10.4.4 Administration of Training Programmes
Training administration basically refers to consideration of certain matters such as training con- tents, types of training programmes, location of training, training budgets, lead time, etc., before starting actually imparting training to the employees. These are discussed in greater detail in the following pages.
Training Contents. The design of training contents depends on the objectives of training. For
example, if the purpose of training is to refresh the engineers, the training contents would predomi- nantly be related to the technical aspects of the job. On the other hand, if the purpose of training is to
focus on human relations, contents would centre around inter-personal competencies, social ability, superior-subordinate and peer relationship, sensitivity to feelings, etc.
The training contents are also influenced by the level of participants in a training programme. In a training programme for the employees working at higher levels, focus should be more on theories, concepts, frameworks, etc. On the contrary, in a training for employees at lower levels, emphasis may be on techniques, application, etc. In other words, at lower levels, thrust should be on ‘how-to-do’ kinds of contents.
Training contents also need to follow a logical sequence to enable the trainee to understand the subject in a total integrated manner. If the contents just come in random succession, learning be- comes piecemeal and the learner may not relate one content to the other. In addition, the pace of training should neither be too fast nor too slow because in both extreme cases, the participants may loose interest in the programme.
Types of Training Programmes: The objectives of training may also influence the type of train-
ing to be imparted to the employees. Chatterjee19 has classified training programmes into four catego-
ries, viz., induction training, supervisory training, technical training and management development. These are self-explanatory. Hence, no need to discuss.
Training Location: Once all the necessary home work is done, the real task before the trainer is now
to implement the training programme. Implementation of training involves whether the organisation should send its employees to an external programme or organisation should offer an in-company training programme. Where employees number to be trained is small, then sponsoring of employees to a programme offered by external agency would be better. But, if a large number of employees are to be trained, conducting one’s own in-house programme would be more meaningful. On the whole, the decision of sponsoring an external programme or organising an in house programme will depend on issues such as availability of relevant programmes, number of people to be trained, duration for which employees could be taken off the job, timings of training programmes, and cost to be incurred in programme.
Let some actual training experiences of Indian organisations be produced. Sinha 20 in his study
revealed that nearly three-fourth (73 per cent) of firms conducted their in-house training programmes and also participated in external programmes. However, a small fraction (6 per cent) organised only in- house programmes, whereas 12 per cent of organisations made exclusive use of programmes offered by external/other institutions.
Saiyadain21 highlighted the three major problems in the implementation of training programmes in
the public enterprises : faculty, participants, and administration.
Size of the class is also important. Both large and small size of classes may not be found useful. In case of a large class, every one may not get the chance to participate or share ideas with fellow participants. On the other hand, if the size of the class is too small, some teaching technologies like lectures may not be used. There are several studies conducted on the size of a training class. Most of these have indicated that the optimum size of a class consists of 25 to 30 participants. That is possibly the reason why the size of class even in the educational institutions is usually 30 students like your own class of MBA, for example.
Training Budget: A training budget for each programme has to be prepared. It would include cost
of facilities like training room, food, transport, lodging, guest faculty, cost of teaching material, etc.. Besides, the wages and salaries of employees participating in the programme should also be taken into consideration as the cost of training programme. The underlying justification behind this is that they would not be making any contribution to the company during the training period and, thus, the payment of their wages and salaries becomes an additional burden on the company’s financial position.
Lead Time: In both the cases — be it an in-house programme or employee nomination to some
external programme—a trainer needs sufficient time for the same. For example, in the case of in-house training programme, the trainer needs to do the necessary background work in terms of course design,
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preparation of teaching materials, announcement of the programme, receiving of nominations, ar- rangement for training/class room, teaching aids, transport, food and accommodation.
With regard to external programmes, trainer needs time to take into account organisational factors such as release of the employee from his/her job, replacement for the same, and ascertainment of benefits the trainee will derive from the programme. Thus, adequate lead time is required for prepara- tion both for the nominee, i.e., emnployee and the organisation, without disruption of normal work.
10.4.5 Evaluation of Training
Evaluation follows almost all activities of human beings. The significance of evaluation of activ- ity lies in the fact that the worth of activity is adjudged. From this point of view, evaluation of training activity is defined as any attempt made to obtain information, or say, feedback on the effects of trainning programme and to adjudge the value or worth of the training in the light of that information. The time and money spent in training underlines the need for evaluation of training. But, the question is what exactly to evaluate? Evaluation of training generally consists of an evaluation of various aspects of training immediately after the training is over and adjudging its utility to achieve the goals of the organisation. As regards the first, it may be easy to evaluate. But, the assessment of the second is complex one. The reason being the effect of training on organisational performance cannot be isolated from the overall performance because it is a function of complex forces and distinct motives. These are discussed, in greater detail, in the following pages.
Evaluation of Training Aspects: This refers to feedback or reactions of the participants as to how
they found the training programme they underwent. For this, a form containing pertinent queries is prepared and is distributed among the trainees to fill it at the end of the last session. The form seeks information from the trainees on various aspects of the training like contents, reading material, presen- tation, trainer’s mannerism, etc. Depending on the evaluator’s choice, this could be done session by session rating or an overall rating on all aspects. In addition, information on class room, food, lodging, etc., can also be obtained. In order to seek free and frank opinion on these matters, participants are given the option not to disclose their identity. Information so obtained from the participants is then tabulated and analysed to get ideas and identify weak areas in the training programme and improve the same if the programme is offered in future also.
Assessment of Training Utility: It is already stated that isolating the effect of training on output
is difficult because the ultimate output is a function of several forces and motives. The effectiveness of training also depends on the attitude and perception of the top management toward trained em- ployees. If the top management is not ready to accept and allow innovations and experimentation by the employee who have just completed training, training may have no effect whatsoever, instead it may frustrate the employee. Nonetheless, behavioural scientists have developed some methods to try out to test the effect of training on output. These methods are based on observation of employee post-training behaviour, evaluation by the supervisors, peers, subordinates, self-evaluation by the participant, quantitative and qualitative improvement in his output.
One commonly used method to test the effect of training on employee performance is by the use of a control group where two matched groups are identified and their performance is measured before and after training. Of these, one group goes to the training programme, while the other does not. Difference in their performance after training is considered as indicator of learning through training and in turn, effect of training on performance. Sikka 22 used this method and found that training makes
dent in employee performance.
As regards effectiveness of training, different research studies report different things. For ex- ample, Mehta23 in his study points out two considerations on which the effectiveness of training
depends. First, the responsibility for making training effective lies on the trainers. Second, the kind of atmosphere and culture in which training is imparted also matters in making a training programme
effective. Thus, according to Mehta, training per se is not the answer to the problem, i.e, improvement in performance. In another study, Maheshwari24 collected data on 999 respondents working in bank-
ing sector. He found that though the respondents found training programmes less effective with respect to their contribution to job performance, they endorsed the usefulness of formal training.
In his study, Bannerji25 collected data on supervisory training in an Indian engineering company.
The responses indicated that the inputs in industrial relations had little or no impact on the supervisor’s effectiveness. But, most of them considered that training improved their self-confidence, motivation, and communication ability.
Sinha26 tried to test whether training is effective or not, in a supervisory training programme. He
asked the participants before the commencement of training programme to write what qualities, in their opinion, should the supervisor possess, and rate them in a ten-point scale. At the end of the programme, they were asked again to write in a ten-point scale, what qualities a supervisor should possess. Their responses were classified into personal, professional and human relations qualities. These are given in the following Table 10.2
Table 10.2 : Indicators of Training Effectiveness
Qualities Values on a 10-point scale Before After
Personal
1. Have confidence in subordinates — 6 2. Ready to accept suggestions from subordinates 1 8
3. Polite in nature/behaviour 3 7
4. Be a man of principles 2 —
5. Look after the difficulties of subordinates 5 —
Professional
1. Be punctual — 10
2. Do manpower planning — 4
3. Delegate his powers — 4
4. Have leadership qualities 2 8
5. Be a good coordinator 4 10
6. Have good job knowledge 5 10
7. Be quick in decision-making 3 6
8. Be duty conscious 1 1
9. Have a sense of future planning 2 1 10. Arrange for equipment and material 1 —
Human Relations
1. Be good in human relations — 10 2. Be honest to the organisation — 7 3. Appreciate the good work of subordinates and motivate them 3 8
4. Be cooperative 1 2
All the studies mentioned earlier suggest that training can show visible and effective results in terms of improvment in skills, qualities and performance of trainees.
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10.5 SUMMARY
This summary is organised by the learning objectives given on page...107: