Importance of Training Needs Assessment and Effectiveness of a Training Program - Assignment Example

?HRM Table of Contents Introduction 3 Reasons for Corporate Training Failure 4 The Importance of Training Needs Assessment (TNA) 8 Hospital Governance 10 Hospital Policies and Procedures 10 Hospitals Personnel Requirements 10 Hospital Infection Control 11 Recommendations on the Steps and Measures to Evaluate the Effectiveness of a Training Program 14 Training Needs Assessment 14 Identification of the Training Needs 15 Pre-Training Assessment 16 Post Assessment (Reactions) 16 Learning Evaluation 17 Conclusion 19 References 21 Introduction In Human Resource Management (HRM), training is considered to be one of the primary functions of the management. It is considered to be a well structured function comprising different processes through which, individuals are made proficient for performing certain tasks and responsibilities. These aspects of training are considered to be much diversified as it is applicable in the fields of education, business and in performing different job roles too (Kearns, 2013). Taking due note on the strategies focused on HR and training, a critical analysis of my workplace, i.e. Al Amal Complex for Mental Health in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia 2004, where I worked as a psychologist in the addiction section, will be conducted. Correspondingly, this essay will represent all those instances that indicated towards certain gaps existing in the above mentioned fields of HR and Training. In order to derive a succinct understanding about the importance of HR and Training, the essay will also take into account factors relating to organizational effectiveness that can be attained by way of inducing appropriate corporate training programmes in the healthcare workplace. In a similar context, the essay will also represent various reasons for which corporate training programs fail. Each of these reasons will be highlighted in a specific manner. In addition, the importance of Training Needs Assessment (TNA) in the overall context of HR will also be determined upon. Similarly, the essay will reflect certain strategies through which the effectiveness of a training program can be evaluated. All of these factors will share proper correspondence with that of the current HR situations persisting in the medical hospital with the intention to suffice the objectives in this paper. Reasons for Corporate Training Failure Corporate training is considered to be a very important aspect for ensuring proper improvement in the skills of the employees along with their continuous performance enhancement. This special type of training provides great aid in determining the employees’ job requirements and gaining greater efficiency in managing people within an organisational setting. In precise, as per the Human Resources Management (HRM) theory of the modern organisational behaviour, effective and continuous training leads to the development of highly productive as well as a unique set of skills within the employees that further helps them in delivering high-end organizational results. Corporate training primarily comprises different functions, which reflect training on new company software, workshops, online training and leadership training among others (Mudler, 1995). However, these types of training do not necessarily provide high end results being largely dependent on various other factors including organisational design and structure of decision making prevailing within the workplace. This aspect can be provided with maximum amount of weightage when assessing the possible reasons behind organizations failing to meet the requirement of the employees through corporate training (Mudler, 1995). Failure of corporate training programs may very well be related my experiences, when I worked in Al Amal Complex for Mental Health in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia 2004, as a psychologist in the addiction section. The hospital in which I was working did not consider training to be a part of HR, which I believe to have been the major reason for corporate failure in that unit. With the head office controlling the training processes within the hospital in a uniform manner, my subordinates often faced problems in differentiating and addressing the unique needs of patients along with the psychological difficulties that were faced by them in the ward. Moreover, the HR department of the hospital was undergoing a developmental stage and in such cases one cannot fully rely upon the various HR functionalities taking place in the organization, which in turn imposed considerable effects on the effectiveness of the training facilities offered to us in my workplace. Moreover, the hospital was dominated by Health Ministry which certainly posed certain amount of negative implications on the Training Department. Besides, the training department was under the direct control of the head office in that hospital, it had continuous check on the managerial implications and financial factors associated with training in my workplace. Under such circumstances, other managerial and financial operations in the hospital became more significant as compared to training, which led to the corporate training failure in my workplace. Subsequently, the hospital needed to restructure its HR operations so that all the employees can improve their skills in order to meet the desired organizational standards understanding departmental variances and the corresponding need for change in role competencies. The reasons for which corporate training fails may also constitute other factors that may arise due to faulty assumptions regarding the requirements of the employees (Beardwell & Claydon, 2010). For instance, the exact needs of the employees in my workplace had remained unidentified, owing to the fact that the process was entirely controlled by the head-office along with the fact that the training department was dominated by the Health Ministry thus, subsequently employees end up in getting corporate training on those fields in which they already excel. Therefore, wrong identification of the training programs which primarily arose because of the health ministry’s and head office’s involvement in the training department can very well be considered as one of the primary reasons for which corporate training fails (Beardwell & Claydon, 2010). Other reasons for its failure may constitute following the learning and development process inappropriately. While delivering corporate training, many organizations fail to identify the learning needs of the employees along with the primary aims and objectives of the overall organization. This factor proves to be a crucial factor accountable for corporate training failures as it leads to inefficiency along with wastage of resources in the organization (Beardwell & Claydon, 2010). This aspect can very well be related with my experience as I did not find my department i.e. Medical Hospital to be accountable enough in terms of following the basic HR functions. It is worth mentioning in this context that business and learning goals pose close interrelation with each other, therefore organization need to consider these factors at all levels, which I was also able to note throughout my working experience in the mental hospital. Through the identification of the business goals, learning goals are needed to be determined, which are especially required for providing corporate training to the employees (Beardwell & Claydon, 2010). However, such segregation was not observably transparent in my workplace. Therefore, as the business goals were not identified, the organization had to face inevitable problems that further led to the failure of corporate training in the hospital. In such cases, organisations fail to recognize the problems required to be sorted in order to ensure an effective application of corporate training. Correspondingly, similar to other organizations, Al Amal Complex also had to face issues while identifying the organizational gaps existing within the workplace and therefore, assure its mitigation through effective training. It further caused continuous hurdles to the organization while identifying the learning gaps persisting within the employees. Relating the same with HRM theory of training, it can be asserted that all these factors in a combined form cause corporate training failures in the modern day context (Beardwell & Claydon, 2010). There are other major reasons for the failure of corporate training programs that may be deemed as noteworthy in this study. In the view of Mason (2013), it can be regarded that absence of accountability in the organization can lead to failure of not only corporate training programs but also different types of training programmes including online training and training on software among others (Mason, 2013). With reference to my experience in the medical hospital, training was not considered to be a part of the HR functions and also the overall training department was under the control of the head office and the health ministry rather than the HR department in my workplace. These limitations further contributed to the fact that the medical hospital needed to be much more accountable regarding its HR functionalities to have prevented corporate training failure. In similar context, Lu & Betts (2010) suggested their viewpoints regarding the subject matter. According to & Betts (2010), there are three primary reasons for which a corporate training may fail. It may fail due to lack of prerequisite base of knowledge, short time for analyzing the feedback dynamics of the employees along with a weakened commitment towards fulfilment of the management’s objectives (Lu & Betts, 2010). Correspondingly, Bunch (n.d.) has shared the idea that failure to develop specific training goals may lead to highly ineffective results and may also lead to failure of corporate training as well. This factor can also be related with my own experiences in the medical hospital i.e. Al Amal Complex, where I was unable to find apparent strategic involvements of the HR functions. Thus, analysis of all these factors determines the primary reason due to which a corporate training program may fail. The analysis helped in achieving a fair idea regarding the measures that an organisation could adopt in order to minimize the changes of failure of corporate training. Based on my individual experiences in the Al Amal Complex, I was also able to grab a fruitful idea pertaining to the ways through which, such types of situations relating to corporate training failure could be avoided. All of the studies helped in learning that in order to identify and set goals in the organizations, the aspects of training are needed to be treated with prime importance. However, fulfilment of all these aspects may not always provide positive results because failure may come in any form. For instance, if the employees themselves are not interested to undergo a corporate training program, as I was able to observe in my workplace, it shall never deliver positive results. This may also be attributed as a primary reason for employee’s lack of interest in such types of training programs leading to failure of corporate training methods (Mcclay, 2006). The Importance of Training Needs Assessment (TNA) In the view of Salas & Bowers (2001), TNA is mainly conducted in order to determine the necessity of training, the content that is required to be imparted and the target employees to be selected for the purpose. The importance of TNA is that it provides numerous learning outcomes regarding the motivational needs of the employees, their growth potentials and limitations that are required to be mitigated so as to enhance their margin of contribution. In Mental Health in Riyad within the addiction section, where I was employed as a psychologist, training department is not under the direct vigilance of Human Resource Department (HRD); rather, it is being dominated by Health Ministry that looks after the training strategies implemented within the workplace. In this respect, it becomes difficult for the higher authorities of the Health Ministry to understand the necessity for training of the employees. The employees of the Mental Health in Riyad have to deal with a number of difficult situations in the concerned field. This view has also been supported by Seiu Healthcare (2006).The patients admitted in the mental hospitals mainly suffer from nerve and psychiatric problems. These patients need to be kept under special treatment and care of the employees in the workplace, whereby the competency needs of one department may also be observed as broadly different from another (WHO, n.d.). The employees working within the mental hospitals need to be aware of any kind of emergency situations. Moreover, the employees working within such hospitals mainly face the problems of coordination and adequate facilities, which is quite certain to be a challenging task for the head office to supervise proper training programs within the workplace. As in my workplace, Mental Health in Riyad, the training department was suffering from the lack of adequate finance and resource supply among others. Being under the direct control of the Health Ministry, the higher officials did not understand the exact requirements of the training department pertaining to the mental hospital. This concept has also been supported by Rice & et. al. (1985), Anderson (2011) and TN. Gov (1999), which denoted that HRD is held as solely responsible to mitigate the loopholes pertaining to resource allocation and education impartment. Training department under the management of HR will ensure effective results and training education. It is thus essential that the officials under the HR department endure adequate knowledge regarding the training needs and requirements (Rice & et. al., 1985). There exist certain basic training requirements for the employees of mental hospital that has been discussed below. Hospital Governance Hospital governance is the written document designed by the government that includes certain regulations pertaining to employees of mental hospital. Regulations related to organising the staff, their responsibilities and the line of control of the higher authorities within the department are few of the major aspects required to be noted when designing an effective corporate training program. The governance document further includes the personal details of all the owners, officers and the controlling measures among others and hence, an all-inclusive TNA shall be able to imbibe the organisational goals within the training program in the most effective manner (TN. Gov, 1999). Hospital Policies and Procedures It is necessary for the governing body to ensure all the policies and procedures are in written format and must be provided to all the employees. These policies and procedures incorporate the process needed to maintain for ensuring quality care. Under these policies and procedures, the delivery of the appropriate treatment according to the clinical intervention is documented. These procedures are mostly related to handling of critical cases, where family, guardian and hospitals professionals must be involved (TN. Gov, 1999). Thus, taking due note of these factors when designing a training program, employees’ morale towards the organisation can also be enhanced to a substantial extent and hence, proper implementation of corporate training can be ensured. Hospitals Personnel Requirements In a mental hospital, it is the responsibility of the governing body to track the detailed records of the employees’ performances. Furthermore, the personnel requirements also entail the training required for the development of the employees, which can only be possible through the implementation of an effective TNA. Adequate knowledge regarding the patients’ rights, privacy rights and medication among others also frame the essential content of the training program and is assessable through the implementation of a well-structured TNA (TN. Gov, 1999). Hospital Infection Control Policies and procedures related to the infection control are vital for any care facility. Policies basically ensure separation of the infected patients from others. Infection control techniques that help to prevent transportation of infections also frame a part of the control procedures, which can be strategically assessed and imbibed through frequent practice of TNA (TN. Gov, 1999). Considering these few training requirements that frame the base of any mental healthcare facility, it can be argued that even if it is possible for the head office to be aware of all the policies and procedures, it shall certainly lack in gaining a complete understanding of the workplace challenges faced by the employees daily that in turn affect their performance on the whole. This eventually creates a hurdle in the effective management of the hospital activities. While dealing with patients, I and my colleagues had to face major difficulties in having the proper understanding of the internal activities of the mental hospital due to the same limitation persisting in the applied training program by the head office. These factors ensure the importance of TNA. Presence of HR department within any organisation makes it easier for the employees to have a proper understanding of the activities being executed within it. Correspondingly, as the head office needs to look after diversified aspects of an organisation, as the centralised operating body, certain loopholes in the functioning of HR roles and responsibilities is likely to persist within the workplace. In this regard, the concept has also been supported by Beardwell & Claydon (2010). However, in many organisations, the need for HRD is hardly evaluated. I observed a similar picture in my workplace, in Mental Health in Riyad. One of the important functions of the HRD is designing training programs for the employees of the business unit. It is in this context that applying TNA is important for gaining an idea about the area and the need for training. Furthermore, it has also been analysed that by implementing TNA, organisation’s competencies and capabilities can be judged on the whole. It ensures better outcomes by utilising the resources to its maximum usage. In relation to the training processes implemented in the Mental Health in Riyad has provided me with an insight about the need of HR department in an organisation. In a mental hospital, numerous administrative procedures are required to be followed. Implementation of numerous policies, differentiated responsibilities and technicalities are important in a mental hospital (WHO, n.d.). In the Mental Health in Riyad where I used to work, the training department was under the Health Ministry. Additionally, the HR department of this particular organisation was in the developing stage. Training unit was altogether a separate department. This created a problem in the effective flow of the training program being controlled by the head office directly. As the Health Ministry was not aware of the techniques and areas of training needs, they failed to organise an effective program. Finance also became a hurdle in the development of an effective corporate training program as the authorised body of the head office were not acquainted with the TNA tools. This resulted in the unorganised implementation of the training program and ultimately led to its failure (Salas & Bowers, 2001). To be precise, on part of the job analysis, it was difficult for the head office to understand the rudimental workplace problems and the mental hospital’s basic policies and procedures. Infection control policies and basic hospital procedures among others were also not known to them. Therefore, the training program that was organised failed to fulfil the desired level of return. This ensures the need of an HR department within an organisation to enrich its employees’ performances. Furthermore this ensures the importance of TNA within an organisation. Recommendations on the Steps and Measures to Evaluate the Effectiveness of a Training Program Training Needs Assessment A training program typically aims at facilitating knowledge acquisition, skills enhancement for the overall development of theoretical along with practical aspects in order to develop competencies in various fields that may comprise: education, business operations and other various fields of work specific to the department. Certainly, there exists a special purpose for the inclusion of a training program. It primarily caters to creating improvement in one's productivity, performance, capability along with capacity. All of these aspects directly relates to the fulfilment of the organizational objectives at large. An effective training program very well caters to an organization’s interests by way of providing training to the employees as per their unique sets of skills to the areas where they lack knowledge and expertise (Bramley, 2003). However, a training program may not prove to be very much effective as it may fail to deliver its intended outcome depending on its organisation efficiency. There may also be situational issues in which a training program may not prove to be fruitful enough to deliver proper skill sets to the employees. Such instances arise when either the employees do not have the urge to undergo the training program or when the program lacks in certain areas (University of Washington, 2013). Situations issues have often been argued too raise inevitable and unforeseen challenges obstructing the appropriate evaluation of a training program may not deliver appropriate results. These types of situations pose greater amount of challenges to organizations as it does not allow them to get a proper picture of the training impacts (University of Washington, 2013). These types of challenging factors also depict a clear relationship with my experiences in the medical hospital i.e. Al Amal Complex as I was unable to find the HR department to function in an appropriate manner. One of the topmost reasons being, training was not considered to be a part of HR. For this reason, evaluation of the training program was not fulfilled. In my case, if training was considered to be a part of HR and if all the functions of HR were undertaken by the HR department instead of the head office, things could have been different. It could have resulted in the accurate gatheration of all the outputs regarding the descriptive data i.e. the intersected participants in the training program, demographic data and the theme of the training program. This way, the initial training requirements could have been fulfilled along with the inclusion of one of the stages of training evaluation i.e. ‘Describe the outputs’ (University of Washington, 2013; Bramley, 2003). Identification of the Training Needs According to reports provided By University of Washington (2013), this stage is considered to be very important as it delivers a strong base for assessing the results of a training program in an appropriate manner. Inclusion of this stage could have provided a great aid in setting frameworks for further training as well. Moreover, it may also lead to a proper analysis of the exact set of training, which is primarily required in the organizations. It even allows organizations to perform proper financial estimations in relation to the costs and expenses that will be incurred in a training program. Moreover, this stage allows meeting the initial training requirements which pose high amount of importance (University of Washington, 2013). Pre-Training Assessment Considering my experience in Al Amal Complex, I was able to learn that absence of Pre-training assessment, which is considered to be another stage of the Training Evaluation process could have provided with a great deal of support to evaluate the training process in Al Amal Complex. Inclusion of this stage could have provided great aid in determining the past experiences of all the employees in the organization. This factor might have resulted in gaining valuable insights to fields in which the employees excel and those in which they lack and required training. Moreover, it would have also provided support in identifying the learning needs on the basis of the current competencies possessed by the employees. On the whole, all these aspects would have provided grounds for identifying the various learning applications, which are expected by the employees (University of Washington, 2013). Thus, it would have led to the evaluation of the effectiveness of the overall training program in an appropriate manner. Post Assessment (Reactions) This technique mainly relates with the past experiences of the participants emphasising the training program. In this stage, the reactions of the participants are considered regarding the training program. According to my experience, concerning the training program in the Mental Health in Riyad, the prime reason for its failure was because it was under the direct control of the head office that resulted in the improper designing of the training program. The inclusion of activities and education content was also not clear to the participants. In this particular training program, the vital areas required for dealing with critical issues pertaining to the mental hospitals was further lacking proper evaluation. In precise, because the training program was controlled by the Health Ministry in my workplace, a substantial gap was identifiable in the considered training objectives and the actual training needs of the employees. This further affected the overall training structure applied in the workplace and thus, caused the overall corporate training failure in the organisation. In accordance with the National Vocational Training principles, the important perspective on HR department can be analysed. This particular program focuses on the skills along with development of HR when implementing effective training programs (Boverie & et. al., 1995). Learning Evaluation Boverie & et. al. (1995) stated that in an effective training program, the learning outcomes, facts and principles are endured by the participants. It includes certain procedures to measure the outcomes of the training program, which can be characterised as a mode of learning evaluation (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2009). In correspondence to this stage of learning evaluation, pre and post-tests are required to evaluate the effectiveness of the training program. From the overall analysis, it has been observed that there were certain serious issues relating to the HR functions that were circulating in throughout the Mental Health in Riyad. Based on the graveness of the identified issues discussed throughout the essay, it is felt that the all the key elements of HR, especially training are needed to be delivered with primary importance while operating in an organization. Moreover, an evaluation of the effectiveness of a training program helped in citing a clear cut understanding regarding the importance of training in an organization. Considering this aspect, it is recommended that the concerned medical hospital needs to follow the five stages of the training evaluation process as discussed above training needs assessment, identification of training needs, pre-training assessment, post-training assessment and learning evaluation. This would provide the organization with high end training efficiency. Conclusion To sum up, the entire study, on the basis of my working experience, has given an idea about the importance of setting up an organised HRD and an effective training program within an organisation. I had been working in a Mental Health in Riyad where the training department was the organisation lacked a well-established HR department. Rather, the training program was under the control of the Health Ministry. It was managed as well as financed by the head office. During that time when I was an employee of this particular mental hospital, huge investments pertaining to the training program was not conducted. The training program being designed and formulated by the officials of the Health Ministry thus proved to be ineffective. In this regard, the study revealed that corporate planning was not properly farmed in the organisation. In order to execute an effective training program, new designed software was also required. Moreover, the workshop must have been provided with online training facilities and practical sessions. Presence of these facilities could have ensured the execution of an effective training program and mitigated all the identified reasons for the corporate training failure. This scenario reflects the importance of HRD within an organisation. It has been ascertained from the observations that effective HR practices within an organisation can ensure enriched utilisation of the human assets and contribute to the continuous growth of the organisation. Effective training program however depends upon the plans and procedures framed by the HR department guided by their knowledge regarding the concerned area. The study also reveals about the importance of the TNA. This relates that TNA frames a vital factor in the training program. As I was working in a Mental Health in Riyad as a psychologist it requires a lot of policies and procedures to be framed for effective quality care of patients. In a mental hospital, the patients need quality care and the employees must be well acquainted with the solutions pertaining to emergency situations. Furthermore, the basic training requirement for the mental hospitals incorporates hospital policies and procedures and infection control procedures among others. These policies are important to be considered during the structuring and the implementation of an effective corporate training program. Furthermore, the evaluation of the training program must include the learning outcomes to signify the limitations persisting in the strategic HR functioning and thereafter, taking due measures in making the entire process more affective. References Boverie, P. & et. al., 1995. Evaluating the Effectiveness of Training Programs. ACCESS Learning Systems. Bramley, P., 2003. Evaluating Training. CIPD Publishing. Bunch, K. J., No Date. Training Failure as a Consequence of Organizational Culture. Theory and Conceptual Articles, pp. 1-163. Kearns, P., 2013. Professional HR: Evidence-based people management and development. Routledge. Kirkpatrick, D. L. & Kirkpatrick, J. D., 2009. Evaluating Training Programs. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Lu, D. & Betts, A., 2010. Why process improvement training fails. Abstract. [Online] Available at: http://www.academia.edu/616644/Why_process_improvement_training_fails [Accessed November 30, 2013]. Mudler, M., 1995. Corporate Training for Effective Performance. Kluwer Academic Publishers. Mcclay, R., 2006. Sales Training Solutions. Kaplan Publishing. Mason, T., 2013. Why do Corporate Training Programmes Fail? Six Reasons Why Corporate Training Programs Fail. [Online] Available at: http://www.taylormasontraining.co.uk/corporate-training-programmes-fail.html [Accessed November 30, 2013]. Rice, M. E. & et. al.,1985. Crisis Prevention and Intervention Training For Psychiatric Hospital Staff. American Journal of Community Psychology, Vol. 13, Iss. 3, pp. 289-304. Salas, E. & Bowers, J. A.C., 2001. The Science Of training: A Decade of Progress. Annu. Rev. Psychol, Vol. 52, pp. 471–499. Seiu Healthcare. 2006. The Risk of Violence in Mental Health Work. Work and Health Research Center, pp. 1-22. TN. Gov, 1999. Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation. Minimum Program Requirements for Mental Health Hospital Facilities, pp. 1-19. University of Washington., 2013. Five Stages of Training Evaluation. Training. [Online] Available at: http://www.nwcphp.org/evaluation/learn-evaluation/training-evaluation-tips [Accessed November 30, 2013]. WHO, No Date. Human Resources and Training in Mental Health. Mental Health Policy and Service Guidance Package, pp. 17-121. Read More