Introduction
Training and development refer to a system being introduced in most organizations with the aim of ensuring that employees develop a systematic way of working. They are taught the culture and organization of the company, such that they do not apply their previous experience in the current workplace. But, they work with the companies’ needs in mind. In the past, many organizations believed that their employees would learn while working, but it was realized that the companies incurred more indirect costs in terms of low production. The other common belief that stood in the way of training and development was the idea that people were born with their professions. Besides these, most organizations considered training to be a costly activity that was never worth the cost. In the current corporate world, however, the importance of training employees has been realized which includes the development of professionalism in the employees. This has been introduced in almost all organizations as it was discovered that is a tool for retention.
Mission, vision and values of training
The mission of training and development in this section is to provide learning experiences to employees in a way that is structured and timely. This is aimed at improving the general employee performance in the different departments so that they can work towards the achievement of the organization’s goals. The other mission is to ensure the development of interpersonal skills among the employees. The employees are also trained to ensure that they develop the capacity to make use of the benefits, procedures, and policies of the organization. On accomplishment, these missions ensure that the organization makes maximum use of its employees’ capacity to attain its goals and improve the employees’ quality of output.
The visions include, first, ensuring that the employees’ professional lives are developed to the best level possible. Secondly, it is to ensure that the employees develop problem-solving skills within the organization. Thirdly, the employees should develop customer relations skills to ensure that they can attract and retain more customers for the good development of the organization. The other vision is to create a departmental corporation, as well as a corporation among people working in different departments. Besides this, it also improves communication skills and the level of employee commitment. The employees are expected to gain certain attributes such as conflict resolution, work loyalty and product quality.
The values that this training accomplishes include improving the quality of services provided by employees. The other value is to develop the value for diversity among the employees. This will ensure that the employees are able to appreciate each other and work in harmony, hence increasing the companies’ productivity. The other value is the enhancement of teamwork. This enables all members of the organization to fit into the workplace and apply their knowledge and skills while allowing others to do the same. Besides enhancing workplace performance, this also ensures that each employee feels appreciated. Teamwork also improves learning as the employees are able to learn from each other’s experiences. Finally, is the recognition of individual contribution to the organization. This is through encouraging free communication, mutual trust and equality. This ensures that even new employees are able to fit into the organization without much struggle. The result of this is the improvement of the overall performance in the organization.
Training strategy and methodology
Training and development strategies have two different approaches which are the traditional and modern approaches. The traditional approach was more inclined to develop employees who already have the working experience. In the former years, the management of organizations preferred taking in employees with former experience. This kind of labor, however, became scarce owing to the lack of opportunities for fresh graduates. This is what gave rise to the modern training approaches, which enhance the capabilities of the employees from the start. Employees are in a position to learn from scratch the basics of the working environment. This type of training can be classified into either behavioral methods or cognitive methods.
Cognitive training approach
This involves the theoretical training methods that are concerned with providing instructions to the trainees. These come in either written form or communicated verbally in the demonstration of the concepts and ideas. The different methods used under this approach include lecturing, providing demonstrations, discussing the ideas and concepts, and applying computer-based training. Lecturing involves creating an environment for understanding new concepts or attitudes. These new ideas introduced to a person are aimed at changing their behavior towards a specific direction. This can either be in printed form as handouts or delivered orally as instructions. The main purpose of a lecture is to enhance already existing knowledge and explain concepts such that they are easily understood by the listener.
The second method of the cognitive training approach is demonstration. This is whereby the ideas are displayed in visual form. The ideas presented in a lecture are displayed in a way that the trainee can get the practical idea behind the lecture. The third method, which is discussion, is whereby the trainees are given an open forum to discuss what they have learned in the lecture and demonstration methods. Here there is free interaction between the trainees and the trainers, and amongst the trainees. The parties involved here are able to present their ideas and thoughts on the concepts including what they have learned during the previous lectures. They then discuss these ideas and come up with a valid conclusion on the subject matter. The main advantage of this method is that the trainees are involved fully involved in the learning process and this enhances their understanding capabilities. Finally,, is a computer-based training and this is whereby the internet is used as the training tool. The trainees obtain the learning materials from the internet and any consultations are made through the same medium.
Behavioral training approach
Here, the trainees are given practical instructions as opposed to the theoretical instructions in cognitive approaches. These enable the development of different skills depending on the objectives of the training. The most common forms of this type of training approach include simulations and games and case study analysis. A game is whereby the trainees compete in an activity that is related to the learning objectives. Games have predefined rules and most of the time, are used as team-building activities. Simulation on the other hand involves modeling these games as software and installing them into the computer system. The main difference here is that games are mutual while the simulation is virtual. An example of these learning approaches includes first, business games. This is whereby the real business situations are modeled and the trainees are required to come up with solutions to the related business problems according to the model provided. The second is role play which is a simulation technique that provides the trainees with a virtual role to play in the organization. Here, they are given the scenario, their responsibilities and the objectives of the tasks accorded to them.
The other method under behavioral approach is case study method. Here, the trainee is provided with a complex situation representing a real life situation. The organization could be real as well or imaginary. This requires the trainee to solve the problems presented in the case study as a practice or test on solving the problems. A case study is preferred especially in discussions as the trainees will able to analyze the cases in groups. As a result, they not only learn the problem solving skills, but also team work and team building skills. One of the most difficult things in an organization is usually to come to a consensus on the decisions involving the entire workforce. Working on these case studies in the training sessions will ensure that the trainees learn to appreciate each other’s contribution irrespective of how irrelevant it may appear to be.
Kinds of training
Training comes in different kinds depending on the level of employees being trained. The two most common ones include orientation training and replacement training. Orientation training is conducted in cases where the employees are new entrants in the organization. This ensures that they are able to fit into the organization’s system and culture as soon as possible. The main benefit of this is that the new employees avoid some serious mistakes that they would have conducted due to the lack of knowledge in the organizational procedures and techniques. The time this training takes varies depending on the job description. Some jobs are complex and the trainee requires a longer time in training before being able to handle the job independently. The activities involved in orientation training include learning the responsibilities, getting oriented with the colleagues, learning the set up of the organization and learning the internal working policies of the organization.
The other type of training s replacement training is conducted in case of policy changes or when an employee is being transferred from one department to another. This can also be done when the employee is being promoted to a higher position. This type of training is simpler compared to the orientation training since the employees already have the organizational knowledge. What is left in this case is orienting them on their new roles and responsibilities. The other case where this is required is when the organization introduces new strategies in the organization and the employees need to be briefed on how these strategies work. In replacement training, new workers are expected to learn what they do not know from the existing workers. This saves on the training and orientation time but it may be risky to the organization in terms of the mistakes most likely to be performed with the incoming employees.
Importance of training
Owing to the growing need for showing people how to do stuff instead of having them mimic what the management is doing; training has become one of the most important activities in the organization. The modern business organizations are experiencing exponential technological advancements and as a result, these companies have developed the need to train their employees frequently on the new market trends. One of the things that training does is to change the behavior of a group of people towards the same direction. Employees in an organization usually hail from different social and educational backgrounds. This means that they have different characters and behaviors modeled by their pasts. It is up to the organization therefore to bring them to the point of reasoning along the same lines for them to be functional in the organization.
Another importance of training is that it increases productivity in the organization. It acts as one way of motivating workers who come into the organization with little or no experience. After going through the training process, they obtain the basic skills to get them going hence they begin on a note that is higher than the case where they are expected to learn by working. The employees are also able to know the values of the jobs they are doing hence being keen in their work. This increases the level of work satisfaction and boosts the courage in the employees which enables them to question any action that they are not so sure about. After undergoing the training which encompasses exposing to them their rights, they develop the confidence for speaking up when things seem to be moving in the wrong direction.
Training employees before giving them responsibilities and in the during their working period increases financial gains to the employees. This might not be direct but as a matter of fact, training leads to increased efficiency and the development of specific career paths. This means that every individual is given responsibilities according to their observed strengths and weaknesses, hence being able to increase the effectiveness. This enhances service delivery in case of a service oriented organization, and customer relations which determine the amount sales in a product oriented organization. The result of this is more profits to the organization and this puts it in a better place financially. The organization therefore develops a positive reputation with the public hence increasing its credibility with the stakeholders and the financial services providers.
The other importance of training is that it increases the innovation in terms of the business strategies as well as the products being dealt with. The employees are able to approach their tasks in a more open way and this ensures that they develop their innovation capabilities. Innovation is the best way through which an organization can grow and develop over and beyond its competitors. Owing to the stiffening competition, organizations have to come up with unique ways of maintaining their existing customers and attracting more customers hence increasing their market share. From this form of training, Emirates Heritage club will be in a position to develop more trainers hence increase its scope of operations in the United Arab Emirates. By developing more personnel, they can also initiate correspondence training activities whereby they will be training individuals in other parts of the world on the heritage and culture of the United Arab Emirates.
Difference between training and career development
The most significant difference between training and career development lies in the fact that training is a onetime activity while career development takes place over time. Training is conducted over a specified period of time and it involves the interaction between the trainer and the trainee. Career development is an activity that takes a long period of time, owing to the fact that it shapes the entire character and behavior of an individual. In career development, a person is shaped mostly by the experience they acquire in the organization, and this ensures that they grow over time in these areas. They are given the responsibilities and they learn more career skills as they work. Organizations need both training and career development strategies for their organizations if they are to have a strong workforce that is duty oriented. Training especially orientation training provides the workers with a strong head start while career development keeps them in the learning process throughout their working period. They are able to learn more ideas each time they have to handle a more difficult task. That is what career development is all about.
Suggest subsections
The subsections that can be introduced under this section include monitoring and evaluation and the employee assessment sections. Monitoring and evaluation section will be responsible for ensuring that the employees are working towards the achievement of the organization’s goals. This is done by setting performance targets for them and monitoring their actual performance over time to determine whether they are working towards these targets. Any deviation is corrected immediately and the employees are given a sub training to correct on their areas of weaknesses that affect their work performance. Monitoring and evaluation is mostly applied to the new employees to ensure that they adapt completely to the culture and values of the organization. The other subsection is the employees’ assessment section which ensures that an evaluation of the employees is carried out on a regular basis. This assessment encompasses all the employees including the management. It mainly determines the reward strategy to be used for each individual depending on the outcome of the assessment. It also determines who should be promoted to a higher working scale and who should remain in the same position or be suspended for continual underperformance.
Recommendations for the section
For the training and development section to expand and improve its operations, there is the need to start hiring professional trainers. This includes professionals in the fields the employees are being trained on and at the same time trained instructors. Considerations for the post of trainers should be background experience in lecturing and teaching adults. As a result of this, the organization will be assured that the trainees will receive quality training hence minimizing their probability of making mistakes. Hiring qualified personnel is of course more expensive but in the long run, it saves the organization a lot in terms of productivity and employee performance. The employees are able to develop a high level of effectiveness which increases their productivity at work. What has been wasting most organizations is the attempt to cut down on the costs that has resulted to the exemption of some very effective procedures.
Conclusion
It is important to note that despite the fact that training has all the named benefits to the organization, it is not the ultimate solution to employee underperformance. The employees also need to support the organizations in their quest to provide them with the knowledge they require to improve their performance. Employees should therefore, develop a self -drive towards their work if the skills they learn during the training are to be useful. This explains why most organizations consider the level of self motivation in an individual before hiring them. The training department is most of the times necessary to enhance the existing knowledge and not to provide the employees with a completely new set of knowledge over and above what they already know.