BUCHAREST UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMIC STUDIES

Faculty of Business Administration

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

01.11.01 – 07.11.01
Providing training

Associate Professor, PhD., Valentina Mihaela Ghinea

 - Providing training -

Most of us have, at some time, been a “trainer”.

People, animals, even plants, can be brought to a desired
condition, behavior or standard of efficiency
by instruction and practice.
Training = methods used to give new or present employees the

knowledge and skills they need to perform their jobs.

Training = the formal, ongoing efforts of organizations to improve the

performance and self-fulfillment of their employees

through a variety of methods and programs

INSTRUCTION in highly specific job skills

LONG-TERM professional development

- the complexity of the work environment
- the very fast organizational and technological change
- the nature of the work
(growing number of jobs in fields that constantly generate new knowledge and skills)
- advances in learning theory have provided insights into how adults learn

Training offers:
- a way of developing skills,
- increasing individual and organizational performance to achieve business results
- a method of improving employee morale
- building worker loyalty to the firm

Training is widely accepted as:

- an employee benefit
- method of enhancing productivity and quality of work
 Hard skills vs. Soft skills

- reading a balance sheet

- training on fundamental - operating some text processing systems
skills  hard skills - using some (complex) production equipment/processes
! it can be very efficient

- more general training  – improve interpersonal, management skills

-presentation skills
on soft skills -time management
-coping with stress
! is much more problematic

when a general behavior change is imposed

 training may prove itself as being too costly

 THEREFORE:
“Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of:

high intention

sincere effort

skillful execution
intelligent direction

10,000 hours of practice to become an

expert or master performer

it represents the wise choice of many alternatives”

William A Foster
 high INTENTION

All training programs are completely inefficient

if the individual (sent to) attend them
does not really want to get involved
 Sincere EFFORT &
intelligent DIRECTION

Training = the actual acquisition of some specific skills and/or knowledge

“ Repetitio mater studiorum est”

Practice = method of learning and acquiring rehearsed experience

the act of rehearsing a behavior / skills / ability over and over
Or
repeatedly engaging in an activity for the main purpose of improving at that activity

hence the phrase “practice makes perfect”

perfect
 The TRAINING itself

- missing business objectives

- the developed skills are not relevant

- Location matters - as it either facilitates delivery or hinders it:

- enough space  for seating and physical activities (if the case)
- clean place with good lighting, ventilation, no noise, but relevant privacy
- clear view field  to see the trainer and display screen
- close to the workplace  to reduce the burden of transportation

- training that is not immediately applicable to the job

 The TRAINER himself

- the chosen method of training:

training
- The teaching model
- Too much or too less information
- (Not) focusing on details
- The pace of explanation / presentation

- the trainer’s skills & appearance:

- (Lack of) interest
- (Wrong) expectations (Pygmalion vs. Golem)
- Listening skills (active and patient)
- Encouraging (to ask questions & get involved in activities)
- Structured & coherent (focused on the topic at hand)
- Communication skills (verbal/nonverbal/paraverbal)
- Passionate
 Trainer’s expectations

SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY

Golem effect = occurrence of poor trainee performance / results caused by

negative / low expectations for success of the trainer

Vs.

(Babad et al, 1991), (Oz and Eden, 1994) Rosenthal and Babad, 1985
(McNatt and Judge, 2004), (Judice and Neuberg, 1998)

Pygmalion effect = occurrence of high trainee performance / results triggered

by positive /high expectations for success of the trainer
“When we expect certain behaviour of others, we are likely to act in
ways that make the expected behaviour more likely to occur.“
(Rosenthal and Babad, 1985)
  skills that need to be developed are correctly identified
 training is well planned and implemented
 employees are motivated, involved and learning a lot

Still
SOMETIMES, employees cannot succeed to transfer at the workplace what they have
just learned

 people act in the way that brings them most satisfactions  efficient for them in the
workplace context

 this context probably didn’t change while they were attending the training
program and, despite of the good intentions, they will rapidly return to the old
behavior
Source: https://www.xperientialfactor.com/tag/reasons-training-fails/
 On-the-Job Training

= a person learning a job by actually doing it

- delivered to employees while they perform their regular jobs

- Orientations (induction programs)

- - the organization’s vision, mission, values and objectives,
- - the company hierarchical structure,
- - who’s who in the organization / department,
- - organizational rules of conduct or standard procedures
- - what to do in the event of fire or an accident, fire exits, the names of first aiders,
- - holiday and sickness arrangements,
- - specific working hours, meal breaks etc

- Self-instruction = assuming primary responsibility for their own learning

- Apprenticeships = trainee works with a more experienced employee for a period of time,
learning a group of related skills that will eventually qualify him to perform a new job or
positions  Job Shadowing
function (production-oriented positions)
- Internships = form of apprenticeship which combines on-the-job training under a
more experienced employee with classroom learning

- Job Rotation = switching jobs to gain a broad understanding of the requirements of each
- (generally applicable in large organizations  for managerial staff)
 On-the-Job Training

Coaching – focus on the individual needs

- more practical knowledge
- instructions
- On the point
- time span length = shorter

Mentoring – focus more on soft skills

Professional and
personal life
Philosophy of life
Advice
The mentee looks up to the mentor
time span length = longer (even a life-time)
 Off-the-Job Training

= outside the working place

- training agency or local college, or own training centers

- even during a teambuilding

- Lectures = verbal method of presenting information

- the same information to a large number of people at one time
- among the most cost-effective training methods

- Drawbacks = one-way communication

- they may not provide the most interesting or effective training
- difficult for the trainer to gauge the level of understanding of the
material within a large group
 Off-the-Job Training

Case study = students are provided with practical case reports to

analyze (a description of a simulated or real-life situation)
 Off-the-Job Training

 Role playing = trainees will assume a role and play it out within a group

 Advantage = immediate feedback

- better understanding of their own behavior
-cost effective (marketing and management training)
 Off-the-Job Training

 Simulations = structured competitions and operational models

that emulate real-life scenarios

 Advantages = improve problem-solving and decision-making skills

- the ability to study actual problems
- power to capture the trainee’s attention
 Off-the-Job Training

 Computer-Based Training (CBT) = use of computers and

computer-based instructional materials as the
primary medium of instruction
 - tele - training
 - videoconferencing
 - online training

 Advantage = allows employees to learn at their own pace, during convenient

time
- cost effective
 Off-the-Job Training

Audiovisual training = television, films, and videotapes

(like case studies, role playing, and simulations)
advantage = exposes employees to "real world" situations in a time- and cost-effective
manner
drawback = cannot be customized for a particular audience + do not allow participants to
ask questions or interact during the presentation of material
 Off-the-Job Training

!!! Team-building =
active creation and maintenance of effective work (groups with similar goals and
objectives)

Outdoor activities Indoor activities

 "Employees today must have access to continual training of all types just to keep up….
If you don't actively strive against the momentum of skills deficiency, you lose ground. If
your workers stand still, your firm will lose the competency race."
Source: (Schell & Solomon, 1997)

- Continuous learning

Multi-tasking approach Routines

High level of stress Work efficiency / productivity

“If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you
there"

"Within an organization, if you don't know where you are going, any road will take
you to disaster.”
Eastmond, N., Jr. (1992)
1. ASSESSMENT of current situation → need of training:
- skills & knowledge
- performance
- morale
- loyalty
2. Setting OBJECTIVES → SMART: S- specific
M – measurable
A – achievable
R – realistic
T – time bound
3. WHAT kind of training
4. WHO will organize it
5. WHEN
6. WHERE
7. WHO will deliver it
8. FEEDBACK