HR: Employee Training

 In today’s employment industry, the concept of “Employee Training” is the backbone to creating a successful and efficient working environment. Employee training is very important because it ensures for employers that the employees they hire are competent to the job, perform the job duties and tasks, and inform them of what is to be expected. Without training, companies would be in for a recipe for disaster: employees would not know what they are doing or how to perform the tasks and duties assigned, decrease productivity, become more cost-effective, increase employee turnover and create a unbalanced work environment.

What is Employee Training

“Employee Training” is the process of providing the required skills and tools for employees to do their jobs effectively. One of the major ways in which companies choose to train their employees is through different training methods. Training methods are viewed as various techniques many companies adopt and create to deliver job training to a group of new employees. These methods are useful because they are diversity, influential, and help enhance the knowledge and skill sets of their employees. According to Astd.org, U.S. companies spent over 150 billion dollars on employee training in 2011. Training methods can help teach and provide new hires with a diversity set of skills such as communication skills, customer service skills, computer skills, ethics, and many others Some of the major training methods many companies use today include on the job training, off the job training, orientation training, lectures, role playing, internships, and the role of technology.

Training Methods

1.      On-job Training: This is one of the major methods used in the employment industry today. On-job training is defined as a form of training that takes place on the job. In on job training, you, as a worker with no experience of the job, are able to train and perform the required tasks and duties while on the job with a skilled instructor such as a manager or supervisor. On-job training is considered the most common, popular, and used training method of today.

2.      Off-job Training: This method is as efficient as on job training but takes a different approach. With off the job training, employers train their employees in a different work environment other than the actual job site. It provides employees with seminars, lectures, allow them to perform real-company applications and on job training in a controlled setting.

3.      Orientation Training: The ideal of “Orientation Training” is to inform the new hires with the basic information about the company in which they are going to be working for. Orientation offers various vital information like the mission statement for the company, background on the company, details on the job or position in which you are assigned to, meet and greet between employers and employees, and what they expect from their employees.

4.      Lectures: Lectures are one of the many forms of off the job training. Lectures are considered one of the most popular techniques used for training. They use such things like blackboards, projectors, and power point presentations to communicate vital information about a job or position. They can also be very beneficial because every employee is receiving the same information at the same time, they cater to a large group, they take place in comfortable and professional environment such as a classroom or conference room, and are very cost-effective.

5.      Role Playing: Role playing is also another form of off the job training. Role playing is the process in which employers allow new employees to act out real company day to day situations and show them how to handle these situations.

6.      Internships: Internships are a form of on the job training. Internships are widely used by companies to recruit many people such as college students. They allow companies to provide new employees with on job experience in which can help prepare them when they are actually hired for the job.

7.      Role of technology: Being that today’s society is technologically advanced, various companies have adopted training methods that use different forms related to technology. These forms include mobile learning, videoconferencing, dvd training, internet-based training, and many others. All of these forms have been very successful in training hires because they are very accessible, easy to use, cost-effective, and each hire can learn at their own pace. 

Advantages vs. Disadvantages

Training methods serve as a beneficial platform to employees but they can have their advantages and disadvantages. One advantage successful training methods have is reducing employee turnover. If a company uses a specific training method that motivates that new employee or group of employees to want to learn, understand, and be successful at the job, then you reduce the number of new employees that quit within the first two weeks. Another advantage is creating cross-trained employees. Cross-Training is where you train an employee to do an different job or function outside of their current job. By creating cross-training in the workplace, companies make their work staff more flexibility. Advantages are high for training methods but they also have a few disadvantages to employers.

One disadvantage of using training methods is that it can be more expensive. It can be more expensive because they have to be pay for the training of the new employees whether the trainer is internally or externally associated with the company. Another disadvantage is lack of time. When companies hire a group of employees, they have a limited amount of time to train these employees with the knowledge and skill sets to the perform the job. If the training methods they use are not successful, then much time and money can be wasted. The last disadvantage of training methods is scheduling. Companies can schedule training sessions at times in which some of new hires are not available in which they can fail to receive vital training information. Lack of training information provided creates a decrease in productivity and chaos in the work environment.

Training Process

Before various training methods are considered which one is to used, they are created and developed by a blueprint called the “Training Process”. The training process is a strategized model of steps in which helps companies formulate whether a specific training methods is going to be successful or not. This process is beneficial for companies to use because it helps identify for them which methods can work the best and provide the best results. 

The first step is the need analysis. The need analysis is companies determining factor for what companies need to improve and enhance their training for new hires such as job performance skills. The second step is instructional design. The design is the most vital component of your training process because this is what your trainers and new hires will learn from. The design can include objectives, methods, examples, and many others. The third step is validation. Validation is process in which companies present their effective training method to an internal or external representative to identify with any changes or adjustments to the method before it is put into use. The fourth step is implementation. Once your training method is validated, you can present it to your new hires. The last step is your evaluation and follow-up. Each time a company uses a specific training method, they document the feedback and they are able to measure if the training method was a success and if it improved overall employee performance in the work environment.

Take away points:

In the employment industry, training methods are vital because provide each employee with the necessary skill set and knowledge to do the their job. No matter what type of job you have, training will always be a major component to ensure you have a successful job performance. Training methods have also took a different approach and have adopted new ways in which attract and satisfy the needs of not just the employers but also the employees. To be successful at your job, you have to be successful at the training. 

Work Cited

1.      Bianca. Audra. “Different Methods of Training Employees”. http://work.chron.com/different-methods-training-employees-6641.html

2.    Urbaniak. Anthony. Supervision: “Training Employees”. Published (Feb 2004). Volume 65 pg. 6-7. http://search.proquest.com/docview/195600312/abstract?accountid=12924   

3.   Dessler. Gary. “The Five Step Train and Development Process”. Published (Jan 2013).  http://knowledgetogo.wordpress.com/2013/01/28/the-five-step-training-and-development-process-gary-dessler/

4.     Smith. Ned. “The Big Thing that’s Costing your Company’s Employees”. Published (May 22, 2012). http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/2563-employee-retention-practices.html