Introduction to the topic
Human resources management is relatively a current idea and it mainly includes a large range of plans and practices to manage the staff in the organization. Human resources are the most precious assets in every organization. So, proper training and developmental activities are essential to developing the productive human asset in the organization. “TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT is a subsystem of an organization. It ensures that randomness is reduced and learning or behavioral change takes place in a structured format.” 1
The accomplishment of any business objective depends upon the talent of its human asset. Human resource management comprises a large range of actions, and its functions include administrative tasks such as forecasting, organizing, directing, scheming and operational functions like appointing the right person, training and development, wages, maintenances, endorsement, shift, etc. Proper training should be given to the staff to gain new talent and information about a job.
Various types of training and developmental activities are being given to the staff both in-house and outside the premises. Reliance places the largest significance on the training and development activities of its employees and every company surrounded by the Reliance Group and offers its own program of work – precise guidance for all workers. Training and development are being given to increasing the potential caliber of the staff employed in the organization. Besides, this training and development help the overall development of the organization. Proper Training and development enlarge the excellence and quantity of job routine as well as the work satisfaction and productivity of Reliance’s telecom.
Title and a brief description of the program
Reliance Communications Ltd [RCom] is the globe’s biggest Telecom sector. Reliance Communications is a truthfully incorporated service supplier. The telecom service sector is one of the greatest emerging service sectors. Due to the emerging rivalry between other telecom services sectors, there is a steady requirement of updating ability, information and attitude.
This quick enlargement in Telecom Service Sector necessitates the availability of trained experts. “Reliance Communications Limited was founded by the late Shri. Dhirubhai H Ambani (1932-2002) is the flagship company of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group. The Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group currently has a net worth in excess of Rs. 63,000 crore (US$ 14 billion), cash flows of Rs. 12,000 crore (US$ 3 billion), net profit of Rs. 8,000 crore (US$ 2 billion) and zero net debt “. 2
The corporation also carries out the training and developmental activities of its workers. Novelty, initiation, management, analytical approach, etc. are the traits the corporation looks to select the workers. The adequate asset on human resources training & development will help to create moderate and optimistic impacts on worker efficiency development and also it will help to enhance the organization’s overall performance too.
Every business must develop its employees and must be offered Human Resource Development activities to enhance its capability, otherwise, the organization will not be able to cope with the current changes in the environment. The aim of proper training is to support not only the business but also the public as well. From the perspective of business, training helps to encourage character growth, routine enhancement, etc. At the public level, it helps to increase simplicity, public contact and incubates in the staff proper hospitality mentality which will make the service an enjoyable experience for the public.
Advantages of the program
Human resource training becomes very significant in a company because human resource is important. Reliance communication is one of the best telecom companies in India. The training is given to the personnel to maximize their efficiency and thereby to maximize the productivity of the reliance company. “Human resource is an integral part of any organization. Great stress is laid on implementing an effective human resource system in an organization.
There are lots of department in an organization that makes use of human resource to setup strategic planning and means to process officials assignments. The companies that do not have a proper human resource department suffer from official disorders and lack of management in office activities.” 3 Human resource program is an inevitable part of the Reliance Company for training personnel to make them perform at par with the objectives and expectations of the company.
Human resource program “provides scope for advancement and development of employees through training, development, etc.” 4 Performance gap is the low quality of work which is not up to the expectation of a company. Employees work differently according to their knowledge, attitude, aptitude and skill. Some employees may not fulfill the assigned work satisfactorily and their performance is measured in all the organization. But the human resource training and development can reduce the risks of performance gaps. The training program is designed according to the need assessment. If there is a performance gap it can be solved through the implementation of training.
The program increases the knowledge and skills of the employees according to the input they give in the training program. Training programs increase the efficiency of the employees and the target of this program is to maximize the efficiency and result of an employee. The aim of the Reliance Telecom Company is to increase the sale of it. If the company wants to maximize production, it must maximize the efficiency of the employees.
Therefore, the training program will help increase the productivity of the company in effect. There are different roles in the company assigned to each employee. The program will strengthen the worker to take more challenging work. A salesperson is the face of the company because they are the only employees who have direct contact with the customers. So, the behavior, talk and dealing of the sales personnel must be very attractive. People assess the company in terms of their personnel. Training programs make the personnel learn a nice approach and dealing with the customers. This program gives market awareness such as the interest of the customers to the product and about other competent products in the market. A training program which introduces a new marketing strategy is very important for the selling persons to increase the number of sales.
Employees are the backbone of the company and they have to realize the fact. In order to make them realize the fact, training session plays a good role and the growth of the employee is the growth of the Reliance telecommunication. There are many competitors in the market. The personnel should understand the competitors in the market and their schemes, plans and new strategy. They have to be in touch with the new trends in the market. In order to understand new trends in the market, the person must attend the training programs and it will help to increase the soft skills of the employees.
Theory and practices to be used for the program
ASTD Model of Training steps
ASTD models are one of the improved model techniques for human performance improvement. There are a lot of people getting work knowledge on the jobs. These models enable the workmen to identify their past, present and future performance views.
Performance analysis
This is the first step in human performance. “Performance analysis is the front end of the front end. It’s what we do to figure out what to do. Some synonyms are planning, scoping, auditing, and diagnostics.” 5 Performance analysis helps the customers to find data both above and on behalf of the company. It helps the customers and sponsors in finding their probable goals to be acquired within a particular interval of time. It also helps them to discover the path the company has traveled through during their bad times. This is even known for the new trainees. It can also provide solutions for some varied issues they are facing today for sorting it. The performance analysis includes interviews, reports, chats with the service providers and the customers on issues they face with the product.
Cause analysis
Cause analysis is a method for solving problems. According to cause analysis, any problem can be solved by finding the root cause of the problem and then eliminating it. Also, this method helps in minimizing the problem to further happen in the company. This doesn’t mean that the problem will never happen again, so this analysis would be used over and over. Using these studies, the company can evaluate the social, and technology gaps between the past, present and future gaps. Cause analysis can even be used to evaluate not only current problems but also problems that are about to exist in the future. This can help the company a lot.
Selection of appropriate interventions
Intervention selection is one of the important methods applied in unraveling problems regarding human performance. It includes certain calculations based on.
- instructional systems design;
- organizational development;
- human resources management.
By these methods, gives more or less good data regarding performance and also sort out the performance gaps and give dimensions on how to improve performance by apt measures and then consider their results.
Implementation
The next step is Implementation. The implementation helps the company in finding out the solution for certain problems and enables the solution to continue the rest of the work. Through implementation techniques, new methods are adopted for having the expected result. Another important thing about the process is that it aids the intervention process to get installed with ease.
Change management
It is performed just after the implementation phase of development. The work done here is to monitor the intervention process which was implemented early. Change is a multistage cycle and all stages must be planned and negotiated, Management of change is not necessarily only rational management but also emotional management of people.6
The main roles are played by the Managers and the agents working with the firm. The process concentrates on developing the basic skills and style regarding the agents. This is done by giving them coaching based on the tools and attitude provided. This process also creates a positive attitude towards the company’s works.
Evaluation and measurement
‘‘At this point, those conducting human Performance improvement work takes stock of the results achieved by the intervention.’’ 7 This is the last step in the performance analysis. This step keeps a record of all the results from the intervention. “The final evaluations are centered on the improvement of business outcomes (such as quality, productivity, sales, and customer retention, profitability, and market share) as well as determining return on investment for the intervention”. 8
Ishikawa fishbone diagrams
The diagrams are intended for identifying the main cause of any problem in the company, their inefficiencies and its related information. The actual works are done by the practitioner while explaining the diagram to the group of people in the company. “Using paper, blackboards or flipcharts, the practitioner attempts to visualize, gather and organize information”.9 Often this enables him to identify the problem including the ideas from the group members too. Then among the causes, 5 of them are selected and are investigated using different troubleshooting procedures.
When the causes are obtained the analyst uses this data to perform ideas of performance. The developers are to improvise new models/plans for the troubleshooting technique. Then they are put into action with immediate/gradual effect.
Ishikawa Fishbone Diagram- for a retail company
Training
Objectives are the key part of the training curriculum, there are many assumptions that training leads to time misuse. The debate against this is the limited usage of the resources and the prior planning of the training and designing them in an effective and efficient manner. Objectives make available the comprehensible strategy and develop a full-fledged training program in minimum time as the objectives are necessitated by the time and the reach of goals.
The training has four major resources; they are the trainer, trainee, designer of training and the judge or evaluator. The four of the major roles are very important as they constitute a lot for the upcoming of the organization in terms of the employee strengths and the role to exhibit much of the talents of the employees in the organization.
The trainer is the sole of the training program after the training designer and various kinds of training methods and new methods of training should be provided to the trainees. The trainer is the one who gains a lot of experience from work and has much exposure to the various changes in the organizations. The trainer is given a refreshment course by the designer of the program on all the things that are to be clearly defined and specified. The role of the trainer is to take care a lot by the training and development wing of the organization and give the inputs accordingly.
The days of the training are fixed on a priority basis and the designer of the training sessions prepares an outline for the training with the deadline and the scheme for the training. The blueprint of the training is given to the trainer and the trainer plans the classes accordingly.
The trainer should be given utmost importance and he has to be provided with various necessary materials that are needed for the training which should include the tiny chalk piece to the materials necessary for video conferencing.
There are different trends in current training sessions as the developments of the technology and in most of the training sessions mainly the voice process is done on the tele-calling process and the virtual classroom technology is been hired in the process.
Electronic training
Electronic training and electronic learning have been an integral part of the innovation in training and they are the new trends. E training is referred to as delivering the information in a system by the usage of the internet where the virtual classroom plays an important role. E training is the online delivery of the lecturer system apart from the classrooms and chairs, which are free from the infrastructure.
Tele training
The word tele means distance, the tele training refers to training at a distance, “teletraining traditionally is related to distance learning and delineates a perspective of education-related only to the aspect of computer-communication technology of distance education, that is referred to the separation of teacher and students in space/ time, and also to the methodologies improving electronic materials for instruction”. 10
Video conferencing
Video conferencing is a mode of interaction by the means of the collective network from distant spots. “Videoconferencing has been around since 1968 in various forms. The most common way today that we gain exposure to video conferencing is through the use of instant messenger programs. Instant Messenger programs from Yahoo, AOL and MSN have had videoconference capability for many years now. This same concept has made it into the business community to help facilitate communications while reducing costs.” 11
Internet training
Internet training is used as the same concept as that of virtual classroom technology and the same is used in electronic training and in tele-training done by video conferencing.
Evaluation of training system
The evaluation of an HRD program is associated with the identification and correspondent satisfaction of the HRD needs of the organization. Evaluation of the training program is important in order to reach an analysis on whether the conducted training program is able to achieve its objectives or the program goals. Evaluation is also necessary to understand the strengths and limitations of a particular training plan so that the deficiencies are quickly realized and alternative new training techniques can be designed which can be effectively be incorporated in the organization. The evaluation program helps in measuring the individual employee and to create a database of the employees who have greatly benefited from the training and also it leads to the identification of the person who had not benefited or least benefited from the training program.
Therefore evaluation is critical in the training and development program of the HRD program because it leads to the understanding of the training programs’ strong points and identifies its weaknesses. “Basing training objectives on needs assessment information and evaluating resultant objectives is the most economical way of summarizing what training evaluation is all about”. 12
Evaluation plans can be short-term and long-term. The training program can be evaluated for the long term through the personnel’s demonstrated ability in the field of sales in generating customer satisfaction and thereby acquiring customer loyalty for Reliance Communications. Reliance Communications ensures that its employees take responsibility and for that proper training is needed. “Our Employees are expected to demonstrate the highest level of personal responsibility and continually affirm that they are responsible to themselves for the pursuit of excellence”. 13
The training program can also be evaluated by scrutinizing the track record of the sales personnel before and after the training program. On a short term basis, the evaluation program can also be judged by evaluating the customer after sale and service forms in which the customer usually writes about the behavior and the attitude of the sales personnel towards the job and rates him for a performance or for that matter allots a grade for his performance. These techniques are very useful in the evaluation of the sales personnel and to understand his improved or deteriorated performance on the job after the training.
The sales personnel’s initiating contacts with customers and developing potential customer leads for sales and cross-selling of mobiles is proof of the employee comprehension of the training program. In the evaluation process, it is also necessary to understand how much knowledge the employee has acquired from the training program and how the person is implementing his newly acquired skills from the training on the job.
This can be in the form of greeting customers because welcoming customers requires a special body language and warmth which can be acquired through training. Similarly, existing customers with the same amount of warmth and gratitude is a skill that can be learned through training. Similarly offering the products, understanding the customer’s tastes and background is also the learning aspect of training and is an acquired skill from training. The communication skills of the sales personnel can be improved in miles with appropriate training.
Questionnaires are useful in evaluating the training program because it is a very short-term process used in understanding and analyzing the effectiveness of the training program. Conduction of tests is also a vital technique in evaluating the training process because the results of the tests serve as proof of the understanding of the training. Performance tests and oral examinations are a better assessment of the training program than using objective tests, norm-referenced tests and essay tests.
Essay tests and oral tests are distance apart because the essay test is time-consuming and the oral and objective tests will be very much comprehensive. Therefore as discussed above the best evaluation technique that Reliance Communications can use is the performance tests or by evaluating the sales personnel’s performance which will be evident in his job.
Conclusion
The various discussions from the study clearly depict the need and the advantages of the training and the development in the organization and the benefits reaped by the organization. The HRD program in the firm plays an efficient role in the various activities performed which boosts the profits and the effectiveness of the business, The HRD program of an organization is much effective so that the strategy of HRD is highly maintained in the organization. The advent of new training techniques should be used so that proper and effective training can be provided to employees to improve work efficiency.
Bibliography
Advantages of human resource, Small Business Bible, 2010. Web.
Advantages of human resources planning 79, Hub Pages, 2010. Web.
Dr. Sangamithra, Model 6: Approaches to change management: Attitude towards change: A long-term perspectives, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, n.d. Web.
Human resource management, Training and Development.Naukrihub.com, n.d. Web.
Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group of companies, Reliance Communications Limited, n.d. Web.
RCOM ties up with ZMQ to develop mobile games based on UN’s theme, Reliance Communications, 2008. Web.
Rossett, A, What is performance analysis, Jossey-Bass Pfeiffer, n.d, cat. no. 07879-4438-6. Web.
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Footnotes
- Human resource management, Training and Development.Naukrihub. n.d.
- RCOM ties up with ZMQ to develop mobile games based on UN’s theme, Reliance Communications, 2008.
- Advantages of human resource, Small Business Bible, 2010.
- Advantages of human resources planning 79, Hub Pages, 2010.
- A Rossett, What is performance analysis, Jossey-Bass Pfeiffer, n.d.
- Dr Sangamithra, Model 6: Approaches to change management: Attitude towards change: A long-term perspectives, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, n.d, p.1.
- What is HPT, International Society for performance Improvement, 2010.
- What is HPT, International Society for performance Improvement, 2010.
- H Marquis, Fishing for solutions: Ishikawa, ItSm Solutions, vol. 5.42, 2009.
- P Manzelli, Future scenarios of the professional management training of small and medium size enterprises, Tele-Training, 1998.
- Video Conferencing Technology and How it Works, All Conference Services, 2010.
- JM Werner & LD Randy, Human resource development, 5th edn, Cengage Learning, 2008, p.207.
- Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group of companies, Reliance Communications Limited, n.d.