Assess the role and purpose of training as a means of increasing the motivation and performance of staff along with an analysis of the relationship between the training and development programme and the management of performance.

Authors Avatar

Task E

Assess the role and purpose of training as a means of increasing the motivation and performance of staff along with an analysis of the relationship between the training and development programme and the management of performance.

Training includes all forms of planned learning experiences and activities designed to make positive changes to performance and other behaviour (including the acquisition of new knowledge, skills, beliefs, values and attitudes). Learning is generally defined as ‘a relatively permanent change in behaviour that occurs as a result of practice or experience’. In very broad terms, training can be considered as the process of learning how to perform the tasks needed in order for the organisation to function. This covers a variety of instructional and learning processes, ranging from formal, classroom training programs to on-the-job training and self-directed learning.

Training can be broken down into a number of elements:

  • Traditional training- training to promote learning of specific facts and content which enable improvements in job performance, such as technical skills training.
  • Education- the act or process of acquiring knowledge, skills and understanding, usually in a school, college or university.
  • Vocational education- somewhere between educational and traditional training (e.g. apprenticeship training).
  • Management training- activities designed to improve managerial competence.
  • Organisational development- activities designed to change the way in which individuals operate within an organisation (to help them to work better with the changing culture of the organisation, perhaps through teamwork developments).

At Asda the benefits of training would be:

  • Effective training improves the competitiveness of Asda, as well as improving its productivity and service to customers.
  • Surveys show that training costs less in the long run than recruiting fully trained workers from outside Asda. Recruited, fully trained employees tend to leave much sooner than employees Asda has trained itself.
  • Training creates the ‘right attitudes’ in employees, and ‘attitudes’ are often just as important as knowledge and skills.
  • The long-term benefits of training outweigh the short-run costs for all sorts of reasons, such as higher morale, higher skill and knowledge levels, lower labour turnover, reduced recruitment costs, etc.
  • Improved efficiency results from savings from material costs due to reduced wastage, improved delivery performance, improved quality, reliability and range of products or services to customers, a more flexible workforce, etc.
  • Employees are keen to engage in training because they see it as adding to their own motivation and enjoyment of work.
  • Helps introduction of new technology.
  • Reduces accidents and injuries of employees at Asda if trained in health and safety.
  • Improves Asda’s image and employees choice of promotion.

Aims of training:

  • Well trained workers lead to more production
  • To create a more flexible workforce
  • Helps with introduction of new technology
  • Increased job satisfaction for employees
  • Improve image of company
  • Improve employees choice of promotion again leading to employee satisfaction
  • To enable promoted employees to cope with new responsibilities, e.g. managerial or supervisory training
  • To improve efficiency, e.g. till training or telephone training for the sales staff

Methods of training:

  • Sitting next to Nellie (experienced worker)- worker shows trainee what to do
  • Coaching- this involves providing individuals with personal coaches
  • Mentoring- this involves a trainee being ‘paired’ with a more experienced employee
  • Job relations- when the trainee works in different departments for short periods
  • In-house and external training- I-house training is where an organisation has its own training departments. External training is where employees are sent on external courses, or are trained in other ways, away from the organisation
  • Self awareness training- this is when trainees complete questionnaires about personal values
  • Traditional apprenticeships- when an organisation takes on trainee workers
  • Graduate training- designed for degree holders to train for management positions
  • Vocational training- trainee works towards a vocational qualification
  • Self-paced/distant- when trainee is learning in their own time
  • Induction- this is the process of introducing new employees to their place of work, job, new surroundings and the people they will be working with. Induction also provides information to help new employees start work and generally ‘fit in’.
Join now!

There are two types of training:

  • On-the job, with the worker learning as he or she goes along from an experienced fellow-worker, supervisor or trainer
  • Off-the-job, on courses at the company-training centre or local college.

Many training programmes use both methods, paying workers to attend courses on day or block-release.

Asda uses On-the-job training because workers can pick up skills by working alongside other workers. On the job training is cheap and often effective. However, it is unlikely to provide in depth training. It is unable to help whole groups of workers to change their skills.

...

This is a preview of the whole essay