Effects of Training and Development on Overall Organizational Performance - Research Paper Example

Effects of Training and Development on Overall Organizational Performance The HR management’s role in developing and training employees has broadened. The human resource management covers a wide investment in their employee’s education and development for better performance and improvement in their work. Training is defined as equipping learners with definite knowledge and skills needed to complete specific occupational tasks. Hence, it is very clear that training is a job specific that every human resource manager should give to their employees. Alternatively, development can be defined as learning that goes past today’s jobs whereby one learns for future focus. With employees’ development, an organization is able to retain them at their place of work for their own growth and for the growth of the organization for they will be able to fill new positions arising in the organization. In this paper, I will generally discuss training and development on overall organizational performance through work of HR management. I will also discuss how the human resource department seeks to improve the overall performance of its employees through training and development programs. The paper will deal mainly with the effects of training and development programs in improving employees’ performance and how it helps an organization to realize its goals by giving different perspectives from different authors and researchers. Training and development are essential for the success of all organizations. This is because; it ensures the ongoing managing of the performance of employees in an organizations. Employee trainings not only set goals for the employees but also monitors and motivates them in achieving the set goals. All human resource management should initiate training and development programs in their organizations so as to nurture professionals and a staff that is competent. It is vital because of the changes in economic and technological trends and the increase in the pace of modernization. All organizations need training and development so as to be able to grow faster with the changes. Training and development increases employees’ performance and it also increases the achievement of organizational goals. It is a fact that training and development of employees enhances eventual employee’s productivity and performance in an organization. Many organizations have occupied their staff in training and development programs so as to improve their performance. The performance of employees needs to be upgraded regularly. For an organization to meet its goals there is a need to instigate training, development and employee evaluation programs. The best and most powerful tool in human resource training and development is e-learning. Online learning is very important because nowadays, everything is done technologically and all employees should be technologically literate. New technologies help in the improvement of an organizations performance. Even though there were cases whereby most employees were resistant to change, presently, they do embrace change. Due to this, most organizations are giving their employees training and development in their organizations for better performance. A research conducted by Rivera found out that the human resource management is very confident and keen on the positive effects that training and development programs bring to their organizations (56). Many HR professionals interviewed during this research confirmed that the success and excellent performance of an organization highly relies on the constant training and development of its employees. The same research revealed that many employees are happy with the training given to them and they also confirmed that it has improved their performance and it has increased their self-efficiency. The employees observed that through the training and development programs they have become more confident with their jobs, this proves that development and training of employees is very important for an organization. Training and Development objectives The main goal of training and development is to help an organization to achieve their goals. When training and development are initiated by the human resource management, the overall performance of the organization increases and the employees are empowered to use their natural abilities to their best use within the organization (Nguyen, and Buyens, 102). Training and Development objectives include: Individual objective- it helps employees to achieve their personal goals which later develops their individual input to the organization. Organizational objective- Training assists an organization with its prime goal by bringing individual effectiveness. Employees will do their work effectively since they have the required knowledge and skills for the jobs offered to them. Functional objective- Through training and developing employees, the human resource management is able to help employees retain their departmental roles so as to meet the organizations requirements. Societal objective-When the human resource management provides training to its employees, the training equips them with social and ethical responsibilities so as to be able to meet the challenges and the needs of the society. Training in an organization is to help employees grow within the organization. When a vacancy opens up, there is always the right person within the organization to fill the position due to the training and development provided by the human resource management to its workers. The human resource needs can be met from within the organization as training and development saves them from the stress of announcing for vacancies and performing interviews which will take a lot of time. Another objective of training and development is to reduce time consumed in training employees on new job appointments, transfers and promotions since they are already trained and developed to be able to take the available positions. The Effects of Training and Development in an Organization Training and development helps in optimal utilization of resources by the HR in an organization. When employees are trained and developed while on job, they are equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills and they do their work perfectly. It prevents time and resource wastage as the job is being done by professionals who do it perfectly for they are the right people for the right job. Outside recruiting costs are reduced since the organization will not need to hire externally. It helps develop the behaviors, skills and the attitudes of employees. They will strive to achieve their personal goals as they work for organizational goals too. Furthermore, it helps to improve employees’ performance and productivity since they will be having he right attitude to work and this later improves the organizations performance (Miller, and Buxton 79). Another effect of training and development in an organization is that it improves employees’ job satisfaction. It gives an employee a feeling of satisfaction and achievement which broadens career growth opportunities. After trainings, employees are put in the right positions since their abilities are identified. It brings a sense of security at work place which reduces labor turnover as an employee will be secure of their job. According to Tung-Chun training and development helps cultivate team spirit among employees (34). Employees become responsible with each other and with their jobs. It also helps to foster employee-employer relationship. When an employee is trained and developed at a place of work, he/she feels valued by their employer because they gain new skills and knowledge which expands their capabilities. In addition, employers are always happy when the performance and productivity of their organization increases thus the employer –employee relationship is improved and so the performance too. Training and development of employees motivates them. There are times when employees feel depressed and unmotivated and this adversely affects their performance but when training and development programs are initiated in their workplace, their morale increases and they have confidence in what they do. Training is one of the most potential motivators for employees and this benefits the organization. An organization becomes more profitable and productive through training and developing their employees. When employees are trained, they acquire advanced knowledge on how to go about with their work. For example, those in the IT sector, they need to acquire more knowledge on information technology since there are many day to day developments in this sector. This will help them to use the machines available and computers in the best way and also advance the systems in the organization. Furthermore, when a company has well trained and qualified staff, it improves the image of the company in the markets due to its professional staff since everyone would want to identify with a reputable organization. Boulay asserts that, training develops employees’ abilities so as to satisfy the present and the future needs of the company (44). The present needs whereby the employees have the required knowledge to handle tasks given to them while the future whereby when a there is a vacancy in the organization, there is already the right person for the job since the employees are already trained. It saves the human resource management from the stress of hiring new staff. It also helps to reduce the hiring costs. Furthermore, it helps improve the availability and quality staff with competence. Employees are given wide training to ensure effective contribution to growth of the organization and also to be available when there are new positions that needs to be filled. The author further expressed the fact that, when an employee leaves the organization, a void is created and once it has been created, it needs to be filled immediately or else an organization will go into crisis. This may lead to increased practices of sky high compensation and poaching which in due course affects the human resource management adversely. A positive environment is created in an organization through training, and this increases the organizations performance automatically. Investment in human resource training and development improves employees’ capabilities and organization capabilities. It improves individual capabilities since everyone will want to be promoted the next time there is a chance for promotions. It helps to identify potential employees to assume certain positions or new job duties in the company. Another effect of training and development in an organization is that it helps in employee retention and succession. Newly promoted employees need training and development in order to fit in their new positions and perform as expected and so the company through training ends up with the best staff. In a survey conducted by Swart and Charles, it reveals that through training and development programs, the entire workforce gains (67). The organization is able to get a well trained staff, managers and it becomes faster and easier to resolve internal conflicts arising in the company. Furthermore, with a well trained human resource management, it becomes easier to solve performance issues before they adversely affect the company. Moreover, trainings and development of employees helps the human resource professionals to build and nurture individual’s competence in achieving the organizations goals. Through the trainings, employees are assessed and those with any weaknesses at work are equipped with the right knowledge to improve their performance. In conclusion, training and development are very critical in any given organization or company. Since organizations are facing competition and dynamic changes due to the new technologies, there is need for training and development of their employees so as to be able to respond to the rapid change in the business environs. When an organization has a proficient, knowledgeable and a well trained staff its performance and productivity increases. The main goal of training and development is to improve the performance of an organization and the efficiency of its employees and all human resource managers would love the productivity of their companies to increase. For this reason, any organization that is ready for change and to improve its productivity must be willing to upgrade their employees’ knowledge and skills continuously so as to have a competent staff with good performance. Many researches done on training and development on overall organizational performance through work of HR management have proven that, it increases productivity, employee retention, job satisfaction, effectiveness and performance of an organization. They further proved that it helps an organization to nurture a professional, powerful and a credible image in employees throughout the organization. Training and development has long lasting effects on the human resource department performance and on the overall performance of an organization. Works cited Boulay, D. A. (2008). An exploration of the relationships among organizational size, flexible work practices, training, and organizational performance using the 2002 national organizations survey. The Ohio State University). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, 134. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.library.nyu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com J, D. S., Swart, W., & Charles, S. D. (2003). Aligning training and organizational performance goals via simulation. Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge, 2(2), 571-575. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.library.nyu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com Miller, R. L., & Buxton, W. A. (2012). The effects of managerial transition training on organizational performance. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 33(5), 464-476. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/01437731211241256 Nguyen, N. T., & Buyens, D. (2008). Training organizational strategy and firm performance. The Business Review, Cambridge, 11(2), 176-183. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.library.nyu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/197285528?accountid=12768 Rivera, R. J. (2010). What is a pound of training worth? A longitudinal study of the effects of training investments on financial performance in firms. Stanford University). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, 134-n/a. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.library.nyu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com Tung-Chun, H. (2001). The relation of training practices and organizational performance in small and medium size enterprises. Education & Training, 43(8), 437-444. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.library.nyu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com Read More