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Reference: Blanchard, P. B., Thacker, J. W., & Crosby, D. M. (2023).
Effective training: Systems, strategies, and practices (7th Ed.). Sage Publications, Inc. ISBN 13: 9781071927809.
Please cite 2 other sources.
Chapter 1 OVERVIEW
Training was designed to provide the competencies needed for different types of jobs (not a one size fits all). In spite of the urgency, a careful analysis was used to identify the right type of training. Online training was used to allow people to learn when it was most convenient for them, rather than requiring all learning to occur at some specific day, time, and location. However, when the training required face-to-face contact, it was provided.
A training department affects everyone in an organization at one time or another. For example, all employees will require some type of training to be proficient in their jobs. To ensure training is relevant, managers and supervisors who are subject matter experts need to be involved in the training process from the beginning through the development phase. And, of course, they will want to know whether training worked as planned. Supervisors and managers often are used as SME trainers, which adds credibility to the training. Effective training increases employee effectiveness and the effectiveness of the whole organization, leading to more positive outcomes for everyone.
The U.S. economy has undergone significant losses and gains over the last decade. Yet, even in downtimes, companies have dedicated substantial resources to employee learning. In 2009, for example, the average expenditure per employee was $1,081. By 2019 it had increased to $1,308.1 Average spending trended slightly down for 2020 at $1,267, largely as a result of the impact of the COVID pandemic. This suggests that top management realizes the value of training on the bottom line. Studies indicate companies investing in training produce improved financial results in terms of higher net sales, gross profits per employee, stock growth, and ratio of market to book value.2 For example, in a Mutual of Omaha study, it was determined that those with higher levels of training generated, on average, an additional $150,000 of new business each year.
However, training doesn’t always lead to an improved bottom line. Many companies report that they perceive little value from their training initiatives.3 Companies that report very positive improvements are likely using more effective training practices than those that do not. Effectiveness of training differs in the processes used to determine what employees need to learn, how training is designed, developed, and implemented. The first three chapters of this book provide you with an understanding of the context and theoretical foundation on which effective training is based. Chapters 4 through 8 provide you with an in-depth understanding of how to determine training needs and how to design, develop, and implement training to meet those needs. Even companies that have reported unsatisfactory results from their training efforts are doing at least one thing right—they are evaluating their training and can take corrective action that improves the results. Companies that don’t evaluate their training don’t have a clue about its effectiveness.
The nature of work is becoming more complex, requiring greater competencies from employees. At the same time, companies are finding it difficult to find qualified people for entry-level positions. Nearly 60 percent of American employers in the Wholesale and Trade industries say they aren’t able to find people with the preparation and/or skills they need, even for entry-level jobs.4 Training will be an important commodity in creating an effective workforce. But that training needs to be effective. The following section provides an explanation of how training fits into the organization and an outline of just how to design effective training.
Training System and Processes
First, we will provide an overview of what effective training should accomplish for an organization. This chapter and the next cover a broad set of organizational issues that provide the context for developing and implementing effective training. The training system should provide employees with the talent (knowledge, skills, and attitudes) needed to perform more effectively. This allows employees to meet current job requirements or prepares them to successfully adapt to the inevitable changes that occur in their jobs. However, training is only an opportunity for learning. What is learned depends on many factors, such as the design and implementation of training, the motivation and learning style of the trainees, and the organization’s learning climate.
Training should also be part of an integrated system in which performance is measured against criteria tied to strategic objectives. Training is used to support employees in success in their roles to meet corporate objectives. Effective training requires more than just having laudable goals. It requires that effective systems are in place to address the performance issues facing the organization. With that in mind, we turn to the design of an effective training system.
Training as an Open System
Figure 1.1 shows a general open systems model.5 Open systems have a dynamic relationship with their environment; closed systems do not. Obviously, a business must interact with its environment, making it an open system.
As Figure 1.1 indicates, an open system depends on the environment for the input that supports the system. A business, for example, needs raw materials, capital, and employees in order to operate. The environmental inputs are transformed into outputs by the system’s processes. For a business, these would include its products and services. The system’s outputs flow into the environment and might or might not influence future inputs into the system. In effective systems, the system output influences the environment to supply new supportive input to the system.
A system, such as a business, must be responsive to the needs and demands of its environment because the environment provides the input needed for the system to replenish itself. For example, if a business is responsive to the needs of society by providing valued goods and services (output), it receives financial and goodwill credits (input). The business uses these inputs to continue operating. If the business does not provide sufficient value to its environment, it will fail because the environment will not provide the necessary input for the system to replenish itself of information.
Summary of Chapter 1
UMMARY
Training was described in terms of an open system in which it receives inputs from other parts of the organization and the external environment. That input is transformed by processes in effective training units into output that meets the organization’s needs. Effective training occurs as a set of phases. In each phase, input is acquired, a set of processes are engaged, and output needed for subsequent phases is produced. The training process model provides a visual understanding of how the phases relate to each other. Although the model shows the phases occurring as sequential steps (needs analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation), in fact these phases occur in a dynamic fashion with feedback from one phase leading to the next phase and recycling through some aspects of the previous phase.
Important concepts and terms in the field of training were defined and discussed, including competencies, learning, knowledge, skills, and attitudes. The rationale for substituting attitudes for the “abilities” concept was provided. Though differing opinions exist in the field of training about what constitutes training versus development and education, training in this text will be considered to be the experiences provided to people that enable them to learn job-related KSAs. Education will be considered to be the experiences that enable people to learn more general KSAs that are related to, but not specifically tailored to, a person’s job. Development will be considered to be the learning that occurs as a result of training or education.
Training faces increasing demands to demonstrate results in terms of return on investment. With these demands come increased opportunities for the training function to influence the direction and operations of the company. In higher performing organizations, training activities are aligned with the organization’s strategies. The challenge for training units is to align its resources with activities that provide the best match with strategic objectives.
Changing demographics, steadily increasing market competitiveness, high demand for and short supply of knowledge workers, and customer demands for high-quality products and services all challenge companies and their training departments. Companies are becoming more concerned with creating their own talent, as significant losses to the workforce will occur from retirements over the next 10 years. Successful companies build their training units to serve as a continuous improvement system and problem-solving tool. Evidence is accumulating that those companies that spend more on training are achieving better financial results.
The legal environment places requirements on the training system such as making mandatory certain types of training and ensuring equitable treatment of employees. Training units also have responsibilities for making sure that training is safe for trainees and that the training is consistent with protecting the safety of those with whom trainees come into contact after training. The increased use of outside training vendors requires due diligence to prevent copyright violations.
In large organizations, the training unit is divided into specializations. The most typical entry point into a training career is in a large company as a specialist in one part of the training process (e.g., needs assessment, instructional design). From there, the progression is much like any other functional area with rotation through the different specializations before moving into a managerial position. In smaller organizations, a few people will handle all training responsibilities, while in very small businesses all HR functions are usually divided among the few people in management-level positions.
KEY TERMS
actual organizational performance (AOP)
ADDIE
analysis phase
attitudes
automaticity
competency
compilation
capability
declarative knowledge
design phase
development
development phase
education
evaluation phase
expected organizational performance (EOP)
facilitator
implementation phase
instructor
instructional strategy
International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
knowledge, skills, and attitudes
KSAs
learning
motivation
