Unit 9: Training and Development

Training and development is the planned, systematic function of Human Resource Management that closes the gap between the skills an employee currently possesses and the skills the job or the organisation demands. It is a continuous investment in human capital, distinct from recruitment (which brings people in) and appraisal (which measures them).

• Learning: The permanent change in behaviour, knowledge or attitude that all these activities aim to produce; training is one deliberate route to it.
• Systematic training cycle: Assess needs → set objectives → design programme → implement → evaluate (against Kirkpatrick's four levels: reaction, learning, behaviour, results).
• Training needs analysis (TNA): Conducted at three levels — organisational (where is training needed), operational/task (what must be learned), and person (who needs it).
• Return on investment: Justified by reduced errors, lower supervision, higher productivity and improved retention, not by activity for its own sake.

II. Employee Training

Purpose and principle: training is a short-term, job-focused process that raises an employee's competence to perform a defined current role.

A. Meaning and objectives of employee training

Training deliberately builds the specific knowledge, skills and attitudes (KSA) a task requires.

• Definition: "The systematic modification of behaviour through learning" that follows education, instruction and planned experience.
• Primary objectives: Improve performance and productivity; reduce learning time for new recruits; lower wastage, scrap and accidents; standardise work methods.
• Secondary objectives: Improve morale and job satisfaction; reduce absenteeism and turnover; prepare a pool for promotion.
• Trigger events: Induction of a new hire, introduction of new technology (e.g., a new ERP module), a spike in defect rates, or legal/safety mandates.

B. Importance and benefits of training

Training benefits the individual, the organisation and workplace relationships simultaneously.

• To the organisation: Higher output quality, fewer supervisory interventions, faster response to change.
• To the employee: Higher earning capacity, confidence, and employability; a clearer promotion path.
• To relations: Better teamwork and communication, fewer grievances arising from ambiguity about how work is done.

C. The training process (needs to evaluation)

Every effective programme runs through a closed feedback loop.

• Needs assessment: Compare required KSA against actual KSA; the difference is the training gap.
• Design and delivery: Choose content, method and trainer aligned to learning objectives written in measurable terms.
• Evaluation: Measure at Kirkpatrick's levels; feed results back to redesign, so the cycle is iterative not one-off.

III. Difference in Training and Development

Training and development are related but occupy different time horizons, scopes and populations.

A. Distinguishing the two concepts

Both are learning interventions, but they differ in intent: training fixes present job deficiencies while development prepares for future roles.

• 1. Training:
  • Scope: Narrow, task and skill specific — "how to operate this machine".
  • Time frame: Short-term, immediate application on the current job.
  • Target group: Mostly non-managerial and operative staff.
  • Orientation: Reactive; responds to a present performance gap.
  • Result measured: Improved task proficiency.
• 2. Development:
  • Scope: Broad, career and personality oriented — conceptual, decision-making and behavioural growth.
  • Time frame: Long-term and continuous; benefits realised in future roles.
  • Target group: Mostly managers and executives.
  • Orientation: Proactive; anticipates future organisational needs.
  • Result measured: Overall growth and readiness for higher responsibility.

B. The complementary relationship

Despite the contrast, the two are ends of one continuum of employee growth.

• Shared foundation: Both rest on the learning process and both begin with a needs analysis.
• Overlap in practice: A supervisory skills workshop trains a current skill while developing the person for a managerial future.
• Combined term: Organisations increasingly use "learning and development (L&D)" to signal that operative training and managerial development are managed as one strategy.

IV. Methods of Training

Purpose and principle: training methods are grouped by where learning occurs — at the workplace (on-the-job) or away from it (off-the-job).

A. On-the-job training (OJT)

Learning happens while doing the actual work, using real tools and real output.

• Job instruction training (JIT): A four-step sequence — prepare, present, perform (trainee tries), and follow-up; ideal for structured manual tasks.
• Coaching: A superior guides one subordinate through real tasks with continuous feedback.
• Mentoring: A senior guides a junior's overall development, extending beyond immediate tasks.
• Job rotation: Moving the trainee across departments to build breadth and reduce monotony.
• Apprenticeship: Long-duration training (often 1–4 years) combining work and instruction for skilled trades (electrician, machinist).
• Advantages/limits: Low cost and immediate transfer of learning, but risks to output quality and possible damage to equipment during practice.

B. Off-the-job training

Learning occurs away from the job so mistakes carry no operational cost.

• Lecture/classroom method: Efficient for large groups and theory, but one-way and low on participation.
• Case study: Trainees analyse a real or simulated business situation to sharpen judgement.
• Role playing: Participants act out roles (e.g., a manager handling a grievance) to build interpersonal skills.
• Vestibule training: A replica of the actual workplace (a mock assembly line) lets trainees practise without disrupting production.
• Simulation and e-learning: Software or scenarios replicate reality; e-learning adds self-paced, location-independent access.
• Programmed/computer-based instruction: Material presented in small units with immediate feedback and self-testing.
• Advantages/limits: Safe, structured and expert-led, but costlier and may suffer weak transfer back to the real job.

V. Methods of Management Development

Purpose and principle: management development builds conceptual, human and decision-making abilities in executives; methods split into those used on the job and those used off it.

A. On-the-job development methods

Managers grow by handling enriched real responsibilities under guidance.

• Coaching and mentoring: As in training, but focused on strategic judgement and career growth.
• Job rotation: Rotating executives through functions (marketing, finance, operations) to build an enterprise-wide view.
• Understudy assignment: A manager is designated deputy to a senior and gradually absorbs the senior's duties for succession.
• Committee assignment / junior board: Managers sit on a committee to study real problems and recommend solutions, exposing them to cross-functional issues.
• Delegation of authority: Handing genuine decision rights to stretch judgement.

B. Off-the-job development methods

Managers step back from operations to develop analytical and behavioural skills.

• Case study method: Detailed analysis of a business situation to develop diagnostic thinking.
• Role playing: Enacting managerial encounters to refine leadership and negotiation.
• In-basket exercise: The trainee processes a simulated pile of memos, letters and reports under time pressure, revealing prioritisation and decision skill.
• Business games / management simulation: Teams make interlinked decisions (pricing, output) and see modelled market results, building competitive strategy.
• Sensitivity (T-group) training: Unstructured small-group interaction that improves self-awareness and interpersonal sensitivity.
• Management education: Formal programmes — MDPs, seminars, conferences and university courses — for conceptual grounding.
• Behaviour modelling: Trainees observe an effective behaviour, rehearse it, then receive feedback.

VI. People Capability Maturity Model

Formal statement: the People Capability Maturity Model (People CMM), developed at the Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon (first released 1995, led by Bill Curtis), is a framework for continuously improving an organisation's workforce practices through five staged levels of maturity.

A. Purpose and structure

People CMM adapts the staged-maturity idea of the software CMM to the management and development of people.

• Core premise: An organisation improves capability by improving its workforce practices in a defined, repeatable order — you cannot master higher practices before stabilising lower ones.
• Building block: Each level (except Level 1) contains process areas grouped into four threads — developing capability, building teams, motivating and managing performance, and shaping the workforce.
• Goal: Move from ad hoc, inconsistent people management toward continuous, quantitatively managed improvement.

B. The five maturity levels

Each level adds a layer of workforce discipline; progression is sequential.

• 1. Initial (Level 1): Workforce practices are ad hoc and inconsistent; success depends on individual heroics, and managers repeat ritualistic, unproven habits.
• 2. Managed (Level 2): Managers take responsibility for basic people practices — staffing, communication, work environment, performance management, training and compensation — establishing repeatable unit-level habits.
• 3. Defined (Level 3): The organisation identifies its core competencies and moulds workforce practices into a standardised, competency-based framework tied to business strategy.
• 4. Predictable (Level 4): Competency data is measured quantitatively; the organisation manages capability and performance using empowered teams and quantitative goals.
• 5. Optimizing (Level 5): The whole organisation focuses on continuous improvement, aligning individual, team and organisational improvement with methods and technology.

C. Benefits and application

People CMM gives HR a roadmap rather than isolated best practices.

• Diagnostic use: An organisation appraises its current level and targets the immediately higher one, avoiding overreach.
• Alignment: Links workforce competencies directly to business objectives, so training and development investments are prioritised, not scattered.
• Typical adopters: Knowledge-intensive firms — software, IT services and consulting — where capability is the primary asset.
• Limitation: Staged progression can feel slow, and appraisal against the model demands significant documentation and management commitment.