Chapter 8: DESIGNING AND EVALUATING
TRAINING SYSTEMS
Training - systematic acquisition of skills, rules, concepts,
or attitudes that result in improved performance
- a planned effort by an organization to facilitate the
learning of job-related behavior on the part of its
employees
- training compensates for the inability to select
desired applicants
In proactive organizations - training is used to teach
knowledge and skills that, while not currently needed, will
be needed in the future
[DETERMINING TRAINING NEEDS]
Needs Analysis - a process of determining the training
needs of an organization
- first step in developing an employee training
system
- determine the types of training, if any, that are
needed in an organization, as well as the extent to
which training is a practical means of achieving
an organization’s goals
- employees to score poorly
(3 types of needs analysis are typically conducted:)
1. Organizational Analysis - determine those
organizational fac-tors that either facilitate or inhibit
training effectiveness
- Properly Conducted Organizational Analysis -
focus on the goals the organization wants to
achieve, the extent to which training will help
achieve those goals, the organization's ability to
conduct training, and the extent to which
employees are willing and able to be trained
- should include a survey of employee
readiness for training
2. Task Analysis - use the job analysis methods to identify
the tasks performed by each employee, the conditions
under which these tasks are performed, and the
competencies needed to perform the tasks under the
identified conditions
- the next step after organizational analysis
- the methods used are interviews, observations,
and task inventories
- If an organization has detailed and current job
descriptions already written, the task analysis
process is fairly easy and does not take much
time. If such job descriptions are not available, the
task analysis process can be expensive and
time-consuming
- the task analysis process is usually conducted by
listing tasks in one column and how the tasks are
learned in a second column
3. Person Analysis - process of identifying the employees
who need training and deter-mining the areas in which
each individual employee needs to be trained
- based on the recognition that not every employee
needs further training for every task performed
(To determine the individual training needs for each
employee, person analysis uses:)
a. Performance Appraisal Scores - a rating representing
some aspect of an employee’s work performance
- the easiest method of needs analysis
- (3 problems:)
- (1) several types of rating errors can reduce the
accuracy (ex. most relevant are leniency errors
and strictness errors)
- (2) rarely are there situations in which all
employees score either high or low on a
dimension. It is more common for only a few
- (3) current performance appraisal system may not
provide the type of information needed to conduct
a training needs analysis
b. Surveys - design and administer a survey that asks
employees what knowledge and skills they believe should
be included in future training
- questionnaires asking employees about the areas
in which they feel they need training
- (Advantages:)
- (1) eliminate the problems of performance rating
errors
- (2) used to determine what employees need
- (3) training needs can be determined with surveys,
even when the organization has not previously
made an effort to design an effective performance
appraisal system or adequate job descriptions
- (Disadvantages: employees may not be honest and
the organization may not be able to afford the
training suggested by the employees)
c. Interviews - done with a selected number of employees
- can yield even more in-depth answers to questions
about training needs than surveys
- (Main Advantage) - employee feelings and
attitudes are revealed more clearly than with the
survey approach
 - (Main Disadvantage) - interview data are often
difficult to quantify and analyze
d. Skill and Knowledge Tests - (major problem: probably
have to construct its own tests, and proper test
construction is time-consuming and expensive)
● Skill test - measures an employee’s level of some
job-related skill
● Knowledge test - measures the level of an
employee’s knowledge about a job-related topic
e. Critical Incidents - sorted into dimensions and separated
into examples of good and poor performance
- Dimensions with many examples of poor
performance are considered to be areas in which
many employees are performing poorly and in
which additional training is indicated
[ESTABLISHING GOALS AND OBJECTIVES]
Training goals - will determine the resources allocated to
the training, the methods used to deliver the training, and
the methods used to evaluate the success of the training
Setting goals - is important to first determine what the
organization wants to accomplish, given the time and
resources that will be allocated to the training
[CHOOSING THE BEST TRAINING METHOD]
The best training programs often use a variety of methods
so that employees will understand the reasons for doing a
certain task, how it should be done, and in what situations
it should be done.
(Training Methods:)
1. Using Lectures to Provide Knowledge
- good training source if the goal is for employees
to obtain knowledge, but are not usually effective
at teaching skills
- important part of any training presentation is the
handouts to the audience
- Handouts - provide material that the trainees can
take back to their jobs
- Comprehensive notes - important because people
forget about half the training content once they
leave the room and then forget another 25%
within 48 hours
2. Using Case Studies to Apply Knowledge
- apply what they have learned through case studies
- Case Study - 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
- similar to leaderless group discussions
and situational interview problems
- good sources for developing analysis,
synthesis, and evaluation skills
- taken from actual situations
- the best when they are written in the form
of a story, contain dialogue between the
characters, use realistic details, are
descriptive and easy to follow, contain all
information neces-sary to solve the
problem, and are difficult enough to be
challenging
- Living Case - case study based on a real situation
rather than a hypothetical one
- (Disadvantage: trainees may not be the
best individuals to solve the problem)
3. Using Simulation Exercises to Practice New Skills
- Simulation - allow the trainee to practice newly
learned skills
- exercise designed to place an applicant in
a situation that is similar to the one that
will be encountered on the job
- Allow the trainee to work with equipment
under actual working conditions without
the consequences of mistakes
- allow the trainee to feel such pressure but
without actually affecting the
organization’s performance
- can be effective only if it physically and
psychologically simulates actual job
conditions
4. Practicing Interpersonal Skills Through Role-Play
- Role-play - training technique in which
employees perform necessary interpersonal skills
by acting out simulated role
- used in many types of training situations,
from supervisors practicing performance
appraisal reviews to sales clerks taking
customer orders
- employee playing the role of “the other
person”
- Farber (1994) thinks that role-play should be
replaced by “real play,” in which employees
practice their skills on actual customers.
5. Increasing Interpersonal Skills Through Behavior
Modeling
- Behavior modeling - training technique in which
employees observe correct behavior, practice that
 behavior, and then receive feedback about their
performance
- similar to role-play except that trainees
role-play ideal behavior rather than the
behavior they might normally perform
- begins with a discussion of a problem,
why it occurred, and employee behaviors
necessary to correct the problem
- these behaviors are called learning points
and are essentially rules to follow in
solving a problem
- can significantly increase employee
performance
6. Motivating Employees to Attend Training
- most obvious way to “motivate” employees to
attend training is to require them to attend training
“on the clock”
- majority of training opportunities are optional,
and 10% of training opportunities take place on
the employee’s own time
(Strategies to motivate employees to attend training:)
a. Relate the training to an employee’s immediate
job.
b. Make the training interesting.
c. Increase employee buy-in.
d. Provide incentives.
e. Provide food.
f. Reduce the stress associated with attending.
[DELIVERING THE TRAINING PROGRAM]
THREE BROAD METHODS of delivering the training:
in the classroom, through distance learning, and on the job
1. Conducting Classroom Training
● Initial Decisions
a. Who will conduct the training?
- Training Seminars - conducted byavariety of
sources including in-house trainers who are
employees of the organization, outside trainers
who contract with the organization, videos, and
local universities
- In-house trainers - used when a training program
will be presented too frequently to justify the cost
of an outside trainer or when the training topic is
so specific to the organization that finding outside
trainers would be difficult
- External trainers - used when the trainers in an
organization lack the expertise on a particular
topic or when the cost of internally developing a
training program exceeds the cost of contracting
with an external trainer
b. Where will the training be held?
- be offered on-site or at an off-site location such as
a hotel, university, or conference center
- Training On-site - is less expensive
- Training Off-site - advantage of getting the
employees away from the work site and allowing
them to concentrate on their training
c. How long should the training be?
- Cost-efficiency Perspective - better to conduct a
weeklong training session rather than divide the
training into 10 half-day sessions spread over a
one-month period
- Interest Perspective - few employees enjoy
attending 40 hours of training in a week
- For the highest level of learning, training material
should be presented in small, easily remembered
chunks distributed over a period of time
(distributed learning) rather than learned all at
once (massed learning)
- Massed Practice - concentrating learning into a
short period of time
● Preparing for Classroom Training
a. Adjusting for the audience
- a trainer must consider the size, demographics,
and ability of the audience
- most trainers present material at a moderate pace
● Delivering the Training Program
a. Introducing the trainer and the training session
- Training sessions - begin with the introduction of
the trainer
- Introduction - short and should establish the
credentials of the trainer
- length of the introduction depends on the
time allocated for the training and the
extent to which the audience already
knows the trainer
b. Using icebreakers and energizers
- most training programs start with some sort of
icebreaker or energizer
- THREE CONSIDERATIONS in choosing an
icebreaker: (1) the goal of the ice-breaker, (2) the
 length of the training session, and (3) the nature of
the audience
- Goals for icebreakers - get people to know one
another, to get them talking, to wake them up, and
to get them thinking about the topic
c. Delivering the presentation
2. Conducting Training Through Distance Learning
Distance Learning - to allow employees to learn material
at their own pace, at a time and place that is convenient to
them
(Two Broad Categories of Distance Learning
Technologies:)
● Asynchronous Technologies - employees can
complete the training at their own pace and at a
time of their choosing.
● Synchronous technologies - require employees to
complete the training at the same time and at the
same pace, although they may be in different
physical locations
a. Asynchronous Distance Learning
- employees are provided with media materials for
learning the content, as well as with a series of
exams that measure what they have learned from
them
- employees study at their own pace, and the exams
ensure that employees understand the material
- information can be provided to the employee in a
variety of ways including printed materials,
videos, DVDs, and web-based programs
● Interactive Video - employee is presented with a
videotaped situation and is asked to respond to the
situation and then re-ceives feedback based on the
response
● Programmed instruction - employees learn
information at their own pace
○ effective because it takes advantage of
several important LEARNING
PRINCIPLES:
○ (1) learning is self-paced - each trainee
proceeds at his own pace
○ (2) each trainee is actively involved in the
learning
○ (3) programmed instruction presents
information in small units or chunks,
because learning smaller amounts of
material is easier than learning larger
amounts
b. Synchronous Distance Learning
- conducted live where the trainer communicates to
an audience that might be “attending” over the
phone, through the Internet, or by satellite TV
● Webinars - short for “web seminar,” an interactive
training method in which training is transmitted
over the Internet
● Webcast - noninteractive training method in which
the trainer transmits training information over the
Internet
● Blog - the host regularly posts commentaries on a
topic that readers can respond to (a website)
● Wiki - collection of web pages in which users can
create web pages on a topic and readers can freely
edit those pages
● Listzerv - program that automatically distributes
e-mail messages to a group of people who have a
common interest
3. Conducting On-the-Job Training
On-the-job training (OJT) - informal training by
experienced peers and supervisors that occurs on the job
and during job tasks
a. Learning by Modeling Others
- Modeling (social learning) - employees learn by
watching how other employees perform, or
model, a behavior
- Learning through watching and imitating
the behavior of others
- basis of the behavioral modeling method
of training
- most effective under certain conditions
- (1) characteristics of the
employee whose behavior is
being duplicated and
- (2) the characteristics of the
person attempting to model that
performance
- (Characteristics of the Model:)
- model behavior of people who are similar
to us, who are successful, and who have
status
- (Characteristics of the Observer)
- 3 Conditions:
- (1) employee must pay attention to the
behavior of other employees
 - (2) employee must be able to retain the
information that is being modeled
- (3) employee must have the ability or skill
to reproduce the behavior that is seen
b. Learning Through Job Rotation
● Job Rotation - employee performs several
different jobs within an organization
- especially popular for managerial training because
it allows a manager trainee to experience and
understand most, if not all, of the jobs within the
organization that his subordinates will perform
- commonly used to train nonmanagerial employees
● Cross-training - teaching employees how to
perform tasks traditionally performed by other
employees
c. Learning Through Apprentice Training
- Apprentice training - training program, usually
found in the craft and building trades, in which
employees combine formal coursework with
formal on-the-job training
- individual takes a minimum of 144 hours
of formal class work each year and works
with an expert for several (usually four)
years to learn a particular trade and
perhaps become eligible to join a trade
union
d. Learning Through Coaching and Mentoring
● Coaching - training new employees and typically
takes one of two forms: experienced employees
working with new employees and professional
coaches who work with all employees
- (1) Experienced employees as Coaches - new
employee is assigned to an experienced employee,
who is told to “show the kid the ropes”
- Problems:
- good workers are not necessarily good
trainers, and good trainers are not
necessarily good workers
- it diminishes the expert’s productivity
- Pass-through Programs - formal method of
coaching in which excellent employees spend a
period of time in the training department learning
training techniques and training employees
- experienced workers are temporarily
assigned to the training department
- (2) Professional Coaches (corporate coaches) -
similar to consultants, yet rather than working
with the organization as whole, they are hired to
coach a particular employee, usually a manager
- help employees identify strengths and
weaknesses, set goals, and solve problems
● Mentoring
- Mentor - experienced employee who advises and
looks out for a new employee
- a veteran in the organization who takes a
special interest in a new employee and
helps him not only to adjust to the job but
also to advance in the organization
- older and at least one level or position
above the employee being mentored
● Performance Appraisal - major use of employee
performance evaluation is training
● On-the-Job training method - have a supervisor
meet with an employee to discuss his strengths
and weaknesses on the job
[MOTIVATING EMPLOYEES TO LEARN DURING
TRAINING]
Providing Incentives for Learning
- types of incentives that can be used to motivate
learning include: money, self-improvement, job
security, advancement, fun, and opportunity to
enter a new career
- Skill-based pay - employee participates in a
training program that is designed to increase a
particular job-related skill an employee needs
either to be promoted or to receive a pay raise
- (FOUR common skill-based pay plans)
- (1) Vertical skill plans pay for skill in a
single job
- (2) Horizontal skill plans focus on skills
used across multiple jobs
- (3) Depth skill plans reward employees
for learning specialized skills
- (4) Basic skill plans focus on such basic
skills as math and English
Interest - Employees will be more motivated to learn when
the training program is interesting
Feedback - Providing employees with specific information
about how well they are performing a task or series of
tasks
- Negative Feedback - Telling employees what they
are doing incorrectly in order to improve their
performance of a task
[ENSURING TRANSFER OF TRAINING]
Transfer of training - extent to which behavior learned in
training will be performed on the job.
Use Realistic Training Programs
- the more similar the training situation is to the
actual job situation, the more effective training
will be
- important when a training program is being
chosen or designed
Have Opportunities to Practice Work-Related Behavior
During the Training
- important for tasks that will not be performed on a
daily basis after training has been completed
● Overlearning - practicing a task even after it has
been successfully learned
Provide Employees with the Opportunity to Apply Their
Training
- For information learned in training to transfer to
behavior on the job, employees must be given the
opportunity and encouraged to apply what they
have learned
- One other method for getting employees to apply
what they have learned in train-ing is to train all
the employees in a work area (team) at the same
time
Ensure Management Is Supportive of the Training
- employees are most likely to apply their new
knowledge and skills if supervisors encourage and
reward them to do so
Have Employees Set Goals
- The use of knowledge and skills learned in
training can also be encouraged by having
employees set goals
- Goal setting works best when goals are
individually set by each employee, are concrete
rather than vague, and are high enough to be
challenging but not so difficult as to be
impossible.
[EVALUATION OF TRAINING RESULTS]
Research Designs for Evaluation
- Pretest - measure of job performance or
knowledge taken before the implementation of a
training program
- Posttest - taken after the training program is
complete
A diagram of this simple pretest-posttest design is as
follows:
Experimental Group - Pretest —> Training —> Posttest
Control Group - Pretest —> Posttest
- Solomon four-groups design - extensive method
of evaluating the effectiveness of training with the
use of pretests, posttests, and control groups
Evaluation Criteria
- There are six levels at which training
effectiveness can be measured: content validity,
employee reactions, employee learning,
application of training, business impact, and
return on investment
● Content Validity - the only way that training can
be evaluated is by comparing training content
with the knowledge, skills, and abilities required
to perform a job
○ Can be examined
● Employee Reactions - method of evaluating
training in which employees are asked their
opinions of a training program
● Employee learning - evaluating the effectiveness
of a training program by measuring how much
employees learned from it
○ will be administered before training and
then again after the training has been
completed
● Application of Training - the effective-ness of
training by determining the extent to which
employees actually can use the learned material
● Business impact - evaluating the effectiveness of
training by determining whether the goals of the
training were met
● Return on investment (ROI) - amount of money
an organization makes after sub-tracting the cost
of training or other interventions