Human Resource Management: Transfer and Evaluation - Essay Example

Human Resource Management: Transfer and Evaluation Introduction (359 words) There are several factors that affect the performance of any industries that we do not take notice of. The world today is keeping with the pace of increasing and rapid globalization. It is important to know that we need to adapt with the globalization and learn the new knowledge brought upon by the globalization. This can be accomplished by forming an active learning atmosphere wherein it can be embedded into culture. Training programs are used to give a standard and systematic way for development to workers. The problem is that training is not partnered with the proper theories and evaluation procedures that is why most of the trainings done come short of the actual goal. Because of this, modern techniques such as theory-based, are used to provide training programs. It is the goal of training to modify, expand and mold skills and personalities that are adaptable to the present times. Institutions are happy with the way their training programs are facilitated but at the same time they do not ensure if the employees made the most of it (Lewis, 2005). The performance of food industries is also depended on the way their employees adapt to the ever-changing policies and programs that are primarily centered on food cleanliness and worker safety. It is therefore important that trainings for food hygiene and overall safety for workers be initiated by the management. The human resource management is given the primary task to facilitate the cascade. It is therefore apparent that the human resource management of each plant or industry be aware of the challenges that come with the changes in time. In an ice cream manufacturing plant, programs such as formal workplace safety and basic food hygiene courses is necessary to ensure the product and at the same time the safety of its employees. But in this situation the training seems to be ineffective because the accident rates and food hygiene standards have not improved. This confuses the management because according to the employees they enjoyed the training and they learned a lot. This is the reason why it is important to evaluate the transfer of training and the training program itself. Discussion (963 words) It is usually time and resources consuming when there are more complaints about not seeing any development or benefit on their staff with regards to the training they have attended. Just as what happened in your industry. The managers are quite unhappy with the way the overall safety and personal hygiene training the employee’s use. It is apparent that most of the training programs facilitated today fail to provide the goal they expect. It is therefore necessary to have a systematic measuring system that will help determine where the problem is. Being able to provide real and important changes on the organization where training is given can assist in gaining additional resources from decision-makers (Heath, 2006). Continues usage of ineffective training programs will prevent the acquisition of new and reliable techniques. This is because of the inefficient evaluation programs that are implemented to measure the effectivity of each training programs because the trainers themselves are wary of the fact that this will leave them the responsibility of the training is deemed ineffective (Lewis, 2005). Factors such as losing the competitive edge, stagnant business and pressures by the business community to implement new and updated polices will force each organization to facilitate training programs and being able to determine the results will eventually help the organization adapt to such changing conditions (Heath, 2006). It is therefore important to properly evaluate the overall safety and personal hygiene program in order to determine where did it go wrong. The problem is how can we evaluate training programs. One of the earliest and widely used evaluation techniques is the Kirkpartick’s (1959) model. It can be used in evaluating the safety and hygiene training. It consists of four levels in which training can be assessed. These are trainee reaction, trainee behavior, trainee, learning and organizational results. The basic structure is shown below. Level 4 Results What organizational benefits resulted from the training? Level 3 Behavior To what extent did participants change their behavior back in the workplace as a result of the training? Level 2 Learning To what extent did participants improve knowledge and skills and change attitudes as a result of the training? Level 1 Reaction how did participants react to the program? The sole purpose of evaluation at each level is to answer the questions posed at that particular level. The levels are related in such a way that it will be easier to determine what is the root cause by simply considering each level as a diagnostic checkpoint. For instance, the participants did not learn (Level 2), the reactions of the participants collected from reaction (Level 1) will be used to determine the difficulty in learning among the participants. In this particular situation, the participants did not practice the personal hygiene and overall safety even after the conduct of a training (Level 3), it is easy to look one step back and study if they have really learned anything (Level 2) (Kirkpatrick, 1959). The steps considered in conduction a training evaluation are a) Design the evaluation. b.) Collect the data. c.) Analyze the data. D.) Report the results. (Heath, 2006). Other methods have been developed by psychologists so as to adapt with the present situation. It is also a modified version of the model by Kirkpatrick. For instance Warr and his group developed the CIROOP, it is just typically an extension of the Kirkpatricks model but its approach is mostly system based. CIROOOP stands for Context evaluation, Input evaluation, trainee Reaction, Outcomes (immediate), Outcomes (intermediate), Outcomes (long term) and Process evaluation. The significant difference it has with the Kirkpatrick model is whether the goals of the organization have been achieved and the utility of the processes and techniques used. This method is strongly suggested to evaluate the safety and hygiene training since generally the problem with the training is that the goal in which the overall safety and hygiene of the personnel will improve. This new model will help determine the typical problems encountered that surround WHAT should be addressed within training evaluation, and at the same time there is practically the need to look at a new method on HOW an evaluation should be conducted. It is often that training evaluations do not use rigorous methods in their design consequently fall to confusing factors and other scientific artifacts. Trainers that are too uneasy and anxious about an evaluation of his/her program will cause shortness of rigor or interests in the conduct of the training itself. It is primarily because of the fact that trainers themselves are afraid of the responsibilities that may follow if the training is considered a failure (Lewis, 2005). The negative results observed by the management on the implementation of the new practices on personal hygiene and overall safety despite the positive feedback of the participants is not only the result of inefficient training evaluation per se but it can also be accounted to poor transfer of training. Although the study of learning transfer yields conflicting patterns of results. Some research shows strong effects of previous learning, others show no such effects. But it is important to note that having a background on a particular skill or knowledge that will be imparted is necessary and just as important because it will help the trainee to easily understand important things compared to those without background. Sometimes the problem is the partiality of the learning to be transferred. The trainee themselves consider they have learned something from a particular training but they miss out some small important items that somehow alters in the way the training is applied and practiced. It is often the problem of trainings that are always overlooked. This is the result of the lack in consensus on what particular parts of a skill is transferred. (Hélie & Cousineau, 2005). Conclusion (260 words) It is not enough just sending an employee for training in pursuing the objective of the organization to be more competitive with other organizations. It should always be linked with certain tools and strategies on evaluation and constant monitoring of the transfer of skills and knowledge form the source to the subject who can be an instrument in improving the company’s strategies and approaches. Evaluation is also needed in monitoring the economic gains of an organization. This would entail how the organization fared and contributed to its goals and objectives. The benefits of training go far beyond the basic productivity and effectiveness of trainees, but more focused in the emotional side of the employee such as their self-efficacy, loyalty and commitment to the organization they are working for. It is much costly but providing the employees such as these trainings cannot only benefit the organization but also the employee as well. In developing the modern learning organization, a positive attitude to training and indeed the transfer for learnt skills to the work place is essential. When evaluating training programs there is a need for rigor in the methodology. Steps should be undertaken to ensure that the training is essential to the trainees’ needs as a worker and can learn from these trainings provided and can be a useful tool in improving and developing the organization’s skills and capability in working on a new product. Different tools in training and evaluation should come hand and hand. It should be coupled with modern theories and applications that will enhance the creativity of the organization. REFERENCES Chiavenato , I. (2001). Advances and Challenges in Human Resource Management in the New Millennium. Public Personnel Management. Festing, M., (1997). International human resource management strategies in multinational corporations: theoretical assumptions and empirical evidence from German firms. (International Human Resource and Cross Cultural Management) Management International Review www. Heath, V. (2006) Measuring Training Effectiveness How to Get Started, Business Property Hélie, S. & Cousineau, D, () Mixed Effects of Training on Transfer Kirkpatrick, D. L. (1959) Evaluating Training Programs, 2nd ed., Berrett Koehler, San Francisco. Kirkpatrick, D. L. (comp.) (1998) Another Look at Evaluating Training Programs, ASTD, Alexandria, USA. Kopelman, R., (1997). Executive coaching as a transfer of training tool: effects on productivity in a public agency. 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