Learning and Development Managing Training Operations in Training Department - Essay Example

? Training is used to bring the employees to the current status of the required skills and intellectual level. There are a number of methods through which training can be done. In this case the training methods used and the problems that were faced and the kind of learning that took place were discussed. 1.0. In training the members of staff in the training department, explain what training methods are being used? The training method that is being used in the case study is the method known as coaching and a combination of mentoring as well. This is an in-house-training method that is used. By employing this kind of method for training, the training department can cut down costs of hiring an external trainer to do so. The coaching/mentoring method that is being used here is one of the most efficient and easiest of imparting training to the employees, while having no loss faced by the usual traffic of work. In this method a trained senior officer is attached to the trainee, this way the trainee can get hold of his own mistakes and learn from the teachings of the trainer. In this case study, we can see that the intended trainee is attached with the senior trainer, who ends up getting those technical courses. This is although a slow method, but it produces better results than other kind of training. Through this kind of training the trainee grasps the ropes of the trade far more easily and as well as realistically because the person is attached to the experts and there can learn very easily as you are getting the training through practitioners themselves. In this case the trainees gain a hand on experience as to what is right and what is wrong, what should be avoided while imparting training and what tactics and techniques to be used to make the training more affective. The best way to learn about anything is to learn through the practical application of the thing and here the trainers get that experience by being attached to a senior trainer, this will help them observe the way they are giving out training and help them in realizing the key points, that should be taken care of while giving the training. This method is a slow method of training personnel, but in this case it is the most suitable method that the company can use. The other types of training methods are case study method, briefing, in basket training, job instructions training and the job rotation. All these training methods are very subjective sort of methods, while coaching and mentoring can prove to be quite helpful as it would be by far the most practical approach to guide the trainers to be trained for the more technical courses. Such practice will also help create a level of equality among the trainers with respect to the choice of courses and the freedom to select any course that they want rather than doing the one that is left for them. This method is also cost effective as the company does not need to hire extra trainers or other equipments that will facilitate the training process. The coaching and mentoring method will prove to be more useful because the trainees will be able to get hold of the subject quite easily. It is mentioned in the case that the trainees are handed over the materials in advance so that they can prepare for the class. They are given three days to prepare and apply their own learning as trainers to look for innovative ideas, The training that is being imparted here is in-house and work-specific, which means that the training is being done to improve the skill sets of the employees and to enhance the level of understanding. Work specific training are usually skill up gradation techniques as the trainees here possess skills to impart training the only thing that they lack is the prowess to handle the technical training course which was generally avoided by them. Word count: 597 1.1 How are different learning styles taken into account? According to the case the model that has been applied is the learning style model by David Kolb, the approach that the management uses here is that of practical approach to learning. According to David Kolb’s model, if the organization wants their employees to learn, then they should allow their employees to experience the practically so that the true effectiveness of learning comes across.He has given four approaches to learning styles, Assimilator, Converger, Diverger and Accommodator.Convergers are very practical kind of people and use deductive reasoning to produce results.Divergers are imaginative people; they are very creative with respect to giving ideas andlook to create opportunities in a unique way.Accommodators are good at assimilating with the world and look and like to actively engage with people.Assimilator are very capable people, they create models through their reasoning. In the case, the management is looking for a combination of all four in their trainees so that they can absorb the learning, and give creative ideas to improve the training being imparted.Honey & Mumford Modelis an adaptation of the David and Kolb model. It is a cycle and contains stages that lead to learning. “The stages of the cycle are, having an experience, reviewing the experience, concluding from the experience and planning the next steps in the process” (CARR, 1992). In this case, being attached with a senior trainer is creating an experience, and when the trainer observes while the trainee giving the training is reviewing the experience and conclusion from the experience would be the readiness of the trainees to take up difficult courses too.The Honey and Mumford model says that people learn at will and their belonging to a certain personality type does not hamper their learning abilities in any way. Another major difference in the Honey and Mumford model and the Henry and Kolb model is that, Honey and Mumford model is a model that is utilized for self-learning, while the Kolb model is used by managers in the form of checklist to gain an insight as to the learning patterns of people.It is advisable for the company to identify the kind of personality that their trainees have so that they know the best possible method to approach them(GOLDSTEIN, 1989). Word count: 376 words 2.0 What are the possible problems with this approach to training, and what are the possible solutions? The training will take quite a lot of time, it is a slow process altogether. Coaching the trainees, would be an additional responsibility on the trainers, beside their own regular jobs. The internal coaching method is although an inexpensive method for organizations but the problem is that the coaches lack inter-organizational perspective. They just have very limited insights. They might be the best trainers in their field, but then they are used to teach people as students, people who will be applying the knowledge to fulfill their office tasks. But when they are doing in house training they have to train the future trainers, therefore, they should have a different approach that will clarify the subject to them and as well as teach them how to impart the understanding to others. Coaching provides an advantage to the company in the form of one to one interaction as employees can learn the ropes of the trade according to the company’s own standards. The employees can also ask unlimited questions without much difficulty or hesitation. Using the in house coaching method has been used for long time, and in this case it can prove to be productive one too, but with slight alterations, as the company here is looking to get the best out of its trainers and also not lose the already existing good trainers. Providing with this opportunity will make them feel important for the company as well(GOLDSTEIN, 1989). The best way to handle this would be to hire an outsider specialist for this training, the existing trainers can sit in and sometimes even co-coach with the outsiders as it will help create a better level of understanding with an outside and as well as an insider’s perspective on the training. The main thing that is important for any training is to conduct the training need analysis before plunging into training design. Conducting training need analysis is a crucial part in the organization. The people who are conducting training need analysis they should be aware of the attitude of the people they are dealing with so that they can take effective measures to help the employees adapt to the change that might be come. If no such thing is done then the employees will resist the change and take it wrongly, considering it as a threat to their existence rather than a help for them. The employees even after being forced to have training, they will never be able to transfer the training that they have received into their practical work. TNA helps to gain an insight into the requirements. Those who are conducting the research need to know the problems that exist and should be capable enough to target the right areas. In this case the training need analysis showed that there were trainers who required better technical skills. The training need analysis was conducted informally in this case. Need analysis helps to identify the gaps that exist; in this case all the trainers in the organization should take up all courses, but in this case some of the trainers were not taking all courses, while some were being burdened with the difficult cases every time. This was the gap here. The company looked to provide training to all of them so that they all had equal opportunities for all courses(CARR, 1992). 2.1 Justify your choice of an appropriate evaluation method by critically appraising the options available. Evaluation of any training is a very important part for any organization, as training is a huge investment that any organization is making. Getting a feedback of the training that has been imparted is very necessary to analyze whether the desired results has been achieved or not. It is also very important that an image should be created that conducting the training for those technical course is not a difficult task; this will help establish a better image of the course. After cultivating an image that the learning of the course is not a difficult one, the trainers can proceed with the training. There are great many chances that since the course already have a negative image in the minds of trainers (the trainees); they will think that learning the course is a useless task as they will never get it. This image should be banished at first, and then the trainers should go on with the training (BLANCHARD, THACKER, 2007). Evaluation of the training imparted is very necessary to have an idea whether the training was successful or not. The effectiveness of the training can be measured using the Kirkpatrick model for the evaluation of the training that had been done. Training evaluation in reference to the Kirkpatrick model is measured at four levels. Reaction of the trainee, it is important to know the immediate reaction of the trainee once the training is done so as to know what the trainee feels like about the training that he has undergone, does it seem to be effective, has it made any difference to the already instilled values. In this case, they should identify whether or not are the trainers now willing to take up that course for training or not. The management can judge about the effectiveness through the readiness to take that course of the newly trained trainers. Learning from the training, it should be identified from the trainees whether they really gained any knowledge from the training. Applying it to the case the management should have identified beforehand from the to be trainees why do they avoid that particular course, after training they should have been again asked what new learning’s related to the course, now made them change their minds. This will give the feedback as to what knowledge they have gained. Behavior is another aspect of the model, the change in the behavior of the trainee exemplifies the effect of the training on the trainee. The on job application is one other method that makes it very evident whether the training has proved to be helpful or not. In this case, the readiness to take up the course and then teaching it in the way that has been taught to them is what will show the clear transfer that has taken place. To evaluate this aspect of the evaluation, the trainer can sit with the newly trained trainer and take a demonstration of the training, and then they can have the newly trained trainer conductthe training session in a full house and the newly trained trainer can be monitored closely, for all his actions. This would be the best way to assess whether the imparted training has had any impact or not. Another method of evaluation is that the trainees can be made to assess each other’s training and make out the problems in them, the session should be monitored by a seasoned trainee too, this way they will know how much the others have learned, it will also create a sense of competition and each and every trainee would then work hard to get hold of the whole idea of the training. The result part can be easily assessed after the newly trained trainees start giving trainings, the trainees attending the session conducted by the new trainers can fill out forms, and give their feedback to the management as to how was the training, was it really useful and effective. They can inform whether the trainer was clear in stating the objectives of the course, and was he able to impart the real meaning of the course. This can give the final feedback that the management is looking for. The management can then decide whether it was helpful or not to have in house training from their own instructors, and any other such programs can be conducted further on wards or not. It is very important for any program to have a fully detailed evaluation method so that the company can realize that whether the money that they have spent on the training, the resources that are being used and the time that is being utilized in giving the training to the employees. They should also employee a systematic method in which everyone gets every course to teach, there should not be any weaseling out of the difficult courses that are on the register. By ensuring that everyone gets every course to train then there will be a better atmosphere in the company, no one would feel left out or overburdened, or as some of the workers were willing to leave the company because they even felt that they were not being compensated in the equivalent way as they were taking up harder course to train. Having a scheduled system can help the company and prevent loss of any good trainer and also at the same time upgrade the remaining ones. The company should try a week of training instead of the long coaching method they are going for as it will be a very lengthy and time consuming method. One better and easier method is the use of simulation techniques, this is an expensive method, but this can be used to train trainers for the real training that they have to give. The slow process will not help the problem that is happening here in the case. The problem in which the senior trainers who are taking the technical course are on the verge of leaving as they feel de motivated. If they do not cater to the problem immediately the trainers might as well leave, as they will have little or no faith in the long term training program that has been designed. CONCLUSION: The firm was right in realizing that there was a need for the organization to have training. The method that they used for training was coaching and mentoring, they attached a trainee to a senior trainer and had them observe and learn from them. It was a time consuming and cost saving move on the part of the organization, but such practices are usually very helpful and effective. RECOMMENDATIONS: A proper schedule must be designed which will give equal chances to all the trainers to teach all the courses. Greater incentives should be given to the trainers who are also working as coaches, in lieu of their efforts for the company. External coaches should also be hired so that they can also help train the trainees properly and help the coaches give them a proper and broader perspective of the courses. The trainees must also be given incentives to learn as they are spending their time to learn a course, while in some other company they can earn by just teaching the courses that they have been teaching preferably. The company can design a whole new separate unit which teaches the technical courses, one unit that teaches the soft skill courses, this way there will be no more clashes on what courses others are teaching. Incentives of these units can be based on the caliber of the course rather than having equal pay, this will help keep the trainers motivated too and reduce turnover. MODELS (BEE, BEE, 1994) REFERENCING BAECHLE, T. R., & EARLE, R. W. 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