Introduction
Work place training becomes essential in situations whereby an employee is performing sub optimally due to a lack of knowledge, skills as well as due to inadequate experience. Work place training is also vital when introducing new work place procedures as well as when orienting an old employee to a new position (Rothwell and Kazanas, 2004). This work place training plan is designed for the former situation whereby a new employee is not performing up to par due to developmental problems. It will highlight the process used in determining the employee’s training needs, the purpose of the training, the people to be involved in the training, the resources needed for the training exercise as well as provide an outline for the monitoring scheme to be utilized in evaluating the employee’s performance.
Body
For the work place training plan to be feasible and successful, it will require the input and cooperation among various key organization stakeholders. The manager’s major role will be to allocate and provide the resources both material, human as well as time for the training and adjust them accordingly when need arises. For example, the manager may offer rewards and incentives to the employee as motivation to improve their performance. Trainers will also be required and in this case, the trainer maybe the supervisor or a co-worker to the employee to be trained. The trainer should be knowledgeable on on-job-training by virtue of having undergone training on work place training. The roles of the trainer will be to implement the work place training plan. Determining the method of adult learning that works best for the particular employee is only of the various tasks the trainer is to perform. The last and probably most important person in the work place training is the employee whose performance has been found unsatisfactory (Rothwell and Kazanas 2004, p.8).
The purpose of the work place training is to improve the employee’s level of competency by training him/her on what he/she is supposed to do as well as how to go about it in a systematic and organized manner. The training is therefore purposed to actively identify with the employee’s point of reference, that is, what the employee already knows. It is also aimed at communicating the importance of the tasks the employee is required to perform, that is, how these tasks assist in the achievement of the organization’s goals and hence the organization’s mission. Further, the workplace training is aimed at making the employee aware of what results are expected following the successful performance of his/her tasks. The goals of work place training are not limited to imparting the necessary skills, attitudes and knowledge to the new employee but ultimately aim to increase the employee’s confidence and thereby boost their morale so that they are able to successfully perform their duties. Improved employee performance will translate to an increase in organizational productivity, which is the ultimate goal of work place training (Rothwell and Kazanas 2004, p.9).
The work place training strategy will be in line with the objectives of the organization especially the one pertaining to maximizing individual and overall organizational productivity. In addition, the work place training strategy will be cognizant of the organizational objective on customer retention which is achieved via provision of high quality services by the employees that leave the customer satisfied. This is because a customer’s perception on an organization is normally based on his/her interaction with the organizations employees. Minimization of operating costs is another key objective of the organization. Work place training will therefore aid in the realization of this objective by lowering the rate of staff turnover as a result of frustration that accumulates when an employee is unable to perform up to the expected standards. Therefore, expending of resources on work place training is justified since in the long-run it will be more expensive for the organization to repeatedly conduct hiring sessions to replace employees who have quit due to frustration than to simply train the ones the organization already has (Rothwell and Kazanas, 2004, p.10).
Therefore, as previously mentioned, work place training will entail the use of certain resources. Time, an organizational resource that is considered to be of essence when it comes to work place training is pre-requisite if the work place training is to take place. The manager must therefore ensure that both the trainer and the employee will have ample time to partake in the work place training activities. Organizational material resources needed during the workplace training will include stationery, videos, projectors, slides, graphs, photos and computers. The manager will also need to provide financial incentives as well as rewards so as to motivate the employee to improve his/her performance. Moreover, input from human resources to include the trainer as well as other co-workers will also be required (Rothwell and Kazanas 2004, p.10).
The work place training strategy will comprise of a 4-step approach that is, preparation, presentation, and application and finally follow up. In the preparation stage, the trainer in consultation with the trainee will identify and reach a consensus on the employee’s training needs by comparing actual performance and agreed performance for the employee in question for the period he or she has been working for the organization. In so doing they will be able to identify as well as contextualize the performance problem. In this regard, performance appraisal ratings of the employee for the period prior to the training will be used to determine whether the employee is under performing. After establishing that the employee is not performing up to the expected standards, personality measures, general mental ability tests, social skills tests as well as job-knowledge tests will be conducted so as to correctly pin-point the reason why the employee is performing below par. Low ratings in the job-knowledge tests with high ratings in the general mental ability as well as in the social skills test strongly indicate that the employee’s less than expected performance is due to lack of job competency. The trainer and the employee will also explore whether organizational factors are the reasons behind the less than average employee performance, for example is the employee unable to perform because of fear of repercussions that may result if they are not able to deliver the expected results or are there inefficiencies within the organizational structure such as communication barriers that are limiting the employee’s ability to perform (Ramasamy 2005, p.10).
After establishing beyond doubt that lack of job-related knowledge is the reason behind the employee’s less than par performance, the trainer together with the employee will prepare a timetable that will detail the skills the employee will be expected to learn as well as the time deadlines for the acquisition of these skills. In addition, they will determine the adult learning approaches that work best for the employee. Other activities at this stage will include preparation of the physical settings as well as the equipment and materials required for the training. Before commencement of the activities programmed for the work place training, the trainer is to always ensure that the employee is put at ease and there are no underlying tensions (Ramasamy 2005, p.11).
The second step in the on-job training, that is presentation will entail demonstration, explanations and illustrations which are to be encompassed within certain activities like lectures, role plays, question and answer sessions and facilitated through the various resources previously mentioned like computers. More importantly, the goals, mission and vision of the organization will be clearly communicated to the employee at this stage and his/ her role in the achievement of these goals elaborated. The trainer is therefore expected to demonstrate illustrate and explain in a clear manner what the employee is expected to do. In addition, the trainer is to provide a rationale to the employee on why he or she has to do the tasks. It is important at this juncture for the trainer to individualize the training process by using one or a mix of the adult learning approaches identified during the preparation stage as being suitable for the employee (Ramasamy 2005, p.11).
Application of knowledge, skills and attitudes imparted during the second stage will occur during the third stage otherwise referred to as application stage. The employee will be required to demonstrate what he or she has learnt as well as explain the key points in the actual performance of his/her tasks. Supportive supervision is what will be expected of the trainer at this stage. To this end, the trainer will note and correct any errors as well as identify areas in which the employee requires further coaching (Ramasamy 2005, p.11).
During the final stage of the work place training that is follow up, the employee will be given the autonomy to work on his/her own in line with the organization’s objectives and the completed work will be evaluated by the trainer on the agreed upon standards and periods following which constructive feedback will be given. Constructive feedback entails praising the employee for work well done and providing more guidance in the areas the employee is yet to gain full mastery. Although inspection is listed as the final stage, evaluation otherwise referred to as monitoring is a continuous process that occurs throughout the training. In this regard, the trainer will be expected to continuously examine the work of the employee in all phases of the training and identify the areas that merit further training (Ramasamy 2005, p.11). The monitoring scheme is as shown in the table below.
- Outline of monitoring scheme
- Type of evaluation
- Aspects to be evaluated
- Time interval
1.Verbal evaluation
The employee will be required to explain the content learnt during the work place training orally.
This evaluation is to be effected during each session of training.
2.Written evaluation
Comprehension of the contents covered during the work place training is evaluated via a written test. The employee to be provided with a copy of the results and a summary of the results is to be attached to the training form at the end of the training period.
Written evaluations are to be done weekly except during the follow-up period.
3.Observation
The trainer is to assess the competency of the employee in performing his/her duties by observing how he/she goes about performing their tasks.
Observation is to be done continuously throughout the work place training.
4.Review of tasks
The trainer in consultation with the employee is to designate some tasks that the employee is to perform and then his/her work is to be evaluated by the trainer, for example the employee’s documentation over a period of two weeks.
Review of tasks is to be done every two weeks for the length of the training period.
5.Performance appraisal
This will involve the evaluation of the job performance of the employee through key indicators for example, the number of sales.
Performance appraisals are to be done at the end of every month for the length of the training period and are to continue on a quarterly basis throughout the employee’s tenure at the organization.
Bibliography
1. Ramasamy, S., 2005. Total quality management. Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Education Company Limited.
2. Rothwell, W.J. and Kazanas, H.C., 2004. Improving the on-job-training: how to establish and operate a comprehensive OJT program. 2nd ed. CA: John, Wiley & Sons, Inc.
