Employee Attitude towards Training - Essay Example

?Employee attitude towards training effectiveness in India and the United Kingdom Employee attitude towards training and effectiveness of training has become a very popular issue in the light of modern day fast-paced organizations. In the past, very little attention has been devoted to assessing the attitudes of the employees towards training and the investment made towards a training program. According to Bramley, training is the development of attitudes, knowledge, skills and behaviour patterns required by an individual to perform adequately a given task or job (1996). As organizations have started investing more on training in their attempt to build a solid and trained workforce, it has become necessary to measure the effectiveness of these trainings. Previously, human resources have not given importance to how companies assess the effectiveness of trainings and what the employees’ attitude towards training effectiveness is (Santos and Stuart, 2003). It is necessary to ensure that every training proves to be effective because of the high level of investment involved. To make sure that training is effective, it is also important to adopt a systematic approach to training that would include various phases such as identifying training needs, planning, delivery and evaluation (Keep, 1989). As Marching and Wilkinson put it, the evaluation of training is one of the most critical stages in the training process. The results of the evaluation are important because it can help in understanding the missing links and improving the program. For the employees, training would work to be effective only if it provides a high level of motivation, increased potential to perform their role and positivity towards their work (Wexley and Latham, 1991). The attitudes towards training get influenced by various factors, such as experience of previous trainings, reputation of the trainer, the effectiveness of the session, the content of the training, the style of training and so on. All these factors, in turn influence the trainees’ perspectives about the evaluation of training (Rigg, 1989). According to Noe, ‘the attitudes, interests, values, and expectations of trainees may attenuate or enhance the effectiveness of training’ (Noe, 1986). Hence, it is often a tough task to estimate the effectiveness of training from the perspective of employee attitude. The challenge is even higher when the trainees possess very different attitudes because of either cultural differences or geographical differences. As the employees would belong to diverse groups, their approach towards training would differ considerably. This study aims to explore the attitude that the employees have with regard to training and its effectiveness, and how it varies in India and in the United Kingdom. This would help in understanding how the cultural as well as geographical backgrounds shape up the employee attitude with regard to training, as that will help to make the training programs customized and suitable for different groups of employees. The main parameters that would be considered in this study to see the employee attitude towards training effectiveness would be reaction to the training modules, the learning environment, noticeable behaviour change in the trainees and employee perceived training outcomes. Training for improvement job ability One of the key reasons why training is necessary is that it improves an individual’s capacity to perform his or her work more efficiently. In some cases, training empowers a person to develop the ability to perform the concerned work. While the criticality of this factor is understood worldwide, there is a significant difference in attitude in the way in which employees in the UK and employees in India perceive this. For example, according to Whitelock (2003), the employees of UK’s largest retail chain Tesco look at training from a very open perspective and consider it important as it helps to improve and do well in the long term. For them, training is not just a session to gather skills; instead, it serves the larger purpose of enhancing knowledge that would empower them in their career. However, the same company has operations in India and Whitelock notices that the attitude towards training is more from a short-term benefit perspective. The objective is to pick up a skill that will help them finish their immediate responsibility. This means that the employees feel less interested in a training when there are no immediate results or uses of it. Hence, the attitudes towards the effectiveness of a training are essentially different in the two countries, even though the employees belong to the same organization. This is closely related to the perceived outcome of the training programs. Due to the cultural diversity, it has been noticed that these sets of employees have different perceived outcomes during the training program. Hence, it is necessary to clarify the objectives of each training program as well as each training module to even out any such conflicting perceived outcomes. Quality of Training Models The module for training is a key determinant of how the attitude towards trainings shapes up. One challenge that is seen when the employee’s of the United Kingdom and India are compared is their attitude towards the learning modules. It has been seen that United Kingdom has developed a more global attitude because of which employees are easily able to relate to the global phenomenon as well as global examples. However, when the same examples were presented to the Indian audience, it was seen that there was a slight difficulty in related to the global perspective. Hence, training modules were customized to incorporate local examples to which the employees could easily relate to (Rigg, 1989). However, the reason for this could be because the Indian population was exposed to the multinational organizations who work globally after a considerable amount of time. Slowly, the trend is catching up and Indian employees are easily able to adopt a global perspective. A considerable number of Indians are able to appear for global certifications and they are also able to support a global client base. Hence, this challenge of customizing training to include local perspective to make it easy for comprehension can be easily overcome. The Learning Environment For any training to be very effective, it is necessary that the learning environment or the atmosphere of training is conducive for both the trainer as well as the trainees. The environment contributes to the response that the individuals or the group have towards the training, which in turn influences their attitude towards training effectiveness. Developing a good learning environment is a challenge for the employees in both India and United Kingdom. The environment just does not mean a training room that is good. It also means that how effectively the environment facilitates the delivery of training. Behaviour Change According to the behavioural theory of learning, any learning should have an impact on the behaviour of an individual. Therefore, a training program should be designed in such a manner that there is a considerable impact made on the individuals behaviour. This applies both towards skill based learning as well as attitude based learning. While it has been noticed that the Indian employees adapt themselves to skill-based training in a faster manner, it takes a while for them to work on attitude based learning. This is because of their intense focus on gathering the skills that would come useful in performing their immediate responsibility. On the contrary, the employees based in United Kingdome adapt very easily to attitude based learning because of their focus on improving their skills from a long-term perspective. While this is not a major issue, it has been noticed that Indian employees now understand the necessity of attitude based training and are adapting to it. Pre and Post Training Activities A training is not just limited to the immediate training session. Pre and post training activities also play a very vital role in making the training program effective. With the increase in online trainings, this becomes even more necessary. Pre and post training activities include preparation work, communication of the objective of training, gathering the effectiveness of training and sharing relevant training materials. The different cultural background of the employees of the United Kingdom and India also reflect in the way in which they adapt to pre and post training activities. While, the employees based out of United Kingdom have seen a dynamic training program that conducts pre and post training activities in a way that does not seem burdensome to the employees, Indian employees respond a little passively to these because these programs are not made interesting. Pre training usually just involves sending material that an employee should go through and post training is restricted to surveys. Therefore, the need is to develop more dynamic and interacting activities as that would help in developing a positive attitude towards training as well as in measuring the effectiveness of training. Training Evaluation A very critical part of any training assessment is the methodology of training evaluation. While there is a widespread notion that this aspect is not important, it is necessary to understand as well as reinforce the importance of this factor. While the organizations in the United Kingdom have moved ahead and have started implementing creative ways of training evaluation, the organizations in India have a very different approach (Bhawuk & Brislin, 2000). The organizations in the United Kingdom often do on the job evaluation of the training as well as conduct interactive sessions that are designed in a way that they show the responsive and effectiveness of the training without making the employee conscious about the fact that he or she is being evaluated. However, in India, the concept of training evaluation is still very new and has just come to the notice of the firms. The method of collecting feedback over a survey is the most common way in which training effectiveness is measured. While this may be a good start, it does have different loopholes, such as employees not taking the survey seriously, or not responding to it at all. It may also give rise to the fear that they are being judged constantly. Hence, the attitude towards the obvious ways of collecting training feedback and evaluating the training is often not a positive one. This is one area of developed for training in India, as it is imperative to introduce many more creative ways of gathering good feedback to carry out effective training evaluation. Role of HRM The role of Human Resource Management has increased in recent years as a result of competition from overseas economies. In economically advanced nations such as the United Kingdom, Japan and Sweden, the investment made on the employee development through training via HR is much higher when compared to India. This can contribute to many organizations rethinking about their stand taken on continuous investment in their employees with the help of HR training (Beardwell and Holden, 1994). In this regard, there is a difference that is noticed between the ways Human Resources are managed in India from the way in which it is managed in the United Kingdom. In India, it is argued that HR departments work mostly on an administration basis. The role of the HR should never be restricted to an administration-based role; instead, it should be made a part of the long-term strategy of the particular organization. The HR team should be more dynamic as well as proactive to understand the needs of the organization and to mould the employees to fit in line with the vision of the company. However, the notion related to Human Resources in India often is confined to the roles of recruiting, on-board activities as well as administrative work. For the HR to make an impact on the attitude of the employees, it is necessary that they take up a proactive role. Strategic HR creates value by providing opportunities for organic learning, development of intellectual capital and enhances core competencies. (Treen, D. 2000).  Recommendations and Suggestions The above points illustrate the gravity of the challenge that each organization with a diverse employee base or an organization that has presence in different counties face. While most of the efforts are centred on how to train the employees to develop a uniform attitude towards training and towards the vision of the organization, a critical factor related to cultural diversity and its benefits should not be ignored. For example, organizations invest a considerable amount of time and effort to make sure that the employees in India look beyond the traditional scope of training, and not at the short-term benefits. However, it can been seen that this focus on gathering the skills from the training often makes them more efficient in their core job. Hence, what is recommended is the need to find out a training plan that would strike a balance between the aggressiveness to fulfil the responsibility as well as to enhance the necessary skills. In addition, many organizations also make the crucial mistake of being aggressive in order to streamline the attitude of the organizations with regard to training. Hence, it is necessary that there is a right approach to tackle the problem. Before designing the module or a training program, it is necessary to gauge the attitude of the employee not only towards training programs, but also towards their career and their organization. The process of cultivating a similar attitude in employees belonging to different geographical location should be a gradual one and not a drastic one. This gradual progression also would ensure that the employees get enough time to understand the necessity of adapting to an attitude that helps them as well that helps the company make its progress. Additionally, it is also necessary to conduct the pre training as well as post training activities seriously by motivating the employees and involving them effectively. Another aspect that needs more careful consideration is how to carry out training effectively in a cross-cultural atmosphere. With the advent of global organizations as well as with the advancement in technological sphere, it is possible that the audience that receives the training is from diverse cultural backgrounds. The trainings should be in place to address issues like punctuality, language barriers, body language, cultural ambiguity and diverse business practices (Hun and Jenkins, 1998). Conclusion Overall, it is seen that employees in India and United Kingdome have different attitudes towards training programs as well as its effectiveness. However, both the group of employees do have some common challenges with regard to training. The trend is in favour of a uniformity that is expected to develop over the years, as the economies become more and more global and the organizations expand their base to different geographical locations. It can also be concluded that with the right efforts put in, it is possible to create an employee base that has similar attitudes. While it would be advantageous to have an employee base with similar attitude, it should also not be forgotten that the variety in attitude has often been advantageous. The organizations also should not put in aggressive efforts to shape up the attitude or to modify the attitude of the employees towards the trainings, as that also can prove to be hazardous. References Beardwell, I. & Holden, L. (1994) Human Resource Management. Pitman Publishing, London. Bhawuk, D. P. S., & Brislin, R. W. (2000). Cross-cultural Training: A Review. Applied Psychology, 49 (1): 161-192 Bramley, P(1996) Evaluating training effectiveness (second edition) , London: McGraw-Hill Keep, E. (1989). Corporate training: the vital components. Routledge Press. London Hun, B. J., & Jenkins, M. (2000). International Peer Group Development. Industrial & Commercial Training, 32 (4): 128-132 Marchington, M. & Wilkinson, A. (1996) Core Personnel and Development IPD Publishing London. Noe, R. A. (1986). 'Trainees' attributes and attitudes: neglected influences on training effectiveness'. Academy of Management Review, 11: 4, 736-749. Rigg, M(1989) Training in Britain: a study of funding, activity and attitudes—individual perspectives. Sheffield, Training agency Santos, A and Stuart, M(2003) ‘Employee perceptions and their influence on training effectiveness’ Human Resource Management Journal, 13(1), 27-45 Treen, D. (2000) Strategic Human Resources Ivey Business Journal, Jan/Feb 2000.Vol.64, Warr, P, Bird, M. and Rackham, N. (1976). Evaluation of Management Training, London: Gower Press Wexley, K.N and G. Latham(1991) Developing and training human resources in organisations. New York: McGraw-Hill Whitelock, N. (2003)Tesco’s new recruits see the big picture -Training & Management Development Methods Bradford: 2003.Vol.17, Iss. 1 Read More