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Chapter 5
Training, Talent Management, and Career
Development
Chapter Overview
Training is a process whereby people acquire capabilities to perform jobs. This chapter
examines training and HR, training and organizational strategy, training for global strategies,
planning for training, training needs assessment, training design, training delivery, and training
evaluation. The chapter first examines training and HR including the various training categories
(required/regular, job/technical, developmental/career training, and interpersonal/ problem-
solving) and legal issues related to training.
Next, the chapter explores the relationship between organizational strategy and training. This
discussion includes strategic training and organizational competitiveness aspects of training such
as knowledge management, training as a revenue source, performance consulting and integrating
performance with training. Then training and global strategies are explored including global
assignment training and intercultural competence training.
Planning for training is explored next and includes orientation, planning for new employees, and
evaluating orientation. The rest of the chapter is devoted to the four phases in the training
process. The relevant phases or components of effective training programs consist of:
Assessment
Design
Delivery
Evaluation
Each of these is described in some detail. Training needs assessment includes three types of
organization analyses—organizational, job/task, and individual—and establishing training
objectives and priorities. Training design addresses learner characteristics, instructional
strategies, and transfer of training. Training delivery covers internal training; external training;
combination training such as cooperative training; and e-learning/on-line training.
Evaluation of training describes four levels of evaluation (reaction, learning, behavior, and
results), training evaluation metrics—cost-benefit analyses, returns on investment (ROI), and
benchmarking)—and three forms of evaluation design:
Post-measure
Pre/post-measure
Pre-/post-measure with a control group
Chapter Outline
Businesses must change if they are to survive because the environment in which they compete
changes. For this reason, employee training is an ongoing process for most organizations. In the
Training is the process whereby people acquire capabilities to perform jobs. It provides
employees with specific, identifiable knowledge and skills for use in their present jobs.
Organizational training may include “hard” skills, such as teaching sales representatives how to
I. Training and Human Resources
Common training topics include, among others, safety, customer service, computer skills,
quality initiatives, dealing with sexual harassment, and communication. Benefits of well-done
training for individuals include enhanced skills, greater ability to adapt and innovate, better self-
II. Organizational Strategy and Training
Training represents a significant expenditure for most employers. However, it is too often viewed
Training also can affect organizational competitiveness by aiding in the retention of employees.
A. Training as a Revenue Source and Other Positive Outcomes
Some organizations have identified that training can be a source of business revenue, as well
as other positive outcomes. For instance, Microsoft, Ceridian, and other technology firms
bundle customer training with products and services they sell. Some manufacturers of
industrial equipment offer customers training on machine upgrades and new features.
B. Sales Training
Organizational competitiveness in many industries hinges on the success of the sales function.
Innovative products or services require well-prepared professional sales people to inform the
appropriate audience. A key element in sales force success is often the training opportunities
C. Global Competitiveness and Training
For a global firm, the most brilliant strategies ever devised will not serve to improve
competitiveness unless the company has well-trained employees throughout the world to carry
III. Planning for Training
Planning includes looking at the big picture in which the training takes place, as well as specifics
for the design of a particular training effort. For example, the needs for skills have changed over
Training plans allow organizations to identify what is needed for employee performance before
training begins so that fit between training and strategic issues is secured. Effective training
efforts consider the following questions:
Is there really a need for the training?
Who needs to be trained?
Who will do the training?
What form will the training take?
How will knowledge be transferred to the job?
How will the training be evaluated?
A. Planning for New Employees: Orientation/Onboarding
A good example of one kind of training that requires planning is orientation. Also called
Orientation, which is the planned introduction of new employees to their jobs, coworkers,
and the organization, is offered by most employers. It requires cooperation between
individuals in the HR unit and operating managers and supervisors. In a small organization
without an HR department, the new employee’s supervisor or manager usually assumes most
Among the decisions to be made during planning new employee orientation are what to
present and when to present it. Too much information on the first day leads to perceptions of
ineffective onboarding. Several shorter sessions over a longer period of time, bringing in
information as it is needed, are more effective. Effective orientation achieves several key
purposes:
Establishes a favorable employee impression of the organization and the job.
Provides organization and job information.
Enhances interpersonal acceptance by coworkers.
Accelerates socialization and integration of the new employee into the organization.
Ensures that employee performance and productivity begin more quickly.
B. Electronic Orientation Resources
One way of expanding the efficiency of orientation is to use electronic resources. Many
employers place general employee orientation information on company intranets or corporate
Specific questions and concerns can be addressed by HR staff and others after employees
have reviewed the Web-based information. There are four phases of a systematic approach
IV. Training Needs Assessment
Assessing organizational training needs is the diagnostic phase of a training plan. This
assessment considers issues related to employee and organizational performance to determine
if training can help. Needs assessment measures the competencies of a company, a group, or an
A. Analysis of Training Needs
The first step in assessing training needs is analyzing what training might be necessary.
Training needs can be diagnosed by analyzing organizational outcomes and looking at future
organizational needs. A part of planning for training is the identification of the KSAs that will
Organizational analysis comes from various measures of organizational performance.
Departments or areas with high turnover, customer complaints, high grievance rates, high
Job/Task Analysis
A second level of analyzing training needs is to review the jobs involved and the tasks
Another way to pinpoint training gaps in the job or task being done is to survey employees
and have them anonymously evaluate the current skill levels of themselves and their peers.
The third means of diagnosing training needs focuses on individuals and how they perform
their jobs. The most common approach for making individual analysis is to use
performance appraisal data. In some instances, a good HR information system can be used
to identify individuals who require training in specific areas to be eligible for promotion.
B. Establishing Training Objectives and Priorities
Once training requirements have been identified using needs analyses, training objectives and
priorities can be established by a “gap analysis,” which indicates the distance between where
The success of training should be measured in terms of the objectives that were set for it.
V. Training Design
Once training objectives have been determined, training design can start. Whether job-specific or
broader in nature, training must be designed to address the specific objectives. Effective
A. Learner Characteristics
For training to be successful, learners must be ready and able to learn. Learner readiness
means that individuals have the ability to learn. However, individuals also must have the
Training design also sometimes address special issues presented by adult learning. Certainly,
the training design must consider that all the trainees are adults, but adults come with widely
varying learning styles, experiences, and personal goals. For example, training older adults in
B. Instructional Strategies
An important part of designing training is to select the right mix of strategies to fit learner
characteristics. Practice/feedback, overlearning, behavioral modeling, error-based examples,
Practice/Feedback
For some training, it is important that learners practice what they have learned and get
feedback on how they have done so they can improve. Active practice occurs when
Overlearning is repeated practice even after a learner has mastered the performance. It
may be best used to instill “muscle memory” for a physical activity to reduce the amount
Behavioral Modeling
The most elementary way in which people learn and one of the best is through behavioral
Error-Based Examples
The error-based examples method involves sharing with learners what can go wrong when
they do not use the training properly. Error-based examples have been incorporated in
Reinforcement
The concept of reinforcement is based on the law of effect, which states that people tend
to repeat responses that give them a positive reward and to avoid actions associated with
C. Training Transfer
Trainers should design training for the best possible transfer from the classroom to the job.
Transfer occurs when trainees actually use on the job what knowledge and information they
Offering trainees an overview of the training content and how it links to what he or she does
Supervisor support of the training, feedback from the supervisor, and supervisor involvement
in training are powerful influences in transfer. Opportunity to use the training is also
VI. Training Delivery
Once training has been designed, the actual delivery of training can begin. Regardless of the
Whatever the approach used, a variety of considerations must be balanced when selecting
training-delivery methods. The common variables considered are the following:
Urgency of training
Subject matter
Number of trainees
Individual versus team
Self-paced versus guided
One internal source of instruction is informal training, which occurs through interactions and
feedback among employees. Much of what employees know about their jobs they learn
The most common type of training at all levels in an organization is on-the-job training (OJT)
because it is flexible and relevant to what employees do. Well-planned and well-executed OJT
However, OJT has some problems. Those doing the training may have no experience in training,
no time to do it, or no desire to participate in it. Under such conditions, learners essentially are
Cross training occurs when people are trained to do more than one job—theirs and someone
else’s. For the employer, the advantages of cross training are flexibility and development. Even
In some organizations, the culture may be such that people seek cross-training assignments to
A. Cooperative/Apprentice Training
Cooperative training approaches mix classroom training and on-the-job experiences. This
training can take several forms. One form, generally referred to as school-to-work transition,
Another form of cooperative training used by employers, trade unions, and government
agencies is apprentice training. An apprenticeship program provides an employee with on-
A form of cooperative training called internship usually combines job training with classroom
instruction from schools, colleges, and universities. Internships benefit both employers and
VII. E-Learning: Online Training
E-learning is use of a Web-based technology to conduct training online. E-learning is popular
A. Advantages and Disadvantages of E-Learning
The rapid growth of e-learning makes the Internet or an intranet a viable means for delivering
training content. But e-learning has both advantages and disadvantages that must be
