Companies should undeestand the importance of training
employees for greater productivity.An employee that is well trianed will nbe great asset to the organization.These are some of the steps thjat can be taken to ensure that employees under go proper training.
Define the training objectives – Specify the skills, knowledge and attitude that the participants will possess at the end of the training programme. Objective should be SMART compliant – actions or performance must be observable, measurable, realistic, time bound and expressed in action verbs. Also, it should contain the 3 basic elements – terminal performance (action) conditions (tools) and standard of performance (criteria). The types of objectives will determine the choice of word s when writing objectives – cognitive domain involves words like define, apply, understand, analyse; psychomotor requires words such as handles, adjusts, tests, loads, scans; while words like show interest in, sensitive to, willing to value and recognise describe affective domain. There should be behavioural objectives checklist to determine the expected level of proficiency or competency and confirm if the training satisfy its declared objectives.
- Planning Training Programmes – These must be developed to meet the needs and objectives by using the right combination of training techniques, locations, venues, training materials/ media and other logistics. Training programme designers need to know the effect they wish to achieve and effectively choose appropriate training tools and techniques that will facilitate effective learning.
- Identify Trainers or Resource persons – Trainers or external vendors identified should possess the required attitude and skills to present material in a way which encourage learning. External vendors could be contracted where there is lack or shortage of required competence within the organisation. The resource person must not only be a subject matter expert but also possesses the required attributes of a certified trainer. The extent to which training is provided from within or outside needs to be decided by the appropriate authorities.
- Articulate Goals of Training – A trainer needs to know what new skills and observable behaviours will result from a training programme in order to make informed choices about what programmes to offer. By dispelling unrealistic expectations, learners gain a clear sense of current status and desired outcome to better measure personal progress.
- Implementation – this is the point where training is delivered and where trainer makes it happen by creating a climate in which learners can learn effectively. To be effective at this stage, the trainer must understand the learning needs, understand how to close the performance gap and equally appreciate the dynamics of the learner’s readiness level. It is the responsibility of the trainers to adopt appropriate techniques and use learning materials/aids that will enable participants acquire the desired change in behaviour.
- Provides for Evaluation – A good training plan will establish a framework for measuring the degree to which a learner has acquired a desired competence or can perform a desired task as contained in the programme objectives. Consequently, the effectiveness of training is monitored during programmes and, subsequently, the impact of training is assessed to determine the extent to which learning objectives have been achieved. Evaluation should measure different levels of training impact which includes the following:
Reaction – measures participants’ reaction to the learning experience.
Learning – this measures the amount of learning that took place during the learning experience.
Application – determines the amount of learning actually applied on-the-job and barriers or enhancers to the transfer of learning.
Impact or Result – This confirms the operational impact that the applied learning and associated work environment changes have had upon the organization.
Evaluation should be a continuous process and commences from the pre-learning through the implementation up to post learning period.
Explore the outcome of evaluation – On the basis of results obtained from evaluation, a decision has to be made on the need to amend or extend training as necessary or determine the extent to which the planned training programme needs to be improved upon.
In order to organise and implement a successful training programme in response to market demands training plan is an inevitable instrument which guides the process from needs analysis to evaluation stages and enhances a systematic standard operating procedure to achieve the set objectives and also, guarantees return on investment.