Research objective
The research aims at analyzing what motivates employees to embrace training done in their organizations. The general purpose is to help understand what an organization can do to ensure that its employees appreciate the importance training. Training can be used as a form of motivation for employees if they are motivated to be involved in the training process otherwise it would demotivate them.
Literature review
Training is a function undertaken by the Human Resource department with the objective of instilling skills and knowledge that would help employees meet the company goals. The goals can be accomplishing a task, preparing employees for particular positions in the firm, ensure the staff match with the market expectations, or ensure they embrace a particular culture. According to Price (2007), training within an organization should be a continuous process since the current business world is dynamic. In a firm where employees are willing to undertake training even if it is voluntary, is a perfect example of an organization that is ready to take all steps towards success. Training within a company can be hampered by the presence of an incompetent Human Resource Manager, who is not a professional in training. The manager will tend to have difficulties in organizing the employees for training purposes and determining the best training approach to use.
Motivation can be defined as the drive to accomplish or undertake a particular task in any environment. In employment, motivation is a driving force that leads to performance within an organization. Many factors result in employee motivation, and this depend on the individual goals of an employee. The Abraham Maslow categorizes the individual needs, and this can be used by employers to ensure that their employees perform better by helping them to achieve the need intended. A favorable environment provided by companies is essential since it helps the employees achieve their personal objectives. If organization training is continuous, the employees can achieve their goals for example career development and improvement of their efficiency. Employee motivation can be achieved if the management can understand the employees and what they would like to make in the long run. The management can set the right strategies that would help the employees achieve their goals and in line they would ensure that the goals of the company are achieved.
Training of employees is viewed as a way of motivating employees, but this is not the case for all the staff members. The employees who are opposed to training argue that they took courses that helped them to acquire their current positions, and they are already qualified to accomplish their tasks. The proponents state that training provides a chance for employees to acquire skills, knowledge and match with the current market expectations of the require workforce. The job market is competitive and offers made by companies target qualified employees. Without the required skills and knowledge, it is hard to negotiate for better remuneration and benefits package. Firms aim to retain their employees, and this can be hard if the employees cannot embrace training. Understanding what an employer can implement to ensure employees are motivated to undertake training classes or courses would help in retention of workers.
Research procedure
The research aims to analyze what an organization can do to ensure that its employees are motivated to undertake training. Training can be used as a source of motivation for employees, but this is impossible if a firm is unable to help the staff understand the importance of training. The research study would use questionnaires that would be distributed to employees. The questionnaire is structured such that the employees would be able to state the recommendations that would help make training better. The results from this questionnaire would help deduce what strategies an employer can formulate to ensure that the employees embrace the training process. Training being an important concept that cannot be ignored, it is essential to understand what employees expect from their employers in order to motivate them to embrace the training undertaken by the organization.
The research approach is deductive since the respondents would be required to fill the questionnaires that would consist of questions. The questions are structured such that they would reflect the position of the employee and from this analysis would be made to ensure that the best approach to tackle motivation for training is achieved. The strategy used is grounded theory that basically focus on what is expected versus what the employees of the organization express. The deviation from the status quo would provide the management with the chance to ensure that it customizes the system to accommodate the training expectations of the employees. The choice of philosophy, approach and strategy is to help to understand the employee more hence formulate any strategy based on the employee expectations of training. The research aims to ensure that policies to be formulated employee based, and this would help the company achieve its training objective.
Findings
All the ten respondents who were issued with the questionnaires returned them fully filled. This was a positive response that the employees were ready to corporate with the management in encouraging training in the organization. Out of 10 respondents, five were male and five female with three employees having a certificate, 5 with bachelor's degree and 2 with master's degree or Ph.D. Of the three employees with a certificate, 2 observed that training was important to gaining skills and knowledge while the other employee stated that training only wasted his time. The two employees also stated that flexible training programs, better remuneration packages would motivate employees to attend training. The other employee stated that the promotion would help motivate training. The employees with bachelor’s degree were all in agreement that training helps in acquiring skills and knowledge. Two of the employees preferred the engagement in planning training program. The other three employees preferred better remuneration packages as the main way to motivate employees to attend training. The masters and Ph.D. Employees preferred promotion as the only way that employees could be motivated to take part in training.
Research evaluation
The research has its limitation since it can only be used by the firm that has been studied. The information acquired by the research pilot reflects a company that is growing and this information or data attained from the research cannot be relied upon to make future decisions. The employees in the pilot research have their individual needs and after attainment of one goal they would automatically want to achieve the next. The method of data collection has limitations since it cannot be able to meet all the expectations of the employees considered effectively. For this reason, it is essential to incorporate interviews to ensure that all the employees' views are met. The research strategy of focusing on a single area of study and ensuring that the employees to be considered are from the different diverse education and gender background are the major strengths of this pilot research. The major weakness of the pilot research is the inability to consider other ideas presented by the employees. The questionnaire directs the employee to provide answers that are not exactly the idea of the employee but the researcher. If the employees can provide their information, the management would understand its employees better than guiding them to select provided responses.
References
BARON, S. (2011) Workplace learning subjective motives and supervisor support matter. Wiesbaden, VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.px?p=752737
BARRETT, R. (2003) Training, developing and motivating people. Cheltenham, Nelson Thornes.
CREMO, A. M., & FELIX, A. B. (2000) Supervisory training. Alexandria, VA, ASTD.
CROUSE, N. (2005) Motivation is an inside job: how to get your employees to deliver the results you need. New York, iUniverse.
MITCHELL, J. K. (2008) Train the trainer guide. Alexandria, VA, ASTD.
NOLLKAMPER, P. E. (2013) Fundamentals of law office management. Albany, N.Y., Delmar.
PINK, D. H. (2011) Drive The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. [S.l.], Penguin Group US. http://ebookdownload.3m.com/sites/prototypes/web/media/themes/mmm_patron/img/landing_page/step1.png.
PODMOROFF, D. (2005) 365-ways of motivating and rewarding your employees daily-- with little or no money. Ocala, Fla, Atlantic Pub. Group.
POUTZIOURIS, P., SMYRNIOS, K., & GOEL, S. (2012) Handbook of research on the family business. Cheltenham, Edward Elgar.
PRICE, A. (2007) Human resource management in a business context. London, Thomson
APPENDICES
Appendix 1: Ethical approval form
The research aims to help employees embrace training, and the end results would help the company achieve its objectives. The information that the employees will provide will be confidential, and none of the employees will be victimized due to the information provided. The research objective is to serve the employees better when it comes to training purposes, and that is why employees are expected to provide reliable information. The research may lead to a change in the organization system to accommodate the training that meets the employees' expectations. The author of this research will not be liable to any inconveniences that may result from the implementation of the research study. The research will only focus on an individual firm but not the whole industry hence the need to undertake independent research on the individual company.
Appendix 2: QUESTIONNAIRE
Confidentiality
The information received through this questionnaire will be confidentiality, and none of the employees would be summoned or victimized due to the information provided. The respondents are requested to fill the questionnaire with due diligence since this will form the basis for the formulation of training strategies.
Personal Data
What is your gender? (Tick appropriately)
Male Female
What is the highest Level of education achieved? (Tick appropriately)
Certificate
Master’s degree and PhD
How many training have you ever attended since joining the company? (Tick Appropriately)
Below 5
5-10
10 and above
Do you think the training(s) helped you achieve better skills and knowledge?
Yes No
If Yes, should the training be maintained or what recommendations would you propose _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
If No, what do you think should be done to ensure the training is effective __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What is the best way to ensure that more employees are motivated to attend training? (Tick Appropriately)
Ensure that those who attend training are offered better remuneration packages
Engage the employees in planning training programs
Promote the employees who attend the training programs
Appendix 3
