Training Needs Assessment and Training Program Design

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Training Needs Assessment and Training Program
Design

• Ch. 4-6

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What determines an employees performance?
Employee Performance
Personal Attributes (capacity)
Motivation (willingness)
Environment Support (opportunity)
X
X
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Instructional Systems Design Model
Implement Training Program
Prioritize Needs
Design Training Program
Evaluate Training
Assessment Of Training Needs
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What is a training needs assessment?

• Process by which an organizations training and
  development needs are identified
• Performance effectiveness in obtaining goals
• Current or future skills gaps of employees
• Employee preferences for training
• New ways of performing tasks
• Prevention of performance problems
• Mandated training needs (e.g., legal)

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Causes and Outcomes ofNeeds Assessment
Outcomes
Reasons or Pressure Points

• What Trainees Need to Learn
• Who Receives Training
• Type of Training
• Frequency of Training
• Buy Versus Build Training Decision
• Training Versus Other HR Options Such as
  Selection or Job Redesign
• How Training Should Be Evaluated

What is the Context?

• Legislation
• Lack of Basic Skills
• Poor Performance
• New Technology
• Customer Requests
• New Products
• Higher Performance Standards
• New Jobs

Organization Analysis
In What Do They Need Training?
Task Analysis
Person Analysis
Who Needs the Training?
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Three Levels of Needs Analysis
Organizational Analysis
Do we want to devote time and money to training?
Person Analysis
Task Analysis
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Strategic/Organizational Analysis

• Where is training needed in the organization and
  what are the conditions under which it will be
  conducted?
• Organizational goals strategy
• Organizational resources
• Organizational climate
• Environmental constraints

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Sources of Information for Organizational Analysis

• Strategic plan
• Skills inventories
• Climate surveys
• Labor-management data
• Exit interviews
• Management requests
• Organizational performance measures

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Task Analysis

• Systematic collection of data about a specific
  job or group of jobs to determine what employee
  needs to be taught to achieve optimum performance
• Job analysis plus identifying areas that can
  benefit from training and prioritizing these areas

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Sources of Information for Task Analysis

• Job descriptions and specifications
• Performance standards
• Observe performance on job
• Competency modeling in organization
• Review literature concerning job
• Interview job holders and supervisors
• Analysis of operating problems (e.g., downtime,
  waste, repairs/rework, delivery times, quality of
  product/service)

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Person Analysis

• Determination of the training and development
  needs of individual employee
• Summary person analysis determining overall
  success of individual performance
• Diagnostic person analysis
• discovering reasons for persons
• performance (i.e., KSAOs,
• motivation, situational factors)

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Is training the correct solution for performance
problems? Consider

• The performance problem is important and
  potentially costly to the company
• Employees do not know how to perform
  effectivelyneed to find out why
• Employees cannot vs. will not demonstrate the
  correct knowledge or behavior
• Performance expectations are clear (input) and
  there are no obstacles to performance (no
  organizational/union/external environment
  obstacles)

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Is training the correct solution for performance
problems?

• There are positive consequences for good
  performance, while poor performance is not
  rewarded (reward system is OK)
• Employees receive timely, relevant, accurate,
  constructive, and specific feedback about their
  performance (feedback system is OK)
• Other solutions such as job redesign or
  transferring employees to other jobs are too
  expensive or unrealistic (training vs. letting go
  of employee)

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Is Training the Best Solution?

• Training may be best solution if
• Employees lack the knowledge and skills to
  perform and the other factors are satisfactory

• Training may not be best solution if
• Employees have the knowledge and skill to
  perform, but expectations, performance outcomes,
  rewards, and/or feedback are inadequate

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Sources of Information for Person Analysis

• Performance appraisal data
• Observation of performance on job
• Interviews or questionnaires
• Tests or simulations or role plays
• Attitude surveys
• Designed situations (e.g., AC)
• Worker diaries
• Developmental or employee initiated needs

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Difficulties in Performing Training Needs Analysis

• Difficult and time consuming
• Managers value action over research
• Temptation to copy other organizations fads and
  fashions in training and new organizational
  programs (e.g., TQM, Six Sigma)
• Limited resources in conducting appropriate needs
  analysis
• Failure to start process by identifying
  performance gaps, rather than training needs

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Training Projects

• Develop a short needs analysis questionnaire for
  your training project topic
• Class members can be your training class if you
  want to gather data or you can gather data from
  real organizational members
• Suggestions focus on person analysis (i.e.,
  skills, abilities, knowledge deficiencies,
  motivation and desires for training in that
  topical area)

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Employee Learning

• Learning is a relatively permanent change in
  behavior, cognition, attitude, or feeling that
  occurs as result of interaction with ones
  environment
• What we learn
• Information
• Skills (intellectual and motor)
• Attitudes
• Cognitive strategies (how to solve problems, what
  to attend to, how to make decisions)

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Learning Theories
Social Learning Theory
Reinforcement Theory
Goal Theories
Need Theories
Expectancy Theory
Information Processing Theory
Adult Learning Theory
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Characteristics to consider in the learning
process

• Trainee characteristics
• Trainability or readiness to learn, which is a
  function of motivation, ability, and perceptions
  of the work environment
• Personality traits
• Needs, goals, and attitudes
• Self efficacy
• Learning curves

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More trainee characteristics

• Age related learning approaches pedagogy vs.
  andragogy
• Adults are more self-directed, have more
  knowledge and experience to tap, have greater
  readiness to learn relevant material, are more
  problem-centered, and are more motivated to learn
  and immediately apply material than younger
  learners (adult learning theory)

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More trainee characteristics

• Learning styles
• Convergent
• Divergent
• Assimilation
• Accommodation

What learning style do you have?
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Kolb McIntyre Learning Style

• Measures the way people learn
• Why is it important to know?
• Determines how we train others and help them to
  change and adapt
• Helps us understand why "some people never learn
• May be linked to other dispositional variables
  risk taking, being creative, emotionality
• Helps us see there are variable ways to determine
  the "truth"

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CE
Sensing and feeling
Horizontal arrow Information evaluation
Divergers
Accommodators
RO
AE
Extraversion
Introversion
Assimilators
Convergers
Vertical arrow Information gathering
AC
Intuition and thinking
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More trainee characteristics

• Learning strategies techniques used to
  rehearse, elaborate, organize, and comprehend new
  material
• Perceptual preferences preferred sensory
  channels for acquiring information (e.g., aural,
  visual, print, interactive, tactile, olfactory,
  and kinesthetic/psychomotor) age differences in
  preferences

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Training Design Considerations

• Conditions of practice
• Active practice
• Massed vs. spaced practice sessions
• Whole vs. part learning
• Over-learning
• Feedback
• Task sequencing

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Training Design Considerations

• Enhancing Retention
• Make material meaningful
• Ensure that initial learning is effective
• Realize that material learned before or after
  training can interfere with current learning
• Test trainees on learning

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Implications of Learning Theory for Instruction

• Employees need to know why they should learn
  (understand the objectives)
• Employees need meaningful training content
• Employees need opportunities to practice
• Employees need to commit training content to
  long-term memory and make learning automatic
• Employees need feedback (learn by doing
  communities of practice)

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Implications of Learning Theory for Instruction

• Employees learn in different ways (learning
  styles)
• Observation
• Experience
• Interacting with others
• Reflecting
• Employees need the training program to be
  properly coordinated and arranged (no
  distractions and no time wasting)

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Cross Cultural Differences in Learners

• Cultural values vary on
• Egalitarianism vs. hierarchy (power distance)
• Individualism vs. collectivism
• Achievement vs. relationship
• Loose vs. tight structures (uncertainty
  avoidance)
• Adjust training design and methods based on
  cultural values

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Designing Effective Training Programs
Define Training Objectives
Schedule the Program
Develop Lesson Plan
Select methods/ Techniques
Develop/ Acquire Materials
Select Trainer/ Leader
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Defining Training Objectives

• Description of the performance you want learners
  to be able to exhibit before you consider them
  competent
• Effectively stated objectives describe
• Expected performance
• Conditions under which performance will be
  exhibited
• Criteria for determining effective performance

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Example

• You have conducted a needs assessment and have
  determined that IT technicians need to improve
  their customer service skills.
• Write training objectives for a customer service
  skills workshop for IT technicians.

Think expected performance, conditions, and
criteria
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Developing and Delivering the Program

• Should you create or purchase a program from a
  vendor (i.e., make vs. buy decision)?
• Consider expertise needed, timeliness, number of
  trainees, subject matter, cost, size of HRD
  staff, and other variables
• If purchasing from vendor, consider
• Cost, credentials, experience and background,
  philosophy, delivery methods, content, actual
  product, expected results, support services, and
  RFP
• References from past and current customers

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Selecting the Trainer

• First, determine if you will use a trainer at all
• Trainer competencies
• KSAOs to design and implement a program
• Good communication and interpersonal skills
• Can use a variety of instructional techniques
• Can motivate others to learn
• Have respect of organizational members
• If trainer competencies are lacking
• Team trainers, conduct train the trainer
  programs, dont use trainers, develop
  comprehensive training manuals, hire outside
  trainers

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Developing the Lesson Plan

• Lesson plan is guide for actual delivery of the
  program
• Specifies
• Content covered
• Sequencing of activities
• Selection or design of training media and
  exercises
• Timing and planning of activities
• Selection of method of instruction
• Number and type of evaluation instruments to use

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Example Customer Service Skills Training for IT
Technicians

• Will you use a trainer for the workshop? If so,
  describe trainer competencies needed.
• Develop a brief lesson plan for your customer
  service skills workshop.

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Training Methods and Techniques

• On-the- job techniques (OJT) occur in the work
  setting
• Off the job methods classroom instruction,
  conferences, retreats, etc.
• Techniques include lecture, videotapes, role
  plays, simulations, experiential exercises,
  computer-based instruction, CD-ROM,
  video-conferencing, distance learning,
  self-study, etc.

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How to choose training methods

• Objectives of training program
• Time, money, equipment, space available
• Trainee characteristics and preferences

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Administrative Details Preparing Materials and
Scheduling the Program

• Materials to Prepare
• Program Announcements
• Program Outlines
• Training Manuals

Scheduling the Program 1. Should you schedule
during or after work hours? 2. How will people
enroll and register for the program? 3. Is it
mandatory/non-mandatory?
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Transfer of Training

• To what extent is what is learned in training
  subsequently used on the job?
• Positive, zero, or negative??
• Near vs. far transfer (or skill reproduction vs.
  skill generalization)
• How can we help trainees transfer their training
  to the job?

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A Model of The Transfer Process
Trainee Characteristics
Motivation Ability
Training Design
Generalization and Maintenance
Learning Retention
Create a Learning Environment Apply Theories of
Transfer Use Self-Management Strategies
Work Environment
Climate for Transfer Management and Peer
Support Opportunity to Perform Technological
Support
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Enhancing Transfer of Training

• Provide identical elements in training and job
• Physical and psychological fidelity
• Focus on general principles
• Use a variety of stimuli in training
• Example solve a variety of problems
• Provide a supportive work environment for
  training
• Supervisor and peer support, continuous learning
  environment, and opportunities to use new
  training
• Help trainees deal with difficulties in transfer
• Self management strategies