Identification of Training Needs(2)

BUSINESS

A variety of operations keep businesses, especially large corporations, running efficiently and effectively. Common business operation divisions include (1) production, (2) marketing, (3) finance, and (4) human resource management.

PRODUCTION

Production includes those activities involved in conceptualizing, designing, and creating products and services. In recent years there have been dramatic changes in the way goods are produced. Today, computers help monitor, control, and even perform work. Flexible, high-tech machines can do in minutes what it used to take people hours to accomplish. Another important development has been the trend toward just-in-time inventory. The word inventory refers to the amount of goods a business keeps available for wholesale or retail. In just-in-time inventory, the firm stocks only what it needs for the next day or two. Many businesses rely on fast, global computer communications to allow them to respond quickly to changes in consumer demand. Inventories are thus minimized and businesses can invest more in product research, development, and marketing.

MARKETING

Marketing is the process of identifying the goods and services that consumers need and want and providing those goods and services at the right price, place, and time. Businesses develop marketing strategies by conducting research to determine what products and services potential customers think they would like to be able to purchase. Firms also promote their products and services through such techniques as advertising and personalized sales, which serve to inform potential customers and motivate them to purchase. Firms that market products for which there are always some demand, such as foods and household goods, often advertise if they face competition from other firms marketing similar products. Such products rarely need to be sold face-to-face. On the other hand, firms that market products and services that buyers will want to see, use, or better understand before buying, often rely on personalized sales. Expensive and durable goods—such as automobiles, electronics, or furniture—benefit from personalized sales, as do legal services such as the provision of insurance policies or tax preparation.

FINANCE

Finance involves the management of money. All businesses must have enough capital on hand to pay their bills, and for-profit businesses seek extra capital to expand their operations. In some cases, they raise long-term capital by selling ownership in the company. Other common financial activities include granting, monitoring, and collecting on credit or loans and ensuring that customers pay bills on time. The financial division of any business must also establish a good working relationship with a bank. This is particularly important when a business wants to obtain a loan.

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Businesses rely on effective Human Resource Management (HRM) to ensure that they hire and keep good employees and that they are able to respond to conflicts between workers and management. HRM specialists initially determine the number and type of employees that a business will need over its first few years of operation. They are then responsible for recruiting new employees to replace those who leave and for filling newly created positions. A business’s HRM division also trains or arranges for the training of its staff to encourage worker productivity, efficiency, and satisfaction, and to promote the overall success of the business. Finally, Human Resource Managers create workers’ compensation plans and benefit packages for employees.

HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

Simply put, Human Resources Management (HRM) is management functions that helps managers’ recruit, select, train & develop members for an organization. Obviously, HRM is concerned with the people’s dimension in organizations.

We quote three definitions of HRM. But before quoting the definitions, it is useful to point out the essentials which must find their place in any definition. The core points are:

1. Organizations are not mere bricks, mortar, machineries or inventories. They are people. It is the people who staff & manage organizations.

2. HRM involves the application of management functions & principles. The functions & principles are applied to acquisitioning, developing, maintaining & remunerating employees in organizations.

3. Decisions relating to employee must be integrated. Decisions on different aspects of employees must be consistent with other human resource (HR) decisions.

4. Decision made must influence the effectiveness of an organization. Effectiveness of an organization must result in betterment of services to customers in form of high quality products supplied at reasonable costs.

5. HRM functions are not confined to business establishment only. They are applicable to non-business organizations, too, such as education, health care, recreation & the like.

The following three definitions collectively cover all the five core point:

1. A series of integrated decisions that form the employment relationship; their quality contributes to the ability of the organizations & the employees to achieve their objectives. 2. It’s concerned with the people dimension in the management. science every organization is

made up of people, acquiring their services, developing their skills, motivating them to higher level of performance & ensuring that they continue to maintain their commitment to the organization are essential to achieving organizational objectives. This is true regardless

of the type of organization – government, education, business, health, recreation or social action.

3. management is the planning, organizing, directing & controlling of the procurement, development, compensation, integration, maintenance & separation of human resource to the end that individual, organizational & social objectives are accomplished.

Thus, HRM refers to set of programmes, functions & activity designed & carried out in order to maximize both employee as well as organizational effectiveness.

EVALUATION OF HRM IN INDIA

Period Development Status

Outlook Emphasis Status

1920s-1930s Beginning Pragmatism of capitalists Statutory, welfare, paternalism Clerical 1940s-1960s Struggling for recognition Technical, legalistic

Introduction of Techniques Administrative 1970s-1980s Achieving sophistication Professional, legalistic, impersonal Regulatory, conforming, imposition of standards on other functions Managerial

1990s Promising Philosophical Human values, productivity through people

Executive

HRM MODEL

We follow the model for discussing the subject HRM in this project. As seen in the figure, the model contains all HR activities. When these activities are discharged effectively, they will result in a competent & willing workforce who will help realize organization goals. There is another variable in the model – environment. It may be state that the HR function does not operate in vacuum. It is influenced by several external & internal forces like economical, technological, political, legal, organizational & professional conditions as will be explained in the next chapter.

TRAINING… AN INTRODUCTION

Industrial Relations

Training & Development

Motivation Participative Management

Disputes & their Settlement Ethical issues in HRM International HRM E nv ir on m en

t Competent &

Willing Work force Organizat ional Goals

MEANING & DEFINATIONS

Successful candidates placed on the jobs need training to perform their duties effectively. Workers must be trained to operate machines, reduce scrap and avoid accidents. It is not only workers who need training. Supervisors, managers and executives also need to be developed in order to enable them to grow and acquire maturity of thought and action. Training constitutes on going process in any organization.

Training plays an important role in man-power development even at the level of industrial unit. Training comes next to recruitment and selection. It is necessary, useful and productive for all categories of workers and supervisory staff. Training is practical in nature and is useful in order to create sense of confidence in the minds of the newly recruited workers. It is for developing skills among workers. Training is necessary due to technological changes rapidly taking place in the industrial field. Expenditure on training is a profitable investment to the employer. Training is, now, common in all industrial units. It is an internal aspect of personality development.

Every organization needs to have well trained and experienced people to perform the activities that have to be done. If the current or potential job occupant can meet this requirement, training is not important. But when this is not the case, it is necessary to raise the skill levels and increase the versatility and adaptability of employees. As the jobs become more complex, the importance of employee training also increases. In a rapidly changing environment, employee training is 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.

EVALUATION OF TRAINING

Labor, Department of, executive department of the United States government, created by an act of Congress in 1913”to foster, promotes, and develops the welfare of the wage earners of the United States, to improve their working conditions and to advance their opportunities for profitable employment.” The department is administered by a secretary, who is appointed by the president

with the approval of the Senate. Predecessor agencies were the Bureau of Labor in the Department of the Interior (1884) and the Department of Commerce and Labor (1903).

The Department of Labor is made up of offices, bureaus, and administrations. The following are among the major operating units. Under the office of the deputy secretary are included the Employees' Compensation Appeals Board, Office of Small Business and Minority Affairs, Office of Administrative Law Judges, and Wage Appeals Board.

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) oversees programs to furnish job training and placement services; supervises payment of unemployment compensation under federal and state laws; and conducts national employment and training programs for Native Americans, migrant workers, and other disadvantaged citizens. The ETA includes the U.S. Employment Service, Unemployment Insurance Service, Office of Job Training Programs, Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training, and Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Development.

The Employment Standards Administration enforces laws regulating wages and hours and prohibiting sex and age discrimination in employment; administers workers' compensation for work-connected disabilities among federal and certain private employees; and supervises equal opportunity requirements for federal contractors. It includes the Wage and Hour Division, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, and Office of Labor-Management Standards.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration enforce the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. It issues regulations, conducts inspections, and issues citations for noncompliance with safety and health standards established by the act. The Mine Safety and Health Administration develops mandatory standards of health and safety, issues penalties for violations, investigates accidents, and provides training programs in cooperation with the mining industry. It works with the states to reduce mine accidents and occupational diseases.

Income Security Act (ERISA) of 1974. The Bureau of Labor Statistics is the government's main fact-gathering agency in the field of economics. It publishes statistics on employment, wages, hours of work, work stoppages, prices, and occupational health and safety.

The Veteran's Employment and Training Service protects reemployment rights of veterans and provides them with maximum employment opportunities. The Women's Bureau formulates policies to promote the welfare of wage-earning women by improving their working conditions

and their opportunities for professional employment. The Bureau of International Labor Affairs helps to formulate international economic policies that affect American workers, represents the U.S. in international trade negotiations, and carries out technical assistance projects abroad.

INDIAN SCENARIO

Employee education has become an integral part of today’s corporate philosophy (read strategy). Underwriting tuition fees (partly or fully), for both technical and managerial courses, is common in most companies which take great pride in being called “learning organizations”. This is a necessary appellation if an organization wants to attract and retain the best talent pool. It is however imperative to link the money spent on employee education with career growth and other business needs.

A recent study done in the US by Adventuress, a Boston based research and consulting company, revealed that corporate America spent $10 billion in tuition reimbursement. Interestingly, a leading high-tech company acknowledged that it spent $20 million per annum on tuition reimbursement, but a subsequent audit revealed that the actual amount was $50 million. The pertinent question is —can an organization calculate the RoI on employee education? The answer is more complicated than it appears. “Realization of RoI comes to the fore because of the attrition level,” agrees Satyen Parekh, managing director, Borland India. The RoI calculated for technical skills training is much easier than managerial or functional responsibility. For the latter a long-term perspective has to be considered. Parekh, in fact, believes that an organization should be able to judge on whom to invest and whom not to at the recruitment level itself. “Knowledge can be implemented by training, but inner capabilities are ingrained—then if you take in a person, no matter what the training, attrition will remain,” asserts Parekh.

Whom to sponsor?

It is significant for an organization to analyze which employee should be selected for continuous training. “Furthermore, the company should be discerning about the amount of reimbursement. For instance, if someone wants to do an MBA, then 50 percent of the fees should be supplemented,” adds Parekh.

Types of initiatives

The main areas of employee education are technical and managerial streams. An organization like HCL Comnet trains its employees worldwide on technical and transition management modules. The organization has a technical skills certification reimbursement policy. SM Arif, vice president —HR, HCL Comnet, says, “Our culture of learning is built around the popular programme EDGE (Employee Development, Growth and Empowerment) which aims at making the company a ‘knowledge driven organization’—an organization where growth is measured not just by profits but also from the synergetic growth of each employee.” The Top Gun Technology School and the Star-Tech School are two skill-up gradation initiatives under this programme.

Efunds International introduced a formal programme to sponsor employee education, earlier this year. Dr Pradnya Parasher, senior director, human resources, eFunds International India, informs, “The FaCE (Facilitating Continuous Education) scheme was launched to encourage, support and facilitate associates who are enrolled in advance or specialized courses to complete their course and to motivate those interested to take up courses relevant to their work area.”

While eFunds employees are entitled to a reimbursement of Rs 50,000 per course, HCL Comnet has committed a minimum of 14 man-days per employee, instead of limiting the amount of money spent.

Intangible returns

Most experts agree that the RoI on employee education is intangible. Says Dr Parasher, “A happy, satisfied and motivated associate is the most valuable asset—so that would be the best return on this investment for us.” Asserting that the benefits of this investment are difficult to calculate, she adds: “We are talking of ‘long-term’ and ‘intangible’ benefits or returns. So, from direct and tangible benefits like longer and more stable tenures, to intangible (and immeasurable) benefits like employee satisfaction, the impact of an initiative like this is truly immense.” She acknowledges that while the actual returns cannot be fully measured, the RoI could perhaps be estimated in terms of indicators such as longer tenure; promotions to higher levels of responsibility and cross transfers, and also the success of employees at these higher levels of responsibility. Arif

adds that the intangible benefits also include high motivation and commitment levels of employees, improved customer service and value additions in services.

Win-win scenario

Sponsoring of employee education is a win-win situation for both the employee and the employer. Dr Parasher explains how:

• The employee gains by the sponsorship, which is not just in monetary terms. In most cases the education that the employee has opted for is in a field related to the work. Mentoring by some of the best in the industry is an added bonus.

• The organization also gains significantly. Benefits include a longer tenure for the employee; promotions to higher levels of responsibility and cross transfers—both vertical and lateral movement, and also the success of the employees at these higher levels of responsibility. Overall development of associates and increased productivity are the benefits. A motivated employee more often than not sets off a positive ripple effect in the organization. The key takeaway for any organization is the contribution towards building human assets and building credibility for the company.

Focus of training

The focus of education should be a clear and progressive career map. This is not always easy when hiring is in large numbers. Parekh concedes that IT organizations hiring people in hundreds or thousands might find it difficult to form career graphs for each employee, compared to companies that are hiring fewer people and can offer a more structured career path. The perspective has to be in terms of enhancing abilities and creating a passion in employees that they should not look elsewhere rather than reducing attrition per se. “More than just creating loyalty, education should create a fire in their belly,” says Parekh with conviction.

A bad investment

In an era of constant attrition, does the company consider it a bad investment when a sponsored employee leaves soon after completing a course? Answers Parekh, “No company can be sure that

all people being sent for training will continue to serve the organisation.” He adds that if one out of 10 employees leaves it is “understandable,” if three leave then there is a problem, however if four or more leave there is something wrong with the training programme.

At HCL Comnet while there are no clauses binding the sponsored employee to the organization, the former is expected to share his or her knowledge with other employees. Arif believes that the company can protect its interest by tying the employee education programmes with growth opportunities. “Educational opportunities as a standalone make no sense; they have to be packaged with a promised growth graph, so that the employee does not look at short-term gratification but at a longer run,” he insists. Similarly, eFunds does not have a binding clause, but there is a qualifying criterion for the FACE scheme.

Apparently, the only way an organization can ensure that reimbursing the tuition fee is not a dead investment, is to be selective in its choice of its employee and the training being sponsored.

TYPES OF TRAINING

There are different kinds of training in relation to different types of classification. Such as behavioral or technical training, on the job of the job training, etc.

Behavioral training are those in which there are needs to change the attitude of the employee, develop their personality, etc. technical ones are those where a kind of proper knowledge & skills to be developed.

Managers' Course: The Manager-as-Mediator Seminar: How to mediate conflict between

employees Employees' Course: The Self-as-Mediator Seminar: How to resolve conflict with others

TODAYS NEED

Every morning when she came into the office and opened her drawer, she would find a condom lying under it. She complained and started to have the door of her office locked. But that somebody was one step ahead — the condom was slipped under the office door. Outraged, afraid and fed up by the eerie situation, the woman government employee was forced to seek a transfer to

another station. No, this is not a fictionalized tale; it is the story of an IAS officer in the Capital, retold by a woman activist.

And if someone as educated as that can be sexually harassed and be forced to flee the situation, imagine how much more difficult it must have been for a junior bank employee who was repeatedly asked to stay back by the vice-president of the establishment. While she would work, he would play golf and come back to office, sit himself on the table in shorts and dictate his presentation. Then he'd insist on dropping her back home.

The two examples are only to illustrate how subtle and ambiguous this harassment to women can be. While the Infosys incident, where the company's high profile executive had to resign due to a case of sexual harassment and wrongful termination of service filed against him and the company, has brought sexual harassment back into the news, the problem in India goes far beyond the organized corporate sector and impacts the lives of the 92 per cent of women in the country who work in the unorganized sector.

But first for the corporate environment, where the so-called cream of society works. Harassment experts say that there is harassment of two kinds in this environ: the `hostile' atmosphere, where rude, sexist or offensive jokes are cracked, prolonged staring; off-the-cuff remarks of a sexual nature, etc are made. The other is called Quid Pro Quo (this for that) harassment, in which a boss threatens to fire an employee or withhold a promotion unless the employee agrees to sexual favors. Harassment can also involve the promise of a raise or promotion in exchange for sex, in formal terms, called sexual blackmail or sexual bribery.

Though in India there may be hundreds of cases such as the Infosys one, there are fewer women likely to file a complaint. Why is this so? "In Western society, the awareness is much more," says C. Mahalingam, Group Vice-President - HR, Scandent Group. But this could be because in India, women are used to lewd comments and leering stares even outside of workplace and they do not think it's serious enough to rake up an issue.

But after the Supreme Court judgment on sexual harassment and a few cases coming to light, things have changed somewhat. Indian companies too are waking up to the matter. Besides, MNCs

that are operating from India and are used to US laws, have very clear guidelines on what constitutes sexual harassment.

Sexual harassment, in fact, can take many forms such as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or display of derogatory pictures and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature. This is especially when submission to such conduct is made a condition of an individual's employment and when submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting the individual.

It also constitutes sexual harassment when such conduct has the purpose or effect of interfering with an individual's work performance or creating an intimidating hostile or offensive work environment.

In India, it was the Supreme Court landmark judgment on `Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace in Vishakha & others Vs. State of Rajasthan & others' that gave the issue its much-needed recognition. With a lack of legislation in place on the subject, in 1997, the Supreme Court referred to the international conventions and norms that had been ratified by India and interpreted gender equality of women, in relation to work and held that sexual harassment of women at the workplace, which is against their dignity, is volatile of Articles 14, 15(1) and 21 of the Constitution. It is also volatile of the fundamental rights under Article 19(1) (g) `to practice any profession or to carry out any occupation, trade or business'. It felt that the right to life means a life with dignity and that gender equality itself includes protection from sexual harassment and the right to work with dignity. The court also stated that these norms and guidelines were to be treated as the law of the land until appropriate legal provisions were enacted.

Taking the cue from here and in an effort to promote the well being of women employees at the workplace, the National Commission for Women charted a Code of Conduct for the Workplace, which included a list of dos and don'ts in accordance to the Supreme Court guidelines. It also initiated meetings with PSUs, banks, educational institutions and other organizations. A Bill on the issue was also formulated in 2000 and has been pending since.

However, the Sexual Harassment of Women at their Workplace (Prevention) Bill, 2000 does not have widespread acceptance. Women's groups find it inadequate and would like a nation wide

debate on the subject before the law is enacted. They point out that the pending Bill concentrates more on the organized sectors, while 92 per cent of women workers in India are in the unorganized sector. Besides, peculiar to India are practices that force women from socially disadvantaged sections to compromise sexually. Known by different names such as Jogin, Basavi, Kalavat, Mathangi and devadasi, these practices have religious sanction but constitute sexual harassment. “There are many aspects to sexual harassment, some are not physical in nature but makes a woman's life a living hell. All these need to be taken into account in the Bill. The Bill also does not adequately address the unorganized sector and contract labor, the most rampant and exploited form of labor in India," says Ranjana Kumari, Director of the Centre for Social Research and coordinator of the Joint Action Front for Women.

Organizational front

However, the fact that the Bill is pending should not make any difference to organizations that want to put in place what was specified by the Supreme Court as that itself constitutes the law today. The Court directed that the head of the organization should constitute a Complaints Committee for the purpose of sexual harassment headed by a woman and with not less than half its members of the second sex. Further, to prevent the possibility of any undue pressure or influence from senior levels, the Committee is required to involve a third party either a non-government organization or someone else who is familiar with the issue of sexual harassment. Detailed rules and regulations on conducting enquiries and handling complaints have also been provided.

Indian corporate

Though women's groups recently noted that many organizations have not acted upon the directions of the Supreme Court yet and no such committee exists in several companies, R. Vidyasagar, Vice-President, HR, i-flex Solutions, feels Indian companies are finally waking up to the issue. He says the Indian Government too has come out very strongly against sexual harassment. And multinational companies have very stringent rules on the matter. Indian companies have no option but to lay down the guidelines and educate their employees on office etiquette.

At Wipro, the Complaints Committee with three women employees looks into the matter. According to Joydeep Bose, General Manager, Corporate HR, Wipro Ltd., new recruits are given a

complete rundown on how `to behave or not behave with women employees'. Even sending unsavory e-mail messages as been censured by companies. "We have taken steps against employees who have indulged in such activities," reveals Bose.

Mahalingam strongly feels all employees need to go through a training programme that will educate them on the company's diversity policy and harassment policies. Diversity policy helps an organization to become more acceptable to people of both sexes, all races, communities, religion and sexual orientation. This even includes employing the physically challenged. "The only way to reduce these sorts of problems is by communicating constantly with employees and building a confidence in them about approaching the Council or the superior," says Mahalingam.

In fact, developments in the corporate world have shown that sexual harassment is one of the most pressing concerns facing companies today. When an employee claims harassment, the company is faced with decisions that could make or mar it. In the US, most employers have approached this issue with the utmost seriousness and adopted comprehensive policies to minimize the risk of a lawsuit. In India, both employers and employees are yet to feel the pain of litigation. But women are waking up slowly and in the not too distant future leave alone corporate women employees, one hopes even farm hands and contract labor may stand up for exploitation and sexual harassment. Now - more than ever - employees must understand that there's far more to workplace harassment and discrimination than just sex. Is your organization prepared for this changing world?

It seems as if, every day, the EEO and the courts expand the definition of harassment and discrimination. In this changing environment it's difficult to know - or understand what's allowed and what's not allowed at work. This brand new video training program breaks ground by dramatically illustrating:

• The ever expanding range of behaviors that create a hostile work environment

• The differences between free speech at work and protected speech in public

• The consequences for individuals who exhibit unacceptable behavior

• The legal threats that companies or organizations can encounter Key Learning Points:

• Harassment and discrimination hurt everyone

• Which behaviors now contribute to a hostile work environment

• The areas in which people and organizations cannot discriminate

• When harassment can become discrimination, or "tangible employment action" and the implications of those

• Using dramatic examples in white and blue collar, hospitality, health care, and retail settings, this video will protect your organization by communicating everyone's legal responsibilities and is for training on diversity as well.

METHODS OF TRAINING

There are many different training and development methods used in an organization. On-the-job training, informal training, classroom training, internal training courses, external training courses, on-the-job coaching, life-coaching, mentoring, training assignments and tasks, skills training, product training, technical training, behavioral development training, attitudinal training and development, accredited training and learning, distance learning - all part of the training menu, available to use and apply according to individual training needs and organizational training needs. ON-THE-JOB TRAINING

It is delivered to employees while they perform their regular jobs. In this way, they do not lose time while they are learning. After a plan is developed for what should be taught, employees should be informed of the details. A timetable should be established with periodic evaluations to inform employees about their progress. On-the-job techniques include orientations, job instruction training, apprenticeships, internships and assistantships, job rotation and coaching.

OFF-THE-JOB TECHNIQUES

It include lectures, special study, films, television conferences or discussions, case studies, role playing, simulation, programmed instruction and laboratory training. Most of these techniques can be used by small businesses although, some may be too costly.

ORIENTATIONS

They are for new employees. The first several days on the job are crucial in the success of new employees. This point is illustrated by the fact that 60 percent of all employees who quit do so in the first ten days. Orientation training should emphasize the following topics:

• The company's history and mission.

• The key members in the organization.

• The key members in the department, and how the department helps fulfill the mission of the company.

• Personnel rules and regulations.

Some companies use verbal presentations while others have written presentations. Many small businesses convey these topics in one-on-one orientations. No matter what method is used, it is important that the newcomer understand his or her new place of employment.

LECTURES

The present training material verbally and are used when the goal is to present a great deal of material to many people. It is more cost effective to lecture to a group than to train people individually. Lecturing is one-way communication and as such may not be the most effective way to train. Also, it is hard to ensure that the entire audience understands a topic on the same level; by targeting the average attendee you may under train some and lose others. Despite these drawbacks, lecturing is the most cost-effective way of reaching large audiences.

ROLE PLAYING AND SIMULATION

They are training techniques that attempt to bring realistic decision making situations to the trainee. Likely problems and alternative solutions are presented for discussion. The adage there is no better trainer than experience is exemplified with this type of training. Experienced employees can describe real world experiences, and can help in and learn from developing the solutions to these simulations. This method is cost effective and is used in marketing and management training.

AUDIOVISUAL METHODS

Such as television, videotapes and films are the most effective means of providing real world conditions and situations in a short time. One advantage is that the presentation is the same no matter how many times it's played. This is not true with lectures, which can change as the speaker is changed or can be influenced by outside constraints. The major flaw with the audiovisual method is that it does not allow for questions and interactions with the speaker, nor does it allow for changes in the presentation for different audiences.

JOB ROTATION

It involves moving an employee through a series of jobs so he or she can get a good feel for the tasks that are associated with different jobs. It is usually used in training for supervisory positions. The employee learns a little about everything. This is a good strategy for small businesses because of the many jobs an employee may be asked to do.

APPRENTICESHIPS

It develops employees who can do many different tasks. They usually involve several related groups of skills that allow the apprentice to practice a particular trade, and they take place over a long period of time in which the apprentice works for, and with, the senior skilled worker. Apprenticeships are especially appropriate for jobs requiring production skills. Internships and

assistantships are usually a combination of classroom and on-the-job training. They are often used

to train prospective managers or marketing personnel. PROGRAMMED LEARNING ,

Computer-aided instruction and interactive video all have one thing in common: they allow the trainee to learn at his or her own pace. Also, they allow material already learned to be bypassed in favor of material with which a trainee is having difficulty. After the introductory period, the instructor need not be present, and the trainee can learn as his or her time allows. These methods sound good, but may be beyond the resources of some small businesses.

LABORATORY TRAINING

It is conducted for groups by skilled trainers. It usually is conducted at a neutral site and is used by upper- and middle management trainees to develop a spirit of teamwork and an increased ability to deal with management and peers. It can be costly and usually is offered by larger small businesses. All supervisors and managers need to able to provide training and development for their people - training develops people, it improves performance, raises morale and increases the health of the business. The leader's ethics and behavior set the standard for their people's, which determines how productively they use their skills and knowledge. Training is nothing without the motivation to apply it effectively. A strong capability to plan and manage skills training, the acquisition of knowledge, and the development of motivation and attitude, largely determines how well people perform in their jobs.

It's important that as a manager you understand yourself well before you train others - your own skills (do you need training in any important areas necessary to train others?) - Your own style (how you communicate, how you approach tasks, your motives - they all affect the way you see the role and the person you are training). And it's vital you understand the other person's style and personality too - how they prefer to learn - do they like to read and absorb a lot of detail, do they prefer to be shown, to experience themselves by trial and error? Knowing the other person's preferred learning style helps you deliver the training in the most relevant and helpful way. It helps you design activities and tasks that the other person will be more be more comfortable doing, which ensures a better result, quicker. Various models and tests are available to help understand learning styles - look at the Kolb model below:

ACTIVITY-MENTORING TRAINING

'Activity-mentoring' training is a highly productive and effective new method of training people in organizations - especially in teams and departments. The activity-mentoring approach uses several new integrated techniques which produce more reliable and relevant training outputs, in terms of individual skills, attitudinal development, and direct job and organizational performance improvement. The approach is facilitative rather than prescriptive, and broadly features:

• strategic assessment of organizational and department priorities and 'high-yield' training needs

• interpreted discussion with line-managers of training delegates and strategic managers of the organization

• pre-training skills/behavioral needs-analysis - all training delegates - and pre-training preparatory work

• small groups - practical workshops - short sessions - highly participative and situation/solution-based - focused on practical job issues, individual personality/learning style and organizational priorities

• individually agreed tasks and assignments - focused on practical priorities and individual needs (SMART and WIIFM factors)

• follow-up coaching and mentoring one-to-one support - giving high accountability and reliable deliverables

• ongoing feedback and review with line-managers and strategic managers - coaching/task notes for line managers

The process works on several different levels: individual, team, task, organizational and strategic. Activity mentoring also gives strong outputs in skills, behavior and job priority areas, as well as being strongly motivational and where necessary resolving conflict and attitudinal issues. For advice about activity-mentoring training please get in touch.

MENTORING COST ANALYSIS AND JUSTIFICATION

Mentoring can be provided in various ways and programmes take a variety of shapes. Mentoring can be external, where the mentoring is essentially provided by external people, or an internal activity, using mentors within the organization. Due to the newness of mentoring as an organized process, and because mentoring programs are so varied, statistics as to general costs and returns across industry are not easy to find. Here however are general cost indicators for a program essentially delivered by internally appointed mentors.

The main elements of a mentoring program that carry quantifiable cost would be:

• Training of mentor(s) - comfortably achievable for £1,000/head - it's not rocket science, but selection of suitable mentor is absolutely critical - good ones need little training; poor ones are beyond any amount of training.

• Mentor time away from normal activities - needs to be a minimum of an hour a month one-to-one or nothing can usefully be achieved, up to at most a couple of hours a week one-to-one, which would be intensive almost to the point of overloading the mentoree. That said, there may be occasions when the one-to-one would necessarily

involve a whole day out for the mentor, for instance client or supplier visits. Say on average a day a month including the associated administration work.

• Overseeing the program, evaluating and monitoring activity, progress and outputs - depends on the size of the program, i.e. number of mentors an number of mentorees - if the mentoring is limited to just a single one-to-one relationship then it's largely self-managing - if it's a program involving several mentors an mentorees then I'd estimate an hour per quarter (3 months) per one-to-one mentoring relationship - probably the responsibility of an HR or training manager. If this person with the overview/monitoring responsibility needs external advice you'd need to add on two or three days consultancy costs.

• (Mentoree time away from normal activities - effective mentoring should ideally integrate with the mentoree's normal activities, and enhance productivity, effectiveness, etc., so this is arguably a credit not a debit.)

Having said all this, unless the training aim is simply to impart knowledge, for which conventional classroom training and course work are very appropriate, I'd go for mentoring every time, especially if the aim is to truly develop people and organizational effectiveness. If you'd like help establishing a mentoring program, internal or external, or assessing feasibility and providing justification please contact us for advice.

E-LEARNING

Culture: Will corporate culture support e-Learning? How does a company view employee development, and who is responsible for human resource development? The traditional training model--in which the manager identifies employee development needs, the training director identifies a solution, and the employee attends some type of classroom-based program--will not work with e-learning Strategies because some control shifts to the individual learner. Indeed, the opportunity for employees to self-identify. Development needs is touted as one of e-Learning’s major benefits. Employees don’t have to wait for a training director to identify a learning need; they can assess individual skill gaps and access information as they need it.

• What is the business case for e-Learning?

• How does e-Learning support business goals and objectives? • What value does the company place on learning?

• What is the company’s definition of learning?

• Are learning and training viewed as synonymous terms?

• Where and how does the company believe learning should occur? • Who determines when learning should occur?

• Does the company support employees who seek out non-traditional development programs or experiences?

Content: Is the instructional content appropriate for e-Learning? Technology has made huge advancements enabling e-Learning to mimic a traditional classroom-based learning experience. Online videos can provide dramatic representations of key content areas; audio files can reinforce displayed information, and online discussions and collaborative whiteboards facilitate interactive experiences among geographically dispersed groups. However, there are still some instructional content areas that may not be suitable for e-Learning. Psychomotor skills, in particular, require hands-on practice and interactive demonstrations for learners to achieve mastery.

Key questions to consider when evaluating e-Learning programs for a specific content area include • What are the learning objectives that the company is trying to achieve?

• What are the skills the company is trying to teach? • Are the skills cognitive, attitudinal, or motor skills? • Is the problem well-defined?

• What instructional methods are required to deliver the content?

• What type of follow-up, practice, or support is required to achieve mastery? • What degree of learning interactivity or collaboration is required?

Capability: Capability involves the wide spectrum of computer hardware, infrastructure, IT support, and instructional design. Organization’s infrastructure support e-Learning programs? Computer access, in addition to multimedia capability, is required to capture the full advantage of many e-Learning programs. The Internet provides commercial e-Learning programs but may not be available to all learners. Intranets can distribute e-Learning, but what happens if a company doesn’t have an internal intranet?

Some questions to consider when evaluating internal capability for e-Learning initiatives include: • Do employees have access to computers?

• Do computers support multimedia applications?

• What system factors may limit access to all or parts of e-Learning programs?

• Does the company have the capability to design programs or identify appropriate suppliers? • Does the company have the capability to develop and implement e-Learning follow-up support?

Cost: Can the companies afford an e-Learning initiative? The truth is that e-Learning can be expensive. What are the key cost factors of an e-Learning initiative and how do they compare with existing programs?

Critical questions to consider when evaluating the cost of an e-Learning initiative include

• How extensive is the e-Learning initiative: company-wide, single program, or somewhere in-between?

• Is this a new offering or replacement of an existing program?

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of using electronic delivery for this program? • Are internal resources available for tracking and reporting learners?

• What internal system capabilities are required for the e-Learning initiative? • What internal system capabilities does the company have?

• Are programs commercially available or do they need to be custom designed?

Clients: Will clients (employees) use e-Learning? E-Learning availability doesn’t guarantee that employees will seek out or access resources. Employee acceptance is critical, but how do you get employees to embrace e-Learning? The key is to address such factors as awareness, attitude, and access to e-Learning programs.

Some key questions to ask clients or employees when evaluating e-Learning include • Do employees take responsibility for their own learning?

• How will employees be informed of e-Learning opportunities and benefits? • How will e-Learning be integrated into current work responsibilities?

• Do computers have the hardware capability to support multimedia instructional delivery? • Do employees have the required skills to navigate e-learning programs?

• Will employees accept e-Learning as an instructional strategy or as an alternative to traditional classroom-based programs?

• Who will be eligible for e-Learning programs?

E-Learning-ready: Each success factor--each of the five Cs--requires individual consideration,

as well as an evaluation of the interplay between factors .Initially, issues should be discussed separately to provide training professionals and business leaders with a starting point to evaluate e-Learning initiatives. Next, it’s important to take a close look at complex interrelationships between the factors to evaluate the merits and feasibility of the whole initiative. For example, a corporate culture that’s supportive of e-Learning will need to have internal IT capability and budget support or, clients that don’t have computer access or skills will require resources to support e-Learning efforts, affecting the initiatives bottom

LEARNING PRINCIPLES

The Learning Principles are of Short-Term and Long-Term Memory. This principle of long-term memory may well be at work when you recite or write the ideas and facts that you read. As you recite or write you are holding each idea in mind for the four or five seconds that are needed for the temporary memory to be converted into a permanent one. In other words, the few minutes that it takes for you to review and think about what you are trying to learn is the minimum length of time that neuroscientists believe is necessary to allow thought to go into a lasting, more easily retrievable memory?

PRINCIPLE ONE-THE BRAIN IS A COMPLEX ADAPTIVE SYSTEM .

Perhaps the most potent feature of the brain is its capacity to function on many levels and in many ways simultaneously. That is one reason why we have here subsumed two former principles ("The brain is a parallel processor" and "Learning engages the entire physiology".) Thoughts, emotions, imagination, predispositions and physiology operate concurrently and interactively as the entire system interacts with and exchanges information with its environment. Moreover, there are emergent properties of the brain as a whole system that can not be recognized nor understood when the parts alone are explored.

Education MUST come to terms with the complex, multifaceted nature of the human learner

PRINCIPLE TWO-THE BRAIN IS A SOCIAL BRAIN:

"For the first year or two of life outside the womb, our brains are in the most pliable, impressionable, and receptive state they will ever be in" (Zen Physics, P.18). We begin to be shaped as our immensely receptive brain/minds interact with our early environment and interpersonal relationships. Vygotsky was partially responsible for bringing the social construction of knowledge to our awareness. It is through this dynamic interaction with others that therapy works, for instance. It is now clear that throughout our lives, our brain/minds change in response to their engagement with others - so much so that individuals must always be seen to be integral parts of larger social systems. Indeed, part of our identity depends on establishing community and finding ways to belong. Learning, therefore, is profoundly influenced by the nature of the social relationships within which people find themselves.

PRINCIPLE THREE-THE SEARCH FOR MEANING IS INNATE:

In general terms the search for meaning refers to making sense of our experiences. This is survival-oriented and basic to the human brain/mind. While the ways in which we make sense of our experience change over time, the central drive to do so is life long. At its core the search for meaning is purpose and value driven. Something of the extent of human purposes was expressed by Maslow. Included are such basic questions as "who am I?" and "why am I here?" Thus, the search for meaning ranges from the need to eat and find safety, through the development of relationships and a sense of identity, to an exploration of our potential and the quest for transcendence.

PRINCIPLE FOUR-THE SEARCH FOR MEANING OCCURS THROUGH" PATTERNING":

In patterning we include schematic maps and categories, both acquired and innate. The brain/mind needs and automatically registers the familiar while simultaneously searching for and responding to novel stimuli. In a way, therefore, the brain/mind is both scientist and

artist, attempting to discern and understand patterns as they occur and giving expression to unique and creative patterns of its own. It resists having meaninglessness imposed on it. By meaninglessness we mean isolated pieces of information unrelated to what makes sense to a particular learner. Really effective education must give learners an opportunity to formulate their own patterns of understanding.

PRINCIPLE FIVE-EMOTIONS ARE CRITICAL TO PATTERNING:

What we learn is influenced and organized by emotions and mindsets involving expectancy, personal biases and prejudices, self-esteem and the need for social interaction. Emotions and thoughts literally shape each other and cannot be separated. Emotions color meaning. Metaphors are an example as Lakov so aptly describes. Moreover, the emotional impact of any lesson or life experience may continue to reverberate long after the specific event that triggers it. Hence an appropriate emotional climate is indispensable to sound education.

PRINCIPLE SIX-EVERY BRAIN SIMULTANEOUSLY PERCEIVES AND CREATES PARTS AND WHOLES:

Although there is some truth to the "left-brain right-brain" distinction, that is not the whole story. In a healthy person, both hemispheres interact in every activity, from art and computing to sales and accounting. The "two brain" doctrine is most useful for reminding us that the brain reduces information into parts and perceives holistically at the same time. Good training and education recognize this, for instance, by introducing natural "global" projects and ideas from the very beginning

PRINCIPLE SEVEN-LEARNING INVOLVES BOTH FOCUSED ATTENTION AND PERIPHERAL PERCEPTION:

The brain absorbs information of which it is directly aware, but it also directly absorbs information that lies beyond the immediate focus of attention. In fact it responds to the larger sensory context in which teaching and communication occur. "Peripheral signals" are extremely potent. Even the unconscious signals that reveal our own inner attitudes and

beliefs have a powerful impact on students. Educators, therefore, can and should pay extensive attention to all facets of the educational environment.

PRINCIPLE EIGHT-LEARNING ALWAYS INVOLVES CONSCIOUS AND UNCONSCIOUS PROCESSES:

One aspect of consciousness is awareness. Much of our learning is unconscious in that experience and sensory input is processed below the level of awareness. That means that much understanding may NOT occur during a class, but may occur hours, weeks or months later. It also means that educators must organize what they do so as to facilitate that subsequent unconscious processing of experience by students. In practice this includes proper design of the context, the incorporation of reflection and met cognitive activities and ways to help learners creatively elaborate on the ideas, skills and experiences. Teaching largely becomes a matter of helping learners make visible what is invisible.

PRINCIPLE NINE-WE HAVE AT LEAST TWO WAYS OF ORGANIZING MEMORY: Although there are many models of memory, one that provides an excellent platform for educators is the distinction made by O'Keefe and Nadel between taxon and locale memories. They suggest that we have a set of systems for recalling relatively unrelated information (taxon systems, from "taxonomies"). These systems are motivated by reward and punishment. O'Keefe and Nadel also suggest that we have a spatial/ autobiographical memory which does not need rehearsal and allows for "instant" recall of experiences. This is the system that registers the details of your meal last night. It is always engaged, is inexhaustible and is motivated by novelty. Thus we are biologically supplied with the capacity to register complete experiences. It is through a combination of both approaches to memory that meaningful learning occurs. Thus meaningful and meaningless information are organized and stored differently.

PRINCIPLE TEN-LEARNING IS DEVELOPMENTAL:

Development occurs in several ways. In part, the brain is "plastic". That means that much of its hard wiring is shaped by the experiences that people have. In part, there are predetermined sequences of development in childhood, including windows of opportunity

for laying down the basic hardware necessary for later learning. That is why new languages as well as the arts ought to be introduced to children very early in life. And finally, in many respects there is no limit to growth and to the capacities of humans to learn more. Neurons continue to be capable of making new connections throughout life.

PRINCIPLE ELEVEN-COMPLEX LEARNING IS ENHANCED BY CHALLENGE AND INHIBITED BY THREAT:

The brain/mind learns optimally - it makes maximum connections - when appropriately challenged in an environment which encourages taking risks. However, the brain/mind "downshifts" under perceived threat. It then becomes less flexible, and reverts to primitive attitudes and procedures. That is why we must create and maintain an atmosphere of relaxed alertness, involving low threat and high challenge. However, low threat is NOT synonymous with simply "feeling good". The essential element of perceived threat is a feeling of helplessness or fatigue. Occasional stress and anxiety are inevitable and are to be expected in genuine learning. The reason is that genuine learning involves changes that lead to a reorganization of the self. Such learning can be intrinsically stressful, irrespective of the skill of, and support offered by, a teacher.

PRINCIPLE TWELVE-EVERY BRAIN IS UNIQUELY ORGANIZED:

We all have the same set of systems, and yet are all different. Some of this difference is a consequence of our genetic endowment. Some of it is a consequence of differing experiences and differing environments. The differences express themselves in terms of learning styles, differing talents and intelligences and so on. An important corollary is both to appreciate that learners are different and need choice, while ensuring that they are exposed to a multiplicity of inputs. Multiple intelligences and vast ranges in diversity are, therefore, characteristic of what it means to be human.

NEED FOR BASIC PURPOSE OF TRAINING

• Creating a pool of readily available and adequate replacements for personnel who may leave or move up in the organization.

• Enhancing the company's ability to adopt and use advances in technology because of a sufficiently knowledgeable staff.

• Building a more efficient, effective and highly motivated team, which enhances the company's competitive position and improves employee morale.

• Ensuring adequate human resources for expansion into new programs.

Employees frequently develop a greater sense of self-worth, dignity and well-being as they

become more valuable to the firm and to society. Generally they will receive a greater share of the material gains that result from their increased productivity. These factors give them a sense of satisfaction through the achievement of personal and company goals.

The need for training of employees would be clear from the observations made by the different authorities.

1. TO INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY: Instruction can help employees increase their level of performance on their present assignment. Increased human performance often directly leads to increased operational productivity, & increased company profit.” Again, “increased performance & productivity, because of training, are most evident on the part of new employees who are not yet fully aware of the most efficient & effective ways of performing their jobs.

2. TO IMPROVEMENT QUALITY: Better informed workers are less likely to make operational mistakes. Quality increase may be in relationship to a company product or service, or in reference to the intangible organizational employment atmosphere.

3. TO HELP A COMPANY FULFILL ITS FUTURE PERSONNEL NEEDS: organizations that have a good internal educational programme will have to make less drastic manpower changes & adjustments in the event of sudden personnel alterations. When the need arises, organizational vacancies can more easily be staffed from internal sources if a company initiates & maintains an adequate instructional programme for both its non-supervisory & managerial employees.

4. TO IMPROVE ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE: An endless chain of positive reactions results from a well-planned training programme. Production & product quality may

improve; financial incentives may then be increased, internal promotions become stressed, less supervisory pressure ensure & base pay rate increases result. Increased morale may be due to many factors, but one of the most important of these is the current state of an organization’s educational endeavor.

5. TO IMPROVE HEALTH & SAFETY: Proper training can help prevent industrial accidents. A safer work environment leads to more stable mental attitudes on the part of employees. Managerial mental state would also improve if supervisors know that they can better themselves through company-designed development programmes.

6. OBSOLESCENCE PREVENTION: Training & development programmes foster the initiative & creativity of employees and help to manpower obsolescence, which may be due to age, temperament or motivation, or the inability of a person to adapt him to technological changes.

7. PERSONAL GROWTH: Employees on a personal basis gain individually from their exposure to educational experiences. Again management development programmes seems to give participants a wider awareness, an enlarged skill, & enlightened altruistic philosophy, & make enhanced personal growth possible.

It may be observed that the need for training arises from more than one reason. I. An increased use of technology in production;

II. Labor turnover arising from normal separations due to death or physical incapacity, for accidents, disease, superannuation, voluntary retirement, promotion within the organization & change of occupation or job.

III. Need for additional hand to cope with an increased production of goods & service; IV. Old employees need refresher training to enable them to keep abreast of the changing

methods, techniques & use of sophisticated tools & equipment.

V. Need for enabling employees to the work in more effective way, to reduce learning time, reduce supervision time, and reduce waste & spoilage of raw material.

VI. Need for reducing grievances & minimizing accidents rates;

VII. Need for maintaining the validity of an organization as a whole and raising the morale of its employees.

A programme of training becomes essential for the purpose of meeting the specific problems of a particular organization arising out of the introduction of new lines of production, changes in design, the demand of competition & economy, quality of material processed, individual adjustments, promotions, career development job & personal changes & changes in the volume of business. Collectively, these purpose directly relate to & comprise the ultimate purpose of organizational training programmes to enhance overall organizational effectiveness.

THE BENEFITS OF EMPLOYEE TRAINING HOW TRAINING BENEFITS THE ORGANIZATION

• Leads to improved profitability &/or more positive attitude towards profit orientation

• Improve the job knowledge & skills at levels of the organization

• Improves the morale of the workforce

• Helps people identify with organizational goals

• Helps create a better corporate image

• Fosters authenticity, openness & trust

• Improves relationship between the boss & subordinate

• Aids in organizational development

• Learns from the trainee

• Helps prepare guidelines for work

• Aids in understanding & carrying out organizational policies

• Provides information for future needs in all areas of organization

• Organization get more effective decision making & problem solving skills

• Aids in development for promotion from within

• Aids in developing leadership skills, motivation, loyalty, better attitude & other aspects that successful workers & manager usually display

• Aids in increasing productivity &/or quality of work

• Develops a sense of responsibility to the organization for being competent & knowledgeable

• Improves labor management relations

• Reduces outside consulting cost by utilizing competent internal consultation

• Stimulates preventive management as opposed to putting out fires

• Eliminates suboptimal behavior (such as hiding tools)

• Creates an appropriate climate for growth, communication

• Aids in improving organizational communication

• Helps employees adjust to change

• Aids in handling conflicts, there by helping to prevent stress & tension

BENEFITS TO THE INDIVIDUAL WHICH IN TURN ULTIMATELY SHOULD BENEFIT THE ORGANIZATION

• Helps the individual in making better decision & effective problem solving

• Through training & development, motivational variables of recognition, achievement, growth, responsibility & advancement are internalized and operationalised

• Aids in encouraging & achieving self development & self confidence

• Helps a person handle stress, tension, frustration & conflict

• Provides information for improving leadership, knowledge, communication skills& attitude

• Increase job satisfaction & recognition

• Move a person towards personal goals while improving interactive skills

• Satisfies personal needs of trainers (and trainee)

• Provides the trainee an avenue for growth & a say his/her own future

• Develop a sense of growth in learning

• Helps a person develop speaking & listening skills; also writing skills when exercise are required

BENEFITS IN PERSONNEL & HUMAN RELATIONS, INTRAGROUP & INTERGROUP RELATIONS & POLICY IMPLEMENTATION

• Improve communication between groups & individuals

• Aids in orientation for new employee & those taking new jobs through transfer or promotion

• Provides information on equal opportunity & affirmative action

• Provides information on other government laws & administrative policies

• Improves interpersonal skills.

• Makes organizational policies, rules & regulation viable.

• Improves morale

• Builds cohesiveness in groups

• Provides a good climate for learning, growth & co-ordination

• Makes the organization a better place to work & live.

THE TRAINING PROCESS/ STEPS IN TRAINING PROGRAMME

Your business should have a clearly defined strategy and set of objectives that direct and drive all the decisions made especially for training decisions. Firms that plan their training process are more successful than those that do not. Most business owners want to succeed, but do not engage in training designs that promise to improve their chances of success. Why? The five reasons most often identified are:

TIME - Small businesses managers find that time demands do not allow them to train employees. GETTING STARTED - Most small business managers have not practiced training employees. The training process is unfamiliar.

BROAD EXPERTISE - Managers tend to have broad expertise rather than the specialized skills needed for training and development activities.

LACK OF TRUST AND OPENNESS - Many managers prefer to keep information to themselves. By doing so they keep information from subordinates and others who could be useful in the training and development process.

SKEPTICISM AS TO THE VALUE OF THE TRAINING - Some small business owners believe the future cannot be predicted or controlled and their efforts, therefore, are best centered on current activities i.e., making money today.

A well-conceived training program can help your firm succeed. A program structured with the company's strategy and objectives in mind has a high probability of improving productivity and other goals that are set in the training mission.

Training programmes are a costly affair, & a time consuming process. Therefore they need to be drafted very care fully. Usually in the organization of training programmes,

High Impact training Model

Above mentioned is a high impact training model contains six phase process. This focuses on providing effective, targeting training. We follow this model, to make our training efforts have positive impact on our organization. Each step of this model move our training project forward. To

Map the Approach (Phase 2) Track Ongoing Follow-Through (Phase 6) Identify Training Needs (Phase 1) Produce Learning Tools (Phase 3) Apply Training Techniques (Phase 4) Calulate Measurable Results (Phase 5)