Impact of Technology on Employee Training - Research Paper Example

Impact of Technology on Employee Training Introduction Technology is a vital necessity in the current work environments around the globe. Technology provides benefits to organizations as they aim to be competitive and produce high quality products and services (Cornelius, 2001). Integration of new technology in the workplace is imperatively accompanied by employee training. This is so since employees are unable to learn on how to use new technology by themselves. Technology is always changing as new ones get invented and innovated. Technology may include software programs or hardware which get incorporated into organizations. For maximum production, employees need to get trained on the new technology. As organizations invest in new technology, so does employee training become necessary (Daft, 2009). Training and IT departments in organizations get involved with provisioning the employees with the necessary techniques required for handling the technology. Management and stakeholders want to see technology acquired implemented in the organization, and it is therefore, necessary for employees to get trained. This paper will discuss the impact of technology in employee training. Importance of employee training When a firm acquires new technology, it is vital for the company to train its employees to ensure the overall success of the technology getting incorporated. Below are reasons as to why employee training is beneficial to an organization incorporating new technology: Employee training assists in maximizing the potential of the technology. If the employees become aware of using the new technology, they will get to use it to its maximum potential. This will only serve to benefit the organization as there will be increased efficiency (Daft, 2009). Proper training ensures that employees become willing to change and adopt newer ways of the firm’s operation (Kleynhans, 2006). Adapting to change ensures that the employees do not revert to the firm’s older ways, and this helps maintain consistency within the firm. Training also helps to explain to the employees how they stand to benefit with the incorporation of the new technology (Daft, 2009). This explanation helps to facilitate integration of the new technology within the firm. If employees get to understand the benefits of the new technology through training, it gets easier to revolutionize the organizations technological needs. Employee training Employees within an organization get trained using various approaches to enlighten them on new technology. Training may get conducted internally or externally. Internal training gets carried out by the IT or training departments within the organization (Cornelius, 2001). External training gets conducted by an external consultant or the supplier of technology. The traditional method of training has always been classroom based. This approach towards training proves to fall short in addressing the challenges raised by the technology introduced in the organization. Class room based training falls short in addressing the personal needs of the training participants. Class room based training takes a holistic approach towards training (Daft, 2009). This traditional method of training does not identify and address individual gaps needed by the trainees. It does not explain the perceived benefits to the trainees nor does it take into account the prior knowledge of trainees about the technology. This traditional method of training does not also support maximum knowledge retention among employees as the class room instructions quickly decrease prior to their application in the work environment (Cornelius, 2001). Another training methodology instigated by organizations in incorporating new technology is self learning (Cornelius, 2001). This method involves the employees to learn on the technology by their accord through using it. This method is an ineffective way of training employees. This method is not beneficial to the firm if the technology is to become impacted through the entire organization. This method gets implemented by firms which get stretched resource wise in terms of time and finances. Most technology suppliers may also dupe organizations by advertising their technology as easy to use. This may force the organizations to neglect training the employees in the hope of the software actually being easy to use. These organizations therefore, implicate self learning of new technology by the employees. This training method is inadequate in incorporating new technology within a business entity (Kleynhans, 2006). In light of the shortcomings of the above named training methodologies, it is necessary to implement an appropriate training method that will ensure that technology acquired by the firm gets to become efficient and help the firm to achieve its goals (Kleynhans, 2006). Proper training and support are necessary in ensuring the overall benefits of engaging new technology within the organization. Integration of new technology within organizations has led to the need for developing an effective approach towards employee training. As the technology revolution progresses worldwide, so has the need to provide proper training to employees. Employee training has become revolutionized in order to accompany the changes occurring in technology (Kleynhans, 2006). Employee training has evolved into a complex and demanding process for organizations as they seek to accommodate the ever changing technological demands. Various organizations have implemented newer and faster solutions to employee training demands due to the pressure arising from technological change. These training procedures seek to answer the demands of the participant trainees. Technological changes have necessitated e-learning to get used as a medium for employee training. Organizations have utilized e-learning to successfully communicate and train their employees on certain processes. E-learning however cannot become used alone in training employees but rather should get accompanied by other mediums. E-learning serves as an excellent supporting medium during training (Horton, 2011). E-learning gets necessitated by the internet and computers. Large corporations have undertaken e-learning as a means to train their employees. Such corporations may have widespread chains, and this helps to reduce the distance between the chains. It also cuts out the need for organizing physical training course for employees. When used alone, e-learning does not fully address employee training. The most effective way to employee training necessitated by technological advancement gets referred to as blended learning (Horton, 2011). Blended learning involves the use of e-learning mixed with classroom based learning. Such training integrates computer based training and practical classroom situations to participants. Such training incorporates the use of lectures and computers to necessitate training. This form of training has become popular among organizations as they provide the participants with a variety of learning tools. Several delivery methods such as e-learning tutorials, on-demand learning, a mix of web-based tools, and self-paced learning (Kleynhans, 2006). The organizations training department gets tasked with choosing an appropriate combination of learning tools that will optimize employee training. The blended learning approach focuses on providing employees with the best learning styles for each of the employees. This training approach focuses on providing different options for the training participants (Ganster & Pamela, 2010). These options allow employees to access the knowledge efficiently and in a form that can get easily understood by employees. This approach assists the employees to easily integrate the new technology with lesser difficulty (Kleynhans, 2006). Since the blended approach of training incorporates different learning tools, it means that employees can become more motivated and stimulated compared to when using a single tool. Class room based training methodology gets castigated for not enhancing knowledge retention among trainees. Unlike classroom based training, the blended approach enhances knowledge retention through stimulation and motivation by employing different training tools (Cornelius, 2001). With the revolution and technological advancements made in the computer world, changes in employee training have become necessitated. Different organizations have started to incorporate e-learning and the blended approach towards training employees (Horton, 2011). Most organizations have incorporated the traditional methods of training combined with the ongoing technological changes. It is synonymous to observe traditional methods of training combined with newer and revolutionized methods such as e-learning. A mix of the traditional methods of training and the technological changes has resulted to the blended approach technique. It is fair to comment that technological changes have resulted to these newer forms of training. In most organizations currently, it is common to see employees using computers and attending lectures or presentations during training (Ganster & Pamela, 2010). This represents the blended approach of training. It has achieved in combining different techniques to address various training demands. For example, a company that is rolling out a new technology in its work environment can employ the blended approach in training its employees. The organization can undertake classroom based training where the employees attend lectures on the new technology. The company can also offer e-learning about the new technology put in place (Horton, 2011). The employees can get to access information about the existent technology via the company’s intranet (Kleynhans, 2006). The company can also develop a help desk where employees can raise questions about the organizations new technology. The company can also employ experts who will provide individual coaching to employees who still have not understood the training process. The company can also develop tutorials for their employees. These tutorials can take the shape off brochures and desk tutorials which the employees can get to infer when they encounter difficulties (Horton, 2011). On desk tutorial will allow the organization’s employees to access information about the training process via their desktops. Desk tutorials show the employees how to employ certain features immediately. The named methods of training all get employed in combination. They represent an effective blended learning approach towards training. The various tools towards training become employed cost effectively by an organization’s training department (Cornelius, 2001). The blended learning approach represents a cost effective approach towards training for organizations. It engages technological changes in its approach towards employee training. It caters for individual and holistic needs within an organization. This approach has revolutionized the way traditional methods of employee training get conducted. This methodology of employee training offers substantial benefit to both the organization and employees (Horton, 2011). Employees get to understand the potential benefits of the technology being brought into the organization. It also helps to address the individual needs arising from employees in regard to questions about the training process. The organization also stands to benefit from this integrated training process as it is cost effective and helps to change the employees’ perceptions towards the technology getting incorporated into the organization (Ganster & Pamela, 2010). The organization may also benefit economically as the training process incorporates various tools. The blended learning approach offers a variety of tools at the same time which helps to fasten up the training process and also prove quite effective (Kleynhans, 2006). With the ever changing technological world, organizations need to cater for quicker and effective employee training. Organizations get tasked with employing the appropriate training technique to ensure that they get to optimize the organization’s technological resources. It is necessary for an organization to keep open all the training methods available to them (Horton, 2011). Organizations need to engage their employees when selecting the most appropriate training methods to get to understand which one they prefer (Ganster & Pamela, 2010). Consultation with employees on the training method preferred allows the organization to receive maximum support when implementing training methodologies into the organization. With the changing technology, blended learning approach proves efficient in delivering training to employees in good time and technologically too. It offers an advantage to other training methods since it can also get carried out almost anywhere at any particular time (Cornelius, 2001). It applies technological changes in its stature proving effective in a technological demanding work environment. A point to note when using the blended learning approach in employee training is that e-learning cannot be used as the key training tool. E-learning should rather get used as a supportive tool in the entire training process (Kleynhans, 2006). Conclusion Integrating technology into the workplace can impact positively for the attainment of the company’s goals. However, for the integration to become successful, the company must conduct appropriate employee training to ensure that they become conversant with the technology (Horton, 2011). The ever changing technological world has revolutionized employee training. Traditional methods of training have become replaced by the blended learning approach which integrates technology in its methodology towards training employees. Proper employee training increases the employees’ knowledge and proves beneficial to the organization’s operations. As companies enlarge, different kinds of technology get incorporated and it is vital for employees to become proficient when handling such technology (Kleynhans, 2006). To increase employees’ proficiency, training becomes undertaken. This paper has discussed the way technology has impacted on training in regards to methodologies currently used and employee perceptions towards them. References Cornelius, N. (2001). Human Resource Management:A Managerial Perspective. New York: Cengage Learning EMEA. Daft, R. L. (2009). Organization Theory and Design. New York: Cengage Learning. Daniel C. Ganster, P. L. (2010). New Developments in Theoretical and Conceptual Approaches to Job Stress. New York: Emerald Group Publishing. Horton, W. (2011). e-Learning by Design. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Kleynhans, R. (2006). Human Resource Management. Durban: Pearson South Africa. Read More