Designing Employee Training Essay - 2475 Words

Designing Employee Training (Research Paper Sample) Content: Designing Employee TrainingStudentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬s NameInstitutional AffiliationAbstractThe work focuses on designing an employee training program that can be used for improving the workforce efficiency. The work addresses the training needs analysis (TNA) cycle with focuses on process like evaluation, observation and employee requests. It also focuses on the process of capturing training needs for the individuals, groups and wider skills for the organization. Managing organizational change, building effective teams and employee development processes have been addressed in the work. Recommendations have been provided on the best course for engaging and improving employee performance and training needs.IntroductionThis paper is focused on developing an employee training development and performance needs that enhances workplace performance. For any firm, the human resource is critical in its existence thus training the workforce grants a prime opportunity in expanding and b ettering the performance of the firm. Training employees provides a prime opportunity in saving cost and time in future productions hence it should be invested by any firm with a focus on improving its production. There are specific strategies and methods that firms can engage to produce the required workforce. Learning theories have been established that support effective workforce training and development with a focus on improving efficiency and profitability. There are basic strategies like evaluation of the training need that can involve observation and employee request processes in presenting a suitable an employee training and development program. Training and development for employees addresses weaknesses and improves workers skills in their areas of weaknesses (Fost, 2014). It improves the employee performance as it equips them to perform best through becoming aware of safety procedures and efficient operating processes. Performance training has been observed to increase emp loyee satisfaction hence it should be encouraged.Training needs analysis approachFor an organization to effectively make its workforce productive, the best training needs analysis (TNA) approach should be chosen to define the training needs. TNA forms part of the crucial employee training cycle that also includes designing, presentation and evaluation of the training needs. There are several approaches that can be applied to identify the training needs of a workforce. Dereck Stockley (2014) recommends that firms engage the "change and size" TNA approach that engages a multiple factors in determining what is needed. Of the many aspects that Stockley (2014) opines, determining the organizationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬s requirements to complete the daily activities is among the first priorities. The existing skill levels of the available staff should also be taken into consideration as well as determining the training gap in the firm.The "change and size" approach developed by Dereck encourages firm s to consider the needed change and the rate of change as key factors in designing the TNA. This approach recognizes factors including size/geographical presentation of the organization, the range of job skills available, growth factors and the existing human resource systems. The approach presented below allows the management to understand the scope of training needs while identifying the training gaps.Source: Stockley (2014)The training needs can be assessed or established through key tools like focus group discussions, interviews, surveys and observation among other processes. Competency-based assessment can be used to identify the knowledge, attitudes and skills of the employees.Evaluation process in TNAEvaluation involves engaging the employees and other stakeholders in determining the training gaps and the required skills in the organization. TNA should be done in stages where monitoring and evaluation is facilitated to gauge the rate of absorption of the skills and the new kn owledge. Training intervention should be focused on giving value and impacting the workforce to enhance production skills. After every stage in TNA, an evaluation process should be conducted to determine the impact of the training. Factors like the staff skills and education levels can be considered to allow effective TNA approach. If the evaluation is done at the end of the training program and major drawbacks are notices, fixing them may be a challenge hence it is recommended that every stage is evaluated to determine the success of the training needs analysis (Schmalenbach, 2008). It is recommended that evaluation of the impact of training be done while the process is in the process to avoid wasting resources on programs that fail at the end.Evaluation of the training materials needs to be done based on the knowledge pool of the staff. It should focus on individual staffà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬s capability and potential to gain from the training. The scope of training needs to be established, after which is measured against the achieved results in the TNA. The identified competency gaps need to be filled and a successful realization of the achieved results is through evaluation.Observation Process in TNAObservation process involves monitoring the employeesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ performance in regard to the newly acquired knowledge. Changes are expected to be noticed after an initial training where new skills and competencies are gained. Among the critical steps in determining training needs is observation where the organization management identifies performance gaps and how the workforce is faring in delivering responsibilities. While engaging other tools like interviews, questionnaires and difficulty analysis, supervisors should observe and identify the shortcomings in the work process. Appraisal reviews and organizational policy should be performed alongside observation to identify the critical needs for the organization to progress. Workforce engaged in physical activities can effectively engage observation to identify training needs.Skill gaps identified through observation and other methods should be addressed by developing course materials that fill the gap through knowledge and skills acquisition. Direct observation by a trained job analyst can generate first-hand knowledge and any data that can be analyzed to generate the required skills. Other methods like interviews and questionnaires can be sources of errors like exaggerations and omissions as opposed to observation. Direct observations provide opportunities for the analyst to see the tools, equipment and the work environment thus making sound judgements on what needs to be provided (HR-Guide, 2015).Employee Request processThe TNA process involves engaging employees in analyzing their skills, competencies, behaviors and knowledge. Involvement of scenario based learning and training of employees strengthens their understanding and allows breaks in learning where the process of training analysis is enhanced. Employees need to be requested to provide their profiles especially about their competencies and capabilities which should then be matched with the training needs and gaps. It involves making the organization and the staffs own the training and development process where the management encourages the members to freely participate in the development process. The staff designated to participate in the development process are engaged where questionnaires are filled to determine the needs gap.The questionnaire worksheet issued to the employees might include the characteristics of the sampled population and their task description in a process of identifying the training needs gap (Allan, 2015). Proficiency, performance criteria and underpinning knowledge should be included on the task description to enable the management to make sound decision on what needs to be provided to enhance production and profitability. Employees are encouraged to assess their skills and identify their knowledge gaps which in turn determine what is to be covered in the training and development process.Process of capturing training needs for the workforceDiverse workforce may need different training and development and thus comprehensive tools can be used to capture the critical information about the needs gap. The organization should focus on the most critical activities while focusing on the anticipated changes. Factors like poor performance should be addressed by identifying the available skills and matching them with the required training. Alternatives to training and the desired outcomes of the development process should be addressed. The organization should not assume that different employees have the same needs as well as forcing the employees to achieve unrealistic goals. While capturing the training needs, other factors leading to poor performance should not be ignored. Training needs assessment questionnaire can be administered to the employees during the employeesà ¢Ã¢â €š ¬ request process to identify the training needs for both individuals and groups. Outcomes should be reviewed coupled with an organized training. Allan (2015) observes that an organization needs to engage the employees in gaining the most accurate information about the skills and competencies possessed by the staff.Data on needs gap can be sourced by contacting surveys and interviews with individuals ranging from managers, supervisors and lower cadre employees. Focus group discussions can be contacted among the employees sharing similar responsibilities to identify their knowledge and skills gaps. Customer complaints, critical incidents and service quality data can be used to generate the training and development needs.Managing Organizational ChangeThe adult theories are evident in the course outline where approaches to training like systematic approach to training (SAT) are applied. It also involves turning a comple...