Advantages and Disadvantages of On Job and Off Job Training and Development - Essay Example

Advantages and Disadvantages of On Job and Off Job Training and Development Name: Grade Course: Tutor’s Name: 29th, April, 2010 Introduction The most important resource of an organization is the employee. The employees should have skills necessary for conducting specific responsibilities in the organization. In most cases, the employees gain the skills from education and training organizations such as universities, diploma level colleges and other training institutions. After employment however, there is need for continued training and development. There are two types of training and development. These are; training on the job and training off the job. Training on the job is the case where the employee is trained at the work place while off the job training is where the employee gets training outside the work place/external training institutions for example Universities (Sarin, 2006). The two types of training and development have their advantages and disadvantages. This paper will cover the disadvantages and the advantages of both on job training and development and off job training and development. In order to fully understand the advantages and disadvantages of the two types of training and development, it is important to first understand what each type of training and development is and the techniques used. The discussion will therefore explain the meaning of each type of training and development and describe the techniques used in each type. A. On Job Training and Development This is a method of training where an organization uses knowledgeable, experienced and skilled employees for example supervisors and managers to train the less knowledgeable, less experienced and less skilled employees (Dhaka, 2007). As noted earlier this type of training takes place in the work place. It is characterised by non-formal procedures or content and lack of well developed objectives at the beginning and during training. The trainers have no specific qualification for the specific skills that the trainee needs to gain. They are always the most experienced and most knowledgeable in the organization but no consideration is given to their formal qualification or training experiences in relation to the training they are suppose to give the less knowledgeable, less skilled and less experienced employees (Dhaka, 2007). The following techniques are used in on job training and development: Job instruction technique Mentoring Job Rotation Coaching (Dhaka, 2007). Job Instruction Technique: In this technique, an employee is trained to have specific skills and knowledge on a specific job or specific jobs. It focuses on the knowledge, skills and attitude development requiring the trainer to form a strategy. According Dhaka, job instruction technique involves planning, presentation of the plan, trial and follow up. Presentation is the process of presenting to the trainee what he/she requires for the job in terms of knowledge, skills and attitude (Dhaka, 2007). Job Rotation: People get employed, get promoted, get retrenched, sacked or retired. The last three cases provide spaces for other people to be employed. In some organizations, positions are filled in internally which means recruiting an employee at a lower level to take on the space left by another employee due to retrenchment, retirement or promotion. This kind of recruitment is what is known as job rotation. A lower level employee is trained to take the position of another employee at a higher level (Dhaka, 2007). Mentoring: This involves a one to one interaction aiming at attitude development. It is done by an experienced trainer from the company which means that any qualified person cannot be hired by the company to do mentoring. Mentoring assists in the identification of employees’ weaknesses and then focuses on how to improve the areas that need improvement. Coaching: This is meant for the development of the trainee in areas like personal effectiveness, emotional intelligence, time management, assertiveness and communication and listening skills. It requires the understanding of the employee’s job, skills, attitude, knowledge and the available resources to meet the aims of trainer or the organization. The trainee is shown how to observe performance, achieve his aims or organizational aims and provides feedback to the trainer. The trainer does this until he/she is sure that there is an improvement in the employee skills, knowledge, effectiveness or whatever the trainer focused on to improve (Dhaka, 2007). Advantages of on Job Training and Development Trainees have the opportunity to gain the experience needed by the company in using the tools and equipment needed for a specific type of job since they are being trained in their working environments (West, 1979). This is by far better than trying to train an employee on how to use those same tools and equipment in an external environment. Additionally, different companies may manufacture a tool with the same function but different operation methods. When in a specific company, an employee will be trained on how to use the specific tool or on all the types depending on what the company uses while in an external training institution, the employee will be trained on all the different tools. There is no guarantee that the external institution will have all the tools and equipment manufactured by different companies. In most cases, they are trained on the differences and the functions and not experience (West, 1979). When one is newly employed in an organization for example as a research assistant in a laboratory, the employee will have to undergo some orientation and training in some techniques needed to perform some experiments in the laboratory. In the world of science and emergence of new technology, different technologies used in research have been developed. The employees will require job training on the new technologies. In on job training and development, the employee will gain more confidence in his or her work since the supervisor or trainer will be there to show him/her what to do, monitor his/her work and receive feedback ensuring that the job is correctly done. On job training and development tailors the job to specifically fit the requirements of the organization and its human resource department and also allows the employee to be quickly integrated into the company, unlike in the case of gaining the same skills externally where there is no guarantee that the training will suit the specific requirements of the organization (Zweig, 1991 & Grubb, 1996). On job training and development is considered cost effective to the company. In the case of job rotation for example, hiring a new employee to take the position of a retired, promoted or sacked employee may be more expensive compared to training an employee of the organization to take up the position. Additionally, there is no guarantee that the newly employed candidate will have all the skills, knowledge and experience that the company requires. The newly employed candidate will also need time to adapt to the new culture of the organization which may take time (ExploreAdultLearning, 2010). On job training and development means that the employee is working while learning at the same time. This makes them more productive with time as they become proficient (Grubb, 1996 & ExploreAdultLearning, 2010). Disadvantages of On Job Training and Development On job training and development involves the use of knowledgeable and experienced people of the organization to train employees. This does not mean that the knowledgeable, skilled and experienced people have the specific knowledge, skills and experience in a specific field of training. This affects their proficiency in training which means that the employees may not gain what is required of them to gain (lack of proficiency). On the contrary, off job training and development makes use of qualified personnel to train people hence proficiency (Zweig, 1991 & Grubb, 1996). According to West, coaching, mentoring, worker training or teaching are skills that people also need to be trained on in order to provide the services (1979). If training is provided by untrained people like in the case of on job training, the service offered may be substandard due to lack of planning and inability to enable the trainee grasp the concepts, all due to lack of appropriate qualifications. This sub sufficient training may reflect on the performance of the trainee and in turn the performance of the company. There is no diversity in the case of on job training. The employee is trained on specific job requirements of a specific company which may not exist in other companies. The employee therefore has no alternatives when looking for other jobs unless he/she has other skills required for other jobs, which are only gained from off job training institutions. The trainee gains vast knowledge in off job training and development and not specific as in the case of on job training (Nilson, 2003 & Stern, 1981). On job trainings are meant for specific organizational roles. In some cases, the on job trainings are rushed to save some money for the company and to get the trainee up to speed. This leads to a trained employee with insufficient concepts or skills due to insufficient time for learning. It then leads to a waste of time since the trainee will have gained nothing of importance to help the company achieve its aims (Stern, 1981). Some companies hire external trainers. This is not cost effective financially since the external trainer may have the necessary skills but may be unfamiliar with the working practices and organization equipments (Stern, 1981). Trainers may also pass bad habits to the trainees without realising (ExploreAdultLearning, 2010). B. Off Job Training and Development This is where the employee takes the training out of the work place. The employee seeks extra knowledge and skills outside the place of work (Sarin, 2006 & Dhaka, 2007). This is done through the following techniques: Transaction Analysis Lectures Sensitivity Training Games and Simulation Exercises (Dhaka, 2007). Transactional Analysis: Transaction in this case refers to the motivation-reaction relationship in a social interaction. Dhaka, Indicates that any social interaction is characterised by a motivation from an individual which has to receive a response from another. The motivation-reaction relationship is referred to as the transaction. Analysis of such a transaction requires the ego states of an individual (2007). Lectures: Lecturing is to tell someone about something. In training and development, the aim of lecturing is to give the trainee a theoretical aspect of a specific topic. In the case of business organization requirements, lectures can be about business topics or on business courses (Gitman & McDaniel, 2007). It is a knowledge building exercise (Dhaka, 2007). Sensitivity Training: These kinds of trainings focus on making people understand about themselves as well as other people. It focuses on trainees’ behavioural flexibility and social sensitivity which they should have at the end of the training. The training ensures that the old values are reviewed and new values developed and kept in the mind (Dhaka, 2007). Games and Simulation Exercises: Training games and exercises have specific aims. The trainee may be required to have the ability to abide by specific rules or the games may have specific skills that the trainee is required to have. The games allow trainees to compete with each other according the defined set of rules. Simulation is the creation of games or exercises that are similar to real life situations but in computers. It is all about an opinion, judgement or imitation of how real life actions occur (Dhaka, 2007). Examples of games and simulation exercises are; case studies, role plays, equipment simulators, business games and in basket technique (Dhaka, 2007). Advantages of Off Job Training and Development Training off the job uses specialist to offer training services unlike training on the job where the other experienced employees of the company offer training services. This ensures that the trainee receives up to standard training. In training off the job the employee has the time to focus on the training and not be distracted by the job, unlike the case of training on the job where the trainee has to train and sometimes get back to work. The trainee has a better chance to concentrate away from the bustle and noise of the work place (Jenkins, 2002 & Tutor2U, 2010). There is a lot of freedom from pressures of work and interruptions and an opportunity to practice freely without being monitored for mistakes and so on. The trainee is most likely to grasp the concept on what he/she is being trained on more easily because of the opportunity to think through the principles behind actions and understand the reason why the work is done in the way in which he/she is instructed (Jenkins, 2002). This also ensures that the training is up to standard unlike the case of on job training where training may be hurried depending on the organization targets and no attention given to whether the trainee grasps the concept or not (Jacobs, 2003& Tutor2U, 2010). The trainee has also the opportunity to mix with other employees and people from other businesses (Tutor2U, 2010). Getting to mix with other employees outside the area of work encourages sharing of knowledge and experience which is very important in business. A trainee is exposed to other environments making it easy for him/her to adapt to new environments in case of change of place of work (Jacobs, 2003). Disadvantages of Off Job Training and Development The role of coaching reveals a disadvantage of off the job training and development. A suitable employee may already be in the company and in most cases; the companies seek to improve the performance of the employee which will in turn improve the performance of the organization. Improving the performance of the employee requires identification of the weak areas of performance and training on how to improve it. As discussed, coaching is a method of training and development. The aims are as indicated above. If coaching aims at improving the employee’s effectiveness for example, the on job training method will be more effective than the off job training method which may not even relate the employee’s weaknesses. Off job training method is not always relevant to the employee’s job (Hackett, 2003). The techniques used in off job training may not be sufficient for a trainee to gain necessary experience in the use of certain tools and equipment used in organizations. Off job techniques as described are theoretical, for example lecturing, and are just simulations and not real life experiences (Hackett, 2003 & Tutor2U, 2010). The trainings may not even relate to the trainee’s job. It is also not cost effective considering the amount of money that a trainee would use on transport, accommodation, course, materials and examination fees among so many other expenses (Hackett, 2003 & Tutor2U, 2010). Jenkins also indicated that the trainees have to be motivated to learn and not like in the case of on job training (2002). Conclusion One of the most important resources of companies is the human resource. It is required for the performance of the organization. If an organization wants to improve the performance for example in a department, the employees have to be informed, guided or trained on what to do and motivated. Training is one of the ways of ensuring employees gain the skills needed to perform organizational jobs that influences how an organization will perform. Performance depends on the aims of the organization. Two types of training have been discussed above with their advantages and disadvantages. This gives any human resource manager, a trainer, or an organizational manager, the necessary information on how training should be conducted and what training method he/she should choose in case he/she needs his/her employees trained. It also assists trainees on decision making on whether to go for on job or off job training for personal and organizational development. It all depends on the organizational and trainee requirements and preferences. References Dhaka, B. L., (2007), On the Job and Off the Job Training, Education Institute. Retrieved on 27th, April 2010 from: http://www.scribd.com/doc/18188520/JOB-TRAINING-METHOD ExploreAdultLearning, (2010), On the Job Trainings, Pros and Cons. Retrieved on 28th, April, 2010 from: http://www.exploreadultlearning.co.uk/job-training-pros-cons.html. Gitman, J. L. and McDaniel C., (2007), The Future of Business: The Essentials, 3rd Ed., Connecticut, US: Cengage Learning. Grubb, W. N., (1996), Learning to Work: The Case for Reintegrating Job Training and Education, New York, US: Russell Sage Foundation. Hackett, P., (2003), Training Practice, London, UK: CIPD Publishing. Jacobs, R. L., (2003), Structured On-the-job Training: Unleashing Employee Expertise in the Workplace, 2nd Ed., San Francisco, CA; Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Jenkins, D., (2002), Planning Training and Development Super Series, 4th Ed., Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. Nilson, C. D., (2003), How to Manage Training: A Guide to Design and Delivery for High Performance, 3rd Ed., New York, US: AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn. Sarin, K., (2006), HRM Training and Development: Nature of Training and Development, Retrieved on 27th, April, 2010 from: http://www.scribd.com/doc/10041934/HRM-Training-Development Stern, D., (1981), Assessing Economic Feasibility of On-the-Job Training, California, US: Institute for Research on Educational Finance and Governance. Tutor2U, (2010), Training Off the Job. Retrieved on 27th, April, 2010 from: http://tutor2u.net/business/people/training_offthejob.asp West, L. L., (1979), Economic and Noneconomic Benefits of On-the-Job Training and Skill Training for Clients Supported Through the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act, Columbia: University of Missouri. Zweig, C. M., (1991), Human Resources Management: The Complete Guidebook for Design Firms, Boston, Massachusetts: John Wiley and Sons. Read More