Training and development function has been in existence ever since the organizations realized that learning was important for growth and sustainability. However, there is a shift from traditional training where training function was seen as an isolated department to integrated training framework where all the stakeholders such as organization, employees, line managers and HR managers are involved in designing and delivery of training. This paper examines and identifies best practices in training keeping in mind the shifting focus and highlights unique training practices of various companies in India.
Introduction: Many say that the onus of training and development is on the HR Managers but successful organizations believe in integrated training framework with shared training responsibility on organization, employees, line managers and most importantly HR Managers. HR Managers should facilitate training not just by planning various interventions for the employees but also by supporting any formal or informal initiative taken by them to learn and share knowledge.
Today training is an integral part of talent management with increased focus on capability building. Capability building involves preparing talent not only for today but developing skills anticipating the future requirements as well.
In India however line managers shy away from training mainly because of the cost involved. There is a dearth of objective measures to measure training and explain how it contributed to bottom line. This makes many CEOs uncomfortable in giving a go ahead on large spends on training.
Linking it back to the instruction system design model, evaluation needs to be designed much before the training is actually rolled out. HR Managers and line managers should be very clear on why, what and how of training and what is the end result they expect out of training. Based on these questions the evaluation process needs to be designed which will assess whether training has actually achieved what it was designed for.
Such procedures also help build training’s credibility in the eyes of all the stakeholders. Therefore it’s important to understand business priorities and prioritize training accordingly rather than doing training as a ritual every year. Most organizations today have moved into creative ways of making a strategic training plan which adds value to business. The next section will talk about best practices implemented by various organizations in their respective companies.
Objectives of the Study:
a) Examination of the strategic role played by training function in business.
b) Identifying best practices adopted by organizations to train their employees.
Research Methodology: The Research Methodology comprises the following:
a) Detailed analysis of data obtained from secondary sources such as books, journals and magazines.
Limitations and Further Research:
• This study is based only on the data obtained from secondary sources only and more valuable insights could be gathered by doing an empirical study.
• To analyze the subject in detail the study needs to be extended to a more number of organizations having progressive training practices.
Literature Review:
Today organizations have to look at creative ways to build skills and capabilities amongst employees taking into consideration the unique needs of every stakeholder such as employees, organization, line managers and HR managers. The integrated training calls for all the stakeholders being involved in designing and delivery of training programs. Organizations are also moving towards newer philosophy of training. Akin to the manufacturing philosophy of ‘Just in Time’ training is moving towards following ‘JIT’ training. ‘JIT’ training indicates trying hard to reduce the cost and wastage associated with training by providing it only when it is needed and not sending employees for training just for the purpose of leisure.
Catering to unique needs of each level of employees McDonalds has specialized programs designed for various categories of employees. They focus on each level of employee’s career growth and design training programs accordingly. For example McDonalds has a graduate career advancement program to enable selected employees to reach up the higher level in the organization. They also have a floor manager course which acts as an entry point to managerial level. All these programs have specialized modules of training for employee skill up gradation.
Training is also moving away from traditional ways to more informal ways like coaching and mentoring. For example organizations like Hindustan Unilever have institutionalized unique initiatives like ‘Talent Super League’ where employees are felicitated based on their performance as mentors. The mentees choose the best mentors followed by a common award ceremony.
Apart from the functional training behavioral training is also extremely important. Most often it is seen that behavioral training programs are organized for employees working at higher levels. However organizations in certain industry such as hospitality need to develop behavioral skills amongst their employees even at entry levels as they face the customers. Marriott hotels gives special emphasis to this and trains their entry level employees into a number of behavior skills such as listening skills, grooming, handling challenging guests etc to name a few.
Another important dimension to training is the methods used to train employees. Today the focus is shifting from traditional training such as classroom training to e learning. Further employees are given option to learn at their pace. A repository of training programs and e learning modules are made available at a centralized location where employees can download the required module whenever they want.
Analysis and Findings: The above study indicates several implications for the training function in India. They are:
1. Strategic Focus: Training needs to have a strategic focus. Organizations need to understand the business priorities while designing training initiatives. HR Managers play an important role in aligning training to the business by understanding business goals and proprieties from senior leaders. Once they understand business priorities effort should be taken to assess current talent capability and anticipate future requirements to design training programs around the organization’s need. s
2. Integrated approach: Involvement of all important stakeholders’ ie senior leaders, line managers, team leaders, employees and HR Managers together creates an integrated learning framework. Employees need to be involved in every stage of training whether it is identifying training needs, understanding employee expectations, designing and delivery and finally evaluation of training.
3. Using multiple methods: Training methods need to be a blend of classroom training, outdoor training and virtual training. Virtual training is much broader than e learning. Virtual training involves usage of internet, multimedia and games as well which are some of the new techniques to train especially the Gen Y employees.
4. Differentiate training level wise: No more training can be given as a same capsule to every employee. Needs of a fresher in terms of training as compared to mid level manager is different. Organizations need to note this aspect, be more sensitive towards unique needs of each of this level of employees and organize training close to their needs.
5. Measure training: Measuring training is an important step which is often not implemented even in leading Indian corporate. Finding out measures to reveal the return on investment of a training program will create more buy in from senior management.
Conclusion: Training function has moved from traditional focus to a more integrated platform. However two areas which need urgent attention and where Indian organizations are lacking are building the strategic focus n training by linking all training activities to business and evaluation of training. Developing ways and means to gauge return on investment in training is critical for building its credibility. Indian organizations are coming up with creative training practices to support business however there is still a long way for training to become a value added function.
References:
1. http://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/589/how-learning--development-must-change-three-challenges
2. http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-08-21/news/33303058_1_master-class-mahindra-mahindra-rajeev-dubey
3. http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-04-20/news/31374112_1_hul-managers-hul-ceo-nitin-paranjpe-leverites
4. Assessing HR in Global economy, Journal Of NIPM, April-June 2012
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