INTRODUCTION

Every organization needs to have well trained and experienced people to perform the
activities that have to be done. It is necessary to raise the skill levels and increase the
versatility and adoptability of employees. Inadequate job performance or decline in
productivity or changes resulting out of job redesigning or a technological breakthrough
requires some type of training and development efforts. As the job become more complex,
the importance of employee development also increases. In a rapidly changing society,
employee training and development are not only an activity that is desirable but also an
activity that an organization must commit resources to if it is to maintain a viable and
knowledgeable work force.

Importance of training & development can well be highlighted from the Chinese saying: “If
you wish to plan for a year sow seeds, if you wish to plan for ten years plant trees, if you
wish to plan for a life-time develop men.” As such no organization can ignore the learning
and development needs of its employees without seriously affecting their performance in a
rapidly changing society. If organization wishes to maintain a viable and knowledgeable
work force then it must commit resources to it.

Training is a process of learning a sequence of programmed behavior. In all training there is

some education and in all education there is some training. And the training and education
cannot be separated from development. Training is application of knowledge. It attempt to
improve employee’s performance on the current job or prepare them for an intended job.
Training is the corner stone of sound management, for it makes employees more effective
and productive. It is an integral part of the whole management programmed. Development is
a related process. It covers not only those activities which improve job performance but also
those which bring about growth of the personality, help individuals in the progress towards
maturity and actualization of their potential capacities so that they become not only good
employees but better men and hold greater responsibility. Training a person for a bigger and
higher job is development.

Training is a short term process utilizing a systematic and organized procedure by

which non-managerial personnel learn technical knowledge and skills for a definite purpose.
Development is a long term educational process utilizing a systematic and organized
procedure by which managerial personnel learn conceptual and theoretical knowledge for
general purpose. Training refers only to instruction in technical and mechanical operations,
while development refers to philosophical and theoretical educational concepts. Training is
designed for non-managers, while development involves managerial personnel.

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STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Management development is aimed at preparing employees for future jobs with the
organization. Acquiring skills and knowledge required performing various task and functions
associated with their future roles. The main aim behind this study is to understand and learn
the impact of training and development programme on the employees of Kotak securities
Pvt.Ltd. Hence the study is undertaken to measure the effectiveness of training and
development at executive and non-executive level of employees at Kotak securities Pvt. Ltd.

Hence the statement of problem is

A research on effectiveness of training and development Programme with special

reference to Kotak Securities Pvt.Ltd.

Objective of the study

 To know and evaluate the skills of the employees require to perform their jobs
 To study the various training programmed organized by the organization.
 To understand the impact of training programme on the employees of Kotak
Securities Pvt.Ltd.
 To find out opinion and satisfaction level of the employees regarding the training
programme at Kotak Securities Pvt.Ltd.

Scope of the study

The study will help to understand

 The present condition of training and development at Kotak Securities Pvt.Ltd.

 The expectation of employees towards training and development programmes
 To know the willingness of employees towards the training and development
programmes

Design of the study

The design of the study is conceptual within which the study is conducted

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Research Design

Research design has characteristics, problem definition, specific methods of data collection
and analysis.

Research methodology

 Descriptive
 Experimental
 Explorative

Data sources

 Primary data
 Secondary data

Chapter one

Training is one of the most significant constituents of Human Resource; employees at all
levels need to be developed to perform their duties effectively and also to grow in action.

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Training & development is an ongoing process in any organization. The need for training and
development is determined by employee’s deficiency as under

Training and development is vital part of the human resource development. It is assuming
ever important role in wake of the advancement of technology which has resulted in ever
increasing competition, rise in customer’s expectation of quality and service and a subsequent
need to lower costs. It is also become more important globally in order to prepare workers for
new jobs. In the current write up, we will focus more on the emerging need of training and
development, its implications upon individuals and the employers. Noted management author
Peter Drucker said that the fastest growing industry would be training and development as a
result of replacement of industrial workers with knowledge workers.

Training and development is one of the key HR functions. Most organisations look at training
and development as an integral part of the human resource development activity. The turn of
the century has seen increased focus on the same in organisations globally. Many
organisations have mandated training hours per year for employees keeping in consideration
the fact that technology is deskilling the employees at a very fast rate. Technically training
involves change in attitude, skills or knowledge of a person with the resultant improvement in
the behaviour. For training to be effective it has to be a planned activity conducted after a
thorough need analysis and target at certain competencies, most important it is to be
conducted in a learning atmosphere.

Lots of time training is confused with development, both are different in certain respects yet
components of the same system. Development implies opportunities created to help
employees grow. It is more of long term or futuristic in nature as opposed to training, which
focus on the current job. It also is not limited to the job avenues in the current organisation
but may focus on other development aspects also.

At various organizations, employees are expected to mandatorily attend training program on

presentation skills however they are also free to choose a course on ‘perspectives in
leadership through literature’. Whereas the presentation skills program helps them on job, the
literature based program may or may not help them directly.

Similarly many organisations choose certain employees preferentially for programs to

develop them for future positions. This is done on the basis of existing attitude, skills and
abilities, knowledge and performance of the employee. Most of the leadership programs tend
to be of this nature with a vision of creating and nurturing leaders for tomorrow.

The major difference between training and development therefore is that while training
focuses often on the current employee needs or competency gaps, development concerns
itself with preparing people for future assignments and responsibilities.

Training & development need = Standard Performance (expected) – Actual

Performance

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Characteristics of an effective training system

1. It is a systematic process of changing knowledge, skill, behavior and or motivation of

employees to improve their performance on the job as per the aims and objectives of
the organization.
2. It should facilitate introduction of newer technology, new work methods, innovations
and all round enhancements of productivity and quality of products and services.
3. Transfer of new knowledge and skills depends on how the training is designed,
delivered and, moreover, how the manager measures its effectiveness.

However, not all training is created equal.  The extent to which training can influence
learning, behavior change, performance, and profitability depends largely on how it has been
designed and delivered.  The following features have been directly associated with improved
employee and organizational outcomes:

 Start with training needs assessment:  This is a systematic process to determine

who needs to be trained (i.e., who needs improved KSAs), what they need training on
(i.e., what tasks need to be improved), and how the training process will be supported
and aligned with strategic objectives.
 Identify and communicate purpose, objectives, and outcome:  These are identified
based on the results of the training needs assessment and must be communicated to
trainees in a clear and easy-to-understand way.  When communication includes a
message on how the training will be applied and what the expected outcomes are,
motivation to learn increases.
 Relevant content:  To be effective, training must include content that is directly
linked to trainee job experiences.  This makes intuitive sense, but when ignored it can
reduce the impact of training on performance to zero.  Just think about the training
sessions you’ve attended that have been unrelated to your daily work-life.
 Active demonstration:  Trainers need to actively demonstrate the specific skills and
processes included in the training.  Conducting these live demonstrations provides
trainees with a model of desired behavior and results in greater learning and transfer
of training, regardless of the topic.  For example, if the training is on interpersonal
communications the trainer might demonstrate active listening skills through a role-
play with a willing participant.  For an engine-repair class, the trainer might bring an
engine and demonstrate how to bore out the cylinders.
 Opportunities for practice:  Effective training programs include multiple
opportunities for trainees to practice the skills they’ve learned during class-time.  By
building application exercises into the training workshops themselves, you provide
trainees with a safe place to try new skills, where they can make mistakes and not
worry about consequences.
 Regular feedback during training:  Trainers also need to give feedback to
employees while they are practicing their new skills.  Feedback should be given both
during practice and after exercises have been completed).  It should also be directly
related to how the trainee performed the task and never be focused on personal
characteristics.  For example, bad feedback might be “You are being such a clutz,”
whereas better feedback would be “I noticed you dropped the lever a few times
because you’re grip is incorrect.  Let me show you

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  Post-training environment:  After training it is important that employees are given
opportunities to perform the skills they’ve learned.  If the post-training environment
does not support this, research has shown that training will have little to no impact on
trainee performance and organizational utility; that is, little or no ROI

Training programs that include these characteristics will consistently result in better
employee outcomes (learning, behavior change, job performance) and organizational impact
(utility, performance, turnover).  And of course designing a training program is much more
complicated than just following the rules above (e.g., you have to determine the method of
training deliver, training materials, etc.). 

Nature of training and development

1. Training is an act of increasing knowledge, skill and attitude of an employee for

improving his/her performance on the job. It is concerned with imparting specific
skill for doing particular job.
2. Training includes education which is concerned with increasing general
knowledge and understanding of an employee’s total environment.
3. Training means learning which helps in modification of behavior as a result of
some experience.
4. Development has a broader meaning. Its aim is to grow or improve the overall
personality of an individual.
5. It is a continuous process and is on the initiative from individual to meet their
future needs.
6. It enables the participants to gain skills, learn theoretical concepts and help
acquire vision to look into the distant future.

Objectives/Purpose/Goals of Training and Development

The purpose of training and development can be explained as follows:

1. Improving quality of workforce

2. Training and development programs can help in improving the quality of work
produced by the workforce of organization. Mostly, training is given in a specific
area like finance, marketing or HR, which helps in improving the quality of work
in that particular area.
3. Enhance employee growth
4. By attending these training and development programs, employees are able master
the work of their jobs and that's how they develop and grow themselves in a
professional way.
5. 3. Prevents obsolescence
6. These programs help employees to keep themselves up to date with the new trends
in latest technology, which reduces the chances of termination of the job.
7. 4. Assisting new comer

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 8. These programs help new employees to adjust themselves in a new working
environment, culture and technology. They feel themselves as regular employees
of that organization.
9. 5. Bridging the gap between planning and implementation
10. It helps organizations to easily achieve their targets and goals what they actually
planned for. Employees know their job better and they deliver the quality
performance according to needs of top management. That's why organizations can
easily implement their plans.
11. 6. Health and safety measures
12. Training and development program clearly identifies and teaches employees about
the different risk involved in their job, the different problems that can arise and
how to prevent such problems. This helps to improve the health and safety
measures in the company.

Importance of training and development

With technology creating more deskilled workers and with industrial workers being replaced
by knowledge workers, training and development is at the forefront of HRD. The onus is now
on the human development department to take a proactive leadership role in responding to
training and business needs. Training is an expensive process not only in terms of the money
spent on it but also the time and the other resources spent on the same. The most important
question therefore is determining whether or not a need for training actually exists and
whether the intervention will contribute to the achievement of organisational goal directly or
indirectly? The answer to the above mentioned question lies in ‘training needs analysis’
which is the first step in the entire process of training and development. Another view of the
training need is that, it is the discrepancy between ‘what is’ and ‘what should be’. Taking
cues from this the world bank conducted a needs analysis and arrived upon the conclusion
that many of its units in eastern regions of Europe required transformation from state owned
business to self-sustaining organisations. A number of universities were then contacted to
develop the necessary modules and conduct the training upon the same. Training needs
analysis is a systematic process of understanding training requirements. It is conducted at
three stages - at the level of organisation, individual and the job, each of which is called as
the organisational, individual and job analysis. Once these analyses are over, the results are
collated to arrive upon the objectives of the training program. Although each step in the entire
training process is unique in its own, needs analysis is special in that it lays the foundation for
the kind of training required. The assessment gives insight into what kind of intervention is
required, knowledge or skill or both. In certain cases where both of these are present and the
performance is still missing then the problem may be motivational in nature. It thus
highlights the need and the appropriate intervention which is essential to make the training
effective.

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Organisational Analysis

The organisational analysis is aimed at short listing the focus areas for training within the
organisation and the factors that may affect the same. Organisational mission, vision, goals,
people inventories, processes, performance data are all studied. The study gives cues about
the kind of learning environment required for the training. Motorola and IBM for example,
conduct surveys every year keeping in view the short term and long term goals of the
organisation.

Job Analysis

The job analysis of the needs assessment survey aims at understanding the ‘what’ of the
training development stage. The kind of intervention needed is what is decided upon in the
job analysis. It is an objective assessment of the job wherein both the worker oriented -
approach as well as the task - oriented approach is taken into consideration. The worker
approach identifies key behaviours and ASK for a certain job and the task - oriented approach
identifies the activities to be performed in a certain job. The former is useful in deciding the
intervention and the latter in content development and program evaluation.

Individual Analysis

As evident from the name itself, the individual analysis is concerned with who in the
organisation needs the training and in which particular area. Here performance is taken out
from the performance appraisal data and the same is compared with the expected level or
standard of performance. The individual analysis is also conducted through questionnaires,
360 feedback, personal interviews etc. Likewise, many organisation use competency ratings
to rate their managers; these ratings may come from their subordinates, customers, peers,
bosses etc. Apart from the above mentioned organisations also make use of attitude surveys,
critical Incidents and Assessment surveys to understand training needs which will be
discussed in detail in other articles.

Employees need to be trained on a regular basis to acquaint them with the latest
developments, technologies, softwares and make them ready for unforeseen circumstances.

Employee training manuals are small handbooks which are given to employees by training
managers for their future reference. Employee training manual should include relevant
information which would help employees enhance their capabilities, eventually increasing
their productivity and benefitting the organization. Individuals have a tendency to forget
things after a certain period of time. Employee training handbooks help them recollect
whatever has been taught to them in various training sessions. You can also give a nice name
to your training manual as well.

Employee training manual is a collaborative effort of all trainers who put together
information, latest happenings in respective domains, new updates for employees to help
them acquire new skills and learnings.The ultimate goal of training manual is to help
employees in their current responsibilities as well as future assignments.

There can be two formats for training manuals. One which would give general information
about company’s policies and rules and regulations which every employee irrespective of

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his/her designation needs to follow. Such training manuals ought to be handed over to the
employee the day he steps into the organization. It helps the new candidate to understand
company’s internal systems and procedures. Such employee training manuals give a detailed
insight into company’s timings, dress code, labour laws, safety techniques, lunch timings,
leave policy, hierarchy, reporting system, grading system and so on. They contain only
general information that is applicable to all individuals who are directly associated with the
organization. Trust me; no one remembers what he/she was told on the first day of joining.
Let everything be in writing for employees to refer to in case of confusions and
misunderstandings. Employees can also refer to their employee manuals without bothering
their superiors and fellow workers. Employee training manuals also ensure transparency at all
levels. Rules are same for everyone whether he/she is a sales professional, admin executive or
a Vice President.

The other types of employee training manuals are those which give specific project related,
position related, task related information. Such training manuals are designed in line with
employee’s key responsibility areas and specialization. These manuals give specific
information as to how a particular task should be performed. Position specific training
manuals help employees acquire additional set of skills which would help them outshine their
fellow workers and make a mark of their own. Such training manuals can also focus on
specific tasks and roles. Such manuals guide employees to perform their tasks with perfection
and help them if they are stuck somewhere. Employee training manual of a marketing
professional would be different from that of a MIS executive. Marketing professional needs
training on brand positioning, soft skills, time management, presentation skills, effective
listening skills and so on. Employee training manual of a MIS executive ought to throw light
on reporting formats, excel etc.

Employee training manuals should have correct and relevant information. Make sure they do
not have grammatical and spelling errors. Do not use complicated jargons as people might
find it difficult to understand. Employee training formats should be in an “easy to follow”
format.

In nutshell training is needed for:-

 Training is required for improving performance on the job.

 Training is essential to keep pace with technological advances and avoid obsolesce.
 To cope with changing environment such as competition.
 Training is needed for promotion to higher jobs
 Training is needed for dealing complexity of organization problems.
 Training help to harness human potential
 Training of employees is required for achieving organization’s efficiency, growth and
to reduce costs.
 No organization can ignore the training needs of its employees.

The need for Training and Development

Before we say that technology is responsible for increased need of training inputs to
employees, it is important to understand that there are other factors too that contribute to the
latter. Training is also necessary for the individual development and progress of the

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employee, which motivates him to work for a certain organisation apart from just money. We
also require training update employees of the market trends, the change in the employment
policies and other things.

The following are the two biggest factors that contribute to the increased need to training and
development in organisations:

1. Change: The word change encapsulates almost everything. It is one of the biggest
factors that contribute to the need of training and development. There is in fact a
direct relationship between the two. Change leads to the need for training and
development and training and development leads to individual and organisational
change, and the cycle goes on and on. More specifically it is the technology that is
driving the need; changing the way how businesses function, compete and deliver.
2. Development: It is again one the strong reasons for training and development
becoming all the more important. Money is not the sole motivator at work and this is
especially very true for the 21st century. People who work with organisations seek
more than just employment out of their work; they look at holistic development of
self. Spirituality and self-awareness for example are gaining momentum world over.
People seek happiness at jobs which may not be possible unless an individual is aware
of the self. At ford, for example, an individual can enroll himself / herself in a course
on ‘self-awareness’, which apparently seems inconsequential to ones performance at
work but contributes to the spiritual well-being of an individual which is all the more
important.

Development of a training program is the next step after the training need analysis has been
conducted and there is a clear consensus on the need of training within the organisation. The
next vital question to answer is whether the training should be conducted by an in house expert or
from a consultant outside.

Many of the fortune 500 organisations around the world have their in house learning centers and
many have even gone ahead to have their own training universities where they train people
onboard and those who aspire to join in the future. Companies like Xerox, Good Year Tyres,
Kodak, Mahindra and Mahindra, Birla etc have such setups for generating prospective employees
with the requisite skills and also for training the existing employees. There are other organisations
too that have tie ups with the best academic institutions for employee exchange programmes.

Nevertheless the prerequisites for development of a training program remain the same. We start
with the development of a conducive learning environment, followed by a choice of the training
methods and techniques.

Designing the Environment - every individual is unique. One style of learning may not be
applicable to each of the participants in a training program. Therefore ‘how do various
individuals learn’ is what should be kept in mind while designing the training program. There
are certain who learn the experiential way by doing and yet there are many who like the
lecture based learning method. There are however pros and cons of both and the appropriate
learning style is generally the discretion of the trainer / facilitator.

Establishing the Variables - trainability is one factor that must be taken into consideration
before developing any training program. It is the duty of the trainer to ensure that the

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employees are actually willing to sit and learn something in the training program. This is
especially very true of sensitivity training that is not viewed positively by many. Trainabality
also implies that the employee is sufficiently motivated to learn apart from just the ability to
do so. Before any training program sets off, it is the responsibility of the trainer to build hype
about the event and such that it attracts all types of employees from target audience within the
organisation.

There are both formal and informal ways of doing the same. Formal ways would be by
sending mails to the employees who are supposed to attend the program. Informal ways
would be just creating conditions for discussion in the cafeteria or the lounge where
employees sit together, discuss and hear things on the grapevine.

Finally, once the training program has been delivered the evaluation of the same provides
inputs for improving the process of training. These are called as the ‘post learning inputs’.
This evaluation which is conducted at various levels may be utilised accordingly. Most of the
organisations evaluate training on the basis of Kirk Patrick Model. The feedback at each level
- learning, reaction, behaviour and results can be used for effective design of training in
future.

Training programs play a crucial role in enhancing employee’s capabilities, upgrading his
existing knowledge and help him acquire new skills and learnings. Effective training
programs help employees to cope up with changes, think out of the box, survive the cut throat
competition with a smile and contribute effectively to the success of organization.

Training programs need to be designed, keeping in mind the needs and requirements of
employees. Training modules ought to be precise, crisp and informative. Training programs
should not be designed just for the sake of it. Find out whether your employees really need
any kind of training or it is being conducted just as a mere formality?

Designing and Developing Effective Training Modules

Know Your Employees: Know your employees well before you begin designing training
programs for them. Sit with them and try to find out where all they need assistance. Let them
come up with their problems and what all additional skills would help them perform better. It
is essential for managers to know the strengths and weaknesses of all his team members.
Design your training program accordingly. Knowing employees well will help you figure out
the skills you need to teach them. Training programs need to be specific if you expect your
employees to benefit from the same.

Dividing Employees into Groups: One cannot design similar training programs for each and
every employee. Divide employees into groups where employees who need to learn the same
set of skills can be put into one group. You can also group employees as per their age, work
experience, departments, and functional areas and so on.

Preparing the Information: The next step is to prepare the content of the training program.
The content needs to be informative but interesting. Include diagrams, graphs, flow charts,
pictures to make your training program interesting so that individuals do not lose interest in
the middle of the session. The information needs to be relevant and authentic. Teach them
what all is necessary and would help them in their current as well as future assignments.
Prepare your training program keeping your audience in mind.

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Presenting the Information: You need to design your presentation well. Decide how would
you like to present your information? PowerPoint or word helps you design your training
program. It is absolutely up to the trainer to decide the software which he/she would like to
use. Make sure there are no spelling errors. Read your presentation twice or thrice and find
out whether it has covered entire information you wish to convey or not? Highlight important
information. Make your presentation in bullets.

Delivering Training Programs: Select your trainers carefully. Remember, the right trainer
makes all the difference. Training programs should not be a mere one way communication.
As a trainer, you need to understand that you are speaking not only for the individuals sitting
in the front row but also for employees sitting at the back. Be loud and clear. Do not speak
too fast. The trainer needs to involve his/her audience and encourage employees to come up
with questions and doubts. Employees should not attend training programs to mark their
attendance. Try to gain as much as you can. Do not sit with a closed mind.

Needless to say, training in an organization is aimed at evolving existing ways and patterns of
work. It is aimed at individual development, which cannot happen until there is a transfer of
learning from the trainer to the trainee and the same is reflected in their work finally. But
how can this learning are maximized considering time, motivation and learning ability
constraints?

There are certain practices that have been designed for both the training session and the
workplace. An implementation of these will ensure an efficient transfer of the learning’s and
subsequent reinforcement. Some of these steps / practices are mentioned below:

1. Training should match the Workplace: Most of the training programs tend to be
idealist in nature. The trainees leave with a good positive impact but they find a huge
disconnect when they try to implement the same at their workplace. For good learning
the context of training and the context of job should be the same. For example, at GE
training involves action learning tools where real life problems are discussed.

2. Labeling: one good way to reinforce the learning or the important aspects of the
training program is to name them appropriately such that they have a good recall rate
after the training is over.
3. Create a Supportive Environment at Work: Managers or senior management
people should try and create an environment that reinforces the learning and allows
the trainees to apply new skills at their workplace. This may involve giving the
employees freedom to be more entrepreneurial, innovative and risk taking.
4. Continued Learning: It is the jurisdiction of the management to ensure that learning
be taken as a continual process rather than a onetime process. This means that there
should be continuous follow-ups after training either by external consulting agencies
or through an in house expert. Sometimes retraining may be required for continual
skill up gradation and development.
5. Practice: Employees should be compelled to practice new skills. One of the better
ways is to remove the existing obsolete tools of work, so that people become out of
practice of using those.
6. Opportunity: In many organizations it was found out that it was the management and
the work procedures that acted as a hindrance in implementation of new concepts. For

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 example, in a certain study involving air force pilots it was found out that the trainees
were given the opportunity of practicing only 50% of the tasks they learnt in the
training! This is also true to midsized corporations that have a centralized functioning
requiring approval for even minor changes.
7. Train - Practice - Train: This involves supporting the employees to learn new skills,
practice them in between various training sessions. University of Michigan’s centre
for Learning and Development offers a management development program where
employees attend training for one week and practice them for the next three weeks
before coming back for the next intervention. These trainees spend the three weeks
working on organizational analytics, development and organizational system projects
etc.

If the above mentioned steps are implemented both within organizations and inside the
training rooms, organizations stand a very good chance of making the training effective by
ensuring a rich transfer of learning.

1. Organizational vision and perspective plans

2. Assessment of training needs
3. Setting training objectives and developing training policy and plan
4. Designing training programmes.
5. Implementation of training programmes
6. Evaluation of results and feedback for action

a)      Organizational Objectives and Strategies:

The first step in the training process is an organization in the assessment of its objectives and
strategies. What business are we in? At what level of quality do we wish to provide this
product or service? Where do we what to be in the future? Its only after answering these and
other related questions that the organization must assess the strength and weakness of its
human resources. It is the initial steps in the training process i.e. linking it to the
organization’s vision, mission, strategies and objectives. Training activities have to contribute
to the objectives and goals of the organization. Training should be based on long-term plan
and to preparing employees for new challenges in future.

b)      Needs Assessment:

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A training need is a gap between the knowledge, skills and attitudes desired and already
possessed by the employees. An individual need training when his performance falls short of
standards due to absence of skill or knowledge or attitude and it can be remedied by training.
There are three needs assessment diagnoses present problems and future challenge to be met
through training and development. Needs assessment occurs at two levels i.e. group level and
individual level, an individual obviously needs training when his or her performance falls
short or standards that is when there is performance deficiency. Inadequate in performance
may be due to lack of skills or knowledge or any other problem

c)      Training and Development Objectives:

Once training needs are assessed, training and development goals must be established.
Without clearly-set goals, it is not possible to design a training and development programme
and after it has been implemented, there will be no way of measuring its effectiveness. Goals
must be tangible, verifying and measurable. This is easy where skilled training is involved.

d)      Conducting Training Activities:

Where is the training going to be conducted and how?

      At the job itself.

      On site but not the job for example in a training room in the company.
      Off site such as a university, college classroom hotel, etc.

e)      Designing training and development program:

Who are the trainees? Who are the trainers? What methods and techniques? What is the level
of training? What are the principles of learning?  Where to conduct the program?

f)       Implementation of the training programme :

Program implementation involves actions on the following lines:

      Deciding the location and organizing training and other facilities.
      Scheduling the training programme.
      Conducting the programme.
      Monitoring the progress of the trainees.

g)      Evaluation of the Results:

The last stage in the training and development process is the evaluation of the results. Since
huge sums of money are spent on training and development, how far the programme has been
useful must be judge/determined. Evaluation helps determine the results of the training and
development programme. In the practice, however organizations either overlook or lack
facilities for evaluation.

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(A) On the job training methods
On the job training methods are by far the most commonly used in training for all levels
of personnel. The object of on the job training is to bring the employees to at least a
minimum acceptable standard of performance in the shortest possible lime. The worker by
these methods learns to master the operations involved on the actual job situation under
the supervision of his immediate loss that has to carry the primary burden of conducting
this training.

Following are various methods of the on the job training

(1) On specific Job
The most common or formal on the job training programme is training for specific
job. Current practice in job training has been strongly influenced by the war time
training within industry which was first designed to improve the job performance
through job instruction training. There are following methods of training:

(A) Experience
This is the oldest method of on-the- job training. But as a sole approach, it is wasteful,
time consuming and inefficient. It has been observed that it should be followed by
other training methods to make it more effective. In a survey, it was found that they
kept up to date through a variety of activities which were largely unrelated to formal
continuing education courses. On the job, problem-solving and colleague interactions
were prompted as being most important for professional growth by 62 per cent
respondents.

(B) Coaching On-the-job

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Coaching by a superior is an important and potentially effective approach if superior
is properly trained and oriented. The technique involves direct personnel instruction
and guidance, usually, with extensive demonstration and continuous critical
evaluation and correction. The advantage is increased motivation for the trainee and
the minimisation of the problem of learning transfer from theory to practice. The
danger in this method lies in the possible neglect of coaching by superior.

© Understudy
The understudy method is considered a somewhat different approach from those
described above, that a certain person is specifically designated as the heir-apparent.
The understudy method makes the trainee an assistant to the current job holder. The
trainee learns by experience, observation and imitation. If decisions are discussed with
the under study, he can become informed the policies and theories involved. The
advantage of this method is that training is conducted in a practical and realistic
situation. However disadvantages are many. The method tends to perpetuate mistakes
and deficiencies of existing managereial practices. Morever, the understudies are
frequently neglected by those they assist.

(2) Position Rotation

The major objective of job rotation training is the broadening of the background of
trainee in the organisation. If trainee is rotated periodically from one job to another
job, he acquires a general background. The main advantages are: it provides a general
background to the trainee, training takes place in actual situation, competition can be
stimulated among the rotating trainees, and it stimulates a more co-operative attitude
by exposing a man to other fellow's problems and viewpoints. There are certain
disadvantages of this method. The productive work can suffer because of the obvious
disruption caused by such changes. Rotations become less useful as specialisation
proceeds, for few people have the breadth of technical knowledge and skills to move
from one functional area to another.

(3) Special Projects

This is a very flexible training device. Such special project assignments grow
ordinarily out of an individual analysis of weaknesses. The trainee may be asked to
perform special assignment; thereby he learns the work procedure. Sometime a task
force is created consisting of a number of trainees representing different functions in
the organisation. Trainees not only acquire knowledge about the assigned activities,
but also learn how to work with others.

(4) Selective Reading

Individuals in the organisation can gather and advance their knowledge and
background through selective reading. The reading may include professional journals
and books. Various business organisations maintain libraries for their own executives.
Many executives become members of professional associations and they exchange
their ideas with others. This is a good method for assimilating knowledge; however,

16
some executives claim that it is very difficult to find time to do much reading other
than absolutely required in the performance of their jobs.

(5) Apprenticeship
Apprentice training can be traced back to medieval times when those intended on
learning trade skill bound themselves to a master craftsman to learn by doing the work
under his guidance. In earlier periods, apprenticeship was not restricted to artisans, but
was used in training for the professions, including medicine, law, dentistry, and
teaching. Today's industrial organisations require large number of skilled craftsmen
who can be trained by this system. Such training is either provided by the
organisations or it is also impacted by governmental agencies. Most States now have
apprenticeship laws with supervised plans for such training. Arrangements usually
provide a mixed programme of classroom and job experience.

(6) Vestibule Schools

Large organisations frequently provided what are described as vestibule schools, a
preliminary to actual shop experience. As far as possible, shop conditions are
duplicated, but instructive, not output, and are major objective, with special
instructors provided. Vestibule schools are widely used in training for clerical and
office jobs as well as for factory production jobs. Such training is usually shorter and
less complex than that adaptable to the apprenticeship system. Vestibule training is
relatively expensive, but these costs are justified if the volume of training is large, or
if uniform, high-standard results are important.

Off the job training methods

In these methods, trainees have to leave their workplace and devote their entire time
to the development objective. In these methods development of trainees is primary
and any usable work produced during training is secondary. Following training
techniques are used off-the-job:

1. Special course and lectures

Lecturing is the most traditional form of formal training method. Special courses and
lectures can be established by business organisations in numerous ways as a part of
their development programmes. First, there are courses which the organisations
themselves establish to be taught by members of the organisation. Some organisations
have regular instructors assigned to their training and development departments such
as Tata and Hindustan Lever in private sector, Life Insurance Corporation, State Bank
of India and other nationalised commercial banks, Reserve Bank, Hindustan Steel,
Fertilizer Corporation and many others in public sector. A second approach to special
courses and lectures is for organisations to work with universities or institutes in
establishing a course or series of % courses to be taught by instructors of these
institutes. A third approach is for the organisations to send personnel to programmes
established by the universities, institutes and other bodies, Such courses are organised
for a short period ranging from 2-3 days to a few weeks. The first such programme
was the Sloan Fellowship Programme, established in 1931 at Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, U.S.A. In India, such courses are organised frequently by the Institute
of Management, Administrative Staff College of India, National Productivity Council,
NITIE, All India Management Association and some other organisations and
universities. ,

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2. Conferences
This is also an old method, but still a favourite training method. In order to escape the
limitations of straight lecturing many organisations have adopted guided-discussion
type of conferences in their training programmes In this method, the participants pool
their ideas and experience in attempting to arrive at improved methods of dealing with
the problems which are common subject of discussion) Conferences may include buzz
sessions that divide conferences into small groups of four or five for intensive
discussion. These small groups then report back to the whole conference with their
conclusions or questions. Conference method allows the trainees to look at the
problem from a broader angle. These conferences, however, have certain limitations.
Unless the discussion is directed to the fell needs of the participants that may well feel
that the whole session is useless.

3. Case studies
This technique, which has been developed and popularized by the Harvard Business
School, U.S.A., is one of the most common forms of training. A case is a written
account of a trained reporter or analyst seeking to describe an actual situation. Some
cases are merely illustrative; others are detailed and comprehensive demanding
extensive and intensive analytical ability. Cases are widely used in a variety of
programmes) This method increases the trainee's power of observation, helping him to
ask better questions and to look for a broader range of problems. A well chosen case
may promote objective discussion, but the lack of emotional involvement may make it
difficult to effect any basic change in the behavior and attitude of trainees.

4. Brainstorming
This is the method of stimulating trainees to creative thinking. This approach
developed by Alex Osborn seeks to reduce inhibiting forces by providing for a
maximum of group participation and a minimum of criticism, A problem is posed and
ideas are invited. Quantity rather than quality is the primary objective; Ideas are
encouraged and criticism of any idea is discouraged. Chain reactions from idea to idea
often develop. Later, these ideas are critically examined. There is no trainer in
brainstorming and it has been found that the introduction of known experts into it will
reduce the originality and practicability of the group contributions. Brainstorming
frankly favors divergence, and this fact may be sufficient to explain why
brainstorming is so little used as yet in developing countries where new solutions
ought to carry the highest premium. It is virtually untried even though its immediate
use is limited to new ideas only, not change in behavior.

5. Laboratory Training
Laboratory training adds to conventional training by providing situations in which the
trainees themselves experience through their own interaction some of the conditions
they are talking about. In this way, they more or less experiment on themselves.
Laboratory training is more concerned about changing individual behavior and
attitude. It is generally more successful in changing job performance than
conventional training methods. There are two methods of laboratory training—

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simulation and sensitivity training.

A. Simulation
An increasingly popular technique of management development is simulation of
performance. In this method, instead of taking participants into the field can be
simulated in the training session itself. Simulation is the presentation of real situation
of organizations in the training session. It covers situations of varying complexities
and roles for the participants. It creates a whole field organization, relates participants
through key roles in it, and has them deal with specific situations of a kind they
encounter in real life. There are two common simulation methods of training: role-
playing is one and business game is the other.

(i) Role-Playing
Role-Playing is laboratory method which can be used rather easily as a supplement to
conventional training methods. Its purpose is to increase the trainee's skill in dealing
with other people. One of its greatest uses is in connection with human relations
training but it is also used in sales training as well. It is spontaneous acting of a
realistic situation involving two or more persons under class room situations.
Dialogue spontaneously grows out of the situation, as it is developed by the trainees
assigned to it. Other trainees in the group serve as observers or critics. Since people
lake roles every day, they are somewhat experienced in the art, and with a certain
amount of imagination they can protect themselves into roles other than their own.
Since a manager is regularly acting roles in his relationship with others, it is essential
for him to have role awareness and to do role thinking so that he can size up each
relationship and develop the most effective interaction possible. Role-playing has
many advantages. By this method, a trainee can broaden his experience by trying
different approaches, while in actual situation; he often has only one chance. In
evaluation of role-playing in sue firms, it was found that such sessions resulted in an
increase in sensitivity and improved quality of actions of a work sample involving a
human relations difficulty. Role-playing also has weaknesses which partly offset its
values. It is time consuming and expensive. It requires experienced trainers because it
can easily turn sour without effective direction.

(ii) Gaming
Gaming has been devised to simulate the problems of running a company or even a
particular department. It has been used for a variety of training objectives, from
investment strategy, collective bargaining techniques, to the morale of clerical
personnel. It has been used at all levels, from the lop executives to the production
supervisors. Gaming is a laboratory method in which role-playing exists but its
difference is that it focuses attention on administrative problems, while role-playing
tends to emphasizes mostly feeling and tone between people in interaction. Gaming
involves several teams, each of which is given a firm to operate for a number of
periods. Usually the period is a short one, one year or so. In each period, each team
makes decisions on various matters such as fixation of price, level of production,
inventory level, and so forth'. Since each team is competing with others, each firm's
decisions will affect the results of all others. All the firm's decisions are fed into a

19
 computer which is programmed to behave somewhat like a real market. The computer
provides the results, and the winner is the team which has accumulated largest profit.
In the light of such results, strengths and weaknesses of decisions are analyzed.

B. Sensitivity Training
Sensitivity training is the most controversial laboratory training method. Many of its
advocates have an almost religious zeal in their enhancement with the training group
experience. As a result of criticism and experience, a somewhat revised approach,
often described as 'team development' training, has appeared. It was first used by
National Training Laboratories at Bethel, U.S.A. The training groups themselves
called 'T Group'. Since then its use has been extended to other organizations,
universities, and institutes.

Sensitivity training is a small-group interaction under stress in an unstructured

encounter group which requires people to become sensitive to one another's feelings
in order to develop reasonable group activity-group has several characteristic features:
(i) the T-group is generally small, from ten to twenty members;
(ii) the group begins its activity with no formal agenda
(iii) the role of trainer is primarily to call attention from time to time to the ongoing
process within the group;
(iv) The procedure tends to develop intersection and self-examination, with emotional
levels of involvement and behavior and the possibility of colleagues and some
breakdown of established insulation and self-defense on the part of individuals. The
objectives of such training are increased openness with others, more concern for
others, increased tolerance for individual differences, less ethnic prejudice,
understanding of a group process, enhanced listening skills, and increased trust and
support.

Organisational improvement and change arises from training only to the extent that the
training participants change their behaviour once they return to the workplace. This is where
the rubber hits the road. Underpinning knowledge and attitudinal changes are highly
significant in that they underlie longer-term behaviour change. However, it is the resulting
change in actual work practices that in the final analysis results in improved organisational
effectiveness. The direction and extent of behaviour change is not only a function of the
training event. It depends at least as much on the organisational history, structure and culture
in which the trainers, managers and participants find them. The model below illustrates some
of the most important of those workplace environment factors affecting training transfer.

Figure 1 – Workplace factors affecting employee behaviour following training

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For training to be effective, organisations need to ensure that the above influences are
working towards integrating the training with the workplace. Employee behaviour following
training is a complex interplay of a variety of forces within an organisation. How often,
though, is the training "event" seen divorced from the organisational setting in which it takes
place? Systems thinking arose after the Second World War and became especially prominent
in the 1970's, yet how many organisations are still thinking with one-dimensional linear
models of causation? Some of the literature on measuring Return on Investment (ROI) of
training programmes does not help here either. A number of published case studies give the
impression that the training programme was the sole causal determinant of the organisational
improvement.

It is this myth, that training is the "silver bullet" that will improve organisational outcomes
without the need to attend to the workplace environment of trainees, that we need to dispel.
The illusion here is that somehow once we get staff into a training room and they return to
work that the organisation will change for the better – defect rates will fall, more product will
be sold, managers will be more empathetic, discrimination will cease in the workplace, or
whatever was the purpose behind the training will eventuate magically without further work
required.

Even the term "training intervention" lulls us into a false sense of surety that all that is
required to "fix" the problem or bring about change is a time boxed and isolated training
"event". The upshot of this is that much of what goes by way of training in organisations
today is akin to a fish cleaning exercise. We take the fish out of the bowl, very carefully clean
each one and then put them back in the bowl from whence they came.

To move organisations forward, a greater emphasis now needs to be placed on linking

training to workplace behaviour. Currently, advertising the effectiveness of training is mostly
done through publishing the post-course recommendations of participants. This is seen in
internal marketing and external vendor advertising blurbs recounting glowing testimonials
from participants that sometimes border on religious fervour. My experience with surveys
that I have conducted is that the initial enthusiasm quickly wanes once the trainees return to
the reality of their workplace. In the future, internal trainers and external consultants will
promote their programmes using hard data showing how the training improved the client

21
organisation's outcomes. I suspect that this will not eventuate until organisations themselves
take more of a systems approach to training.

This situation has not been helped by the training industry itself, with outlandish claims
designed to attract clients. For example, an advertisement in a recent national computing
magazine proclaimed boldly, "Learn to Repair and Upgrade Personal Computers – Plus full
theory of operation". No prerequisites are required and all it takes is thirteen hours of tuition
over four weeks. The learning of this complex practical skill is also available by
correspondence, with the student being awarded an accredited certificate on passing one
assignment!

I now want to introduce a practical model that will assist managers and trainers in integrating
the training with the workplace for effective behaviour change. It is named the PRACTICE
model in order to emphasise the central theme here of applying the learning to workplace
practice for the benefit of the organisation.

Each element of the model captures an essential workplace factor for the effective transfer of
learning. The elements are as follows.

 Procedures
 Roles and Responsibilities
 Aids on the job
 Coaching
 Targets
 Incentives
 Communication
 Engagement

Procedures

Where the training is part of a change programme, the documented policies, procedures and
work instructions need to be congruent with the new expected behaviours and require them in
the workplace. These documents may need to be reviewed and revised, or they may need to
be created if not already in existence.

Documented policies, procedures and work instructions serve three key purposes. Firstly,
they are an important communication device, signaling the organisation's requirements to
staff. Secondly, they document agreements reached about the way things are to be done and
why. Thirdly, they set an agreed baseline from which future proposed improvements may be
discussed, compared and measured. Documenting the way we do things here and why we do,
and keeping the documentation up to date, sends a powerful reinforcing message to staff
about what is expected from them following the training.

If a new system has been implemented, such an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or
Customer Relationship Management (CRM), it is crucial that the new procedures are written
and released before the trainees return from training. If the procedures require revision such
as with the replacement of a production machine with the latest model, once again, the
procedures will need to been updated prior to the return of the trainees. Ideally, the new
policies and procedures ought to be the subject of the training and used during the training

22
itself. Staff who return to the workplace only to be confronted with outdated or non-existent
procedures and work instructions will very quickly lapse back into the old way of doing
things.

Roles and Responsibilities

For transfer to be maximised, staff will require a clear message that they are to be held
accountable for their actions and performance following the training. Role descriptions will
need to be updated with unambiguous statements on required behaviours and performance
expectations. Role descriptions can be made into a powerful link between training and later
workplace performance through transcribing the behaviourally and performance based
learning outcomes of the training programme into the role descriptions.

For example, if one of the learning outcomes of the training programme is that trainees will
be able to process five customer orders per hour with all fields completed correctly, then this
is how the performance expectation needs to be stated in the role description. This will also
serve to provide a clear link between the training and the formal performance appraisal
process. Of course, the role descriptions will require updating before or soon after the trainees
return from training and with the appropriate consultation and agreement.

Aids on the Job

Training aids used during training are ideal for replication in the work environment for
employee use on the job. These include models, guides, diagrams, manuals, templates and
checklists. Other opportunities to enhance the benefits of training include the development of
forms, macros, go-no go gauges and poke yoke devices. Such on-the-job aids will serve to
increase training transfer and improve workplace productivity and product quality and
service.

Coaching

The importance of on-the-job coaching once training participants return to the job is now well
documented. Much training that is conducted in organisations today is short and intensive.
The two drivers for this are the lost opportunity cost of having staff away from their
workplace and the difficulty of releasing staff from operational environments. Given this
intensive nature of programmes, it is just not possible to turn out staff that are able to apply
their new skills expertly in the multitude of complex and varying environments that they will
face back in the real world, except for the most simplest of motor skills and procedures.

Assistance on-the-job may be synchronous or asynchronous, in person or mediated by

technology. Assistance includes on-the-job coaching for more immediate skill requirements
and mentoring for more long-term development or career needs. Many e-learning vendor
solutions now include on-line coaching and mentoring via email and chat rooms.

Planning for on-the-job coaching in the programme design and implementing such help
conveys to participants that management is serious about inculcating the new behaviours. All
too many participants report that on returning to the job they have had no or little opportunity
to apply the skills learned. If learned skills are not applied within a short period, the learning

23
will extinguish rapidly. On-the-job coaches may be of assistance here in identifying
workplace opportunities for the application of skills.

Targets

Setting organisational objectives before training design begins is the cornerstone of

successful improvement and training programmes. If the organisation doesn't know where it
is going, all roads will take it there. So, firstly, identify the organisational outcomes that the
improvement and training programmes will serve to achieve. What are not meant here are the
course objectives or learning outcomes? Determining these will come later. The question here
is what is the end benefit to the organisation of this programme? This may be a reduced
number of defects shipped, increased proportion of new products in range, reduced time to
market, reduced waste, improved employee retention, and so on.

Beginning with defining the organisational goals will enable the organisation to:

1. measure objectively the success of the improvement programme

2. focus employee efforts on what is important
3. design an effective training programme

Considering the first purpose, measuring objectively the success of the improvement
programme, the goals need to meaningful and useful. Recommended here is the adoption of
the well-known SMART principle in which goals are Specific, Measurable, Ambitious,
Realistic and Time bound. Specifying measurable and meaningful goals is no easy task and to
do it well is time consuming but well worth the effort. Without specific and measurable
goals, it will not be possible to determine objectively whether the programme was successful.
For example, do not set a goal of improving product quality. Instead, set a target of reducing
defect rates on Machine A by ten percent before end of financial year.

When helping you or your client's organisation articulates its goals, questions to ask are:

 What is the organisation really trying to achieve?

 What data is already available that may serve as indicators of goal achievement?
 Who will be responsible for collecting and reporting the data?

It is advisable to keep the number of goals to a minimum; otherwise your organisation may
suffer from paralysis by analysis. For large improvement programmes, use a mix of leading
and lagging indicators, that is, in-process indicators and outcome indicators. An example of a
leading indicator is machine downtime whilst a lagging indicator might be number of late
deliveries. And remember that the responsibility for achieving the organisational outcomes is
not solely that of the HR/training department. Far from it systems thinking show us that
achieving targets is a shared responsibility with line managers and supervisors.

24
Readers familiar with Kirkpatrick's model for evaluating the effectiveness of training
programmes will recognise that assessing the extent of behaviour change is a Level 3
evaluation, whilst determining progress toward achieving organisational targets is a Level 4
evaluation. The point here is that evaluations at these two levels are not evaluations of the
training programme per se, but evaluations of the organisational improvement programme in
which the training programme is embedded as just one element.

For some programmes, there may appear to be no "bottom-line" goals applicable. What are
the measurable organisational outcomes for team-building and leadership development
programmes and legislative awareness programmes such as EEO and unfair dismissal? For
professional/interpersonal skills programmes and the like, I suggest soft measures as can be
gained from survey instruments, such as 360 degree questionnaires. For legislative
compliance, OH&S training and the like, I would suggest avoidance goals, such as no or
reduced EEO complaints, safety incidents and so on.

If we cannot say what we expect as the outcome of an improvement programme, in

measurable terms, we ought to think twice about devoting resources to it. The funds may be
better used elsewhere. This is another reason for ascertaining the measurable goals first. It
provides a valuable reality check on the utility of the proposed programme.

Once we have agreed and set the measurable goals of the programme, this will then serve our
second purpose of focussing employee efforts on what is important. The goals need to be
communicated through all levels of management up to the frontline employee. Employees
who know that there are goal posts, and know where the goal posts are, are much more likely
to kick goals for the organisation. Of course, staff will want to know how the game is being
played out. For optimal feedback, performance results are preferably displayed in a public
place, such as the main corridor or team meeting room, and displayed in an easily understood
form such as bar or line charts.

The third purpose of setting measurable organisational goals is to set the scene for effective
training course design. If we know what the organisation wants from the training in terms of
organisational outcomes, and we design the training around these outcomes, the training
delivered will better serve the organisation.

So, beginning with the end in mind, we may, for example, determine that the organisation
wants to increase the operational availability of its pressing machines by twenty percent. To
achieve this, it proposes that machine operators take on the responsibility for preventative and
simple maintenance operations and for identifying the more difficult repairs for escalation to
engineers. From this specification, a list of new or modified workplace behaviours is
compiled, stating as precisely as possible the technical and procedural activities required.
Once the new and modified behaviours are known and agreed, the course objectives and
learning outcomes may be constructed around the required behaviours. The learning
outcomes, of course, are stated in behavioural terms, with any underpinning knowledge and
required attitudes specified. The training intervention design and development may now
proceed.

The sequence of training programme design may be presented as follows.

Figure 2 – Phases of training programme design

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This is neither new nor a complicated science, yet how often do we see the above flow
proceed in reverse? The training department receives a request for a particular type of
training, hurriedly cobbles something together for delivery at short notice and then, when it
transpires that little has changed in the workplace, is criticised for delivering an ineffective
programme. Many organisations continue to adopt this smorgasbord approach to training,
saying they want a bit of this and a bit of that and choosing what someone else has used
before or whatever happens to be around at the time. The performance consulting method
advocated here turns this traditional approach on its head. You can ensure that training leads
to real workplace behaviour change through starting the front-end analysis at the finish line,
with a clear specification of the organisational goals.

Incentives

Some staff will apply the behaviours learned during the training for its own sake. These staff
are highly motivated by internal drivers, such as pride or a strong personal interest in the new
skills, and will seek to apply the skills even in the face of organisational barriers. Many staff
will only apply the new skills if urged and some staff will positively react against the new
expectations. For these latter two groups, transfer of training will remain minimal unless
there are external incentives to change workplace behaviour.

This is where linking of skills training back into the performance management system is
essential. This linkage may occur at one or more of four levels; appraisals and incentives at
the organisational level, at the department level, at the team level and at the level of the
individual. Rewards may include profit sharing or gain sharing, department and team
performance bonuses, team dinners, gift vouchers and individual performance bonuses and
salary reviews. The important point here is that to optimise training transfer, the criteria for
awarding the incentive needs to match the improvement program objectives and targeted
behaviours. At the organisation, department and team level, appraisal criteria would refer to
the improvement program targets identified previously. At the individual level, appraisal
criteria would include the actual behaviours taught during the training or their immediate
results. Formal staff appraisals are also a strategic time for reviewing each staff member's
progress on their Personal Action Plan developed after the training.

Organisations that leave individual performance feedback to the time of formal appraisals
display another form of "silver bullet" thinking. Staff benefit from feedback given on a
regular basis using a variety of methods; informal remarks, weekly team meeting reviews,
project implementation debriefs and so on. Waiting till formal appraisal time to entrench
behaviours taught is likely to get a poor result. Training transfer will be maximised when the
supervisor catches staff on an on-going basis displaying the correct or incorrect behaviours.
The feedback will need to be timely and specific, occurring as close as possible to the event
in question and referring explicitly to the characteristics of the behaviour that were
praiseworthy or in need of improvement.

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Communication

A comprehensive communication plan is the backbone to successful improvement and

training programmes. Information that will require dissemination includes:

 Changes in policies, processes and procedures and location of documents

 New and modified staff roles and responsibilities and location of documents
 Training course objectives and schedule
 Purpose, instructions for use and location of on-the-job aids
 Availability and contact details of on-the-job coaches
 Expected organisational outcomes and performance targets
 Organisational performance results
 Formal and informal staff performance feedback
 Availability of staff incentives

Ensure that each piece of communication is sent to all appropriate levels in the organisation.
Experience indicates that it is often overly optimistic to expect that information given to
higher levels of management will be passed on to supervisors and frontline staff. Where this
does happen, the filtering process in many cases leaves the original message unidentifiable.
Where at all possible, I would suggest communicating directly to those affected, letting the
higher levels of management know what you are doing. I would also recommend avoiding
the use of email and written memos to send out important messages. These are poor media
for gaining attention and commitment. Staff buy-in to the programme, with the attendant
motivation to behave differently, will be enhanced by supervisors and higher level managers
communicating the nature and objectives of the programme as much as possible.

Engagement

Employees need to be engaged in the learning process and later workplace application if
training is to be effective. Professional trainers work hard to motivate training participants to
learn through a variety of techniques. However, this process needs to start before participants
even begin the training. Of vital importance here is the pre-course briefing between the
supervisor and the staff member. This discussion serves to inform the participants of the
nature and purpose of the training and to identify specific development opportunities it
affords. This is also the place to introduce discussion about how the principles, techniques
and skills learned will be applied practically once the participant returns from the training
event. The supervisor is also in the best position to ensure that participants have completed
any pre-requisite reading or exercises. Most important of all, the pre-course briefing sends a
powerful message that the organisation cares about the employee's development and is
serious about seeing the benefits of training.

Supervisors and managers attending the training along with the other participants will also
assist entrenching the new behaviours. The presence of supervisors and managers will help
later transfer of skills to the workplace through:

 Familiarizing supervisors and managers with the content/relevance of the course

 conveying the impression to participants that the training is important
 helping participants relate the course content to their workplace situation

27
Engaging the participant at the conclusion of the training begins with the post-course
briefing. Here, the supervisor reviews with the participant the content of the training and the
participant's experiences. Many participants returning from training report the lack of
opportunities to apply the skills learned once back in the workplace. The post-course briefing
is an ideal juncture at which to identify, plan and agree with the staff member where the skills
will be applied.

Research indicates that individual goal-setting activities are especially conducive to

participants applying the skills. Goal-setting may take the form of the supervisor negotiating
a Personal Action Plan with each participant. Ideally, the action plan will document proposed
workplace applications of the requisite skills, resources required, when the skills are to be
applied and how the results are to be reviewed and by whom. The plan will need to be
reviewed regularly for completion of the action items.

Where the trainer or HR department alone performs these goal-setting activities, the results
are seldom successful. This is one area illustrating the pivotal role of the supervisor position
in organisations. Supervisors (or Leading Hands/Team Leaders/Frontline Managers) act as
the intermediary between the frontline employee serving an internal or external customer and
the higher levels of management. Supervisors set the primary role model for expected
performance and behaviour and are most in a position to provide assistance and
encouragement for the employee once they return from training. A supervisor overtly or
covertly discouraging or even simply not encouraging the application of the new skills will
lead not only to a waste of scarce training dollars but also to an increase in staff frustration
and lowered morale.

Integrating the Elements

Just as the separate letters p, r, a, c, t, i, c, and e have no meaning until placed together in the
word PRACTICE, without a unifying direction, the various actions outlined above will be
simply a disparate set of activities. Staff working on the programme may add their own
interpretations, follow hidden agendas or go off on well-meaning tangents.

The overall purpose of the programme is organisational improvement. Each element is a

piece in the jigsaw puzzle, interlocking with the rest. Each piece has its role to play and one
piece missing will rob the rest of significance. The procedures and policies say how to
perform and why, the role descriptions say what level of performance is required, the
incentives give a personal reason to perform and measurement of achievement towards the
targets proves that people are performing.

Without a co-coordinator to wrap these elements together, procedures and role descriptions
may be revised without specific linkage to the behaviors taught during the training. Without a
coordinator, communication with managers, staff and stakeholders may be piecemeal and
incomplete. Without a co-ordinator, devised performance targets and incentives may drive
counterproductive behaviors.

The PRACTICE model sets the agenda for programme communication, with the co-ordinator
ensuring that all communication takes place with the right people and at the right time.
Timing is also critical in ensuring that the training, job aids, revised procedures and role
descriptions, and so on, are all made available in the right sequence and when needed.

28
The improvement programme will most likely reach success if run as a project using standard
project management principles. In this case, the programme co-ordinator will be the project
manager. For maximum buy-in from the business, I recommend that the project manager be
nominated from the business and not from the HR/training area. The HR/training department
will be responsible for a number of tasks, depending on the organisation, and including, for
example, revising role descriptions, identifying on-the-job coaches, revising performance
incentives and, of course, designing and delivering the training programme. It may also
provide a consulting service in the areas of procedure review, setting organisational goals and
Personal Action Plans, and programme evaluation. The important point here is that the targets
for success are business targets, with the business owning the overall improvement
programme in which the training programme is embedded.

29
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR PROJECT WORK ON TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

NAME:-
__________________________________________________________________________

AGE:-__________ QUALIFICATION:-____________________________ DEPT.:-

__________________

POSITION:-
_________________________________________________________________________

 Is your organization considering training as a part of organization strategy? Do you

agree with this statement?
A) Strongly agree B) Agree C) Disagree D) Strongly
Disagree
 How many training programs will you attend in a year
A) Less than 10 B) 10-20 C) 20-40 D) More than
40
 Your training programs are well planned.

A) Strongly agree B) Agree C) Disagree D) Strongly

Disagree

4. To whom training is given more in your organization.

A) Sr. staff B) Jr. staff C) New staff D) Based on
requirement
5. What are all the important barriers to training and development program in your
organization?
A) Time B) money C) Lack of interest D) Non
availability of trainer
6. Training programs are of sufficient duration.

A) Strongly agree B) Agree C) Disagree D) Strongly

Disagree

7. Training of workers is given adequate importance in your organization.

A) Strongly agree B) Agree C) Disagree D) Strongly

Disagree

8. The training session conducted is useful

30
 A) Strongly agree B) Agree C) Disagree D) Strongly
Disagree

9. Time duration given for the training period is.

A) Sufficient B) To be extended C) Shortened D)
Manageable
10. What are the complaints about training session?
A) Time consuming B) Too many gaps C) Unplanned D)
Boring
11. The quality of training program is
A) Excellent B) Good C) Average D) Poor

Any other comments

_________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________
__________

Signature.

31
Effectiveness of Training & Development Program at Kotak
Securities Pvt. Ltd.
Sep,1
4
Questions 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
 Options                      
A 7 10 6 2 21 6 2 4 14 8 5
B 18 11 20 2 5 22 20 25 5 15 18
C 2 6 2 4 6   4 1 5 2 8
D 1 5 4 21 4 1 3 1 6 0 0
 Total 28 32 32 29 36 29 29 31 30 25 31

Overall responses for various questions are as follow total sample is 36 employees of Kotak
Securities Pvt. Ltd. Working at executive level

32
 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

 Out of 40 samples respondents from Kotak Securites Pvt. Ltd

For question 1) Is your organization considering training as a part of organization

strategy? Do you agree with this statement?

B) Strongly agree B) Agree C) Disagree D) Strongly

Disagree

7 respondents are strongly agree 18 are agree 2 are disagree and 1 respondent is strongly
disagree so it is concluded that Kotak Securities Pvt. Ltd. Consider training as a part of
organization strategy as it clear from the chart given below.

33
 Chart Title

18

2
1

A B C D

 For Q.2) How many training programs will you attend in a year
B) Less than 10 B) 10-20 C) 20-40 D) More than
40

34
 12

10

0
A B C D

Out of 32 responses 21 says they attended between 10 to 20 and 6 respondents attended

between 20 to 40 training and 5 respondents attended more than 40 training programs in a
year

35
36
Bibliography

Human resource management – a competitive advantage by S.K.Bhatia pg 440 to 490 ISBN

81-7629-848-4 YEAR OF PUBLICATION 2006

 Becker, T. E. and Klimoski, R. J. (1989). "A Field Study of the Relationship Between the
Organizational Feedback Environment and Performance", Personnel Psychology, Vol 42, No
2, Summer, pp. 343-358.

 Broad, M. L. (1982). "Management Actions to Support Transfer of Training", Training

and Development Journal, May, pp. 124-130.

Human resource management – Robert L. Mathis and John H. Jackson Eleventh edition.

Personal Management- Text and Cases – C.B.Memoria and S.V.Gankar

hr.com

www.trainingindustry .com

www.managementstudyguide

37