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Please click here to access the new HRM Failures case associated with this chapter. HRM
Failures features real-life situations in which an HR conflict ended up in court. Each case
includes a discussion questions and possible answers for easy use in the classroom. HRM
Failures are not included in the text so that you can provide your students with additional
real-life content that helps engrain chapter concepts.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter, a systematic approach to training and designing effective training systems is
discussed, including needs assessments, organizational analysis, company strategy, person
analysis, task analysis, creating a learning environment, consideration of employee readiness for
training, and transfer-of-training issues. Then, numerous training methods are described and
reviewed. Next, the evaluation of training programs is presented. The chapter concludes with
special issues of training, including cross-cultural preparation, managing work force diversity,
joint union-management programs, socialization and orientation, and training and pay systems.
Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter, the student should be able to:
1. Discuss how training, informal learning, and knowledge management can contribute to
continuous learning and the companies’ business strategy.
2. Explain the role of the manager in identifying training needs and supporting training on the
job.
3. Conduct a needs assessment.
4. Evaluate employees' readiness for training.
5. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of presentation, hands-on, and group training methods.
6. Explain the potential advantages of e-learning for training.
7. Design a training session to maximize learning.
8. Choose an appropriate evaluation design based on training objectives and analysis of
constraints.
9. Design a cross-cultural preparation program.
10. Develop a program for effectively managing diversity.
Extended Chapter Outline
Note: Key terms appear in boldface and are listed in the "Chapter Vocabulary' section.
Opening Vignette:
Learning Opportunities for Employees Are No Accident at Farmers Insurance Group of
Companies
Farmers Insurance Group has developed a very successful training program to serve their 60,000
employees and independent agents. The program has been ranked in the Top 10 of Training
magazine’s Top 125 for four years and will be inducted into the Hall of Fame. The program
utilizes a blended approach using face-to-face instruction, print, online, video, audio, virtual
simulations, and coaching. in order to meet the needs of their multigenerational audience that are
geographically dispersed across the United States. Technology is used for delivering knowledge
and instructor led training is used for skill development. In the past five years the amount of
learning delivered through instructor-led classroom based training has dropped from 90 to 50%.
The other 50% is online or informal learning. The company recognizes that technology offers a
variety of options for training delivery and instruction and has started to use virtual classrooms,
mobile learning, social networks, electronic tablets, and learning simulations.
Discussion Question
1. What are your thoughts concerning the use of online training and instruction programs? Have
your experiences with online classes been as effective as face-to-face meetings? What can be
done to improve the quality and effectiveness of these types of programs?
Student responses will likely vary depending on their own experiences with online
I. Introduction
A. As the chapter opener shows, training contributes to Farmers Insurance’s focus on
its employees and customers. Training helps Farmers’ employees develop skills
they need to succeed in their current job and develop for future positions. From
Farmers’ perspective, training is strategic because it leads to consistent customer
service that attracts and retains customers, high quality employees, and positive
revenues.
B. Training can:
- Increase employees’ knowledge of foreign competitors and cultures,
- Help ensure that employees have the basic skills to work with new
technology,
- Help employees understand how to work effectively in teams to contribute to
product and service quality.
- Ensure that the company’s culture emphasizes innovation, creativity, and
learning.
- Ensure employment security by providing new ways for employees to
contribute to the company when their jobs change, their interests change, or
their skills become obsolete.
- Prepare employees to accept and work more effectively with each other,
particularly with minorities and women.
II. Training: Its Role In Continuous Learning and Competitive Advantage
A. Continuous learning is a learning system that requires employees to understand
the entire work process and expects them to acquire new skills, apply them on the
job, and share what they have learned with other employees.
B. Training refers to a planned effort by a company to facilitate learning of
job-related competencies, knowledge, skills and behaviors by employees.
C. Formal training refers to training and development programs, courses and events
that are developed and organized by the company.
D. Informal learning refers to learning that is leaner initiated, involves action and
doing, is motivated by intent to develop, and does not occur in a formal setting.
E. Explicit knowledge refers to knowledge which is well documented, easily
articulated, and easily transferred from person-to-person.
F. Tacit knowledge refers to personal knowledge based on individual experiences
that are difficult to codify.
G. 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 Activities—the training design process refers to a
systematic approach for developing training programs. Table 7-1 presents the six steps of
the training design process.
A. Needs assessment—Needs assessment refers to the process used to determine if
training is necessary. There are often pressure points that may suggest that training is
necessary (text Figure 7.3). A needs assessment usually involves organizational
analysis, person analysis, and task analysis.
1. Organizational analysis involves determining the business appropriateness
of training
a. Support of Managers and Peers—The key factors to success are a
positive attitude among peers and managers about participation in
training activities, willingness to tell trainees how they can more
effectively use knowledge, skills, or behaviors learned in training
on the job, and the availability of opportunities for the trainees to
use training content in their jobs.
b. Company Strategy—Business strategy is important for a company
to gain a competitive advantage.
- The business strategy of the firm has a major impact on the
appropriate training practices for that firm (text Table 7.1).
- Strategic training and development initiatives are learning
related actions that a company should take to achieve its
business strategy.
c. Training Resources
- It is necessary to identify whether the company has the budget,
time, and expertise for training.
- A company may use internal consultants or external consultants
for training.
Integrity In Action:
Connecting Learning to Business Leaders
Mike Hamilton was previously the Chief Learning Officer for Ernst & Young. His belief is that a
big challenge for people working in learning, training or development is to figure out how to be
relevant for the business and how their function can help the leaders of the business solve
problems. He believes the first step is understanding what is important to the leader, not what
programs and tools are available – they might not help solve the problem.
Discussion Question
1. What does strategic training and development mean to you?
This is an opinion question, but students should recognize that strategic training and
2. How did Mike Hamilton help insure that training was strategic at Ernst & Young? What
did he do that was most important for making learning strategic? Explain.
Hamilton followed his own advice – check with the leader to see what is critical on their
2. Person analysis helps the manager identify whether training is appropriate
and which employees need training. When a problem, such as a performance
deficiency, is identified, it is often unclear whether training is the solution.
a. Person characteristics refer to the employee’s knowledge, skill,
ability, and attitudes.
b. Input relates to the instructions that tell employees what, how, and
when to perform; also the support they are given to help them to
perform.
c. Output refers to the job’s performance standards.
d. Consequences are the incentives employees receive for performing
well.
e. Feedback is the information that employees receive while they are
performing concerning how well they are meeting objectives.
f. From the manager's perspective, training should be considered if
any of the following is true:
- The performance problem is important and has the potential to
cost the company a significant amount of money from lost
productivity or customers.
- Employees do not know how to perform effectively.
- Employees cannot demonstrate the correct knowledge or
behavior.
- Performance expectations are clear (input) and there are no
obstacles to performance.
- There are positive consequences for good performance,
whereas poor performance is not rewarded.
- Employees receive timely, relevant, accurate, constructive, and
specific feedback.
- Other solutions are too expensive or unrealistic.
3. Task analysis identifies the conditions in which tasks are performed. A job is
a specific position requiring the completion of specific tasks. A task is a
statement of an employee’s work activity in a specific job.
A task analysis involves four steps:
a. Identify the job(s) to be analyzed.
b. Develop a list of tasks performed on the job.
c. Validate or confirm the preliminary list of tasks (text Table 7.4).
d. Identify the knowledge, skills, or abilities necessary to successfully
perform each task.
Example of a Task Analysis—Each of the four steps of a task
analysis can be seen in the example in the text from a utility firm.
B. Ensuring Employees' Motivation for Learning— Readiness for training refers to
employee characteristics that provide employees with the desire, energy, and
focus necessary to learn from training. The employee’s motivation for learning
is the desire of the trainee to learn the content of the training program, directing
that energy toward learning, and being able to exert effort to learn even when
faced with difficulties.
c. Factors that influence motivation to learn: (as shown in Table 7.3):
- Self efficacy: employee belief that they can successfully learn
content of the training program
- Benefits or consequences of training: job related, personal,
career benefits that can result from attending training
- Awareness of Training Needs: knowledge of skill strengths and
weaknesses
- Work environment: proper tools and equipment, materials,
supplies, and budget time
- Basic skills: cognitive ability, reading and writing skills
- Goal orientation: goals held by employees in a learning
situation
- Conscientiousness: tendency to be reliable, hardworking,
self-disciplined and persistent
1. Creating a Learning Environment—For employees to acquire knowledge and skills
in the training program and to apply this information in their jobs, the training
program must to include specific learning principles (see Table 7.6).
1. Employees need to know why they should learn.
a. Training objectives based on the training needs analysis help
employees understand why they need training.
2. Employees need meaningful training content.
3. Employees need to have opportunities for practice.
4. Employees need feedback.
5. Employees learn by observing, experiencing, and interacting with others.
One way employees learn by observing others is with behavior-modeling
techniques, discussed later in this chapter.
a. Communities of practice refer to groups of employees who
work together, learn from each other, and develop a common
understanding of how to get work accomplished.
6. Employees need the training program to be properly coordinated and
arranged.
7. Employees need to commit training content to memory.
Competing Through Sustainability:
Capitalizing on Available but Unrecognized Talent
Welfare to work programs help the unemployed and the underemployed to prepare for the job
market and to succeed in the job market. Organizations such as Get Out and Stay Out (GOSO)
help young prison inmates with individual job and educational counseling, and it maintains a job
bank of openings from employers willing to hire former inmates. Another organization, the
Greater Chicago Food Depository, offers chef training classes to about 1,000 students who also
learn life skills such as punctuality, responsibility, teamwork and commitment. Project Vacant
Streets is a Miami-based program founded by Frank Kelley, a Johnson & Johnson executive. It
tries to get jobs for persons who are “crisis homeless,” that is, everyday people who end up
homeless due to losing their jobs because of the recession.
Discussion Question 1
1. Describe the benefits of welfare to work programs such as those described in this vignette. What
does “crisis” homeless” mean, and explain what Project Vacant Streets tries to do address this
problem.
There are several benefits. Individuals who may otherwise be at risk for lives of poverty
and crime, learn how to enter the workforce and how to handle responsibility. Companies
benefit because they are able to find committed and motivated workers. Communities
benefit from having taxpaying workers.
“Crisis homeless” refers to everyday people who are homeless because of losing their
jobs due to the recession. One estimate is that 80% of the homeless are crisis homeless.
Project Vacant Streets helps the crisis homeless develop skills that can help them get back
into the workforce.
2. Ensuring Transfer of Training—Transfer of training refers to the use of
knowledge, skills, and behaviors learned in training on the job.
1. Transfer of training is influenced by the climate for transfer, manager support,
peer support, opportunity to use learned capabilities, technology support, and
self-management skills (see Table 7.4 for the conditions for learning and their
importance, and Figure 7.4 for work environment characteristics influencing
transfer of training).
2. Manager support refers to the degree to which trainees’ managers (1) emphasize
the importance of attending training programs and (2) stress the application of
training content to the job. Managers also facilitate transfer through
reinforcement (use of action plans). An action plan is a document summarizing
what the trainee and manager will do to ensure that training transfers to the job.
The action plan identifies (1) a goal identifying what training content will be used
and how it will be used (project, problem), (2) strategies for reaching the goal,
including resources needed, (3) strategies for getting feedback (such as meeting
with the manager), and (4) expected outcome (what will be different?).
3. Peer support—Transfer of training can also be enhanced by creating a support
network among the trainees. A support network is a group of two or more
trainees who agree to meet and discuss their progress in using learned capabilities
on the job.
4. Opportunity to use learned capabilities –Opportunity to perform refers to the
extent to which the trainee is provided with or actively seeks experience with
newly learned knowledge, skills, or behaviors. Opportunity to perform is
influenced by both work environment and trainee motivation.
5. Technological support—Electronic performance support systems (EPSSs) are
computer applications that can provide (as requested) skills training, information
access, and expert advice. Many companies are using knowledge management
systems to improve the creating, sharing and storage of knowledge.
Communities of practice refer to groups of employees who work together, learn
from each other, and develop a common understanding of how to get work
accomplished.
6. Self-management skills—Training programs should prepare employees to
self-manage their use of new skills and behaviors on the job.
3. Selecting Training Methods—Survey results indicate that instructor-led classroom,
workbooks and manuals, and videos are the most frequently used training methods
(Figure 7.5).
1. Presentation Methods refer to methods in which trainees are passive recipients
of information.
a. Instructor-Led Classroom Instruction
- Classroom instruction typically involves having the trainer lecture a
group of trainees. The lecture is often supplemented with questions
and answers.
- It is one of the least expensive, least time-consuming ways to present
information on a specific topic to many trainees.
- The more active the participation, job-related examples, and exercises
that the instructor can build into the classroom instruction, the more
likely trainees will learn and transfer the training to their jobs.
b. Distance learning features two-way communications between people. It
includes audioconferencing, videoconferencing, and docuconferencing
(this allows employees to collaborate on a shared document via
computers).
- Teleconferencing refers to the synchronous exhange of audio, video,
or text between individuals or groups at two or more locations.
- An advantage of teleconferencing is that the company can save on
travel costs.
- The major disadvantage is the potential lack of interaction between
the trainer and the trainees. That's why a two-way communication
link is so important as well as on-site instructors or facilitators.
-Webcasting refers to the classroom instruction provided online via
live broadcasts.
c. Audiovisual Techniques
- Audiovisual instruction includes overheads, slides, and video. Video
is the most popular.
- Video has the advantages of allowing the trainer to vary the speed of
the presentation, show situations that cannot be easily demonstrated,
provide trainees with consistent instruction, and allow trainees to
observe themselves.
- Mobile Technologies make video available anywhere on iPods,
iPads, cell phones, and tablet computers Mobile technology allows
training and learning to occur naturally throughout the workday or at
home.
Example: Flippin’ Pizza provides training via an iPad app. Trainees
can use the app to link to a series of short videos each with a lesson
in cooking or customer service.
