Cascade Training as an Organisational Strategy - Research Paper Example

? CASCADE TRAINING: AN ORGANISATIONAL STRATEGY by Location Introduction Learning and development at the individual, departmental, and organisational levels should neither have a limit nor an end. Putting an end or limit to learning and development could mean the relapse of an organisation’s human resources, which in turn could lead to the failure of the company to maintain the competence of its employees and its overall competitiveness. To ensure continuous learning and development, organisations should promote training and education. Both managers and employees should do their best to upgrade their knowledge and skills through training. Therefore, access to training should be provided by the company. Training offers a lot of advantages for both the employees and the employers. Clearly, employees benefit from the professional growth they gain; but employers seem to benefit more than the employees. In a study conducted by Ballot, Fakhfakh, and Taymaz (2006), employers were found to benefit more from training employees not only in terms of physical capital but also in terms of research and development and knowledge reserve. However, training could incur a lot of expenses. As such, the cost of training is one of the most important considerations in developing programs for further learning and development. In many cases, the lack of financial resources is the main reason for the absence of training and development programs in organisations. In this consideration, using the company’s own resources may be deemed the best solution to cater to the need for training. Training does not need to be costly. Training expenses tend to be too high if the organisation has to outsource resources to provide training. Among these resources are the trainers, venue, meals, training materials, documentation materials, and etc. However, costs can be curtailed easily if organisations will rely on their own resources for training. For instance, instead of hiring some people to conduct training, organisations should appoint its line managers or supervisors to conduct the training. Appointing line managers, immediate supervisors, or senior employees to conduct training for lower level employees or subordinates is called cascade training. This paper describes cascade training as an organisational strategy to address training needs and cost. The next part of the paper presents the current literature regarding cascade training, with focus on its benefits. Consequently, the paper tackles how cascade training will be suitable to the training needs of the UK-based firm, Linklaters. The final part of the paper provides further recommendations for future research regarding the topic. What is cascade training? Cheese (1986) defines cascade training as the training done at a group at one level of an organisation and then allowing the said group to pass on the knowledge, skills, and values they gained to other employees. The most common method of cascade training is to train managers or supervisors who will then train their subordinates or lower level employees. Cascade training is otherwise referred to as cascade mentoring (Clutterback 2004), cascaded coaching, or train-the-trainer system. To date, a number of organisations, especially schools, have employed cascade training, making it a practicable organisational strategy to maximise the benefits of both the employer and the employees. However, there is limited research on the benefits of cascade training. In particular, Clutterback (2004) found that cascade training works best in schools, including the student level. Wedell (2005) found that cascade training is a very cost-effective model for training a large number of teachers. The principle of direct training works best to enable desired changes in classroom understanding and behaviour. By cascade training, students from the lower levels receive tutoring, coaching, and rearing from higher level students. Moreover, cascade training is also ideal for training athletes because of its strategy for coaching. What are the benefits of cascade training? For Jacobs and Russ-eft (2001), cascade training is the process of providing the competence required of personnel to ensure the institutionalization of organizational change. This means that adopting cascade training could ensure aligning competence of skills with organisational values and standard operating procedures. Furthermore, it guarantees a high level of uniformity of knowledge and skills in the service industry. Rafi (2010) evaluated the use of cascade training for human rights and legal education program and found out its effectiveness in improving the knowledge of trainees and their skills in training. The trainees also developed an attitude to implement learning in their own work experiences. Another thing that makes cascading ideal is the effect it has on trainers. Tapping the organisation’s own human resources would make them feel trusted and boost their confidence and make them more dedicated, focused, and open-minded. According to Brine (2009), cascade training is very effective for training in specific skills like using equipment, filling out forms, etc. Thus, this is the best method for implementation in Linklaters. Cascade training definitely minimises the cost of training. Hiring an expert from an outside organisation could cost a big amount, which could be spent in other important matters relating to training. Moreover, long-term training can cost a lot, but ongoing cascade training can save the organisation a lot of money because there is continuous handing down of knowledge and skills from the senior employees to the junior ones and even those in practicum. Application of Cascade Training to Linklaters The training needs analysis on Linklaters strongly suggests the need for cascade training. Linklaters needs to maintain its present rank of being the number one law firm in the world in 2010. With the stiff competition among global law firm competitors, Linklaters needs to establish institutionalisation of systems and procedures, which may be achieved through developing a culture of training and continuous development. To defend its title, Linklaters needs to secure its knowledge reserve and intellectual property against its competitors. To do this, Linklaters needs to develop loyalty in each employee, especially the senior-level ones such as regional directors/managers and department supervisors. Loyalty is a must to ensure confidentiality. With cascade training as the training strategy, access to the knowledge reserve of Linklaters will be limited to regional managers who will then decide which information should be and should not be available to department supervisors and staff. This way, Linklaters can ensure minimising information sharing among employees or third parties. According to Kahan (2007, 49), cascade training is composed of three major activities: ‘the training of trainers, network approach to training, and institutionalisation of extension planning’. In this paper, we will refer to these as the three features of cascade training. Figure 1 illustrates the features and steps of the training process. Figure 1. Process, features, and activities for implementing cascade training. The first feature, which is the training of trainers, relies mainly on the knowledge of the regional managers. Training of trainers requires collaboration of efforts among regional managers (e.g., UK, Asia-Pacific, African regions, etc.). At this level, the regional managers collate knowledge, information, and practices to be emphasised in the training design. They should carry out the training of department supervisors at the main office of Linklaters in the U.K. The regional managers shall design a training plan based on the needs analysis. Specifically, Linklaters need to ensure uniformity of procedures and presentations in partner firms in order to maintain its top rank. As such, the regional manager of each department will train the department heads or supervisors on the new systems and innovations that the company is taking. Additionally, the regional managers will check if the regular procedures are being implemented as designed, and if such procedures need to be revised. For example, in the field of information technology, the regional manager will design a training instruction for department supervisors who are present in every partner firm. The trainers’ training may take five days up to one week, depending on the complexity of the programs being adopted. The regional manager shall decide regarding the length of training, implementation process, and evaluation procedures. Additionally, the trainers’ training may be conducted at the head office, regional office, etc., depending on the trainers’ availability. However, it is ideal to have the training at the head office in the U.K. in order for department managers to gain a grasp of how the main office applies the said innovations that need to be adopted. The next feature is the network approach to training. This means gathering resources from networks to improve training. This includes human resources, materials, processes, and techniques. Trainers shall aim to find these internal or external resources through established networks. At this stage, the department supervisors will conduct the training on the local level. Using network approach, they provide training and assistance to staffs in different offices, always noting down needed revisions and inclusions. The training may be done face-to-face or through video conferencing. Smith (2004) notes the negative feedback on cascade training due to the lack of time or opportunity to conduct cascade training. In response to this, video conferencing and other online means can be conducted. Video conferencing is very economical; nevertheless, trainers should check if such strategy is effective. To ensure accuracy, department supervisors should conduct the initial training at the local offices. Institutionalisation of extension planning is another feature of cascade training. Wiseman (2007) identified institutionalising as one of the important processes of training (the other being intuiting, interpreting, and integrating). Wiseman notes that studies have been conducted on the three processes, but there is lack of evidence regarding success in institutionalising learning especially those taken from training. Institutionalisation means setting unified standards for training and work practices. Emphasised at the local levels, institutionalisation of extension planning will be carried out mainly by department supervisors who will note down the strengths and weaknesses of the training. The essence of cascade training is to make training and development an integral and permanent part of the organisation. Thus, institutionalisation of extension planning is a must. With this feature, department supervisors shall suggest changes or give recommendations to the regional managers, who shall then consider these recommendations and revise the training content, procedure, assessments, and other changes that should be worked out. Given the three features of cascade training, documentation is important in every phase. Documentation of training content, process, and outcomes should be done at each phase in order to note down changes or innovation requirements, assess training performances of both the trainers and the trainees, or even to simply record attendance. At each end of the training phase, the training documentation will help to identify the needed changes that could help to improve training systems and content. Assessment of training effectiveness Riding, Riding, and Butterfield (1990, 18) believe that ‘the process of discussion, shared learning, and sharing of experience’ serve as the outputs of training assessment. Indeed, active participation of the trainees reflects the success of a training program. Moreover, the real life application of learning is the best indicator of training effectiveness. However, to measure the real effects of training, quantitative research should also be conducted. Furthermore, conducting research combining qualitative and quantitative assessment methods could clearly verify the effectiveness of training. For example, Arthur, Bennett, Winston, Edens, and Bell (2003) conducted a meta-analysis of training effectiveness covering reaction criteria, learning criteria, behavioural criteria, and results criteria. The assessments found the relationship between training design and effectiveness of training in organisations. Following this example, Linklaters can investigate the effectiveness of training using performance output, turnaround time logs, supervisor observations of behaviour, customer feedback, and so on. Kraiger, Ford, and Salas (1993) propose the use of cognitive skill-based and affective theories of learning outcomes. Based on this, the eagerness of trainees or staff to apply procedures from the trainings will be assessed and monitored. Survey questionnaires will help to determine the affective aspect of training outcomes. Additionally, performance logs indicating the length of job completion, quality checks, and other indicators of job effectiveness should likewise be included. Conclusion Choosing the right strategy for organisational training is important. It greatly influences the outcome of training, and impacts the overall performance of an organisation. Therefore, in order to secure strategy organisation’s success, it should determine the best training strategy, one that suits the learning to be learned and agree with the needs of the organisation. In particular, the services that Linklaters is offering highly confidential; thus the implementation of cascade training is ideal. Aside from confidentiality, cascade training offers a number of advantages. These include cost-effectiveness, ease of implementation, institutionalisation, camaraderie, and even loyalty to the company. Developing loyalty is very important for Linklaters to maintain its top rank. Basically, cascade training relies on the knowledge reserve of the company and its managers. As such, loyalty to the company can be further built up among managers as they invest their knowledge and skills in training. Moreover, cascade training benefits the staff with additional knowledge and skills. However, these benefits do not guarantee their loyalty to the company but mentorship and camaraderie may be enough to win their esteem. References Arthur, W Jr, Bennett, W Jr, Edens, P & Bell, S 2003, ‘Effectiveness of training in organizations: A meta-analysis of design and evaluation features'. Journal of Applied Psychology, vol. 88, no.2, pp. 234-245. Ballot, G, Fakhfakh, F & Taymaz, E 2006, ‘Who benefits from training and R&D, the firm or the workers’? British Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 44, no. 3, pp. 473-495.  Brine, A 2009, Handbook of library training practice and development, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., Farnham. Cheese, J 1986, ‘Cascading the training’. Programmed Learning and Educational Technology, vol. 23, pp. 248-252. Clutterback, D 2004, Everyone needs a mentor: fostering talent in your organisation. CIPD, London. Jacobs, R & Russ-eft, D 2001, ‘Cascade training and institutionalising organisational change’. Advances in Developing Human Resources, vol.3 no.4, pp. 496-503. Kahan, DG 2007, Farm management extension services: a review of global experience, Food and Agriculture Organisation, Rome. Kraiger, K, Ford, JK, Salas, E 1993, ‘Application of cognitive, skill-based, and affective theories of learning outcomes to new methods of training evaluation’, Journal of Applied Psychology, vol. 78, pp. 311-328. Rafi, M 2010, ‘Evaluating training cascade: a methodology and case study’. Educational Research Reviews, vol.5 no. 2, pp. 64-77. Riding, RJ, & Butterfield, S 1990, Assessment and examination in the secondary school: a practical guide for teachers and trainers, Taylor & Francis, London. Smith, A 2004, Making mathematics count, research, 24 February, viewed 5 December 2011, . Wedell, M 2005, ‘Cascading training down into the classroom: the need for parallel planning’, International Journal of Educational Development, vol. 25, no. 6, pp. 637-651. Wiseman, E 2007, The institutionalisation of organisational learning: a neo-institutional perspective, McGill University, viewed 6 December 2011, . Read More