Training Employees in Samsung - Essay Example

?Training Employees in Samsung I: RESEARCH OBJECTIVES and QUESTION 1 Research Objectives The research objectives have been developed keeping in mind the frameworks and concepts of training methods considered in the consumer electronics industry, in which Samsung functions. 1. To identify the most appropriate training programme for Samsung 2. To recognize the effect of training in the company 3. To evaluate the shortfall or loopholes in the training programs in the company 1.2 Research Question The research question has been designed to identify the responses regarding the issues raised as the research objective. Question: What should be the framework or structure of training in Samsung for developing the skills of the employees? 1.3 Rational of the Study The reason behind choosing Samsung with regards to effective training methods is because it is one of the leading companies not only in Asian but also in the global market. This signifies that Samsung requires enhancing the skills of its employees and nurturing their knowledge base in order to always remain in a competitive position in the world market. However, to fulfil this objective the company needs to provide extensive training to its employees. Training is the tool not only to enhance the skill levels of the employees, but also to welcome their ideas and utilise them to develop innovative products that would reduce shortage of products, maintain goodwill and increase profit margin of the company. II: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction Human Resource Management (HRM) involves management of the workforce. It also includes selecting, training, mentoring and rewarding the employees. HRM comprise motivating the leadership qualities of the individuals in the organisation and maintaining a fair and healthy work culture. HRM is an important activity in every organisation and its impact on the organisations has been supported by numerous theories and approaches. It plays a significant role in the achievement of the company by incorporating the interest of the organisation and the human resource (Randhawa, 2007, Dransfield, 2000). In HRM, training and development is meant to boost the performance of the workforce. The employees are put through a learning process that would assist them to acquire valuable knowledge, help them to improve their skills, rules, and concepts, by changing their attitude and their behaviour to work in the organisation. It is also called human resource development, learning and development or training and development (Rao, 2009, Talwar, 2006). In HRM there are various different aspects, but this study aims at evaluating only training and development function of HRM and its significance in the organisation. The motive is mainly to study the magnitude of training the various theories which different authors have stated to explain them. This will assist in capturing different point of view regarding training and development in the organisation. In this study the focus would be towards the training and development of the employees of Samsung because this company has skilfully managed its operations around the world and has become a global leader, off course not without training its employees well. However, in the present volatile market past training strategies are not going to impact, so an analysis of different training methods will assist in identifying the most appropriate training method for Samsung’ employees. 2.2 Importance of Training Training assists in improving the knowledge and prepares the employees for new upcoming challenges. It is very important to train the employees to compete in the global challenges. Previously the training and development processes were criticized because of the lack of proper evaluation process (Mathison, 2004). The yearly fixed targets were set for training and it was delivered accordingly, but none of them bothered to evaluate the results. So neither the positive effect of training was revealed nor was the negative aspects scrutinized and changed. No feedback system was there to take the opinion of the trainee employees, so improvement in the training process was not possible (Saks and Haccoun, 2011). Then it is the participants who decide and plan the training and development programs, it turns out to be a success because they know what they need to learn and what they already know about. So focusing accordingly on those areas in the training schedule is relevant. This is because training is indispensible for achievement and increasing productivity (Cornelius, 2001). Training evaluation is a systematic process of analyzing and collecting the information regarding the programmes in training. This is utilized by the human resource and training managers to plan and take decision regarding the effectiveness, relevance and the impact of the various components of training (Raab et al., 1991). Since the companies nowadays are making huge investments for development and training, so training is no more a negligible issue in organization. For the employees in the organization, evaluation of training and development process help in providing feedback to their trainers regarding their understanding, and also if they want to modify their training framework, they can raise questions for that. Through this training becomes a two way process rather than a being the traditional one (Dawson, 1995, Mann, 1996). The trainers on the other hand can also evaluate the result of the training by distributing feedback forms to trainees, etc. It is very important for the trainer to understand the outcomes of training (Lewis and Thornhill, 1994). Moreover, if no change or enhancement in the work process or culture is felt, then the resources utilized for organizing the training goes into waste. The trainers have the vital responsibility to utilize the resources spend for training and development so that profitability can be ensured (James and Roffe, 2000). The importance of training is visible from the global performance of Samsung. A company, which offers innovation to its customers at regular intervals, is not expected to do so if a systematic training and development method is not followed. There are various training methods followed by Samsung, which would be discussed in the later part of the study. 2.3 Training Methods There are various methods of training that assist the employees to equip themselves for meeting their job responsibilities. There are various choices and ways to determine the methods to be used by the company. Training session are indeed effective ways of assisting the employees for learning new things and retaining relevant information. Training method based on technology is the latest and most used method these days. This includes use of internet, computers and interactive multimedia based platform for demonstrating situation on real-time basis. Simulation based training on virtual platform is also a part of the web based training. Another form of training method is to use stimulators for giving the employees a feel of the real life situation. Stimulators are generally expensive and used by companies which can afford it for their employees. On job training is the most popular form of training method for the companies nowadays. This method of training is convenient as well as cost effective. It motivates the employees to learn and start the job. Several reports indicate that the people need to have a hands-on experience in order to efficiently perform in the organisation. However, this method is not for everyone because it might turn out to be stressful for many who do not have excellent receptive power (Alkin, 2011). Mentoring or coaching the employees, which is also known as classroom training is traditional yet followed. In this a schedule is prepared and employees are trained within the domain of the classroom for a pre-defined span of time, then they are left for the practical implementation of such training, which is closely monitored by their supervisor, so as to evaluate the effectiveness of the training. Even lecture sessions are conducted within the organisation in the classroom-format, so that session of brainstorming and learning can be conducted. Apart from this, group discussion, role plays and management games have become significant part of the organisations’ human resources management system (Noe, 2008). Samsung utilises various training sessions for its employees otherwise the company would not have been where it is now. It introduced TRIZ, which was an innovative method to assist employees in problem solving. It also adopted Six Sigma during 2000, which signify the employees were given significant training in quality management and the individuals were given proper education related to technology in the Samsung Advanced Institute for Technology. Samsung has a CS Academy for its employees training purpose, where they are educated and trained. The motive of the company is to teach the employees not only the technical aspects, but also the etiquettes and ways to behave and present themselves. This signifies that Samsung also provides soft skill trainings to its employees. The training is provided to the new recruits and employees who contract the customers. It is usually a three day training, which includes class-room lectures as well as practical training (on-job-training). The expectation of the company is to develop a desired image by enhancing the skills of the employees, develop a strong workforce for maintaining active relationship with customers and provide flawless services for which the employees are taught to communicate effectively (Samsung CS Academy, 2010). 2.4 Loopholes in the existing training programme of the company Just following the training methods and adopting any of them just for the sake of following a set procedure for educating the employee often give way to various shortfalls or loopholes. This is because selecting a training method among various options is not the way to educate the employees. A comprehensive analysis of the needs and requirement of the employees, their skill level, their point of interest, education level need to be considered for deciding the method of training to be selected. It is not necessary that soft skill training is required by the customer service department only because soft skill is also necessary for every employee because they need to interact with their colleague, superiors, subordinates and cross-department. This affect the communication process within the organisation and also affect the internal business operation (Pershing, 2006). Apart from this, Samsung trains new recruits but even the oldest employee within the organisation requires to be trained at regular intervals for upgrading his/ her knowledge, skills and this would be a way to involve the employee in a brainstorming session regarding his/ her goals in future which matches or assist the growth process of the company as a whole. It is a myth that only new recruits require training. Though Samsung is a multinational company, but the basic organisational culture is still Korean, so the oldest employees are considered to be the most learned and so they are not to be trained. However, they also need to upgrade their knowledge in terms of skills and way of thinking. The company aspires to become one of the permanent global leaders in the industry. However, this task is impossible without the assistance of its employees round the world (Phillips, 2012). 2.5 Appropriate Training programme for the employees of Samsung Samsung being one of the market leaders is well aware of the ways of training and development prevailing around the world. However, rather than utilising set training methods followed by companies in the industry, the company can go for thinking out of the box in the matters of human resource management too, which will give the company a competitive edge as an employer. In this section of the study the motive would be to identify appropriate training methods for the employees of Samsung. Firstly, the management of Samsung has to function like a multinational company, which does not mean that question is raised on its products or ways of business management, but the organisational culture needs to be global and not Korean based. Secondly, diversity should be encouraged thoroughly and the business model should be such that Samsung Korea, Samsung USA or Samsung UK remains connected on real-time basis. Thirdly, a basic training program should be developed to train the new recruits, which should be a standard process around the world. This signifies every employee will go through this training based on the department and key responsibilities irrespective of the country they are posted. This will establish a sense of uniformity among the employees. The technical teams should be given on-job training, where they can learn while they work. Technical teams consisting of old and recruits should be trained after a fixed interval, so that their skill set and knowledge base is augmented in order to meet the present and future demands of the customers (Samsung CS Academy, 2010). Samsung being electronics company, need to focus more on the training of technical teams around the world to continue its journey towards innovation. Simulation and web-based training would play a major role to conduct training in several offices around the world. Soft skill training should be arranged for every employee irrespective of the tenure of employment and department because better communication internally assists in smooth communication with the market. Class-room lectures can be monotonous, as practical as well as exhilarating training session will boost motivation in the employees (Raj, 2007). 2.6 Probable effects of the training programme Good training programs have always been fruitful in large organisations because if every employee has a clear vision and knowledge of the group goals and vision of the company, working together becomes easier (Samsung CS Academy, 2010). The effect can be seen in terms of better management, culturally sound internal environment and higher profit margin. In this segment of the study the focus would be towards discussion of the probable effect that the suggested training methods would have in Samsung and among the employees. The customers would be able to understand the requirements of the customers in a better manner and understand the basic principles associated with hospitality. The employees would become well equipped with the stepwise skills of customers and dealing with them. Apart from this, they would be able to locate the shortage in terms of resource, process or service and develop strategies to fulfil those gaps. The process of rapid response to every problem (technical, operational, financial or based on customer handling) would be integrated. Diversity in terms of culture and ways of reacting to certain situation would be encouraged which will give rise to a new global organisational culture within the company (Simmonds, 2003). III: CONCLUSION and RECOMMENDATIONS This study was designed to identify the methods of training and development at Samsung, so as to identify the shortfalls in their training methods and suggest ways to develop effective methods of training so that the human resource of the company can be better utilised to remain a permanent global leader. In this regards the significance of training was discussed and identified that training has another aspect, which is known as evaluation. Unless the effects of training are evaluated, it is difficult to measure the effectiveness of training. It can be recommended to Samsung that the organisation culture of Samsung should be global rather than Korean based for establishing a training program, which is uniform irrespective of country. Secondly, training programs should be organised for new recruits as well as the old employees in the company for regular skill and knowledge enhancement of the human resource. Reference List Alkin, M. C., 2011. Evaluation essentials: From A to Z. New York: Guilford Press. Dawson, R., 1995. Fill this in before you go: Under-utilized evaluation sheets. Journal of European Industrial Training, 19(2), pp. 3-7. Dransfield, R., 2000. Studies in economics and business: Human resource management. Oxford: Heinemann. James, C. and Roffe, I., 2000. The evaluation of goal and goal-free training innovation. Journal of European Industrial Training, 24(1), pp.12-20. Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A., 1994. The evaluation of training: An organizational approach. Journal of European Industrial Training, 18(8), pp. 25-33. Mann, S., 1996. What should training evaluations evaluate? Journal of European Industrial Training, 20(9), pp.14-20. Mathison, S., 2004. Encyclopedia of evaluation. California: SAGE. 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