Many new workers will need to receive some sort of training, so that they are able to do their jobs. Employee training broadly refers to work-related education to increase workforce skills and efficiency in order to operate at its most efficient level.
The HR department in a business organization must not only spend a great amount of time and effort on recruiting and selecting the right staff, but it must ensure that all employees are well-equipped to perform their daily duties and undertake the responsibilities that are expected of them.
In order to develop the full abilities of the worker, different types of employee training might be necessary.
Main types of employee training
There are many different types of training – mainly four broad types of training workers including on-the-job training (including induction and mentoring), off-the-job training, cognitive training and behavioral training.
1. On-the-job training
DEFINITION: It is training undertaken whilst at the workplace on how a specific job should be carried out. Workers are learning from the skilled colleague delivering the training: departmental training officers, heads of departments, supervisors or the Human Resource (HR) managers the skills they need to complete tasks in the workplace while actually carrying out their job. An employee is trained by watching a more experienced worker doing the job or working closely along with existing experienced members of staff. There are two main types of on-the-job training including induction training and mentoring.
ACTIVITIES: On-the-job training can be delivered in various forms. Shadowing means siting with an experienced worker to watch how they perform the task. And then, complete the task under the guidance of the experienced worker. Coaching means being guided through new work, advised and helped on how to improve by a more experienced colleague. Observation means visiting different departments to learn what each one does. Job rotation means doing different jobs and learning the processes and procedures that go along with them.
ADVANTAGES OF ON-THE-JOB TRAINING: On-the-job training is relatively cost effective. The firm uses in-house specialists to facilitate the training which is cheaper to than sending employees to participate in external training courses outside the firm.
It is convenient due to the location being convenient for both workers and trainers, which also helps to establish relationships at work as team working is involved, rather than having them to travel off-site. On-the-job training is less disruptive to the daily operation. It offers fewer disruptions daily operations as the trainee is still ‘at work’ rather than being trained overseas. Workers are producing output while training. It is also more relevant because content can be controlled by the business itself targeting issues directly related to the firm’s current and future needs. Specific skills related to the job or tasks are taught.
Also, it is easier to teach workers the way that the business wants the job done when they are familiar with the job and own working environment. The progress can be assessed on the spot and problems can be quickly resolved.
DISADVANTAGES OF ON-THE-JOB TRAINING: On the other hand, on-the-job training can expensive because trainers will not be able to conduct their own work whilst facilitating the training activities. Trainees may pick up any of the experienced worker’s bad habits and practices from their trainers along with negative personal attitudes.
This kind of training might be of poor quality when internal trainers lack the most up-to-date training experience and skills as there is no influx of new knowledge from outside; trainers are not specialists in the field too or may have incomplete knowledge. When workers undergo the process of learning new knowledge and skills, there will be overall low productivity. The production of the experienced workers might be slowed down and waste increased, if new workers make more mistakes when learning.
FOR WHOM? Typically, suitable for new employees as well as unskilled jobs or semi-skilled jobs.
2. Off-the-job training
DEFINITION: It is training undertaken away from the workplace. This training often requires using specialist trainers and equipment that are not available in the business. Workers are participating in work-related courses off-site at specialist training centers, colleges, universities, hotel conference rooms, etc. which are organized by outside bodies. While these courses can be expensive for a firm, yet they may be indispensable for an employee to gain degree of technical knowledge, high level of technical skill, or specific management skills. Off-the-job training can also happen ‘in-house’ by participating in a course run by the business organization itself or going away to another room in the same building.
ACTIVITIES: Off-the-job training can be delivered in various forms. The most common examples include day releases, courses at own training centers, sponsored courses in higher education (class learning), attendance at evening classes, self-study, online training such as computer simulations or case studies, etc. This can include first aid, IT, customer relations management, health and safety, risk management, foreign languages, etc.
ADVANTAGES OF OFF-THE-JOB TRAINING: Off-the-job training offers a wider range of training activities as external experts are used to provide the training. Hence, a wider range of skills or qualifications can be obtained. Workers can learn the latest methods and most up-to-date techniques from trainers and experts who are specialists in the field. Because the training is conducted off-site, there are no distractions or disruptions from colleagues and customers.
Networking can take place, whereby employees get to meet other people who form the basis of business contacts. It allows them to bring new knowledge to the business and become more confident when starting a new job. Typically, when employees are chosen to attend these training courses, they are then expected to pass on the acquired knowledge and skills to the rest of their team members. Additionally, the same training could be extended to others in the business (when the suitability of the course content is assessed positively) to help improve work of all of the workers.
DISADVANTAGES OF OFF-THE-JOB TRAINING: On the other hand, off-the-job training can cause a potential loss of output from employees whilst workers attend the off-site training course caused by lost working time – the worker does not produce any output during training. This kind of training can be very expensive due course fees, hiring specialist trainers, renting the venue such as the hotel conference room, reimbursing staff for transportation, accommodation costs, etc.
Additionally, it can be difficult to find the time for staff to pass on the acquired knowledge and skills from the off-site training course to the rest of their team members. What is more, it is debatable whether everything learnt during off-the-job training is relevant and therefore transferable to the business. Hence, assessing the progress might be problematic.
FOR WHOM? Typically, suitable for key personnel such as middle managers, technicians and specialists do deepen or upgrade their professional knowledge.
3. Cognitive training
DEFINITION: It is training undertaken for developing mental skills to improve work performance – ability to learn and think. These days many professions such as management, accounting, finance, marketing, etc. use this training to help workers achieve their full potential.
ACTIVITIES: Cognitive training mainly includes learning activities designed to help improve: memory, attention, listening skills, logic and reasoning, visual and auditory processing, self-control, time management and problem solving. For example, finance professionals such as accountants can take cognitive courses and tests to develop their mathematical skills which will then improve the speed and accuracy of bookkeeping tasks.
ADVANTAGES OF COGNITIVE TRAINING: Cognitive training helps to improve job performance of the workers and plays an important role in career advancement. By helping workers to improve their mental processes as development of the brain is the key to their learning capacity, they will have higher ability to perform at work.
DISADVANTAGES OF COGNITIVE TRAINING: On the other hand, cognitive training may not cater for the individual needs of trainees who have different goals, therefore developing targeted cognitive training can be quite expensive. Additionally, it might be difficult to measure the impact of the commercial training programs and how long the effects last as they might not meet the specific needs of the business.
FOR WHOM? Highly skilled individuals benefit the most from cognitive training.
3. Behavioral training
DEFINITION: It is training undertaken for developing behavioral change in the workforce. It deals with identifying functional issues that could improve performance in by advancing both personal and professional effectiveness in dealing with other people such as customers, employees, suppliers, etc. Specifically, influencing behavior which is combination of innate human nature (such as being born with certain characteristics) and individual life experiences and environments (such as family upbringing or school environment).
ACTIVITIES: Examples of behavioral training include:
- Team building. Developing team cohesiveness to improve productivity.
- Ethical business practices. Raising awareness of business ethics and codes of practice.
- Emotional intelligence. Identifying, assessing, and controlling the emotions of individuals.
- Motivation training. Motivating individuals, teams and the workforce.
- Conflict resolution. Managing conflict in the workplace.
- Stress management. Identifying and handling stress, including staff well-being.
- Anger management. Understanding and controlling anger.
- Leadership skills. Understanding and leading others in the organization.
- Business etiquette. Organizational, regional, national and international cultural norms.
ADVANTAGES OF BEHAVIORAL TRAINING: Behavioral training can help the business to enhance customer relations and customer service in order to improve the overall customer satisfaction. It provides employees with the necessary skills, knowledge and tools to solve work-related problems. When functional issues in the workplace are identified, developing behavioral change in the workforce could improve performance. Social and psychological factors which play important roles in labor productivity enables participants to move towards this desired change.
DISADVANTAGES OF BEHAVIORAL TRAINING: On the other hand, the benefits of behavioral training might be short-lived because people naturally default to their innate behavior in the long-term. Therefore, when the behavioral training course ends, the learning will often stop too. So, any sort of training is meaningless unless a desirable real change happens in behavior in the workplace.
FOR WHOM: Suitable for workers dealing with customer relations and customer service.
Read more about behavioral training here: https://penpoin.com/behavioral-training/
In summary, businesses that invest in employee training are more likely thinking in the long-term – efficiency, quality and innovation are important for them. Therefore, these cannot afford to have staff that lacks the skills and knowledge needed to meet both present and future demands of the job.
