Chapter 6 – Training, Learning, and Development

• Chapter 6 focuses on training, learning, and development.
• It covers purposes, activities, links to strategy, needs assessment, program planning, employee development, and career management systems.

Key Definitions

• Training is a planned organizational effort to facilitate employees' job-related knowledge, skills, and behaviors.
• Formal Training includes talent development programs, courses, and events organized by the organization.
• Informal Learning is learner-initiated, action-oriented, driven by intent to develop, and outside formal settings.
• Employee Development combines formal education, job experiences, relationships, and assessments to prepare employees for future careers.
• Learning Culture is an organizational commitment to ongoing learning, sharing, support, communication, and understanding.
• Continuous Learning is a system where employees gain new skills, apply them, and share their learning.
• DEIB Education and Training aims to support diversity, inclusion, and address specific needs of underrepresented groups.
• Orientation prepares employees to perform jobs, learn about the organization, and build work relationships.
• Onboarding transfers organizational, team, and role-specific knowledge to new employees.
• Chatbots are AI applications for personalized text-to-speech conversations.
• Instructional Design systematically develops training to meet specified needs.
• A Learning Management System (LMS) automates training administration, development, and delivery.
• Needs Assessment evaluates the organization, employees, and tasks to determine training needs.
• Organizational Analysis determines training appropriateness by evaluating organizational characteristics.
• Person Analysis identifies individual needs and readiness for learning.
• Task Analysis identifies tasks, knowledge, skills, and behaviors for training emphasis.
• Readiness for Learning combines employee characteristics and a positive work environment.
• E-Learning is training via the internet or intranet.
• Electronic Performance Support Systems (EPSS) provide access to skills training, information, and expert advice.
• On-the-Job Training (OJT) uses experienced individuals to guide trainees in practicing job skills at work.
• Internships, Co-operative Education, and Simulations are experiential methods of learning.
• Virtual Reality (VR) offers an interactive, three-dimensional learning experience.
• Augmented Reality (AR) overlays virtual media onto the physical world.
• Metaverses are immersive three-dimensional virtual worlds for interaction via avatars.
• Experiential Programs involve learning by simulating behaviors and analyzing activities.
• Adventure Learning is teamwork and leadership training through challenging physical activities.
• Cross-Training enables team members to understand and perform each other's skills.
• Action Learning involves teams solving actual problems and committing to action plans.
• Microlearning delivers concepts in rapidly and in short formats.
• Transfer of Learning is the on-the-job application of learned knowledge, skills, and behaviors.
• Communities of Practice are groups of employees who work together, learn, and improve work processes.
• Protean Careers change frequently based on individual interests, abilities, and values.
• Microcredentials are short courses that accelerate skills and use digital badges.
• Assessment involves collecting information and providing feedback on behavior, skills, or communication style.
• The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) identifies preferences for energy, information gathering, decision making, and lifestyle in order to inform team building and leadership development.
• Leaderless Group Discussions are assessment exercises where teams solve a problem under a time limit.
• Job Experiences include relationships, demands, tasks, and other aspects of an employee's work.
• A Transfer assigns an employee to a different area, typically at the same level.
• A Downward Move assigns an employee to a role with less responsibility.
• A Promotion assigns an employee to a position with greater challenges and authority, with increased pay.
• An Externship involves employee development through a temporary position at another organization.
• A Sabbatical is a leave of absence for skill renewal or development.
• A Coach is a peer or manager who mentors and provides feedback
• Self-Assessment involves employees evaluating their own career interests, values, and aptitudes.
• Feedback is information given to employees about their skills and how they fit into the organization's plans.
• Career Paths are identified progressions of jobs or roles within an organization.

Purposes and Activities

• Organizations invest in learning experiences. HR helps this by establishing opportunities in training, learning, and development for employees
• Training helps employees acquire job-related knowledge, skills, and behaviours.
• Formal training includes talent development programs, courses, and events organized by an organization which employees are required to complete (online or face-to-face).
• Informal learning is learner-initiated, action-oriented, driven by one's intent to develop, and does not occur in formal learning settings.
• Employee Development combines formal education, job experiences, relationships, and assessments of abilities in order to prepare employees for their careers.

Strategy and Organizational Needs

• Workplace training and employee development ensures firms are competitive on a national scale
• These organizations identified strategic training goals:
• Improving organizational performance
• Enhancing individual employee performance
• Developing leaders
• Modern learners have a significant influence in learning and development practices in reference to engagement

Culture of Learning

• Learning culture: the organizational commitment to learning, sharing, support, communication, and understanding.
• Strong learning cultures lead to improved leadership (41%), employee (39%), communication (35%), and productivity (32%).
• Continuous learning requires employees to understand the entire work system, acquire new skills, apply them, and share what they have acquired.
• A focus on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belongingness are required
• DEIB Education and Training supports positive attitudes about diversity, uncover specific needs of underrepresented groups and fosters inclusivity.
• Companies must develop employees to embrace differences like age, ethinicity, education, religion etc

Employee Readiness

• Diversity education and training can impact cognitive, affective, and behavioral outcomes.
• An orientation program is designed to prepare employees to perform their jobs, learn about the organization, and establish work relationships.
• Onboarding prepares and socializes new employees to fully participate. It focuses on transferring organizational, team, and role-specific knowledge. A comprehensive onboarding prepares employees in four areas:
• Complying with policies and rules
• Clarifying job requirements
• Understanding organizational culture
• Connecting with co-workers
• Onboarding processes combine printed and audiovisual materials, classroom instruction, on-the-job training, e-learning, sponsors, affinity groups and chatbots
• Instructional design—systematically develops training to meet specified needs:
  • Step 1 - assess the needs of what the organization requires that its people learn
  • Step 2 - ensure that employees are ready in terms of attitudes, motivation, basic skills, and work environment.
  • Step 3 – program planning i.e program objectives, trainers, and methods are considered
  • Step 4 - implement the program
  • Step 5 – results are evaluated for future programs

Needs Assessment

• Needs assessment evaluates the organization, individual employees, and tasks to determine if training is necessary. The Needs Assessment Process incorporates what topics should be covered
• Reasons for training may arise due to legislation, poor performance, new technology, customer requests, or other factors.
• Outcomes lead to a set of decisions as to how to address the issues that prompted the needs assessment e.g enhanced rewards to improve motivation
• Organizational analysis determines the appropriateness of training considering organizational characteristics, strategy, resources, and management support.
• Person analysis determines individual needs and readiness for learning e.g Do gaps result from lack of skill or knowledge?, who needs the training, are they ready?
• Task analysis identifies tasks, knowledge, skills, and behaviors that training should emphasize. HR looks at the conditions in which tasks are performed: equipment and environment.
• Effective training requires a program to address real needs and employee readiness, that is a combination of employee characteristics and a positive work environment
• Employees require basic learning skills: written and spoken language, math and reasoning.
• Readiness also depends on situational constraints (limits to training effectiveness) and social support.

Training Program, Implementation & Evaluation

• Planning starts with setting objectives.
• The goal of the program is that trainees are able to apply what they learn to the job
• Effective training objectives include components stating what the employee is expected to, the standards that is performance based and identifies the necessary resources.
• A service is selected by posting a request for proposal (RFP), a document outlining the type of service needed and other requirements
• Training Methods can range from presentation, hands-on to team-building methods.
  • Presentation: lectures, videos, website
  • Hands-on: simulations, games, role-plays, computer
  • Group or team based: discussions, experiential programs, team training

Training Methods

• Blended combinations is a good way to teach trainees using lectures and discussions
• Distance learning involves trainees at different locations using their computers to view lectures, participate in discussions, and share documents.
• Computer-based training offers audiovisual content, allowing users control aspects of the presentation
• E-learning: involves receiving training via Internet or the organization's intranet, and is used in web-based training modules, distance learning, and virtual classrooms.
• Electronic performance support systems (EPSSs) are computer applications that provide access to skills training, information, and expert advice
• On-the-job training can also be used in combination with classroom training
• Social media is affecting the way employees learn
• On-the-job training (OJT) provides people with the job experience and skills needed in order to assist learners
• An Apprenticeship is a work-study training method in order to teach job skills
• Simulations can be used in instances that people's decisions result in real-life occurrences
• Virtual reality (VR) is computer based in order to move people through the simulated environment

Training Principles

• Microlearning contains small portions of information in short formats
• Simplicity is always best when dealing with learners
• Assessment: the goal of implementation that can be learned in training
• Evaluation can improve how management gain information through feedback
• Development For a Career is one where a person can change interests based on changes in work environments

Approaching Development

• Formal education
• Assessment
• Experience
• Psychological profiles can determine one's way of thinking in certain situations

Myers-Briggs Indicator

• identifies person's preferences in certain situations
• In assessment centers, this indicator is used in order to nominate employees
• 360 degree feedback analyzes multiple employee's performances
• Some organizations look at job experiences in order to look for new skillsets an employee may retain