Measuring Training Effectiveness in Organisation - Essay Example

?Managing Learning and Development in Organisation Managing Learning and Development in Organisation Over the years, the subject of learning and development in organisation has been linked to business success, and to attain this year-in year-out it means that people at every level of the organisation must repeatedly undergo training and learning. All organisations must treat employee development as a top strategic issue and systematically measure, analyse and evaluate how investment in people creates value. Business growth or value creations depend on many factors for example, technology, human resource development, information management and motivation. All these aspects are inter-related and they should be integrated in every learning process of an organization. Moreover, human resource managers have recognised the importance of aligning learning processes with organisational priorities. This paper will highlight the important aspects of individual and organisational development and how they relate to business success. In details, it will look into how training is effective and its evaluation as well as the importance or its contribution. The second part of the paper explains the importance of training of those prospecting to be teachers to the school, children or students and to themselves. It further explains the principles of effective training importance of teacher evaluation as well as its challenges. Discussion Measuring Training Effectiveness in Organisation Training is a continuous process that involves the transfer of information and knowledge to employers and employees of an organisation in order to meet the needs and goals of the business. It can also mean equipping the people to interpret the information and knowledge into practice with a goal to enhance organisation effectiveness and productivity as well as improve the management of the people (Sriyan de Silva, 1997). Normally, training integrates educational policies and systems which are deemed as important to human resources development. Training effectiveness means that training should provide significant added value to an organisational operations by improving quality, safety and production. While it is clear that training provides additional value to products and services, a calculated training effectiveness is tricky because employee performance depends not only on training, but also on other factors for example, job aids supervision, procedures, pre-job briefings, management expectations, and the experience and motivation of the work force. A good number of organisations are nowadays setting up their own training facilities, and outsourcing talent to carry out in-house training for employees at all levels. This trend has been largely used because new orientation in managerial and technical areas is crucial for effective response to the changing business environment. Training is an expensive task especially if it does not meet the given purpose. Training should be in a position to improve the individual capabilities as well as those of the collective organisation. The training programme should contribute to the building of organisational capabilities and reflect improved performance over a period of time. Otherwise, the organisational loss for example, loss of competitive edge and reduction of market share, is far much greater than the money and time spent on training. Therefore, training should serve stipulated purposes taking into consideration a systematic analysis of its capabilities and the demands brought about by future scenarios. A critical area for achieving expected results from training is the measurement of training effectiveness which is the match between the training inputs and its intended purpose. Most organizations neglect this aspect citing difficulty of measurement even though techniques in social sciences have been developed to sufficiently measure the most important aspects of training. There are kinds of training outputs that an organization need to measure. First is the relationship between course planning, comprehension, relevance and anything else that involve teaching programme and its environment. Secondly, the utilisation of knowledge acquired on job which involves the transfer of what has been learned in class in to the job. These could be competencies, skills, decision making and problem-solving skills as well as company relationships. Lastly is the shift of mind-set in terms of work-related values, attitudes, interpersonal competencies and personal characteristics. Measuring the effectiveness of training can also be termed as training evaluation which determines whether the used training programmes meets its set out purpose, which is producing proficient employees. This focuses on the training programme results rather than the process itself. The prosperity of an organisation depends on determining a training programmes’ effectiveness. Moreover, a yield of effective results depends on training that is based on a reliable analysis of job specific criteria. There are also key elements of training programme effectiveness that should always put into consideration. These elements include, training design and development, training delivery and training execution. The first element is the requirement of a properly designed and developed training programme. However, if the recipients are already experienced, it results in a waste of time and resources as this training will not change anything. The second element is dealt with a defined set of methods and activities to measure training delivery effectiveness. The third element is crucial in helping management effectively distribute resources. It also addresses methods and activities that ensure that training is needed and its impact on the organisation. An effective training is achieved if it can address gaps that exist in issues of policies, procedures, human performance, facilities and equipment. In addition, training is said to be effective if it can be traced to a shortcoming and that it played as a tool in eliminating it. Nonetheless, it is also important to note that a performance deficiency may be non-existence simply because of effective training. There is a huge emphasis for creating knowledge for action rather than just knowledge for its sake (Agyris, 1993). Additionally, knowledge should recognise that organisations involve multifaceted social systems which are doubtful to exert control. Therefore, rather than trying to isolate an organisation form its environment, an organisation ought to adjust to it, embracing opportunities that change can offer (Duesterberg & London 2001). Training effectiveness measures are created to assess the difference between pre and post-training. These measures evaluate the effect of training intervention and other comparable data, and therefore, the organisation should always obtain pre-training data and some benchmark on the same dimension. Another consideration is the trainer clarity on the training goals or the expected outcome, and that the training material and the methodology used can achieve the set results (Education & Training, 2001). The choice of evaluation method or the dependent measure used to operationalise the effectiveness of training is a fundamental decision that has to be made when measuring the effectiveness of training. Although there are many other models used in this evaluation, the Kirkpatrick’s four-level model of training evaluation is commonly used (Kirkpatrick’s, 1996). This model is always found to be appropriate since it contains questions on effectiveness of training and program instructions for example; it asks questions on terms of effectiveness, learning, reactions, behaviours and results. Kirkpatrick’s four-level model has been around for a long time yet few organisations make use of it or some actually do not go past the first level, which is known as the reaction list. Kirkpatrick’s four levels includes reaction criteria, which involves getting participant feedback or views through questionnaires, participants’ informal comments and focus group sessions with participants. These are at times dubbed as self-support measures as they give participant or trainees’ effective and attitudinal responses to the training program (Paul, & Edens, 2003). In spite of the notion that reaction measures are not an appropriate substitute for other key methods of training effectiveness, it is the most widely used evaluation technique (Tannenbaum & Yukl, 1992, p. 425). Secondly, is learning, which includes pre and post test scores, on-the-job assessment and supervisor reports. Tannenbaum and Yukl (1992) explains that learning is executed by use of paper and pen as well as performance test, and that though learning is a necessity, it is not enough for behavior change. However, behavioral criteria are measures of real on-the-job performance, and issues related to the effects of training are dwelt here. Although there is a link between learning and behavioral change, demonstrating this relationship has been a challenge to many researchers (Colquitt et al., 2000). This is because behavior change is prone to environmental variables that can affect the transfer and application of trained skills on the job (Arthur, Bennett, Stanush, & McNelly, 1998) Thirdly, is transfer, which encompasses on-the-job observation, customer, peers and participants’ manager reports, and completed self-assessment questionnaire. Lastly, is a result reaction that covers quality inspections, financial reports as well as sales manager interview. This model focuses on collecting feedback from participants expressing their feelings on various aspects of a program. It also helps in computing the learning that took place through quantifying knowledge, improved skills and attitude change. Finally, this model weighs the behavioral change that is as a result of training and later drawing conclusion on the same. Result criteria uses utility analysis engages chosen personnel intervention while providing a methodology that assesses the money value gained (Cascio, 1998). Apart from Kirkpatrick’s model, there are other two kinds of measuring instruments. The first is detailed questionnaire that collects responses of participants on various dimensions including relevance, evaluation programme, trainer instructor and general evaluation of the programme. Questions are framed and participants are chosen randomly from various departments in an organisation. The exercise is also made to be a voluntary and usually has a time frame. The questionnaire includes a cover letter that provides instructions on how to fill and when to return it (McClelland 2002). The second one is the interview which is a face-to-face human interaction on a personal level. Interview is one of the easiest tool for collecting views and feedback. The questions asked maybe written before the interview or the interviewer can just have a chat with the respondent. Nota taking and video or voice recorder is used to record answers or responses. Both interview and the use of questionnaires are used to identify the concepts or ideas that participants have found beneficial and how they would integrate in their daily office duties. The responses provide an overall assessment of a training programme and its usefulness to the participants (McClelland 2002). Lastly, there are other methods that indicate the individual changes after training and they include; observations that are made before and after training, analsying series of individual work involvement and posing of a problem by an evaluator that requires an individual to solve and additionally, present the factors taken into consideration to arrive at the decision (Education & Training 2001). Although the above measures of training effectiveness can achieve the desired results, the best way to determine the effectiveness of training is understand the reasons why training has been developed. The reason to develop and implement training programme is a key factor in determining the effectiveness of training in addressing performance gaps, and if not set out clearly then it could lead to inappropriate training. Every organisation must establish a suitable need as a basis upon which it can achieve effective training. Once a viable need has been identified, programme content is developed and when the development process is underway, it should involve evaluation activities to monitor training and also update training development. This is important as it allow the trainers to notice progress and detect deviation and be in a good position to rectify before it completely lose its meaning. Part two Effectiveness of learning evaluation in schools Teacher training Academic education involves learning about various definitions, stories, theories, practical and activities by a new person to be able to perform daily office and class work. The new teachers usually are given guidelines from the experienced teachers or even from field experts. It is normal to find senior employees guiding juniors in their daily office work whereby they share their over-the-years experience, but it is not a scheduled task, rather it applies when a junior seeks help from a senior. Training mainly involves impacting employees with skills and knowledge to rise up to an occasion. Training is an activity that is carried in a conducive and appropriate environment for learning. The majorly used training settings include; the classroom, on-the-job training, simulation, laboratory or workshop, computer-based training, self-study and internet or online based training, otherwise known as long distance learning. Alternating between the training types enhances learning, retention and helps uphold trainee motivation. This alteration is also an exceptional way to accommodate different styles taking into consideration that not all students can cope with one type; therefore this creates flexibility and convenience to them. Moreover, supervisors always come up with training modules that covers a combination of linked tasks that represent a percentage of the larger part of the job. Many years of class learning or education and in other cases, child development-specific coursework or training is equaled to better compensation in terms of wages and benefits. However, even as employers use years of education to offer compensation packages, it usually does not considerably predict observed quality. Therefore, teacher training predicted quality and not compensation. In addition, a holder of a teaching certificate is not associated with any of quality indicators, and most of them are only applicable to primary, secondary or colleges. Teaching in a special school or in schools of young children requires one to engage in specific training courses to gain important skills only set for this categories, and this will result in promotion of world quality (Whitebook & Sakai, 2004). Teacher preparation programs The subject matter of teaching and many opportunities for student teacher to spend in classrooms under a supervision of an experienced teacher are the best teacher-preparation programs. Teacher preparation programs allocate student teacher the time to apply their theory learned in the issue of teaching in a real classroom. Many institutions of higher learning are undertaking an overhaul in their schools of education to include highlights on an increase of educational technologies, content knowledge, creation of professional development schools, and creative training programs which focuses on people who want to switch careers and students who prefer an online degree. Teacher-induction programs involve mentoring and coaching from experienced colleagues to ensure successful development of a new teacher. The induction programs open opportunities for beginners to learn from the experts as well as analyse and reflect on their teaching skills. With the inadequacy and uneven support to beginners, nearly half of the teachers leave the teaching profession in their first five years. Therefore, an early and adequate support should be provided especially in regard to assignments in demanding school environments. An ongoing professional development is critical for experienced teachers to keep them up-to-date on new concepts in regard to children learning, emerging technology concepts that supports learning, and new curriculum resources. An ongoing, collaborative, experiential, and connected professional development has proven to have a positive impact on learning in schools, and it is brought about through working with students and understanding their culture (Linda). Reading and discussing about new emerging ideas is less powerful than acquiring a sophisticated knowledge and executing it in teaching. Teacher learns more and faster through studying, practicing as well as reflecting. Collaborating with their colleagues, observing students closely and going through their work as well as sharing what they have observed contribute majorly to the learning process. This kind of training cannot be acquired in a college classroom. The learning and training process in many countries requires two to three years of graduate level study for those prospecting to be teachers. The education courses include the study of child development and learning, teaching methods, and an intensive internship also known as teaching practice in a school affiliated with the institution. This internship has less teaching load and involves mentoring and some additional study. In Japan, first year student teachers undergo a twenty-day in-service training and sixty-day professional development. They are counseled and advised by masters’ teachers (National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, 1996). Failure to give support learning to the student teachers can be difficult. After entry, student teachers are expected to learn everything needed for their career, and also learn through workshops and some few planned opportunities to observe and analyse teaching with colleagues. Apart from the above programs, there is emergence of new learning programs that accommodates various students’ needs for example a one or two-year programs for mid-career recruits or recent graduates. Another is a five-year model for prospective teachers who enter education as undergraduates. The fifth year is usually for students to focus on the task of preparing to teach, with one year school-based internships linked to learning and teaching coursework. Some schools have also created new approaches to mentor beginners and the experienced. These approaches include; local study groups and networks, peer observation and coaching, ongoing seminars and courses of study provided by teacher academies, and inter-school visitation, collaborative research and learning opportunities provided through school-university partnerships. A good example is Wells Junior High, a Professional development school working in collaboration with the University of Southern Maine. This collaborative learning group has replaced the traditional lecture format. Moreover, formulas and instructions for effective schools that teachers have had for over the years and never had a chance to implement has been replaced with problem posing and problem solving techniques (Miller and Silvernail, 1994, pp. 30, 31.) Teachers need to recognize the need to connect ideas across fields and in everyday life, and therefore, understanding the subject matter deeply is crucial. This helps them create useful cognitive plans, relate ideas and address misconceptions (Shulman 1987). Understanding child and adolescent development in various spheres for example, emotional, physical, social and cognitive is required while interpreting student’s statements and questions. Embracing the differences that arises from culture, family backgrounds, intelligence quotient and learning approaches is important as it connects teachers and students. Teachers need to pose questions sensitively, listen attentively, and attend to students’ work thoughtfully. In addition, teachers need to be knowledgeable about new technologies and curriculum resources to be able to connect with students. Teachers need to explore new ideas, acquire them in solving problems. Moreover, the structure interactions among students and collaborations with other teachers and parents shape supportive school and home experiences. Principles of effective training To achieve effective training, a strong departmental management commitment is required to support training programmes that add to achievement of school’s goals and objectives. There should be clarity in terms of the training mission, and individual roles and responsibilities need to be well defined. Line managers are tasked with ensuring that content and conduct of training produces competent and professional workers. They also ensure that trainees attend training as scheduled. The main management tool for establishing training programmes and executing training activities is the systematic approach. Once this approach has been set out, then training programmes are employed to train and qualify workers. The personnel under first-stages programmes usually possess the expected entry-level skills, knowledge and experience, and before they are assigned to work independently or be under less supervision, they are to complete the set training requirements. Exemptions from training are usually granted only to those with assessment from previous education, training and experience (IAEA 1999). The funding and staffing of training activities is adequately done to implement and maintain training programmes. Training facilities, materials and equipments are things that support training process. Records are mainly maintained for future reference when there is need to support management in decision making. In order for the training staff to fulfill their allocated duties, they are equipped with both technical and instructional knowledge, skills and the right attitude. These skills develop the capabilities of the instructor that allows fulfillment of training. Moreover, these trainers are evaluated frequently on their teaching abilities through observation during and after their initial training, and are also encouraged to follow set out training plans. In addition, while these personnel are conducting on-job-training they are mindful of procedures, methods, standards and policies that surround training and evaluation activities. In the case of outsourcing experts as trainers, there is inclusion of other qualified internal personnel to ensure a smooth training process by providing necessary assistance and make observation (IAEA 1999). A regular evaluation on instructors’ instructional expertise and technical competencies is done to make sure that a continuous trainee development and improvement of knowledge and skills as well as tackle faults that occur unexpectedly. This evaluation is done in a valid and reliable manner using written, oral and performance examinations and questions. Classroom learning, individual instructions, laboratory practical and on-the-job training are sequenced effectively to provide a complete of the required skills and knowledge. Trainers regularly refresh on their knowledge to maintain and improve on their skills level. Lastly, comments from trainees, trainees and managers are also used as evaluation measures training programmes. All these evaluations enhance the safety and the reliability of school operations (IAEA 2003). Role of teacher training Just like in many other organisations, training of employees in this case, teachers, is a crucial undertaking. It could either be an in-house training or training through an outside expert. Training expands the knowledge of employees thus build strong teams which is crucial as it builds trust on the skills of their colleagues. After completion of training, trainees become equipped with new skills and this creates opportunities for them which benefit them and the firm. They also become more organized, confident and focused than before. The organisational benefit build better communication skills, explores a hidden talent of a trainee, improve quality of work, increases an organisational level of understanding, detect a furtherance of employee support and more so, help trainees to embrace the professional role. In the workplace training and development is a good opportunity for teachers to expand the knowledge base, although many employers find this costly, a waste of time and end up delaying completion of projects. Despite the set-backs that come with it, training and development provides the institution with benefits that make costs and time a valuable investment. The first impact in the workplace is that it addresses weaknesses in terms of skills, and training allows one to strengthen individual skills that need improvement. A development program elevates all employees to a higher level, bringing them to have similar skills and knowledge. This reduces overdependence and laziness within the institutions as knowledgeable staff can work as a team or independently without regularly seeking help from supervisor and colleagues, and can even stand in for colleagues who are absent. The second impact is improved employee performance that is linked to the right training applicable to the set work. Training makes employees aware of the right procedures and safety practices for basic tasks, thus building employee confidence that pushes her to perform better and be even innovative. In addition, continuous training also keeps employees to gain a competitive edge of industry developments. Consistency in experience and background knowledge among employees is another impact that is brought by structured training and development program. Consistency is relevant to an institution’s fundamental policies and procedures which include safety, discrimination and administrative duties. This ensures that all staff members have exposure to information on these issues. Employee satisfaction is attained with access to training and development programs. This enables employees to have an upper hand compared to those of other institutions who are left to seek out training on their own. Training investment shows employees that they are valued, creates a supportive workplace and improves their loyalty to the institution (Sarvadi 2005). Lastly, training does not only befit teachers, but this also replicate to better learning by students. With a professional teaching environment in place, children get inspired especially those that depend on education as the only path to life success (Darling-Hermond 1997). Teacher and school evaluation Even with so much emphasis for training, it does not usually answer problems related to performance. Training is only a great investment if it meets the set target as well as integrates other non-training aspects. Rosner (1999) says that support after training is important and that teachers should be trained on new concepts and behaviors as well as managers should be trained to support juniors as they execute learning daily. Since training has been problematic especially in the area of technology training, this gap keeps increasing unless two important issues that are always overlooked are looked into in details. These issues are training need assessment and evaluation. Training needs assessment is one of the basic things that an institution need to define before embarking on training its staff, even if training needs seems to be obvious. Moreover, the methods chosen have to be the most appropriate. Needs assessment assist in determining when training can solve knowledge gap or not; meaning that they should be relevance in training. Lastly, needs assessment also provide guidelines to designing of training programs (Cermak & McGurk 2010). The second aspect is teacher evaluation which matters just like teaching does. Stronge and Tucker (2003, p.3) explains that without high quality and capable teachers in classrooms, there is no success in educational development effort. The important thing in education is the teaching and learning stages, but the connection between teaching and learning works best when effective teachers are employed to work closely with the students. Cruickshank and Haefele (2001) explain that the crucial issue in education is having the most effective teachers around the students and that the knowledge of presence of high-quality teachers cannot be found with the absentia of high-quality evaluation systems. Self-evaluation and external school evaluation conducted by a school inspector takes place frequently. School heads are asked to rate the importance on issues such as students’ performance, discipline and behavior over time. Documentation of the teacher’s performance is the first thing in teacher evaluation process, then a focus shift to helping teachers improve their performance and holding them accountable for their actions or work. With the recent shift to a careful analysis of variables affecting educational results and a stronger focus on accountability, teachers have proven to be of more influence in student performance (Stronge 2002). The much given emphasis on teacher quality calls for a high-level teacher evaluation system must be put in place. Stronge (1993), explain that however well a program is designed, if will only be effective if the people implementing it are also effective. This therefore, calls for a well designed, conceptually sound and properly implemented evaluation system for teachers. The primary need for a quality teacher evaluation system is for a fair and effective evaluation that is based on performance, and designed to encourage improvement in the teacher, students and the entire school. To achieve an effective learning environment, a strong relationship between the teachers and the school is put in place; what benefits the school must benefit the teacher as well. This kind of symbiotic relationship improves the ability of both the teacher and school, which therefore replicates good results. In addition, the balance of teachers’ needs with the expectation of the institution is crucial in nurturing productive work environments (March & Simon 1993). Importance of evaluation Evaluation points out strengths and weaknesses, allowing the school management to make informed resource allocation and eventually leads to school improvement and staff development. Evaluation also motivates management to achieve policy objectives and holds them accountable to their every action. Adherence to set procedures and policies are monitored through evaluation (OECD, 2009). In addition, evaluation helps to analyse the relationships between work inputs, processes and also the results in order to build practices based on indentified strengths. Challenges of training Training like any other process is usually marred by problems. The first being lack of line management ownership which is characterized by lack or less monitoring activities. Others include weak self assessment, students’ dissatisfaction, isolation of training stations lack bench marking, poor link between the human capital needs and training, lack or insufficient instructor’s or trainee’s expertise, and distractions that may shift management from training for example, noise or an emergency. Recommendations Before training is done every institution should undertake a need assessment to ensure that the employee needs match with the training programs. The training objectives must be clearly laid down before and it should ensure that the trainees not only complete the training process, but also improve their qualitative and quantitative performance. This allows them to avoid a waste of time and money and focus on more important issues of the institution. Additionally, institutions must continuously revise the relationships between knowledge, skills, performance and training to ensure that there gaps do not arise unexpectedly. Moreover, the suitable plan should be chosen from a variety to ensure that an effective one is used. Evaluation of training effectiveness before and after training should be something that should be in the culture of any organisation. Conclusion The above discussions portray how learning and development in an organisation or institution is crucial as it is highly linked to the both success and failure scenarios. Organizational learning and development has been deemed to be a complex process, especially when the right procedures are not followed. Moreover, there are no limits to employee development; it is a continuous process that an organisation must engage in throughout its life-stay in the industry. An organisation cannot survive for long if it does not continually train its human capital. The discussion further revealed that although many organisations train their human resource, they stop at that point as most of them do not measure the effectiveness of the used training program. Most companies spend a lot of time and money to design their training programs to be used to teach new employees on job specification, leadership and communication skills, but they rarely ask themselves the worthiness of the training. Even if an organisation measures its training programs, it can only measure the number of employees that took part in the process rather than the impact it had on their job performance. This paper has explained various aspects of measuring training effectiveness especially the use of Kirkpatrick’s model. The second part explains that training of teachers is not a license to provision of quality teaching, but student teachers are to undergo internships and other in-house or on-the-job training. The training also does not go without evaluating the teachers’ performance to ensure that training was valid. The best recommendation for any organisation preparing to undergo training of its employees is for it to first do a needs assessment. 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