Contextual and Organizational Factors That Influence the Implementation of the Training Intervention - Essay Example

FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF YOUR TRAINING INTERVENTION By Location Factors that Influence the Design and Implementation of your Training Intervention Training can be referred to as the process of accumulating certain skills that help in increasing employee productivity. Training helps employees in being a better position to perform certain tasks better than they used to perform before undergoing training. Under normal circumstances organizations usually facilitate employee training because of the vital roles that human labour does to the achievement of organizational goals. A training intervention refers to the process of assessing and developing employee training programs for a specific purpose. A training intervention is always a response to human resource performance in an organization. For a training intervention to be successful, it must be properly designed and implemented. This paper aims at evaluating the underpinning, contextual organisational and theoretical factors that influence the design and implementation of a training intervention. In accordance with Kolb’s learning cycle, the process of learning comprises of four primary stages. The first stage is where the learner is expected to gain concrete experience through being actively involved in some tasks. The second stage is the reflective stage, where the learner reflects on the things that happened during the time they were actively involved in a task. The third stage is commonly referred to as the abstract conceptualization stage. At this stage learner usually make sense of whatever happened when they were involved in a task. It is at this stage that they connect the experience they had with other situations in their line of work (Yaeger & Sorensen 2009, p. 167). The final stage of learning is known as active experimentation. It is at this stage that employees who have undergone training put whatever they learnt into active practice. When designing and implementing a training intervention, it is always very important to put the nature of the learning process into consideration. Over the past few years there have been various factors that have contributed to the need for change in organizational performance needs. These factors include: the change in the structure of organizations; fast rate of change in the market; globalizing of business organizations; business outsourcing; and changes in business networks. In situations when the cultures of business organizations to not enhance the achievement their new goals and strategies, there is always a need to change of business culture. Training intervention is always an integral part of culture change in an organization (Noe 2010, p. 121). Human resource is always the aspect of an organization that is most affected by a change in organizational culture. Learning theories are important in the designing and implementation of a training intervention. A better understanding of learning theories enables human resource managers to know exactly what they can do to bring about such productivity developments in a business organization. There are three learning theories which can be instrumental in the process of developing and implementing a training intervention for a business organization (Sanders & Thiagarajan 2001, p. 145). These theories include the behavioural theory, the cognitive theory, and the humanistic theory. These theories give emphasis on the essentials required aspects of the training process. The behavioural theory always puts more emphasis on the environmental factors that cause notable changes in the way employees behave in an organization. The cognitive theory has more concern about how the human brain functions and how the human way of thinking influences the training process (Petridou & Spathis 2001, p. 192). The behavioural theory sheds light on how certain patterns of human behaviour can affect the learning process. Training can only be important if there is a change in behaviour of employees after attending the trainings. Underpinning knowledge and a change in attitude are important for the process because they affect the long-term change in employee behaviour. However, it is the change of how employees behave at their workplaces that makes the training process important to business organizations. The extent to which a training program can be of importance to a business organization depends on the history, culture, and structure of the organization (McLean 2006, p. 221). Therefore, it can be said that the effectiveness of a training program will depend on the organizational structure, culture, and history. When designing and implementing a training intervention, these three factors should be put into serious consideration. For a training program to be successful, an organization should make sure that they involve employees in both the training process and the application of training outcomes in an organization. For instance, there should be a briefing before the actual training on the aim and nature of the training. This can help training participants in getting ready for the training process. There should also be a post course briefing which will help the participating employees to know how they will be able to apply the skills they acquire from the training in their various duties to the organization (Skakon, Nielsen, Borg & Guzman 2010, p. 122). Many people who attend such training programs usually complain about not having avenues to practice the skills that they acquire during the training process. It is through the post training briefing that such concerns can be taken care of by the trainers and the human resource managers. The design of a training program for an organization will highly depend on the type of employees that a business organization has. Some organizations have employees with greater levels of symbolic and abstract perception and skills and behaviours that enable them to a effectively work within a team. In such cases the organization would not need to put much emphasis on training program that is meant to build the participants’ ability to effectively work with other employees as a team. Instead, such as an organization should focus on designing a training intervention which improves and develop the intellectual and adaptation skills of their employees (Grossman & Salas 2011, p. 113). When developing a training intervention for a business organization, considerations must be made on the global and social changes in the business environment. With a focus on the global and social changes in the business environment, the organization will be able to develop a training intervention that will enable their employees to match the emerging trends in both the local and the international markets. Therefore, they should ensure that the training is in accordance to the current market demands (Perkins & Arvinen-Muondo 2013, p. 134). Failure to align the training intervention in the market might lead to a situation where the outcome of the training will not be reflected in the way the business organization performs in the market. There are various external and environmental factors that can influence the design and implementation of a training intervention. The external factors include factors such as government policies and the current state of the economy. When a government introduces certain policies that affect the performance of employees, there is always a need for a business organization to revise the training intervention strategies to match the standards set by the government policies (Hutchins & Burke 2007, p. 254). The state of the economy will also dictate whether or not a company will be able to invest in a certain training program with reference to the cost of the program. According to the expectancy theory, there are mainly two forces that affect the training process. These forces are ability and force. Ability comes in with the capability of employees who go through the training process to gain skills from the training process. They should also make sure that the training process enhances the ability of employees to be of productive value to the business organization. Force is the effort shown by the business management and the human resource department towards making sure that the training process is successful (Colquitt, LePine & Noe 2000, p. 678). In the absence of these factors, it is clearly evident that the training process might not be as successful as is supposed to be. Before a business organization decides on the training intervention that they will use, it is important for the concerned parties make sure that they put the purpose of training into consideration. Different training interventions are always developed for different reasons. For instance, a training intervention that is aimed at improving teamwork in an organization will be different from one that is meant to improve their intellectual capability and skills (Blume, Ford, Baldwin & Huang 2010, p. 1098). This is a clear indication that the design and implementation of a training intervention can never be generalized. Thus, an organization will have to clearly state the purpose of the training process before they come up with a designing and implementation strategy. Availability of resources is also another factor that can affect the design and implementation of training interventions. The types of resources that can be critical in this case are financial resources, time, and the availability of trainers. Not all business organizations have the same financial capability as the other. This is an indication that some organizations might not be able to invest allot of financial resources to such program. The businesses with more financial power will be in a better position to have a training intervention that might require the business organization to invest allot of financial resources (Cheng & Hampson 2008, p. 235). Businesses with less financial capabilities will have to settle for training interventions that will not need them in investing a lot of financial resources. When business organisations are in the process of coming up with a training program, there is always a difference in the time frame of the program. Some program usually aims at getting the long term effect of the organization while others aim at getting instant result. The nature of the training goal can affect the design and implementation of a training intervention in many ways. A training program which is supposed to have an instant impact on the behaviour of employees in organization will definitely need a training intervention that will enable the participants to exhibit the learnt skills and experience immediately the training program is over (Burke & Hutchins 2007, p. 269). Things will definitely be different if the desired behavioural change that the organization is seeking is a long-term one. The type of management in a business organization can influence the design and implementation of a training intervention. If a training intervention happens not to be in line with the management of a business organization, then the probability of it being of benefit to the human resource management is very minimal. The management plays a very important role in the implementation of a training intervention (Brinkerhoff & Apking 2001, p. 123). This implies that for a training program to be successful, it is important for the management to fully support the implementation and actively involve them in the process The management is also supposed to determine the individuals who participate in the training program and those who will not. In this case they should always make sure that they give the chance to the most deserving and most promising employees from their organizations (Bowman & Wilson 2008, p. 39). Political factors can also affect the design and implementation of a training intervention. In cases where the is political instability it is always important for a business manager to design a training program that will make sure that their employees remain politically neutral and thus are not affected by the political situation in the environment. For instance, employees who work in a violence prone environment are likely to benefit allot from a training program that give conflict resolving capabilities (Taylor, Russ-Eft & Chang 2005, p. 692). With such skills, employees are likely to be less affected by negative political issues in the environment. These skills will eventually reflect the general performance and productivity of employees who are involved in such training programs. Another factor such as government requirements and standards can influence the design and implementation of a training intervention. In some cases, the governments usually have certain requirements and standards for employees who handle certain responsibilities. When coming up with a training intervention strategy, it is important for a business organization to make sure that these requirements and standards are met. Failure to meet these standards might in some cases mean that the whole training process might be fruitless (Aguinis & Kraiger 2009, p. 465). This is intensified by the fact that the organization might be forced to carry out the training once more in order for the set standards to be met. Governments always use these standards to make sure the contents and process of employee training are of productive value. Different stakeholders of a business organization usually have different expectations of a business organization. These expectations can the design and implementation of a training intervention by the organization. For instance, the shareholders can dictate the amount of financial resources that would be invested in the learning process. They can also have a say on the time allocated to the training program and the desired results. This is a clear indication that whatever they feel is right for the company will be put into consideration during the design and implementation process (Cromwell & Kolb 2004, p. 458). The other stakeholders that have a direct effect to the design and implementation of a training intervention are employees, the human resource managers, and the management team at large. The cooperation of these people is very vital for the successful design and implantation of a training intervention. In the process of designing and implementing a training intervention, it is always important to take into consideration that fact that the culture of the organization is very important to the process. The culture of an organization will determine how participants of the training program will react to the training process. Giving employees skills that are not aligned to the organization will mean that they will not get a chance to put the skills that they gain from the training process into practice. For, instance a business organization that has a belief in individual brilliance will not benefit much from a training program that puts much emphasis on teamwork and collective responsibility (Neider & Schriesheim 2003, p. 201). This means that such training programs might not show any effect of the behaviour of employees in a business organization. The internal factors include things such as the human resource strategy, the organization’s strategy, and the organization’s human resource capacity. If the training intervention collides with the human resource strategy, it will be difficult to make the training intervention be of benefit to the business organization. The same applies to the strategies of the business organization. These factors are supposed to be in a way that they complement each other thus enhancing the productivity of the business organization (Rosania 2001, p. 136). Business organizations with different human resource capacities will definitely need different types of training interventions. Failure to put this fact into consideration might lead to lack of success in the training process. It is clearly evident that the importance of employee training and development to their productivity can never be downplayed. However, the success of the design and implementation process is always dependent on a number of factors. As shown through this paper, these factors can either affect the process directly or indirectly. Knowledge of these factors is very important to the design and implementation process of a training intervention. This is because the knowledge will enable the involved parties to make the right decisions with regard to the design and implementation of a training intervention. 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