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Training, Education, and Development of Staff

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DOI: 10.4135/9781483346366.n225

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 The SAGE Encyclopedia of
Quality and the Service Economy
Training, Education, and
Development of Staff

Contributors: Su Mi Dahlgaard-Park
Editors: Su Mi Dahlgaard-Park
Book Title: The SAGE Encyclopedia of Quality and the Service Economy
Chapter Title: "Training, Education, and Development of Staff"
Pub. Date: 2015
Access Date: September 14, 2015
Publishing Company: SAGE Publications, Inc
City: Thousand Oaks
Print ISBN: 9781452256726
Online ISBN: 9781483346366
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781483346366.n225
Print pages: 815-820
©2015 SAGE Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
This PDF has been generated from SAGE knowledge. Please note that the pagination
of the online version will vary from the pagination of the print book.
SK Reviewers
©2015 SAGE Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved. SAGE knowledge

http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781483346366.n225
[p. 815 ↓ ]

Training, Education, and Development of

Staff
Training, education, and development of staff refers to organizational efforts to improve
employees’ level of performance through the acquisition of specific skills, abilities, and
knowledge and/or the change of workplace attitudes. Organizations invest in such
programs to have a more capable, knowledgeable, and motivated workforce that will
ultimately contribute to their goals at a higher level. This entry provides a brief overview
to the topics of training, education, and development of staff. It covers the benefits of
such organizational programs, discusses different types of initiatives, and outlines their
setup and guidelines.

Reasons for Training, Education, and

Development Programs
The drivers behind training, education, and staff development programs have amplified
over recent years thanks to the fast pace of knowledge creation, the fierce global
competition, and economic uncertainty. Such inevitable global phenomena require
modern organizations that want to stay competitive to increasingly rely on the quality
of their human capital. Having a high-performing staff that is technically savvy
and motivated and that makes use of the latest knowledge has become critical to
succeeding in the market place.

Although staff development and training are not new to organizations, such initiatives
have become much more prominent since the 1980s with the expansion of the
Japanese total quality management approach to many firms worldwide. Key elements
of the (then) innovative total quality management approach for improving organizational
performance include continuous learning, at the individual and organizational levels,

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and fostering high employee involvement. With these goals in mind, companies such
as Motorola, Honda, and Toyota created learning centers and processes, such as
“improvement groups,” that took staff training and development to a new strategic level
and helped prepare the organization to succeed in an evolving business reality.

Today, employee education and training have established themselves as a key

organizational resource for meeting complex business challenges, and CEOs are
ready to increase their investment in such programs despite the current economic
conditions (O’Connell, 2013). According to a 2012 report by the American Society for
Training & Development (ASTD; now called the Association for Talent Development,
or ATD), in the United States in 2011, organizations spent more than $156 billion on
learning and development—what translates to $1,182 per learner. Fifty six percent of
this expenditure ($87.5 billion) was spent internally, while the rest was dedicated to
tuition reimbursement (14%) and external learning activities (30%).

Organizations can have many different reasons for implementing training, education,
and development programs. Among the most common purposes are the following:

• Integrating and bringing up to speed new employees: “Orientation programs”

to reduce the time it takes recently hired employees to become socially
integrated and effective in their role
• Preparing staff to handle more complex tasks: Programs that support
employees’ growth in the organization, for instance, by learning more
complex technical knowledge or managerial skills required for a new position
• Improving overall levels of efficiency and performance: Programs that focus
on improving employee performance in their current role and can include the
introduction of new technologies and working methods
• Meeting legislative and ethical standards: Training meant to ensure that
employees operate within the legal boundaries and that their actions meet
the ethical standards expected by the management and stakeholders
• Keeping staff updated: Because business reality keeps changing,
organizations hold information sessions to keep employees abreast of
business and workplace developments

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• Safeguarding health and safety: Programs that focus on employees’ well-

being by teaching them how to stay healthier and how to avoid potential
workplace injuries
• Attitudinal changes: In contrast to programs that focus on how to perform
a task, programs concerned with employees’ feelings and beliefs toward
organizational initiatives and other employees or stakeholders
• Improving decision-making and problem-solving skills: With an ever
more complex business reality, organizations having to ensure that their
employees know how to analyze a situation, choose between possible
initiatives, and solve difficult, unexpected challenges

The benefits of education, training, and development are well documented and show
that such investments tend to have an important positive impact on organizations’
bottom-line results, competitiveness, staff performance, job satisfaction, and
commitment.

Differentiating Between Education,

Training, and Development
Although the terms education, training, and development are often used
interchangeably, there are some important differentiations between them.

Training refers more to the learning of new on-the-job skills that are needed for a
specific job. Effective training programs usually include a combination of instructor-
based intervention and hands-on experience that helps practice the newly acquired
skills or knowledge. In contrast to the practically oriented training, education refers
to more theoretical knowledge that is meant to improve employees’ reasoning and
judgment. Finally, development is typically related to the acquisition of knowledge and
skills that are wider in their scope and that are seen as contributing in a broader sense
to employees’ overall personal and professional growth. These types of interventions
usually include elements such as coaching, formal education, and developmental
experiences. In a sense, they focus more on the employee’s future needs, when
compared with trainings that are more concerned with achieving an immediate result.

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To make the discussion more fluid, from this point on the entry refers to the three
activities as learning programs.

Setting Up a Learning Program

Needs Assessment
As learning programs are meant to help organizations achieve better results, it is
important to ensure that the time and money invested in them end up contributing to the
organization’s mission. The first step, the needs assessment, is meant to diagnose the
issues that the organization is facing and to evaluate how (and if) a learning program
can help solve them.

Needs assessment can take place at the individual or collective level (team, unit,
etc.). At the individual level, such programs tend to focus on improving an employee’s
inadequate performance or preparing them for their next career step. As such, the
assessment will focus on the employee’s specific needs and on what the best way
will be for them, as individuals, to acquire the required skills or knowledge. In contrast
to such an individualized approach, needs assessment can take place at the team,
business unit, or organizational level—for example, when there is a need to prepare a
group of employees to respond effectively to upcoming organizational challenges, to
develop a new product line, or to address ethical issues or a high accident rate.

The needs assessment can be based on many different sources of data depending on
the issues that need to be addressed.

Common sources of data for individual-level assessment include the following:

• Assessment of employee’s performance level by her or his manager

• 360-degree feedback (e.g., by customers, peers, own staff)
• Input from the employees (e.g., during performance appraisal)

Common sources of data for collective-level assessment include the following:

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• Employee surveys (e.g., workplace climate)

• Team or business unit performance indicators
• Information concerning anticipated changes
• Input from leaders
• Internal indices and industry benchmarks
• Feedback from customers

Needs assessment can at times result in a decision not to offer any learning
intervention. For example, a manager might decide that the employee is not the right
person for the specific job and that training will not help much. Similarly, when [p. 817
↓ ] considering a costly and long program to prepare a team to work on a new product
line, management can decide instead to hire new employees who already have the
skills or knowledge required for the assignment.

Finally, every learning program will need to obtain the right level of support in order for it
to take place. In organizational terms, the manager providing the support and approval
of the resources for the activity is typically referred to as the sponsor.

Designing the Intervention

After completing the needs assessment, the next step is to identify the specific
instructional objectives and to design the learning program.

Instructional objectives refer to the definition of success and answers to questions such
as what the employee/s will be able to do better/differently after the intervention.

The program design addresses more practical concerns such as who should participate,
who should deliver the intervention, what will be the learning methodology/ies, where
and when will the program take place, and so forth.

For instance, let’s think of a simple example. Following a surge in customer complaints
concerning an existing product replacement process, the management decided to train
its service representatives on a new process. The human resources department defined
the instructional objective as follows: “After completing the training, the service reps will
know how to execute the new process independently.”

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Once the objective has been defined, the person responsible for the training will need to
clarify the design elements so that they can guarantee that they provide an effective and
efficient solution:

1. Should the training be provided only to the company staff or also to external service
providers who are involved in the process? Should supervisors also attend the training?
Who else should become familiar with the new process?

2. What will be the intervention method? Will it be a face-to-face course? An on-the-job

training approach? Maybe an e-learning course or simply a review of a manual?

3. Who will deliver the training or prepare its content? Will it be the human resources,
the management, or maybe an external consultant?

4. Should the program take place on a specific day for all employees? Will it be done
in case the company has offices in different locations, or when the employees work in
shifts? Should the content get translated into multiple languages? And so on.

Different Types of Learning Programs

Thanks to advancements in technology and our knowledge of adult leaning, there are
many types of programs or interventions to choose from. Some of the most common
ones are given below.

Lecture: A lecture is normally used to transmit information to a large audience. The

lecturer is a subject matter expert, and the lecturer’s delivery skills are a key success
factor. The style of delivering the content can vary in terms of its level of formality or
interactivity. As lectures are typically delivered to a large audience, this method tends
to be cost-effective. Furthermore, a lecture can be broadcasted to different locations
simultaneously at a very low cost using online technology.

On-the-job training: On-the-job training (OJT) is one of the most common and
traditional ways to learn new skills and gain knowledge. It takes place when an
experienced employee explains the way to perform a certain task to a trainee. Some of

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the benefits of OJT are the socialization that happens between the two employees and
the independent manner in which the activity takes place.

E-Learning: E-learning or computer-/web-based training are learning interventions

that are delivered using a computer. They are normally self-paced programs blending
different methodologies, such as interactive exercises, surveys, videos, and chats.
They bring many advantages to both employers and employees: Employers benefit
from the low cost per participant and avoid the logistical issues associated with
gathering employees to attend a course at a specific place and time; employees benefit
from the opportunity to learn at their own pace and at the time and place they wish.
Nevertheless, e-learning also has its disadvantages as not all [p. 818 ↓ ] employees will
have computers nor will they all feel comfortable using one for learning.

Mentoring: Similar to OJT, mentoring is also based on knowledge transfer from a

more experienced employee to a less experienced one. However, in contrast to OJT,
mentoring is more concerned with development in the larger sense of the word and not
with specific technical training. In a mentoring relationship, the mentors, who are usually
senior, use their experiences and insights to guide and support the mentees in growing
their careers in an organization.

Coaching: Coaching is another development methodology based on one-on-one

relationships. The focus is typically on performance improvement, and the interaction
takes place in structured meetings with clear goals. Compared with mentoring,
the coaching relationship is usually of a shorter duration, and the coach does not
necessarily have a direct experience with the coachee’s task or role.

Shadowing: When shadowing, one staff member follows and observes, over a
determined period of time, the way another employee is performing his or her job. This
allows the “shadow” to gain insights into the role of the person he or she follows and
into different organizational contexts.

Stretch assignments: These are projects that extend beyond the scope of the
employees’ past experience and role. Stretch assignments are expected to be
challenging and to provide in vivo opportunity to develop and practice new skills and
knowledge.

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Other possible learning interventions include role plays, case studies, simulations,
business games, job swaps, and discussion groups.

Evaluation of Program Results

A final and important step, following the implementation of a program, is the evaluation
of its results, which is carried out to detect if the program met its goals, to assess its
return on investment, and to identify if there is a need to modify or extend it.

The evaluating of a learning program is not a simple task, as many times, it is difficult
to quantify its contribution, especially when there is no control group to compare it with.
Furthermore, as some of the programs address soft skills and attitudes, assessing the
results ends up being based on the personal judgment of management.

These difficulties, however, should not deter from striving to achieve feedback that is as
accurate as possible.

One of the most popular evaluation approaches is Kirkpatrick’s 4 Levels, which assess
the contribution of the program at four different levels.

• 1. Reaction: The trainees’ satisfaction with the intervention

• 2. Learning: The extent to which participants change attitudes, improve their
skills, and/or expand their knowledge
• 3. Behavior: Assessment of the actual changes in the employees’ behavior
• 4. Results: Evaluation of the bottom-line effect and the concrete contribution
of the program by asking questions, such as “Has productivity/quality
increased?” “Are employees more motivated now or do they bring forward
more innovative ideas?”

Simon L. Dolan and Ben Capell

See also Community of Learning; Human Resource Management and Quality

Management; Total Quality Management (TQM)

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Further Readings
Accel-Team. (n.d.). Human resource management: Function 7: Employee
education, training and development. Retrieved from http://www.accel-team.com/
human_resources/hrm_07.html

American Society for Training & Development. (2012). State of the industry report:
ASTD’s annual review of workplace learning and development data. Retrieved from
https://www.td.org/Publications/Research-Reports/2012/2012-State-of-the-Industry

Baldwin, T. T., Danielson, C., & Wiggenhorn, W. (1997). The evolution of learning
strategies in organizations: From employee development to business redefinition.
Academy of Management Executive, 11(4), 47–58.

Birdi, K., Allan, C., & Warr, P. (1997). Correlates and perceived outcomes of four types
of employee development activity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 82, 845–857.

[p. 819 ↓ ] Collins, D. B., & Holton, E. F. (2004). The effectiveness of managerial
leadership development programs: A meta-analysis of studies from 1982 to 2001.
Human Resource Development Quarterly, 15(2), 217–248.

Jacobs, R., & Washington, C. (2003). Employee development and organizational

performance: A review of literature and directions for future research. Human Resource
Development International, 6(3), 343–354.

Jensen, J. (2001, June). Improving training in order to upgrade skills in the tourism
industry (Tourism and Employment, Final Report of Working Group B, European
Commission). http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/tourism/files/working_groups/
finalreportb_june2001_en.pdf

Kirkpatrick, D. L. (1998). Another look at evaluating training programs. Alexandria, VA:

American Society for Training & Development.

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O’Connell, B. (2013). Why CEOs want faster training–no matter the cost. Forbes.
Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/bmoharrisbank/2013/01/08/why-ceos-want-
faster-training-no-matter-what-the-cost/

Rahman, S.-U. (2004). The future of TQM is past: Can TQM be resurrected? Total
Quality Management & Business Excellence, 15(4), 411–422.

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