Introduction

Recently, the business environment is becoming more competitive and demanding. To achieve sustainable competitive advantage in the market place is not an easy task for managers. Besides, at the turn of this century, the society as a whole is transforming into a knowledge-based economy, where the proportion of knowledge workers in companies have increased tremendously, and the management of knowledge workers is becoming an essential topic for managers. Both these trends demand us to focus extensively on the human resources strategies and practices of a company. As the business environment is becoming more complex, the human capital factor is becoming more influential towards a firm’s performance. Besides, as the economy is transforming into a knowledge-based economy, the development and management of human resources is an area too critical to be ignored by managers or business leaders alike.

As the business environment is pressing extra demand on an effective human resources management, studies and researches on this areas is highly essential for companies striving for above average performance and profitability. This is particularly true in the area of human resources development to enhance the skills and competitiveness of the workers in an organization. In the context of human resources development however, training program is particularly important area to be investigated. It is essential for businesses to train their workers appropriately and sufficiently so that these workers will be able to meet the challenges in the marketplace today. However, the researches on training programs and how the design of a training program is relatively less as compared to other popular human resources topic such as motivation, job satisfaction, or leadership. Considering these, this essay will be structured to investigate the nature and characteristics of the training program in details and evaluate how the training programs’ characteristics will affect the effectiveness of training programs.

Training and Development of Workforce

Training and development of employees is a wide topic in the context of human resources management. Usually, the term training can be defined as the series of activities, planned and formulated to support the workforce learning process on a certain knowledge, skills, competencies and behaviors. Training and development programs is often considered important because it is useful towards achievement of company performance, attainment of competitive advantages, and it can facilitate the achievement of strategic directions of an organization. The development of a training program is a complex process, where many factors must be considered before effective training program can be delivered to the participants (Sekowski, 2002). The various factors to be considered in planning and execution of a planning program include the objectives of training, the types of training program to be delivered, the selection of trainers (i.e., be it internal staffs or external consultants), the places used for training, and even the costs and expenses involved (Brown & Xin, 2010).

Steps Involved in Developing an Effective Training Program

In order to design a truly effective training and development program, a systematic approach is often argued to be better, as by following a systematic approach in designing of a training program, the effectiveness of that training program can be increased. Thus, researchers have been arguing that a specific instructional training design process should be used (Sekowski, 2002). There are many models or framework designed by the researchers to cater for such needs, but generally, the various steps to design an effective training program should consists of the following: (a) conduct training needs assessment, (b) determining the employees’ readiness for a training program, (c) cultivation of a learning environment, (d) the design of the training program for transfer of knowledge, (e) selection if training methods, and (f) training program evaluation. All these steps will be further discussed in details in the following section (Brown & Xin, 2010; Goldstein, 1993; Sekowski, 2002).

Conduct Training Needs Assessment

Before formulating any training program, it is essential for management to assess the training needs and to understand why a training program is required. To achieve this, it is suggested that the training needs assessment should cover at least three parts, namely, the organizational analysis, personal analysis and the task analysis. Through comprehensive analysis on these three dimensions, the objectives of training program as well as the design of training program can be formulated more accurately.

Organizational analysis. Under such analysis, the organization mission, vision and strategies are being analyzed, and investigated if relevant training programs should be formulated to achieve these stated mission, vision and strategies. Under such analyses, the lacking of certain knowledge, skills and intended behaviors among workforce can be identified, and then the necessary knowledge, skills and intended behaviors can be taught to the workers (Sekowski, 2002). Not only that, under such analyses, it is also suggested that management should investigate if the particular organization has sufficient resources, manpower, and financial budget to carry out the training program which is designed to support company-wide strategies. For example, if the company has no proper trainers, the company can employ an external consultant to train the manpower in the firm (Brown & Xin, 2010).

Task Analysis. Under task analysis, the details of work flows and work activities are analyzed. This is often started with a comprehensive analysis on a job role, and to observe the tasks to be performed under such job role, and lastly to identify the knowledge, skills, and competencies required in executing the task. After the task is analyzed, then the management can have better understanding on the necessary knowledge, skills, and competencies required by the employees and formulate an effective training program accordingly (Brown & Xin, 2010).

Individual Analysis. Under such analysis, the behaviors, attitudes, competencies, performance, and character of the employees are analyzed. This is to identify the specific employee requiring a training program, and then to understand which training program is best suited to the employee. There can be many reasons on why a particular worker require training, for examples: (a) the employee’s performance is not up to expectation, (b) the employee does not know how to perform effectively, (c) the employee has unwanted attitudes, behaviors and character that must be changed immediately, (d) the employees require positive feedback so that he can further improve his performance, and (e) the employee resist change management program implemented by management (Brown & Xin, 2010).

Determining the Employees’ Readiness for a Training Program

There are researchers pointing out that a proper organization environment or culture should persist before effective training program can be carried out. This is because it is necessary for the employees to have proper attitudes, motivation and mindset before proper training program can be delivered to them effectively. Following such kind of argument, it is important to ensure that the workforce has sufficient self-efficacy before they have the confident and the belief that they can learn from the training program in order to enhance their performance in the company. Not only that, it is also argued that the employees should also comprehend the advantages of having such a training program. Only when the employees understand the benefits from their perspective, they will become more motivated towards the training program. Besides, it is also important for the workers to understand the various training needs, and the objectives of the training program. Without proper understanding on the training objectives, it is very hard for the employees to see the overall picture on why a training program is necessary (Sekowski, 2002).

Cultivation of a Learning Environment

It is management imperative to firstly create a training environment before the training can be executed effectively. Under a proper learning environment, the organization should instill the awareness on why the employees need to learn what the training program is teaching about. Besides, the employees should also be allowed to use their personal experiences as a basis for learning in such a training program. Not only that, management should also ensure that after the training program is delivered, the employees should be given the chances to practice what they had learned. Without practicing, many of the materials taught will be lost and forgotten. Last but not least, the employees should also be given feedback on how they had performed and improve. This is critical so that the materials taught in the training program is reinforced properly even after the training program is over (Clarke, 2010).

Selection of Training Methods

After the general concepts and ideas related to the training program is understood, planned and formulated, the selection of training methods and types are important to ensure the training program is effective in improving organizational performance. Currently, many types of training methods are available and becoming more popular these days, such as classroom training, on-the-job training, role-playing and internship (Leach & Liu, 2003). Besides, it is also discovered that technological advancement is also having impacts on how the training program is conducted. Many training methods and types can be conducted with the aids of technology. Basically, there are three broad types of training methods, namely: (a) presentation method, (b) hands on training methods, and (c) group building training methods. All of these training methods will be discussed as follow (Barron et. al., 1999).

Presentation method. Under presentation method, the training is conducted where by a series of pre-designed presentation slides are used to deliver the knowledge or materials to the trainees. One of the famous types of presentation training methods is to provide classroom training for the trainees. Under such training system, a lecturer or instructor will provide a presentation to the trainees, and the lecturer or instructor often can ask the students about the questions and answers to test if the trainees understand what is being taught. Such a method is inexpensive to be organized, which is the reason giving rise to the popularity of such method (Barron et. al., 1999). However, under the presentation training method, the trainees must be proactive and actively participate in the discussion by asking the instructor on things they do not understand. Else, the benefits of such training method cannot be yield effectively (Brown & Xin, 2010). Other type of training method using the presentation approach is the distance learning training method. Under such approach, the distance learning involves a two way communication between people from different geographical areas. For example such kind of training can be conducted using audio-conferencing, video-conferencing and docu-conferencing, and this will often allows the employees to share ideas, opinion from different regions (Leach & Liu, 2003). Similar to the classroom presentation training method, such kind of training methods is cost savings. However, the most significant drawback of such method is that the two way communication between trainers and trainees are not as effective as those face to face training sessions (Clarke, 2010).

Hands-on method. Under the hands on training method, the variety of training approaches include on the job training method, simulations methods, organizing a business games for trainees, case studies and researches, behavioral modeling approach as well as internship program. One of the effective training methods is to provide on the job training for the workers. Such method is often useful to train up newly employed workers, and to upgrade the skills, experiences and work flows practices of the employees. Besides, as new technology or work flows are introduced to the organization, on the job training is also one of the best choices to be used to train up the inexperience employees. This is effective because many of the times, employees can learn up behaviors, work practices just by observing the more senior guys working on the new technology or work flow (Leach & Liu, 2003). Another form of famous and popular hands on training method is the internship training program. This kind of training method is usually applied to students studying in the universities, and yet wishes to obtain industrial training experiences in the real working world. Many of the big corporation sponsor the student such kind of training program, in the hope that they can ferret out the smart and hard working students, and to persuade the student to join a company after graduation. One of the advantages of such training method is that student can earn some allowances while gaining real life working experiences simultaneously (Clarke, 2010).

Group building methods. Training programs can also be developed using the group-building technique. Under such technique, trainers can assist the trainees to build group identity, to enhance the interpersonal relationships between the team members, to build self-awareness and mutual understandings or tolerance between the team members and to enhance personal development and emotional related capabilities between the trainees. One famous training techniques of such kind is the popular team building program, whereby it is a program designed to engage the participants through adventure learning. Adventure learning is often used to develop team work and leadership or managerial skills of the team member, through undergoing structured and pre-planned outdoor activities. Most of the time, the objectives of such training technique is to develop team work, self-awareness, problem solving skills, Emotional Quotient, conflict management and risk taking skills among the trainees. Besides, another viable form of training program which can be considered as the group building methods is called action learning. Under action learning, a team or work group is given actual problem, and they are expected to work together to solve it. Each of the team members are held accountable for the success of the completion of the task (Leach & Liu, 2003).

Training Program Evaluation

The final step in formulating effective planning program is to evaluate the effectiveness of the training program. This is important because, if the training program designed, planned and executed is not being measured or evaluated, it is impossible for the trainers or management to plan proper and objective improvement to the training program. As one of the main subjects of this dissertation is to evaluate the effectiveness of the training program, a more in-depth discussion of the evaluation of training program will be discussed in the following section (Clarke, 2010).

Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Training Program

Rationales of Evaluating Effectiveness of Training Program

There are many reasons on which a properly formulated evaluation program is required to investigate the effectiveness of a training program. Firstly, an evaluation program is important to determine of the particular training program able to achieve the pre-set objectives in enhancing the skill sets, knowledge or behaviors of the workforce, and if the workforce able to fulfill the requirement of the jobs competently. Secondly, it is crucial to obtain feedback from the trainees if the training program is indeed satisfactorily planned, executed and administered. Not only that, it is also crucial to determine if the training program implemented really provide positive financial contribution to the firm, from a cost-benefits perspectives. Apart from that, when the evaluation records and the many feedback from training participants are well documented, it is possible for the management to compare and contrast the various training program implemented and then to select the most viable and financial rewarding training program for implementation in the organization in the future (Chih et. al., 2008).

The Expected Outcome for an Effective Training Program

Often, the evaluation of training program is done by investigating if the training program delivered able to meet the training objectives (Leach & Liu, 2003). It is vital for the training objectives to be fulfilled, as if that is not done, financial and other resources are wasted in the process of planning and conducting the training program. Thus, the training objectives are often set to become the vital elements to serve as the benchmark to compare if a training program is truly effective and successful (Chih et. al., 2008).

Generally speaking, the many training objectives can be categorized into four broad categories. The four categories are as follow: (a) cognitive, (b) skill-based, (c) affective and (d) return on investment (Goldstein, 1993). All of these dimensions of training objectives will be discussed separately in the following paragraphs.

Cognitive. Cognitive carries the meaning of learning – in which the cognitive outcomes of training program are referred to if the training participants have become more familiar with certain practices, procedures, knowledge, skills, and techniques used in their job or work. To evaluate if the cognitive outcomes of a training program are fulfilled, the traditional type of pencil-and-paper tests can be used to determined the knowledge learned by the trainees (Goldstein, 1993).

Skill-based. The skill-based, or also widely known as the behaviors outcomes of a training program refers to the degree of technical or behavioral skills possess by the trainees after participation in a training program. To evaluate if the trainees are fulfilling the required behavioral outcomes, management can simply observe the trainees if they are adopting or practicing new behaviors after the training program. If the trainees exhibits tendency or behaviors as desired by the training program, then it can be concluded that the behavioral outcomes of the training program is fulfilled or achieved (Goldstein, 1993).

Affective. The affective outcomes of a training program refer to the attitude and motivation level of the trainees after participating in a training program. Such an outcome may not directly observable but they are powerful as the attitude and motivation of the trainees will determine the commitment they will put in the workplace. To evaluate if the affective outcomes of a training program is achieved, management can observed if the trainees are exhibiting better attitudes in performing their daily task on a continuous basis (Chih et. al., 2008; Goldstein, 1993).

Return on investment (ROI). All of the training objectives or desired outcomes that had been identified above are mainly non-monetary in nature. However, monetary evaluation and measurement of a training program can be equally important, as manager would surely like to measure the training benefits to the organization with solid and numerical measures, particularly from financial point of view. It is critical that the costs of implementing the training program should not exceed the potential or real monetary benefits reaped by the company, as that would defeat the purposes of an effective training program (Goldstein, 1993).

The Design of Training Evaluation Scheme

To evaluate the training program, several types of research design of training evaluation program can be performed. Most of the training evaluation program will rely on some form of training and development metrics. Such metrics can be reasonably used to investigate the worth of a particular training program (Barron et. al., 1999). The various metrics or training evaluation measures that are often used by researchers include:

• Improvement of employees’ technical skills.
• Improvement of employees’ knowledge about their work.
• Improvement of employees’ managerial skills.
• Improvement of employees’ motivation to work.
• Improvement of employees’ cooperative attitudes.
• Improvement of employees’ behaviors.
• Improvement of employees’ performance.
• Improvement of company’s product quality.
• Improvement of customers’ satisfaction for the company.
• Improvement of company’s market share.
• Improvement of company’s operational costs.
• Improvement of company’s earnings/ profits

To a large extent, all of these dimensions can be measured through a Likert scale rating system, in which questionnaires are passed to the training participants to ask for their feedback on opinions if the training provided is indeed improving the several dimensions mentioned above (Barron et. al., 1999). By collecting the completely answered questionnaires, the improvement on the respective dimensions can be researched, measured and recorded. By investigating and analyzing the research results, then it is possible that the effectiveness of the training program, from a variety of perspectives, as well as if the different training objectives are fulfilled, can be understood. With more accurate understanding on how the training program implemented can enhance the organization performance, a better version of the training program can then be formulated in the future (Chih et. al., 2008).

Conclusion

The use and development of the proper and effective training programs is critical to the success of an organisation in today modern business environment. In this essay, the steps involved in the development of an effective training program, as well as the discussions pertaining to ways to develop an effective training evaluation scheme were outlined and discussed. This is invaluable information for human resources practitioners to capitalize upon so to leverage on effective training programs to positively human capital development process and progress in their respective organizations.

References

Acemoglu, D. & Pischke, J. (1999). Beyond Becker: Training in imperfect labour markets. The Economic Journal, 109, 112-142.

Ary, D., Jacobs, L. C., & Razavieh, A. (2002). Introduction to Research in Education (Vol. Sixth Edition). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.

Barron, J. M., Berger, M. C., & Black, D. A. (1999). Do workers pay for on-the-job training? Journal of Human Resources, 34, 235-252.

Beardwell, J. & Claydon, T. (2007). Human Resource Management: A Contemporary Approach, (5^th edn). Prentice Hall

Brewster, C., Sparrow, P., and Vernon, G. (2007). International Human Resource Managemen,t (2^nd Edition). Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

Briscoe, D., & Schuler, R. (2004). International Human Resource Management 2e. Routledge: London.

Brown, G., & Xin, W.. (2010, March). Practical considerations in arranging for employee training. China Staff, 16(3), 45-46.

Cavana, R. Y., Delahaye, B. L., and Sekaran, U. (2001), Applied Business Research: Qualitative and Quantitative Methods, Willey & Sons, Ltd.

Chih, J., Liu, C., & Lee, H.. (2008). Relationship between Trainee Attitudes and Dimensions of Training Satisfaction: An Empirical Study with Training Institute Employees. International Journal of Management, 25(4), 756- 765,780.

Clarke, N.. (2010). The impact of a training programme designed to target the emotional intelligence abilities of project managers. International Journal of Project Management, 28(5), 461.

Dowling, P. J., & Festing, M., (2008). International Human Resource Management. Thomson Higher Education, Mason, OH, USA.

Dyer, L., & Holder, G. W. (1988). A strategic perspective of HRM. In L. Dyer & G.W. Holder (Eds.), Human Resource Management: Evolving Roles and Responsibilities. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of National Affairs.

Eman ElShenawy. (2010). Does negotiation training improve negotiators’ performance? Journal of European Industrial Training, 34(3), 192-210.

Goldstein, I. L. (1993). Training in Organizations: Needs Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (Third ed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks and Cole.

Ham, J. C. (1994). Looking into the black box: Using experimental data to find out how training works. International Journal of Manpower, 15(5), 32-37.

Hannum, W.. (2009). TRAINING MYTHS: FALSE BELIEFS THAT LIMIT THE EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS OF TRAINING SOLUTIONS, PART 1. Performance Improvement, 48 (2), 26-30.

Harvey, G., & Turnbull, P. (2006). Employment Relations, Management Style and Flight Crew Attitudes at Low Cost Airline Subsidiaries: The Cases of British Airways/Go and bmi/bmibaby. European Management Journal, 24(5), 330.

Herman Steensma, & Karin Groeneveld. (2010). Evaluating a training using the “four levels model”. Journal of Workplace Learning, 22(5), 319-331.

Jacobs, R. L. & Washington, C. (2003). Employee development and organizational performance: A review of literature and directions for future research. Human Resource Development International, 6(3), 343-354.

Jacobs, R. L. (2003). Structured on-the-job training (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.

Jose L Gasco, Juan Llopis, & M Reyes Gonzalez. (2004). The use of information technology in training human resources: An e-learning case study. Journal of European Industrial Training, 28(5), 370-382.

Kalleberg, A. L., & Van Buren, M. E. (1996). Organizational Differences in Earnings. In A. L. Kalleberg, D. Knoke, P. Marsden, V. & J. L. Spaeth (Eds.), Organizations in America: Analyzing their structures and human resource practices (pp. 200-213). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Kaufman, R. & Keller, J. M. (1994). Levels of evaluation: Beyond Kirkpatrick. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 5(4), 371-380.

Kinnear, T. C., and Taylor, J. R. (2001). Marketing Research and The Applied Approaches. McGraw Hill International.

Kirkpatrick, D. L. (1996). Great ideas revisited technique for evaluating training programs: Revisiting Kirkpatrick’s four-level model. Training & Development, 50(1), 54-59.

Kraiger, K., Ford, J. K., & Salas, E. (1993). Application of cognitive, skill-based, and affective theories of learning outcomes to new methods of training evaluation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 311-328.

Leach, M. P. & Liu, A. H. (2003). Investigating interrelationships among sales training evaluation methods. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 23(4), 327-240.

Leedy, P., and Ormrod, J., (2001). Practical Research: Planning and Design, Merrill Prentice Hall.

Legge, K. (2004). Human Resource Management: Rhetorics and Realities (Management, Work and Organisations), (Ed. Edition). Palgrave Macmillan.

Mindy H Chapman. (2003, January). The return on investment for training. Compensation and Benefits Review, 35(1), 32-37.

Brinkerhoff, R. O. (2005). The Success Case Method: A Strategic Evaluation Approach to Increasing the Value and Effect of Training. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 7(1), 86-101.

Roberta Sappington. (2003). Turning Practitioners Into Trainers. The Journal for Quality and Participation, 26(4), 15-23.

Sekaran, U. (1992). Research Methods for Business: A Skill Building Approach. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Sekowski, G. J. (2002). Evaluating training outcomes: Testing an expanded model of training outcome criteria. Unpublished Ph. D. Dissertation, Depaul University.

Sleezer, C. M. (1993). Training needs assessment at work: A dynamic process. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 4(3), 247-264.

Swanson, R. A. & Holton, E. f. (2001). Foundations of human resource development. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.

Warr, P. B. & Bunce, D. (1995). Trainee characteristics and the outcomes of open learning. Personnel Psychology, 48(2), 347-375.

Weinberg, S. L. (2002). Data analysis for the behavioral sciences using SPSS. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.