Human Resource Development - Assignment Example

?Human Resource Development Table of Contents Introduction 3 Advantages of training methods that are used within an organization 5 Disadvantages of the training methods that are used within an organization 6 Systematic approach to the Training and Development Programs 6 Evaluation using suitable techniques 8 Evaluation of the training event 8 Review of the success of the implemented evaluation method 9 Role of Government in training& development & lifelong learning 9 The development of the competency movement and its impact on the public and private sectors 11 Contribution of contemporary training initiatives on human resources development of an organization 12 Conclusion 13 Reference list 14 Introduction The project has been divided into three sections. The first part of the project deals with the planning and designing of the training and development program for an organization originating in UK. In this part, firstly the study would assess and compare the training needs of the staffs at various levels within the organization. The study would also analyze the advantages and disadvantages of various training methods that are used within the organization. Thirdly, it would discuss and plan for a training and development program to manage the training events. This would involve a systematic approach. The second part of the study would evaluate the training events. In this part, it would be preparing for an evaluation program utilizing suitable techniques. It would carry out the evaluation of training event followed by reviewing the success associated with the evaluation of such event. The third part of the study would be reflecting the government led skill developing initiatives. This part would be discussing the role and function of the government in training and development. It would also discuss about how the progress of competency movement had an impact on the public as well as the private sectors. This part would also be assessing the contemporary training initiatives that have been introduced by the Government of UK and to what extent has it contributed to the human resources development within an organization. Training is a planned and systematic modification of behavior of an individual by means of various learning programs, events and instructions, which would enable these individuals to achieve high level of knowledge, competence and skills for carrying out their works in an effective manner. (Holton and Baldwin, 2003; Velada and Caetano, 2007). Training involves learning process. However, there lies a difference in training and learning process. The training program is a teacher focused program, whereas the learning process is learner focused. In case of learning, the ultimate goal remains production of a learning process. In case of training, the ultimate goal is training the staffs within an organization. In case of learning, the learner plays an active role, whereas in case of training, the learner plays a passive role. Training plays an important role within an organization. There are various types of training needs within an organization. The training helps in the analysis or assessment in a broader concept and plays a number of roles. Organizational needs- The organization needs training and development programs to educate and increase the knowledge of their employees, which in turn strengthen the organizational goals, strategies and objectives. The training program is sometimes suggested as the best solution of meeting the business problems. Personal needs- The potential participants would achieve experience, knowledge and learning. The training increases the knowledge, skills and ability of the individuals and enhances them in improving their individual performances thereby improving the performance of the overall organization. Performance needs- If the employees are not performing up to the desired or established standards then the training and development programs helps in improving their level of performances. This tries to reduce the performance gap of the employees in an organization and provides satisfaction to the top level management as well. Work Needs- The tasks that are being performed are up to the mark or not should be taken into consideration. The requirements that are needed for performing a particular task may not be available with the employees, which are acting as a drawback in their performances. A training and development program would act as the best media of turning this drawback into their strength enabling satisfactory performances to fulfill the desired task. Content Analysis: It should also be taken into consideration that all the information is available with the employees or not for performing a task. If all the information is not available to the employees, in such case the training and development programs act as the most effective strategy to provide all the necessary information to the employees by increasing their knowledge. Advantages of training methods that are used within an organization The method of training helps in developing the skills, knowledge and abilities of the employees (Tracey and Tews, 2005). However, there lies a difference from the organizational standpoint (Devins, Johnson and Sutherland, 2004; Devins and Johnson, 2003). In today’s workplace, it often requires employees to act as independent decision maker’s responsible for taking good decisions on the basis of limited information available to them. The pattern of work for acting as decision maker might require specific skills, which the employees do not possess. In such case they require training and development programs to build up such skills (Billett, 2004; Arthur et al., 2003; Burke and Hutchins, 2007). The competencies that are required by the employees and which are built and enhanced in the training program are listed below: Analytical skills for carrying out various organizational functions. Adaptability to changes within the organization. Action Orientation High Business Knowledge Enhancement of the communication skills Decision Making Knowledge in Global Perspective Innovation skills Leadership skills Interpersonal Skills Risk Management Planning Problem or Crisis Solving Techniques Teamwork Disadvantages of the training methods that are used within an organization The quality of the training program or the training method depends upon the ability of the trainer and the time provided for the training programs. Thus, it is totally dependent on the trainer to conduct an effective training program, which would improve the knowledge, abilities and skills of the employees. Moreover, the learning environment for the employees might not be favorable. Systematic approach to the Training and Development Programs The training may be provided in various ways. They enhance and increase the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA’s) of the employees (Dirani, 2006; Alvarez, Salas and Garofano, 2004). There should be a systematic approach to the training and development programs, which should include a number of steps. A systematic approach to the training and development program can be represented in the following diagram: There are two types of approaches for the training delivery methods. They can be segmented into cognitive and behavioral approaches. The cognitive method of training and development helps in providing information in written or oral forms thereby demonstrating the relationship among various concepts. This method stimulates the learning process and has close association with the changes in the knowledge or attitudes of the employees. On the other hand, the behavioral method allows the trainees to practice the behavior in simulated fashion. These training methods stimulate the learning process by means of providing experience and act as the best media for development of skills and changes in attitude. The training should ensure that its operation is in line with the organizational objectives and attach itself with the organization’s strategic direction. Evaluation using suitable techniques It becomes very important to evaluate the training event that is being conducted. The evaluation of the training program can be conducted in various ways. 1) Satisfaction and the participant reaction- This acts as the basic technique to evaluate the training event where the satisfaction level and reaction of the participants help in evaluation of the training programs. 2) Knowledge acquisition- This is another technique for the evaluation of the training and development programs. It becomes important for the organization to determine and assess on the knowledge that the trainees are acquiring from the training programs. In such case, an examination attached with the training courses would enable the evaluation process in an effective manner. 3) Behavioral Application- The impact of the training programs can be traced by means of the behavioral changes in the staffs and the employees. 4) Measurable improvement in the business- An assessment of the level of improvement in the performance of the organization would help in evaluating the training event by means of an understanding that whether the event is having positive impact on the performance or not. Evaluation of the training event The evaluation of the training method can be carried out in an effective manner by means of the Kirkpatrick Model. This evaluation model measures the effectiveness of the training programs in four steps- Reaction of the trainee- as already stated above, the reaction of the trainee participants in the training programs help in the evaluation of its effectiveness. Learning- The resultant increase in knowledge or capability of the trainees helps in measuring the effectiveness of the training programs. Behavior- The extents to which the training and development programs have impacted the behavioral changes of the employees help in assessing the effectiveness of the training event. Result- The impact of the trainee’s performance on the business environment would be assessing the efficiency of the training event. Review of the success of the implemented evaluation method A review of all the four steps mentioned in the Kirkpatrick Model would help in concluding whether the training and development programs have helped in improving the knowledge, ability and skills of the employees or not. If the training and development programs have positively impacted on the reaction, learning, behavior and results then it would result in increased performances for the individual employees as well as the organization. This would also conclude that the training and development programs have been successfully carried out within the organization. Role of Government in training& development & lifelong learning During the 1980’s, the U.K. Government recognized the country’s low skill base in comparison to the global competitors like United States, Germany etc. The increasing influence of the businesses forced the policy makers in seeking ways for shifting the focus towards the increase of vocational skills by means of education (British Council, 2013). These policy makers understood the importance of skilled and properly trained workforce for enhancing the organizational performance. During the 1990’s the development of wider agenda took place because of the increasing global competition, which resulted in the shift or transition from the manufacturing to knowledge based and high service providing economies. There were various steps taken. In the year 1998, Skills Task Force was established for developing the National Skills agenda, which would ensure that the country had high skills for the purpose of attainment of sustainably high employment level. This would enable the country to compete in the global market place. Similarly, there was a survey held in the year 2007 for finding out the loopholes resulting in the lack of employment skills. This survey also helped in evaluating the effectiveness of training programs in the organizations within the country. The government plays an important role in the construction of policies related to the training and development. The Government of UK follows voluntarist approach to the Human Resource development program, where it encourages the organizations for taking the responsibilities of their training & development programs and the associated financing activities. The human capital theory helped in explaining that people are worth for to be invested on, in terms of capital, where the increased performance and results obtained are considered as the return on investment and measured in respect of cost and the associated benefits in return (Cartwright, 2003). The government played an important role in facilitating the organizational training by stimulating the demand of the employers for improved skills and investments on grounds of education and training. The government has enhanced the training processes within the organizations by developing the overall national training infrastructure, funding for the initiatives taken to support the HRD programs and stimulating the demand and importance for learning. Thus, the government supports the training and development programs to a great extent and has taken a large number of initiatives to improve the learning processes by implementation of effective training and development programs. The training and environment program that have been planned for increasing the knowledge, abilities and skills within the organization would be supported by the policies and legal frameworks of the UK Government. The development of the competency movement and its impact on the public and private sectors During the period of 1980’s, the competence movement had a great influence on United Kingdom, where competence based trainings had transition from theoretical knowledge skills to the practical knowledge skills by inclusion of various practical classes in the training programs. The report on ‘review of the vocational qualifications in England & Wales’ reflected following weaknesses: Reduced recognition of the importance of learning achieved from the outside formal training and development programs. Assessment methods had more focus on testing of knowledge rather than competence or skills. There existed a large number of barriers in the access of vocational qualifications. This resulted in the establishment of ‘National Council for Vocational Qualifications’, which would address to the above mentioned weaknesses suggesting various recommendations towards the effective planning of HRD. The competence based training programs were encouraged by the government, the proponents in the management development and other professionals. The introduction of NVQ resulted in the rise of the occupational standards. It covered mostly all the important aspects of the occupation involving the present best practices, ability of adapting to the future needs and increased knowledge as well as understanding underpinning the competent performance. NVQ programs highly supported the career development aspirations of the trainees by supporting job relevant flexible training and assessment programs within the workplace. This had a positive impact on all the occupational sectors including the public and the private sectors. In today’s world competency management is being adopted remarkably as an effective approach to the HRM in public as well as private sectors (Montesino, 2002; Holton, Bates and Ruona, 2000). Competency management, as an important approach of the HRM, has helped in fostering employee’s contribution towards the organization in both the sectors. Contribution of contemporary training initiatives on human resources development of an organization Contemporary training initiatives aim at linking the employers of the organizations with the skill brokers where these skills brokers would be offering independent and impartial advice to the organizations and match the type of training needs with the best suitable training providers in order to provide the best training and development programs to the employees. These skill brokers recognize the ‘skilling needs’ related to the achievement of business goals and provide recommendations after conducting an effective skill analysis, which in turn helps the organization to adopt suitable training programs. Thus, the contemporary training initiatives help the human resource development by providing the best suitable training to the employees in order to develop the human resources within the organizations. Conclusion Training is a systematic modification of attitude and behavior of any individual by means of implementation of various learning programs, instructions and events, which would be enabling these individuals to achieve increased level of knowledge, competence and skills for performing their functions in an effective manner. It is very important for an organization to implement an effective training and development program for training and increasing the skills, knowledge and ability of its employees. The impact of training and development programs on the reaction, learning, behavior and results reflect the success or failure of such programs. The UK government has played an important role in supporting the training and development programs in the organization. It is expected that UK would possess high skill base in comparison to the global competitor in the future by effective utilization of all the policies and frameworks set by the regulatory body within the country. Reference list Alvarez, K., Salas, E. and Garofano, C. M., 2004. An integrated model of training evaluation and effectiveness. Human Resource Development Review. 3 (4), pp. 385-416. Arthur, W., Bennett, W., Edens, P. S. and Bell, S. T., 2003. Effectiveness of training in organizations: A meta-analysis of design and evaluation features. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88 (2), pp. 234-45. Billett, S., 2004. Workplace participatory practices: Conceptualizing workplaces as learning environments. Journal of Workplace Learning, 16 (6), pp. 312-24. British Council, 2013. Lifelong Learning Strategies. [online] Available at: < http://www.britishcouncil.org/learning-skills-for-employability-uk-country-lifelong-strategies.htm> [Accessed 6 September 2013]. Burke, L. A. and Hutchins, H. M., 2007. Training transfer: An integrative literature review. Human Resource Development Review, 6 (3), pp. 263-96. Cartwright, R., 2003. Training and development express. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Devins, D. and Johnson, S., 2003. Training and development activities in SMEs. International Small Business Journal, 21 (2), pp. 213-28. Devins, D., Johnson, S. and Sutherland, J., 2004. Employer characteristics and employee training outcomes in UK SMEs: A multivariate analysis. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 11 (4), pp. 449-57. Dirani, K. M., 2006. Exploring socio-cultural factors that influence HRD practices in Lebanon. Human Resource Development International. 9 (1), pp. 85-98. Holton, E. F. and Baldwin, T. T., 2003. Improving learning transfer in organizations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Holton, E. F., Bates, R. A. and Ruona, W. E. A., 2000. Development of a generalized learning transfer system inventory. Human Resource Development Quarterly. 11 (4), pp. 333-360. Montesino, M. U., 2002. Strategic alignment of training, transfer-enhancing behaviors, and training usage: A post training study. Human Resource Development Quarterly. 13 (1), pp. 89-108. Tracey, J. B. and Tews, M. J., 2005. Construct validity of a general training climate scale. Organizational Research Methods. 8, pp. 353-374. Velada, R. and Caetano, A., 2007. Training transfer: The mediating role of perception of learning. Journal of European Industrial Training, 31, pp. 283-96. Read More