Chapter 7 (Book)

Why is training a necessary activity for both new and experienced employees?

Training is a necessary activity for both new and experienced employees since:

• New employees must learn how to do their jobs

• Experienced employees must learn how to keep up with job changes and improve their performance

What are the five steps required for effective organizational training programs?

The five steps required for effective organizational training programs are:

1. Conducting a needs assessment study in order to determine who needs training and what kind of training is needed

2. Set objectives so that it’ll be clear what training should accomplish

3. Design the training program

4. Deliver the training to those employees designated by the needs assessment

5. Evaluate the training to be certain that it reached its objectives.

• If the training was ineffective, the training design should be modified

What are the simple 5 steps in developing an effective training program?

The simple 5 steps in developing an effective training program are:

1. Conducting training needs assessment

2. Set objectives

3. Design training

4. Deliver training

5. Evaluate training

What is a needs assessment conducted to do?

A needs assessment is conducted to determine:

• Which employees need training

• What the content of their training should be

Ensure that training resources are spent in areas where there is a demonstrated training need

What levels should a needs accessment focus on?

A needs assessment should focus on 3 levels

• Organization

• Job

• The person

Organization level- The objectives of the organization and how the objectives are addressed by the performance of the employees

Job level- concerned with the nature of the tasks involved in each job, job analysis used to identify the major tasks and the KSAOs for each task

Person level- concerned with how well job applicants/ employees are able to do tasks

Why are objectives important in developing a training program?

Objectives of the training program are important since they lay out the purpose of training

• Allow us to design a training program to achieve the purpose

• The objectives of training are based on criteria and should include a statement of what a trainee should be able to do/know after training

Transfer of Training

The degree to which employees apply what they have learned in training on the job

• Transfer is affected by the job environment and training itself and there is no guarantee that training will always transfer

• Individual differences in characteristics among trainees are also an important consideration in whether or not training will transfer

What factors influence transfer of training on the job?

Transfer of training to the job is influenced by:

• Trainee characteristics

• Training design: Feedback, General principles, identical elements, overlearning, sequencing

• Work environment

Which all influence learning, which all then influence the transfer of training on the job

What are the individual diferences that affect learning in training?

The individual differences that affect learning are in ability and motivation

• Differences are important when it comes to the design of training

• A good streategy for training is to give each individual trainee the amount of training necessary for them to reach the training criterion

Why does feedback affect the transfer of learning?

Feedback affects the transfer of learning, since it is an important component of learning

• Feedback should be built into the training, so that the trainee can tell if they are learning the correct material

• Training that is intended to teach a skill should allow trainees to practice and get feedback as they learn, it’s also built into the task itself

Why does general principles affect the transfer of learning?

General principles means that training should teach why something is done and how it is done

• Provides a framwork for learning and allows employees to apply it to their jobs

Why does identical elements affect the transfer of learning?

Identical elements are responses/stimuli in the training situation that are identical to those in the job situation

• Stimuli that the person perceives will be identiical in both settings

• Closer the match in both responses and stimuli, it will be easier for the trainees to apply what has been learned in the training to the job setting

Why does overlearning affect the transfer of learning?

Overlearning affects the transfer of learning because it gives the trainee practice a lot of practice to reach a criterion for success

• Person learns the materials and then continues to overlearn it

• Person consolidates the new knowledge/skill, so that they can use what has been learned with little thought

• Wants the person to achieve automaticity

Automaticity

When a person can perform a task smoothly without the person having to mentally monitor or pay attention to how they are performing

• Ex. Driving a car or riding a bike

• Results in more effective performance and should be the goal for much organizational training

How is overlearning built into training?

Overlearning is built into training through practice and repetition

• Information and knowledge training can include repeittion of important concepts

• Examinations

• Pracice of manual skills

Sequencing of training sessions

The order in which training topics or activities are presented to maximize learning and retention

• Structuring how tasks are broken down

• How timing is distributed to maximize learning, retention, and transfer of skills to the job

Part Training

Process of training where a task is broken into components, which are learned one at a time

• After the components are learned, the entire task is taught as a whole

• Used when tasks are too complex to be learned all at once

Whole Training

Process of training where an entire task is taught at one time rather than breaking it into individual components

Massed Training

Duration of training sessions where they are long and take place over a short period of time

• Is a relative term

Spaced training

Duration of training sessions, where they are short and are spread out over time

• Is a relative term

Benefits/ downfalls of spaced training

Spaced training is:

• Less efficient (travel time, having to find a replacement)

• More effective and produces better learning

Benefits/ downfalls of massed training

Massed training is:

• More efficient (to just do training in one block)

• Massed training can produce boredom, which interferes with learning and there are limits as to how long a person can learn before they become tired

What are the eight different training methods?

The eight different training methods are:

1. Audiovisual instruction

2. Autoinstruction

3. Conference

4. Lecture

5. Modeling

6. On-the-job training

7. Role-playing

8. Simulation

Audiovisual instruction

Training method that involes the electronic presentation of materials, using a computer or other device

• Presents materials that could not otherwise be heard or seen, adds visual elements

• Can use videos to increase interaction

• Can be used to train many people at once

Autoinstruction

Training method that is self-paced and doesn’t use an instruction

• Programmed instruction divides the material into individual chunks and allows the person to work at their own pace

• Feedback when the person answers the question

• Can be on a book or device

• Advantages: gives immediate feedback to trainees and provides individualized pacing

Conference

Meering of trainees and a trainer to discuss the material in question

• Participants can discuss the material and ask questions, free flow ideas

• Can create an active learning environment that engages the trainees and allows for feedback

Lecture

Presentation by a trainer to a group of trainees

• One trainer can present material to a large number of trainees at the same time

• Is economical and a good information- giving method

• Mass presentation limits the amount of feedback that can be given

Modeling

Method of training where trainees watch someone perform a task and then model what they have seen

• Provides a high level of feedback and provides practice of new skills

• Models can show borth effective and ineffective examples of behavior

On the job training

Any methof used to show employees how to do the job while they are doing it

• Often occurs while the person is doing various job tasks

• Can involve apprenticeship or watching an experienced employee to see how the job should be done

• Gives exposure to the actual job and ensures a high level of transfer

Role play

Type of simulation where the trainee pretends to be doing a task

• Usually involves an interpersonal situation, such as advice giving or feedback

• Doesn’t have to involve first observing another person perform the behavior

• Provides a high level of feedback and provides practice of new skills

Simulation

A technique in which specialized equipment or materials are used to show a task situation

• Trainees are to pretend that the situation is real and carry out their tasks like they would in the actual situation

• Ensures a high level of transfer and provides practice of new skills

E Learning (Electronic learning)

Training that involves the use of electronic tools, often Web based

• Can use technology to deliver a training originally developed for another medium (Ex. recording a lecture)

• Others can have online assessments

Blended Learning

Method of training that combines electronic learning (E learning) with other more traditional methods

• Ex. Classroom lecture with E learning excerises

Mentoring

A work relationship between 2 employees where the more experienced offers advice, counseling, friendship, and serves as a role model

• Can help an employee develop their career over time

Exectiive coaching

Coaching that helps well performing managers enhace their management skills

• Consultant serves as an executive coach that helps the manager improve their job performance

What are the 5 steps to evaluating a training program?

The 5 steps to evaluating a training program are:

1. Develop the criteria

2. Choose the design and the measure

3. Collect data

4. Analyze and interpret results

What is training criteria and what are the 2 levels of training criteria?

Training criteria is the standard by which training can be evaluated

• It’s divided into 2 levels: training level and performance level

Training-level criteria

Criteria that is concerned with what people are able to do at the end of training in the training environment itself rather than on the job

• Concerned with what the person learned

Performance-level criteria

Criteria that is concerned with the person’s performance on the jon rather than in the training setting

• Concerned with the transfer of training (effects of training on the job itself)

How do performance level and training level criteria work hand in hand in evaluating the effectiveness of training?

Performance level training shows whether the training has an intended effect on the job and what employees learned in the training

What are the four types of classifying criteria, two of which can be in the performance level and two in the training level?

The 4 types of classifying criteria are:

• Reactions

• Learning

• Behavior

• Results

Reactions criteria

Evaluation of training that looks at:

• How much each trainee liked the training

• How much the trainee believed they got out of it

• Training level

Learning criteria

Evaluations of training that looks at:

• What the person learned in training

• What the trainee is able to demonstrate behaviorially in terms of knowledge and skills acquired in training

• Assessed with an examination at the end of training

• Training level

Behavior criteria

Evaluations of training that looks at:

• Trainee’s behaviors on the job that might have been due to training

• Looks at whether the person is doing the things they were taught

• Performance level

Results criteria

Evalulations of training that looks at:

• Whether the training had its intended effects on the organization itself

• Performance level

Design

Structure of a study that specifies how data is collected

Pretest- posttest design

Design that provides information about how much the trainees gained from the training

• Used to assess the amount learned in the training itself or the amount of change in the behavior back on the job

• Measures of interest are assessed before the training begins (pretest) and again after it has been completed (posttest)

What is the structure of a pretest-posttest training evaluation design?

The structure of a pretest- posttest training evaluation design is:

• Pretest assessment of criteria → Training delivery → Posttest assessment of criteria

Control Group Design

Design that compares employees who have received training to equivalent employees who have not been trained

• A group of employees is selected for the study, half are assigned at random to the trained group and the other half are the controls who receive no training

• At the end of the training, all the employees are assessed on the measures of interest and the comparsion between the two groups of employees shows the effects of the training

How does a well conducted evaluation study provide information about?

A well conducted evaluation study provides information about whether a training program has its intended effects on individuals and organizations

• Training program that is ineffective should be modified to be effective or eliminated

• Evaluating training practices will lead to better use of training resources and a more effective workforce