

processes, checklists, flowcharts, formulas, and definitions.

H. Tacit knowledge refers to personal knowledge based on individual experiences that is

difficult to codify.

I. Knowledge management refers to the process of enhancing company performance by

designing and implementing tools, processes, systems, structures, and cultures to improve

the creation, sharing, and use of knowledge.

III. Designing Effective Training

A. The training design process refers to a systematic approach for developing training

programs.

1. It is based on principles of Instructional System Design, which refers to a process for

designing and developing training programs.

2. The training design process sometimes is referred to as the ADDIE model because it

includes analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation.

3. Regardless of the specific Instructional System Design (ISD) approach used, all share

the following assumptions:

a. Training design is effective only if it helps employees reach instructional or

training goals and objectives.

b. Measurable learning objectives should be identified before the training program

begins.

c. Evaluation plays an important part in planning and choosing a training method,

monitoring the training program, and suggesting changes to the training design

process.

B. Overcoming the Flaws of the ISD Model

1. The ISD model is flawed for the following reasons:

Chapter 01 – Introduction to Employee Training and Development

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a. In organizations, the training design process rarely follows the neat, orderly, step

by- step approach of activities.

b. In trying to standardize their own ISD method used in the training function, some

organizations require trainers to provide detailed documents of each activity

found in the model.

c. The ISD implies an end point: evaluation.

d. Many companies claim to use an instructional design approach but dilute its

application.

2. The training design process should be systematic, yet flexible enough to adapt to

changing business needs.

IV. The Forces Influencing Working and Learning

The poor economy means more companies are downsizing their work force, delaying plans

for new operations and growth, and revisiting training and development and human resource

budgets to cut unnecessary programs and costs. Economic crisis provide an opportunity for

companies to take a closer look at training and development to identify those activities that

are critical for supporting the business strategy as well as those mandated by law.

A. Globalization

1. Companies provide cross-cultural training to their global employees and their family

which prepares them to understand the culture and norms of the country to which they

are being relocated and assists in their return to their home country after the

assignment.

2. Some companies develop a leadership team to learn about the needs and the culture of

the foreign countries while at the same time providing valuable community service.

3. Few companies provide extensive coaching and assessment of managerial potential

and provide regular feedback to keep employees focused on the things they need to

do to reach their career goals.

4. Globalization also means that U.S. companies may move jobs overseas; offshoring

refers to the process of moving jobs from the United States to other locations in the

world.

B. Increased Value Placed on Intangible Assets and Human Capital

1. Human capital refers to the sum of the attributes, life experiences, knowledge,

inventiveness, energy, and enthusiasm that the company’s employees invest in their

work.

2. Intellectual capital refers to the codified knowledge that exists in a company.

3. Social capital refers to relationships in the company.

4. Customer capital refers to the value of relationships with persons or other

organizations outside the company for accomplishing the goals of the company.

5. The value of intangible assets and human capital has three important implications:

a. A focus on knowledge worker

b. Employee engagement

c. An increased emphasis on adapting to change and continuous learning

6. Knowledge workers are employees who contribute to the company not through

manual labor but through what they know, perhaps about customers or a specialized

body of knowledge.

Chapter 01 – Introduction to Employee Training and Development

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7. Employee engagement refers to the degree to which employees are fully involved in

their work and the strength of their commitment to their job and the company.

8. Change refers to the adoption of a new idea or behavior by a company.

9. A learning organization embraces a culture of lifelong learning, enabling all

employees to continually acquire and share knowledge.

C. Focus on Links to Business Strategy

Managers are beginning to see a more important role for training and development as a

means to support a company’s business strategy.

D. Changing Demographics and Diversity of the Work Force

1. Increase in ethnic and racial diversity

2. Aging work force

E. Generational Differences

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, five generations (generation Z,

generation Y, generation X, baby boomers, and traditionalists) will participate in the

workforce in 2012, each one with unique and similar characteristics to the others. To

successfully manage a diverse work force, managers and employees must be trained in a

new set of skills, including:

1. Communicating effectively with employees from a wide variety of backgrounds

2. Coaching, training, and developing employees of different ages, educational

backgrounds, ethnicities, physical abilities, and races

3. Providing performance feedback that is free of values and stereotypes based on

gender, ethnicity, or physical handicap

4. Training managers to recognize and respond to generational differences

5. Creating a work environment that allows employees of all backgrounds to be creative

and innovative

F. Talent Management

Talent management refers to the systematic, planned, and strategic effort by a company

to use bundles of human resource management practices, including acquiring and

assessing employees, learning and development, performance management, and

compensation to attract, retain, develop, and motivate highly skilled employees and

managers. It is becoming increasingly important because of:

1. Occupational and job changes

2. Retirement of baby boomers

3. Skill requirements

4. Need for developing leadership skills

G. Customer Service and Quality Emphasis

1. Total Quality Management (TQM) is a companywide effort to continuously improve

the ways people, machines, and systems accomplish work.

2. The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and ISO 9000:2000 quality standards

were established to emphasize and recognize high quality and to publicize strategies

and expectations for quality. Table 1.5 lists the categories and point values for the

Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award examination.

3. The ISO 9000:2000 Standards were developed by the International Organization for

Standardization. These standards have been adopted as the national quality standards

in nearly 100 countries. These are used in manufacturing, processing, servicing,

printing, forestry, electronics, steel, computing, legal services, and financial services.

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4. Many companies are also using the Six Sigma process for monitoring and improving

quality. The Six Sigma process refers to a process of measuring, analyzing,

improving, and then controlling processes once they have been brought within the

narrow Six Sigma quality tolerances or standards. Training is an important

component of the process.

5. Lean thinking involves doing more with less effort, equipment, space, and time, but

providing customers with what they need and want.

6. ISO 10015 is a quality management tool designed to ensure that training is linked to

company needs and performance.

H. New Technology

1. The Internet is a global collection of computer networks that allow users to exchange

data and information.

2. The Internet has created a new business model—e-commerce, in which business

transactions and relationships can be conducted electronically.

3. Advances in sophisticated technology along with reduced costs for the technology are

changing the delivery of training, making training more realistic, and giving

employees the opportunity to choose where and when they will work.

4. Technology also allows companies greater use of alternative work arrangements. A

key training issue with alternative work arrangements is to prepare managers and

employees to coordinate their efforts so such work arrangements do not interfere with

customer service or product quality.

I. High-Performance Models of Work Systems

1. Work teams involve employees with various skills who interact to assemble a product

or provide a service.

2. Cross-training refers to training employees in a wide range of skills so they can fill

any of the roles needed to be performed on the team.

3. Use of new technology and work designs needs to be supported by specific human

resource management practices.

4. Virtual teams refer to teams that are separated by time, geographic distance, culture,

and/or organizational boundaries and that rely almost exclusively on technology (e-

mail, Internet, video conferencing) to interact and complete their projects.

V. Snapshot of Training Practices

A. Training Facts and Figures

Key trends in investments in learning initiatives:

1. Direct expenditures, as a percentage of payroll and learning hours, have remained

stable over the last several years.

2. There is an increased demand for specialized learning that includes professional or

industry-specific content.

3. The use of technology-based learning delivery has increased from 11 percent in 2001

to 29 percent in 2010.

4. Self-paced online learning is the most frequently used type of technology-based

learning.

5. Technology-based learning has helped improve learning efficiency, as shown by

increases in the reuse ration since 2003.

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6. Technology-based learning has resulted in a larger employee–learning staff member

ratio.

7. The percentage of services distributed by external providers (e.g., consultants,

workshops, training programs) dropped from 29 percent in 2004 to 23 percent in

2010.

B. Training Investment Leaders

1. Higher investment in training by companies in the United States is related to use of

innovative training practices and high-performance work practices such as teams,

employee stock ownership plans, incentive compensation systems (profit sharing),

individual development plans, and employee involvement in business decisions.

2. The BEST Award winners were companies that had made a significant investment in

training, determined by ranking all companies that participated in the Benchmarking

Service on four categories: training investment, total training hours per employee,

percentage of employees eligible for training who received it, and percentage of

training time delivered through learning technologies.

C. Roles, Competencies and Positions of Training Professionals

1. Each job held by a trainer (instructional designer, technical trainer, or needs analyst)

has specific roles or functions.

2. The ASTD competency model describes what it takes for an individual to be

successful in the training and development field.

3. Traditional narrow jobs in the training department focusing on one type of expertise

are changing.

D. Who Provides Training?

1. In most companies training and development activities are provided by trainers,

managers, in-house consultants, and employee experts.

2. Outsourcing means that training and development activities are provided by

individuals outside the company.

E. Who Is in Charge of Training?

1. Training and development can be the responsibility of professionals in human

resources, human resource development, or organizational development.

2. Human resource development refers to the integrated use of training and

development, organizational development, and career development to improve

individual, group, and organizational effectiveness. The reporting relationship

between human resource management and the training function varies across

companies.

F. Preparing to Work in Training

1. To be a successful training professional requires staying up-to-date on current

research and training practices.

2. The primary professional organizations for persons interested in training and

development include:

a. American Society for Training and Development (ASTD)

b. Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD)

c. Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)

d. Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP)

e. Academy of Management (AOM)

f. International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI)

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Chapter Summary

The chapter explains some real case scenarios where training has contributed to companies’

competitiveness. It explains what training is and how an effective training program can be

designed. It further discusses the factors which has an influence on working and learning. The

chapter concludes by providing a snapshot of the training practices, in which the competency

model is discussed. At the end, a list of key words and discussion questions are provided along

with application assignments and a case study.