DESIGNING AND

EVALUATING TRAINING
SYSTEMS
 Determining Training Needs
• Training Needs Analysis (TNA)
• The first step in developing an employee training system.
• The process of determining the training needs of an organization.
• Three (3) Steps for TNA
1. Organizational Analysis
• The process of determining the organizational factors that will either
facilitate or inhibit training effectiveness.
• Focuses on:
• The goals of the organization wants to achieve;
• The extent to which training will help achieve those goals;
• The organization’s ability to conduct training (finances, time,
physical space); and
• The extent to which employees are willing and able to be trained
(ability, commitment, motivation, stress).
 Determining Training Needs
2. Task Analysis
– The process of identifying the tasks to be performed and competencies
(knowledge, skills, abilities) needed by each employee and then determining
how employees learn to perform each task or obtain each competency.

3. Individual / Person Analysis

– The process of identifying the employees who need training and determining
the areas in which each individual employee needs to be trained.
Steps for Needs Assessment
 Methods of TNA
1. Performance Appraisal Score
• A rating representing some aspects of an employee’s work
performance.
• The easiest method of TNA.

• Disadvantages in Using Performance Appraisal

• Leniency errors and strictness errors of the rater can reduce the
accuracy of the performance appraisal score;
• Rarely do all employees score either high or low on a dimension
but common for a few employees to score poorly on a
dimension.
• The performance appraisal system may not provide the type of
information needed to conduct a TNA.
 Methods of TNA
2. Survey
• Questionnaires asking about the areas in which they feel they
need training.
• Advantages in Using Surveys
• They eliminate the problem of performance rating errors.
• Employees often know their own strengths and weaknesses best.
• Training need can be determined even if the organization has not
designed an effective performance appraisal system.
• Disadvantages of Using Surveys
• Employees may not be honest in answering the survey.
• The organization may not be able to afford the training suggested
by the employee.
 Methods of TNA
3. Interviews
• Not used as extensively as surveys.
• Can yield even more in-depth answers to questions about
training needs.
• Advantage of Using Interviews
• Employee feelings and attitudes are revealed more clearly than
with the survey approach.
• Disadvantage of Using Interviews
• Interview data are often difficult to quantify and analyze.
 Methods of TNA
4. Skill Test and Knowledge Test
• Skill Test measures an employee’s level of some job-related skill.
• Free throw shooting for basketball players
• Knowledge Test measures the level of an employee’s knowledge
about a job-related topic.
• Knowledge of lending laws for loans officers
• Knowledge of company policies for new employees

• Disadvantage of Using Skill and Knowledge Test

• The organization may need to construct its own tests as few tests
are available of this purpose.
 Methods of TNA
5. Critical Incident Techniques (CIT)
• Developed by John Flanagan
• written reports of actual incidents on good and bad employee
behavior that make a difference between a job’s successful or
unsuccessful performance.
 Setting Training Objectives and Measures
1. Align/match identified training needs with training
objectives.

2. Training goals and objectives should clearly state:

• What the learners are expected to do;
• The conditions under which they are expected to do it; and
• The level at which they are expected to do it.

3. Define objectives in specific, measurable terms.

• Desired employee behaviors
• Results expected to follow from such behaviors
 Setting Training Objectives and Measures
Examples:
• By the end of this training session, you will be able to answer
(action word) customer questions (item) about loan rates
without asking others (condition) 90% of the time (standard).
• By the end of this training session, you will be able to balance
(action word) the teller drawer (item) without assistance
(condition) in 30 minutes with no errors (standard).
• By the end of this training session, you will be able to compute
(action word) adverse impact levels (item) using Excel
(condition) with no errors (standard).
 Choosing the Best Training Method/Design
Classroom Setting
1. Using lectures to provide knowledge
2. Using case studies to apply knowledge
3. Using simulation exercises to practice new skills
4. Practicing interpersonal skills through role-play
5. Increasing interpersonal skills through behavior modeling
 CLASSROOM SETTING

• Using lectures to provide knowledge

• Are good training source but unless they are accompanied by
other techniques such as simulations and role-plays, they are not
effective if the goal is for employees to obtain knowledge.
• Trainer takes a great deal amount of time to put together
(estimate of 16-50 hours preparation for every hour of training):
• Research a topic
• Develop a training outline
• Create visuals (PPT slides)
• Create handouts
• Obtain or create supporting materials (videos or role-playing
exercises)
 CLASSROOM SETTING
• Using lectures to provide knowledge
• Handouts are comprehensive notes that are important because
research says people forget about half the training content once
they leave the classroom then forget about 25% within 48 hours.
• Handouts should include:
• Cover sheet with the title/date/venue of the training program;
• List of goals and objectives;
• Schedule of the training (ex: breaks and ending time);
• Biographical sketch of the trainer;
• Notes in outline form, full text or copies of the PPT slides;
• Activity sheets;
• References and suggestions for further reading; and
• Form to evaluate the quality of the training program.
 CLASSROOM SETTING
• Using case studies to apply knowledge
• Training technique in which employees, usually in a group, are
presented with a real or hypothetical workplace problem and are
asked to propose the best solution.

• Effective in applying knowledge and learning problem solving skills.

• Similar to leaderless group discussion and situational interview

problems, they are good sources for developing analysis, synthesis, and
evaluation skills.

• Best if the case study is based on a real situation or living case.

• Will be interesting if written in a form of a story, contain dialogue

between characters, use realistic details, are descriptive and easy to
follow, contain all information necessary to solve the problem, and are
difficult enough to be challenging.
 CLASSROOM SETTING
• Using simulation exercises to practice new skills
• Are exercises designed to place an applicant in a situation that is
similar to the one that will be encountered on the job.
• Allows trainees to practice newly learned skills on equipment under
actual work conditions without the consequences of mistakes.
• Research says employees trained with simulations learned more
and retained more than employees trained using lecture or reading.
• Less expensive and less life-threatening than actual situations.
Ex: - airline simulations for pilots;
- simulated medical emergencies;
- simulated computer breakdown;
- dummy simulation in administering CPR
 CLASSROOM SETTING
• Practicing interpersonal skills through role-play
• Training technique in which employees act out simulated roles.
• Allows trainees to perform necessary interpersonal skills by acting
out simulated roles.
EX: - practice presentation skills for sales people,
- sales trainee takes the role of an irate customer while
manager takes the role of the sales clerk and learns how the
situation is handled by the manager.
• Role play can later be replaced by real play, in which employees
practice their skills on actual customers then discusses the
techniques.
EX: Sales staff sits around a conference table and take turns
making calls to actual customers.
 CLASSROOM SETTING
• Increasing interpersonal skills through behavior
modeling
• Training technique in which employees observe correct
behavior, practice that behavior, and then receive feedback
about their performance.
• Similar to role-playing except that trainees role-play ideal/
correct behavior rather than the behavior they might normally
perform.
• Learning points are proper and necessary behavior based on
rules to be followed in solving a problem.
• Best shown by viewing a video of a model performing correct
behavior and another performing incorrect behavior.
 Delivery of Training Program
Conducting classroom training
Who will conduct the training?
• In-house trainers – are employees of the company and used when a
training program will be presented too frequently to justify the cost.
• External trainers – used when in-house trainers lack the expertise on a
particular topic or more expensive than internally developing a training
program.
Where will the training be held?
• On-site – training done inside the company premises is less expensive.
• Off-site – used when the company doesn’t have the needed space nor
equipment.
Advantage: employees get away from work site and concentrate on
their training, may be done at hotels in tourist spots as incentive or
reward for performing well at work
 Delivery of Training Program
Conducting classroom training
How long should the training be?
• For the highest level of learning, training materials should be presented in
small, easily remembered chunks distributed over a period of time
(distributed learning) rather than learned all at once (massed
learning).
EX: reviewing for exams distributed over several days VS waiting until
the night before the test to read the chapters/PPT slides.
 Delivery of Training Program
Conducting classroom training
1. Preparing for classroom training
• Trainer must consider the characteristics of the audience:
• Size (large or small);
• Demographics (male or female; young or old); and
• Ability level (highly-skilled or lower-skilled; less or more experienced)
2. Delivering the training program
• Introducing the trainer and the training session:
• Introduction of the trainer should be short and establish his/her
credentials.
• Announce the training schedules (starting time, break time, meal
times) and seminar rules (eg. turning off cellphones, not smoking, not
criticizing audience members)
 Delivery of Training Program
Conducting classroom training
2. Delivering the training program
• Using icebreakers and energizers
• Must consider the following considerations:
• The goal of the icebreaker (get to know one another, wake them
up, get them think about the topic);
• The length of the training seminar (icebreakers should be short if
the training will last a few hours); and
• The nature of the audience
• EX:
• Asking each trainee to introduce the person next to him
• Activities where trainees are given a question or problem to solve
• Open-ended questions to elicit audience response and encourage
discussions.
• Jokes or stories
 Delivery of Training Program
Conducting classroom training
2. Delivering the training program

Delivering the presentation tips:

• Make eye contact with audience.
• Use gestures effectively.
• Don’t read your presentation.
• Don’t hide behind the podium.
• Use a conversational style.
• Be confident.
• Don’t force humor.
• Speak at a pace that is neither
too fast nor to slow.
 Delivery of Training Program
Conducting training through distance learning
• Research says it is as effective as classroom training and their
effectiveness increases when learners control the pace and when
feedback is given regarding the learner’s progress.
• Two (2) categories of distance learning:
1. Asynchronous distance learning – employees can complete the training
at their pace and at the time of their choosing.
• Information is provided through printed materials, pre-recorded videos,
and web-based programs.
• Interactive video – a training techniques in which an employee is
presented with a videotaped situation and is asked to respond to the
situation and then receives feedback based on the response.
• To increase effectiveness, trainees can have access to an instructor or
other trainees through email, chat rooms, message board forums.
 Delivery of Training Program
Conducting training through distance learning
• Two (2) categories of distance learning:
2. Synchronous distance learning – requires employees to complete the
training at the same time and at the same pace although they may be in a
different physical locations.
• Webinars – short for web seminar, an interactive training method in which
training is transmitted over the internet.
• Webcast – A non-interactive (one-way communication) training method in
which the trainer transmit training information over the internet.
• Blog – a website in which the host regularly post commentaries on a topic
that readers can respond to.
 Delivery of Training Program
Conducting training through distance learning
• Two (2) categories of distance learning:
2. Synchronous distance learning – requires employees to complete the
training at the same time and at the same pace although they may be in a
different physical locations.
• Wiki – a collection of web pages in which users can create web pages on a
topic and readers can freely edit those pages.
• Listserv – a program that automatically distributes e-mail messages to a
group of people who have a common interest.
 Delivery of Training Program
Conducting training through distance learning
Learning Management Systems
• A combination of e-learning techniques, employee assessment
tools and other training functions which helps managers assess
the skill of employees, register them for courses, deliver
interactive learning modules, etc.
 Delivery of Training Program
Conducting on-the-job training
• Informal training by experienced peers and supervisors that occurs
on the job and during job tasks.
• Works best for teaching skills that require supervision to learn
• Best learned through repetition, and benefit from role-modeling

Four (4) types of on-the-job training

1. Learning by modeling others
2. Learning through job rotation
3. Learning through apprentice training
4. Learning through coaching and mentoring
 Delivery of Training Program
Conducting on-the-job training
1. Learning by modeling others
• Also called social learning (Bandura)
• Employees learn by watching how other employees perform, or
model, a behavior.
• Characteristics of the model – should be similar to the employees
both in gender and age.
• Characteristics of the observer:
• Employee must pay attention to the behavior of other
employees;
• Employee must be able to retain the information that is being
modeled; and
• Employee must have the ability or skill to reproduce the
behavior that is seen.
 Delivery of Training Program
Conducting on-the-job training
2. Learning through job rotation
• System in which employees are given the opportunity to perform
several different jobs in an organization.
• Popular in management training because it allows manager trainees
to experience and understand the jobs within the organization that
his subordinates will perform.
• Can be used for non-managerial employees as it allows for both
lateral transfers within the organization and greater flexibility in
replacing absent workers.
• Cross-training – teaching employees how to perform tasks
traditionally performed by other employees.
 Delivery of Training Program
Conducting on-the-job training
3. Learning through apprentice training
• A training program usually found in the craft and building trades, in
which employees combine formal coursework with formal on-the-
job training.
EX: jobs in construction, manufacturing, and plumbing

• An individual spends a minimum of 144 hours of formal class work

and works with an expert for 4 years to learn a particular trade.
 Delivery of Training Program
Conducting on-the-job training
4. Learning through coaching and mentoring
• Two (2) types of coaching:
1. Experienced employees as coaches – a new employee is
assigned to an experienced employee, who is told to “show the ropes”
• Pass-through programs – a formal method of coaching in which
excellent employees spend a period of time in the training
department learning training techniques and training employees.

2. Professional coaches – or corporate coaches are similar to

consultants but rather than working with the organization as a whole ,
they are hired to coach a particular employee, usually a manager.
• Mentor – an experienced or veteran employee who advises and
looks out for a new employee.