Human Resources Development Assignment

Introduction

Human Resource Development (HRD) is a practice that combines training, organization development, and career development efforts to encourage improvement of individual, group, and organizational performance. The main aim of the human resource department in an organisation is to make sure that the organisations has the supply of skilled and trained resources to execute the different processes in the organisation. Human Resource Development is one of the most important departments of an organisation as it takes care of the most important asset of the organisation – its employees. In this paper, the different methods used by the human resource management department in an organisation to train the employees will be discussed.

Task 1

1.1 Explain the role of the learning curve and the importance of transferring learning to the workplace.

Learning curve is based upon a very simple fact – when a person perform a repetitive task, he takes less time in performing the task as the number of times he does the same task. In other words, when a person does a task, it takes less time than it took last time. This reduction of time in performing a task indicates that the person is learning. In this manner, the learning by doing forms a pattern which is known as learning curve.

A simple illustration of the learning curve in the terms of production time taken in the process against the number of units produced is shown in the below picture:

The generalise learning curve based upon the learning and experience is also shown below:

The above learning curve shows that as the experience of the employees increase, they take less time in performing the tasks. In other words, people become more efficient in the work when they keep doing the same task again and again (Argyris and Schon 2007). When a new employee who just completed his education is hired by an organisation, the HRD department makes sure that he becomes efficient in the working processes of the organisations. Most of the organisations now prefer on the job learning methods where employees are assigned the tasks even if they do not have any prior experience, but a mentor is appointed to help them in the task and also to monitor the progress.

The skills an employee acquires through working are known as transferrable skills as these skills could later be applied by the resource in the future assignments. Some examples of transferrable skills are – Communication skills, negotiation skills, time management, and problem solving ability, decision making ability, analytical approach, research skills and flexibility. Transferrable skills are very important for the employees as they help them in becoming an important asset for the organisation. Organisations know that when an employee has acquired the transferable skills, he could help other employees in doing the same and transfer skills to them.

Importance of transferring learning: Learning transfer is an essential element of the development of the human resource in an organisation. In the absence of learning transfer, the responsibility of the educational institutes would become extreme as they would have to incorporate every process in their curriculum which might be required from them in their professional career which is impossible. It is only through learning transfer that makes employees learn new things during his career over time. In case the learning transfer does not happen in an organisation, the training provided by the organisation to the new employees would not be of any use as only theoretical knowledge would not be able to handle the different situations employee would be facing (Addison-Wesle and Schiffrin 2013). Learning something in the training program and apply that learning are entirely different things and could only be synchronised through learning transfer. Another important aspect of learning transfer is that it is the basic of new learning.

Task 2

2.1 Compare the training needs for staff at different levels in an organization.

Before developing the training and development programs, it is essential to identify the training needs at the different levels of the organisation. Single training program cannot fulfil the training needs of the employees who have different roles and responsibilities. Hence, the training needs are to be identified in advance. There are some basic training needs which arise from the organisational goals and objectives. While assessing the training needs, human resource development department needs to include the skills which are relevant to the role and responsibility of a particular employee. The tasks which are related to the job assigned to an employee have to be taken care in the training program (Bergenhenegouwen, 2009). The existing skill set of the employees also affect the content of the training program.

For the new employees which are freshly graduated from the college and joined the organisation as their first professional job, needs basic training which should allow them to know about the processes used in the organisation. Hence, the training needs for these employees are to make them aware of the organisation’s policies and the best practices followed at the organisation. Since these employees do not have any experience of interacting with the clients, they need to be trained in the soft skills which include the development of the communication skills and maintain the positive body language. In case their roles in the organisation involve technical knowledge, the technical training sessions should also be included in the program. On the other hand, the training program for the experienced employees who are at the senior level, the training needs are different. For example, when a team lead is promoted to the designation of project manager, his training needs include the knowledge of the project management tools and negotiations skills so that he could manage the project work and negotiate with the clients on the same time.

2.2 Assess the advantages and disadvantages of training methods used in an organization

Every organisation has its own methods of training and development of the employees. The training methods being used in the organisations have their advantages and disadvantages which need to be analysed while developing the training events. On the job training method is one of the most used and effective training method used in the organisations. Instead of developing a training program to provide theoretical knowledge to the employee, he is asked to work on a live task under the monitoring of an experienced and responsible employee. It is the responsibility of the supervisor to make sure that the task is completed by the employee as per the requirement and provide required help the employee in doing so. Employee work on the actual job location and through hands on, he learns about the job. The disadvantage of on the job training method is that it lacks the well structured training environment. The employee might miss the basics of a particular task and focus only on the aspects and challenges which come before him while working. Another disadvantage of this method is that the supervisor might not have the appropriate skills to be transferred to the employee. On the job training method also does not have a well defined performance monitoring criterion as the expectations from the new employee are not clearly defined.

Rotation of the job in the form of changing roles and responsibilities is another training method used by the organisations. In this method, an employee is assigned a different job after he has learned all the aspects of his existing job. The main advantage of job rotation method is that the employees are cross trained in various technologies and roles and introduce flexibility in the organisation (Doorewaard & Benschop 2003). But this method sometimes might not work if an employee does not want to change his job profile and wants to gain expertise in one area and look for the opportunities in the same area. Apprentice is also used to train the employees. During the apprentice period, employee is given instructions to perform a task and he gains experience while working. In this method, the employee is trained in the theory as well as practical aspects of the job. The main advantage of this method is that the employee receives one to one training. The disadvantage of this method is the long duration and predetermined period which could not be changed once the process is started.

2.3 Use a systematic approach to plan training and development for a training event

Planning a training and development event is a systematic approach in which lays path for the learning of the employees in an organisation. Plan for the organisation of a training and development event is done in the following steps:

                                 

• Training Need Analysis: This is the introductory step for the training and development even. In case of chosen organisation, the training and development event for 30 newly joined software developers in the organisation would be developed. These trainees come directly from the college and do not have any prior experience of working in an Information Technology organisation. Hence, they need to be trained in the technical stuff such as programming languages, coding best practices, test case preparation, unit testing and integration testing along with basic soft skills.
• Readiness for training: Training is mandatory for all the newly joined employees so that a platform for their growth and contribution in the organisational goals could be prepared.
• Creating learning Environment: These 30 newly joined employees will be divided into 2 groups where first group would be trained in the programming languages and coding while the second group would be trained in the software testing.
• The design for the training is also developed in which the learning objectives, methods of training and training plan are accommodated.
• Ensuring Transfer of Training: Experienced employees from the organisation such as Team leads, module leads and project managers would organise the learning transfer process
• Developing an evaluation plan: Trainees progress would be evaluated on the basis of the objective tests and subjective tests after the completion of each module.
• Selecting Training Method: The training would involve the e-learning, concept building classes, hands on experience would be used in the training event.
• Monitoring and evaluating the program: The material used in the training and development process is continuously reviewed so that the latest technologies and competencies are included in the training material

Task 3

3.1 Prepare an evaluation using suitable techniques

It is essential to evaluate the training event to to decide whether the event was a success or failure (J. C. 2004). Evaluation is done to check whether the goals set for the training event are met or not. For the training event explained in the previous section, evaluation could be used by using the following methods:

Feedback from the trainees: Feedback from the trainees on the training and development event could be collected to evaluate the event. Trainees would be asked to rate the different aspects of the training event on a scale of 1 to 5 where 5 rating denotes excellent and 1 denotes poorest

Process / activity / method / trainer skills / material	Rating (1 to 5)
The training material provided to the trainees
Technical skills of the trainers
Communication skills of the trainer
Medium used for the training
Activities organised during the training event
Hands on experience
Test level after the competition of every module
Time allocation to different activities
Learning Environment

Questionnaire: Questionnaire is also a very good method for the evaluation of the training and development event. The trainees who have undergone the training are asked the questions related to the training activities organised in this method. A sample questionnaire is presented below:

• Are you satisfied by the teaching method used by the trainers?
• The e-learning material provided by the HRD department covered all the topics or not?
• If not then how many topics were left and how many were included in the e-learning?
• Did you get the chance of hands on experience?
• Did you get the chance to ask the questions to the trainer to clear your doubts?
• The time allocated to every module was sufficient for learning that module?
• Did you get the chance to perform group activities?

 3.2 Carry out an evaluation of a training event

The evaluation of the training event organised in the previous section is done below by using the feedback method and questionnaire method:

Feedback

Process / activity / method / trainer skills / material	Rating (1 to 5)
The training material provided to the trainees	5
Technical Skills of the trainers	4
Communication skills of the trainer	3
Medium used for the training	4
Activities organised during the training event	3
Hands on experience	4
Test level after the competition of every module	2
Time allocation to different activities	3
Learning environment	5

Questionnaire

• Are you satisfied by the teaching method used by the trainers?
  • Yes
• The e-learning material provided by the HRD department covered all the topics or not?
  • Yes
• If not then how many topics were left and how many were included in the e-learning?
  • NA
• Did you get the chance of hands on experience?
  • Yes, but only on selected modules
• Did you get the chance to ask the questions to the trainer to clear your doubts?
  • Yes, but the time was not sufficient for the trainer to answer all the questions
• The time allocated to every module was sufficient for learning that module?
  • No
• Did you get the chance to perform group activities?
  • Yes
• Do you think that now you are well qualified to handle live work?
  • Yes.

3.3 Review the success of the evaluation methods used

To measure the success of the training and development event in the organisation, the feedback and questionnaire can be used as this would reflect the view of the trainees on the training program. The feedback from the trainees is collected using the feedback table produced in the previous task. According to the trainees, the material provided by the organisation during the training event was good as it covered all the topics and the trainers were also experienced and skilled which helped trainee in learning the essential skills needed for the job.

Although, there were some issues in the communication skills of some trainers as they were not from the local area and did not have very fluent local language, the environment of the whole event was very good. Because of the language issues, the whole event was covered in English language as all the trainees knew English. Trainees were also asked to participate in the hands on session which gave them an idea about the work they would be doing in the organisation after the event. The questionnaire was also useful in evaluating the training event. The questionnaire addressed all the aspects of the learning and did have some questions which were required to be answered in a subjective manner instead of objective or multiple choice questions.

Conclusion

Traing and development events are arranged by the human resource development department of the organisations with the purpose of nurturing the talent of the employees and enhance their performance. These training and development programs help the employees in their growth as well as in the growth of the organisation. Employee motivation and engagement is also the result of good training and development strategies and it also helps the organisations in reducing the employee turnover.

References

Argyris C And Schon D (2007) Organizational Learning: A Theory In Action Perspective New York:
Armstrong, M., & Taylor, S. (2014). Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers.
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