Training
and Development effects on ROI
Introduction
Training and development are identified as
one of the key factors in HR management with the rapidly changing competitive environment
(Snell, Bohlander and Vohra, 2010).
Organizations invest billions of dollars for training and development just to
keep their employees motivated and competent. Skillful employees won’t stay
competent as their skills become obsolete with the time (Qasim,2009).
The structural training and development in
any organization includes different methods catering to different job
categories. It’s a continuous updating of knowledge, skills and abilities of
employees to cope with new technologies, processes and systems. Training and
development adopted by any organization to maintain the productivity, employee
performance and to be competitive in the market (Armstrong, 2006).
This blog discusses
the objectives of T&D and the approaches both modern and old by way of
adapting different methods with a literature review.
Training
Training
can be defined as change in attitude, skills or knowledge of a person with a
resultant improvement in the behavior. A training need identified by a planned
activity conducted after a thorough need analysis and target at certain
competencies, most importantly, it is to be conducted in a learning atmosphere
(Rae, 1997).
Training
is a reflective activity that enables learners to utilize previous experience
to understand and evaluate the present, thus shaping future actions and
formulating new knowledge (Carnell, Eillen, et al. 2000)
Addition to that, Training refers to a
systematic setup where employees are instructed, and taught matters of
technical knowledge related to their jobs. It focuses on teaching employees how
to use particular machines or how to do specific tasks to increase efficiency
(TopPR, 2020).
While designing the training program it
has to be kept in mind that both the individual goals and organizational goals
are kept in mind. Although it may not be entirely possible to ensure a sync,
but competencies are chosen in a way that a win-win is created for the employee
and the organization (Rae, 1997).
Development
Employee
development is psychological oriented mainly provided for people who deals with
managerial tasks (Cole, 2004).
As compared to technical staff, managerial staff will be very low in number
because manager who is having more efficiency can manage more number of people
which is a real manager capability, but coming to technical jobs cannot be done
by one or with minimum available skilled labor if there is need for high or
large production (Snell, Bohlander and
Vohra, 2010). ultimately development of employees is by way of learning
by way of observations to develop knowledge. In fact, training is also provided
for management level personnel to understand technicalities involved and nature
of work done by the staff working under them, ultimately to manage them
(Coetzee, 2007)
For example, it is mandatory to attend
training modules on presentation skills for all the employees at GoodYear,
since the presentation skills help them on their performance (Management Study
Guide, 2020)
Approach
of Training and Development
The
approach for training and development is to find out the training needs of the
employees. The needs may differ from job categories and the layers of
designations in different companies. The training gaps could be identified
through a systematic approach evaluating the employee’s current
competencies (Armstrong, 2006). Training needs Analysis also helps
to identify the business objectives and employee percentage who need training
in order to gain the competencies. There are many ways to conduct the training
needs analysis and performance evaluation, interviews, customer feedbacks, tests,
observations and surveys are few methodologies (Armstrong, 2006).
Training
Process
When there is a gap between the current
performance and the expected level of performance, it could be lack of
training. The process of training can be described in ADDIE model which include
5 steps (Mahoney, 2018) and illustrated in figure 1.0.
Figure
1.0: ADDIE Model
(Source: Mahoney, 2018)
The practical applicability of this
process is explained below as per the author’s view;
Analyze
Obtain and review relevant resources by
analyzing the training need and gaps using the previous evaluation information
and identify which areas are lacking by which group of employees. At this stage
the findings may documented and reviewed.
Design
Plan and conduct group design meeting to
finalize the training programmes that would effectively conduct. The
implementation and evaluation plans also should be finalized at this stage.
Development
Using the draft materials and
applications, the most suitable training programme will be developed using the
best practice. The final deliverables should be approved by the top management.
Implementation
Implementation plan should be executed at
this stage and the organization should be prepared with the trainers to conduct
the programme and the printed materials or other relevant materials should be
kept ready. The training should be given to the selected set of employees.
Evaluation
At this stage the trainer, training
programme and its content should be evaluated by the participated employees to
get a feedback which could be used to analyze the next cycle.
1.0 Recommendations to align Training and
Development for a high ROI
As
every organization invest billions on training and development of the
employees, the return of investment is also important to analyze. According to
Steve Glaveski, $359 billion are spent globally on training. However, only 25%
of respondents to a McKinsey survey said their training programs measurably
improved business performance (Glaveski, 2019).
1. Align
with Strategy: Learning and development strategy always
should be aligned with the business strategy.
2. Set
Clear Objectives and Goals - Align the objectives and
goals of a specific training program with L&D priorities as well as the
needs of stakeholders.
3. Get
Cost/Benefit Calculations Right – Arranging workshops at a
one place with two or more group of employees with common training needs
4. Involve
the Leaders- It is important to get the support of the leadership
to continue training programs as employees may see the leaders as role models.
5. Customize
for Effectiveness – Training programmes should be cater to the
requirement and training needs to create effectiveness. Customization of the
programme may be done by modifying, adding/ removing content as suitable (Rorso,
2020).
Reference
Anon.,
2020, Management Study Guide, Training and Development - A Key HR Function
(2020).
<https://www.managementstudyguide.com/training-development-hr-function.html>
, viewed on 28th May 2020.
Armstrong,
M., 2006. A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. illustrated ed.
s.l.:Kogan Page Publishers.
Coetzee,
M., 2007. Practising Education, Training and Development in South African
Organisations. illustrated ed. s.l.:Juta and company Ltd.
Cole, G. A., 2004. Management Theory and Practice.
illustrated ed., Cengage Learning EMEA.Glaveski, S., 2019. ‘Where Companies Go Wrong
with Learning and Development’. Harvard Business Review-October 2019, Issue
Harvard Business Publishing.
Mahoney,
D., 2018. Lean Learning Using the ADDIE Model. s.l.:American Society for
Training and Development.
Qasim,
J., 2009. Training and Development-Effectiveness of Training and Development in
Private organization. www.Academia.edu, p. 84.
Rae, L.,
1997. Planning and Designing Training Programmes. illustrated ed. s.l.:Gower
publishing Ltd.
Snell, S., Bohlander, G.,
Vohra, V., 2010. Human Resources Management, A South Asian Perspective. 1 ed.
India: Cengage Learning.
