Concept of Training:
Training is the process of assisting a person for enhancing his efficiency and effectiveness at work by improving and updating his professional knowledge, developing skills relevant to his work, and by cultivating appropriate behavior and attitude towards work and people. Training could be designed either for improving present capabilities at work or for preparing a person for assuming higher responsibilities in the future which would call for additional knowledge and superior skills.
Training objectives can be achieved in a shorter duration but education takes a longer duration to realize its objectives. This is the reason why a training programme is short-ranged while the educational programme is for a longer period.
Training improves job performance. It is, therefore, essential that the impact of training on the learner and his organization must be measured to substantiate the effectiveness of training. Education is concerned with the personality development of a person which is very difficult to measure because such development is a function of complex processes and factors.
Education – formal and informal – is that part of learning which concerned with developing general knowledge, understanding, and background of our total environment and may continue throughout human life. The Manpower Services Commission’s Glossary of Training Terms (1981) defines education as activities that have an aim at developing the knowledge, skills, moral values, and understanding is required in all aspects of life rather than knowledge and skill relating to only a limited field of activity. The purpose of education is to provide the conditions essential to young people and adults to develop an understanding of the traditions and ideas influencing the society in which they live and to enable them and make a contribution to it. It involves study to their own cultures and of the laws of nature, as well as the acquisition of linguistic and other skills which are basic to learning, personal development, creativity, and communication. “Depending on the nature of knowledge contained in education, it is classified into various disciplines at different levels like arts, science and commerce which are in turn divided into social sciences, physical sciences, engineering, and medical and so on. Further, depending on the nature of skill, education is put into several categories like technical non-technical, and management education.
Training is that part of learning which essentially improves job-related knowledge, skills, and attitudes in a person and is concerned with the work like of human beings. Its purpose, in the work situation, is to develop the ability of the individual and to satisfy the current and future manpower needs of the organization. From this point, training becomes a specialized and practical means of learning and is directly help to the organization. Thus, performance improvement is basic to training.
Objectives of the Training are as follows:
a) The training helps the trainees in acquiring knowledge of the subject matter. For instance, child development workers will get the knowledge concerning the growth and development of the child milestones in his life, principles of growth and development of the child organization for such services, etc.
b) The training helps to bring about a change of the attitudes and behavior among trainees towards a particular programme or problem. It bestows on them professional or semi-professional status and inculcates pursuit of arrival standards.
c) Training helps in putting theory into practice such as knowledge of nutrition to be used in providing services to malnourished children or women.
d) Training helps in developing knowledge about oneself to the extent that it enables the trainees to understand their abilities and develop their potentials and work skills.
e) Training helps interaction of the individuals that is the interaction between the trainees themselves who learn from each other’s experience by working and living together and interaction between the trainers and the trainees.
f) Training aims at enhancing the capability of the trainees so as to enable them to increase their problem-solving capacity.
g) Training aims at including the process of learning and developing.
h) Training aims at bridging the gap between the expected level of performance and the actual level of performance.
i) Training aims at providing a scientific base of knowledge and skills to discharge roles and responsibilities effectively.
The organization of training involves a four-step process:
- (a) The identification of needs.
- (b) The formulation of training policy and objectives.
- (c) The implementation of training policy.
- (d) The assessment of effectiveness.
The first step in determining training policy is the identification of the agency’s needs for trained manpower, both present, and future. The basic questions in this regard would then be:
- i) What kind of jobs are to be done by the trainees?
- ii) What specific skill should be developed among trainees?
- iii) How many people will be needed to do them?
Achieving the objectives in the form in which they are finally approved involves planning, organizing, and implementing appropriate training programmes. The agency will have to decide which of the tasks involved will be allocated, in whole or in part, to the training staff and which to others. These are:
- i) Planning
- ii) Further education
- iii) Organization and implementation.
Training Methods:
Paradoxically, if we look at the process of Training, we come to know that training is the organized process by which the employee acquires new manipulative skills, technical knowledge, problem-solving ability, and/or attitudes. Trained employees are expected to apply their newly acquired knowledge and skills in such a way to aid in the achievement of organizational goals. It plays a significant in determining the effectiveness and efficiency of the establishment. Graham suggests that under favorable circumstances, training has the important dual functions, utilization by improving worker’s ability to perform the tasks required by the organization, training affords better utilization of human resources and motivation by giving workers a feeling of mastery over their work and recognition by management, ultimately their job satisfaction is increased. Parrow remarks that training appears to be associated with higher morale and greater commitment to organizational goals. The returns of planner training as pointed out by Flipppo are increasing productivity, heightening morale, reducing costs, providing greater organizational stability and flexibility to suit the changing requirements.
An organization has no choice of whether to develop employees or not, the only choice is that of the method. The debates are more on how to conduct training with more effectiveness and enduring. Various methods of training either on or off the job carried out within or outside the organizations are being used due to differing needs of the organization concerned and particularly the level of job complexity in it. The economy in cost, availability of time, number of persons to be trained, depth of knowledge required, the background of trainees, and many other factors are considered for selecting a particular method. The following is a listing of the major training methods.
- Training in the field.
- Simulating real-life, role-playing, games, and in-basket exercises
- Laboratory training for personal and organizational Development
- Sampling real life, incidents, and cases
- Individualized training
- Seminars and Syndicates
- The lecture and other methods.
The general belief is that an enterprise does not have any training programme, is far from truth. Since this method of training is based on “Trial and Error” (alternatively “sink or Swim” or learning the hard way) it suffers from certain drawbacks. The instruction, as well as supervision, is often disorganized and haphazard. It results in higher costs mainly because of the lengthy learning period and the unscientific method of learning.
For citing this article use:
- Gangurde, V. B. (2012) ‘Human resource development training activities with special reference to khadi and village industries’,
