Introduction
A lot of business organizations desire to pass training skills to their employees and workers in an aim to equip them with the necessary skills to achieve the organization’s goals. Therefore, a training model is a step by step procedure designed by a business organization describing how training practices are offered to their employees. The model gives the desired algorithm for the entire training process as desired by the organization’s management.
In such a model, a trainee goes through an initial step of training where he or she acquires a certain level of training. Upon certification that the first level skills have been fully grasped, they proceed to the next level.
Organizations can be classified into several categories according to the training method. The first category is the centralized training organization where trainings are organized within the enterprise and carried out on trainees organized into a single training unit. All the training processes and procedures in this system are centrally manned and the parties involved are all answerable to one overall manager or supervisor. This method of training is common with small organizations that take part in small scale production.
The second category is the decentralized training organizations which are the exact opposite of the centralized training organizations. In this model, the training process is carried out in such a way that the trainees are grouped into several different groups located in various business enterprises. The involved parties are only answerable to their branch senior supervisors who are in turn answerable to the overall supervisor. Such a system of training is common in large scale organizations that perform bulky productions and mostly have their organizations split into different departments with each department operating independently.
Developing a training model
Needs assessment
This is the first step followed by every single party in the training process. It is kick-started by the human resource personnel. This particular process is sub-divided into three stages which are analysis of the organization, task scrutiny, and analysis of the individual.
Organizational analysis deals with many issues including; the goals and objectives of the organization alongside its mission statement and strategic plans and management strategy describing the staffing requirements in both long and short terms as well as the inventory of the available skills. It also involves the analysis of how efficient the organization is regarding manpower expenses and materials, fixed asset utilization, productivity and its rate, costs incurred in supply, and other costs incurred in repairs, delivery, and materials used in the production process.
Other factors considered during the analysis are the emerging issues in equipment, technology, and process mechanization, company’s annual report, plans relating to system job reshuffling, control, and management patterns, the employees’ opinions about the goods and their level of satisfaction with their products (Brown & Seidner, 2013).
Job description
In general, task analysis results in information relating to a job or a group of jobs available in the given organization and the technical knowhow, academic qualifications mentality and the abilities required to achieve the most out of it. The data about task analysis can be collected using several methods.
First, the job description can be carried out to give an outline of the job in terms of the activities involved in the job and the required conditions to perform that particular job.
KSA and performance contract analyses give detailed requirements such as academic qualifications, skills and the required attitudes and the goals of the job in question together with the gauging conditions for its performance respectively. It is also advisable during this process to analyze the given job by sampling a task associated with it, performing it and evaluating the related works in a questionnaire in terms of their importance and the rate at which they are performed (Gile, 2009).
This is followed by drafting a literature review of the job and a question and answer session about the job. The final process in the job description is the analysis of the problems associated with the job under analysis.
Individual analysis
This kind of analysis involves carrying out a study of the employees to determine how well each of them performs individually on the job. This way, it is possible to find out which of the employees require training and the kind of training they need.
The information required for this analysis include; evaluating the employees’ performance to identify their strengths and weaknesses, physically observing the employees while at work to find out their attitudes, behavior and the outcome of the observed factors, performance shortcomings such as irresponsibility, accidents, poor equipment handling, customer complaints. Others factors are; sampling the work done by the employees to evaluate its quality, asking the managers’ and the employees’ opinions relating to what areas of training they think is lacking in their skills, measuring the morale, motivation and the level of satisfaction and checking that skills of training are up to date (Kaslow, 2006).
At the end of the needs assessment process, if it turns out that there is more than one area of training that needs to be employed, then they are handled in the order of urgency with the priority given to the most urgent issues after which attention shifts the next urgent issues.
The training process can also be intensified by the use of HSRM. Working with this body will boost the training process as far as human resources are concerned. They will provide advice and support due to their tendency to promote the role of human resources as a profession and the provision of related training, certification, and connection among its members. It will also help us with their training summits where human-resource-related issues are discussed.
This body employs the management and enhancement of knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOCs). This method is very important as it ensures that the available resources are properly and correctly utilized for optimum output to be achieved. It is also responsible for improving and delivering the described qualities.
Design phase
This process is carried out on completion and certification of the first phase which is the needs assessment. The design and development process can be assigned to either an expert within the organization or external personnel. The contents of the program are selected and designed according to the required standards using appropriate learning techniques such as lectures, simulations, audiovisual methods as appropriate.
It is important to carry out a design process to choose an effective setting for the training session. Such settings can be at work, in classrooms and academic tours depending on the nature of the training under consideration. Appropriate training aid materials such as simulated pictures, motion pictures, and tapes can be employed to facilitate the process of proper content delivery. This is then finalized by selecting and training the instructors in case they are internal personnel (Pynes, 2013).
Implementation
This is the phase that deals with putting the designed training procedure into practice to achieve the organization’s goals. It involves transferring the knowledge from the trained tutors to the actual employees. Classes are scheduled together with the required facilities and the trainees who in this case are the employees who have been identified to need the training in question. Instructors are equipped with tutoring schedules after which the necessary materials are availed in the scheduled locations and then actual training is conducted.
Developing and delivering the curriculum
Kirkpatrick’s model
According to Donald Kirkpatrick, the process of training assumes a learning model that is described by his learning model theory. The theory states that the entire process of learning is made up of four levels. The first level is known as the reaction of the student where the students are questioned to find out their prior thoughts and feelings about what the training entails (Galloway, 2005).
This is followed by the actual learning which is the advancement of the students’ knowledge on the topic under study. The student who had a correct idea about the subject but with little knowledge gets a broader idea than what he or she already had while those with wrong or no thoughts start afresh.
The next level according to this theory is known as the behavior. It focuses on the students’ behavior, capabilities and the extent to which the students can record improvements at work as they learn. The final level is the results that describe the effects of the business or the undertaken training on the performance of the students.
Galloway’s assessment of Kirkpatrick’s model in the area of e-learning and distance delivery
The author’s assessment is as satisfactory as per the required standards because by evaluating the trainees’ prior thoughts and their behaviors as well as their level of improvement is virtually enough to know their weaknesses, strengths, and potentials which are the core factors in the needs assessment. These three steps, in essence, form the basic cores of the needs assessment phase.
Can a return on investment “easily supplement” the Kirkpatrick model?
According to this article, it is not clear as to whether the returns on investment are an ideal substitute for Kirkpatrick’s model or not. This is because; return as a factor is discussed in a manner so general that it is not possible to tell if it is of an equivalent magnitude as what is anticipated from employing Kirkpatrick’s theory. There could be poor returns which would mean failure of the organization as opposed to Kirkpatrick’s model which automatically gives good returns so long as it is applied by the required protocol in an organization.
Career planning issues
In my selected organization, the issue of career planning will be addressed using both the credential and certification approaches. Certification will ensure that the considered “Answer Q3” group of people has the required academic qualifications that are necessary to professional practice in the field under deliberation. The credential part of it will ensure that the selected group has additional requirements and qualifications such as; favorable attitude, good working ethics, hard work, reliability, dependability, and the necessary experience.
References
Brown, M., & Seidner, J. (2013). Evaluating Corporate Training: Models and Issues. New York, NY: Springer Verlag.
Galloway, D. (2005). Evaluating distance delivery and e-learning: Is Kirkpatrick’s model relevant? Performance Improvement, 44 (4), 21-27.
Gile, D. (2009). Basic concepts and models for interpreter and translator training. Amsterdam: John Benjamin’s publishing Company.
Kaslow, F. (2006). Supervision and training: Models, dilemmas, and challenges. New York, NY: Haworth Press.
Pynes, J. (2013). Human resources management for public and nonprofit organizations: A strategic approach. London, UK: McGraw Hill.