Successful Training and Development

Training sessions are aiming at maximizing employee potential at work. There are a couple key points that you will want to consider in order to prepare a successful training session. Learn more by reading the following article!

Management of training data

The training department keeps the training record of the employees. The data stored contains experience, educational qualifications, the number of training programmes attended by the employee, the duration and venue of the training programme, expenditure incurred, post-training feedback etc. So when the name of an employee is suggested for training, it is easy to verify whether he/she has attended a similar programme earlier and not to nominate them again for similar type of programme. The data is also used to know how many employees have not been trained since a particular period. If an employee has not been given training for a long time, it is desirable to nominate him/her for the relevant programme.

Assessment of training needs of employees

The training department assesses the training needs of employees at frequent intervals and on an ongoing basis. It uses various methods to do so. The training department also coordinates with other departments in the organization in order to know the specific training requirements of each department. It helps in organizing different training programmes in such a systematic manner so as not to disturb the normal working of any department.

Planning for training

The training department plans about the exact type of training required by the employees for the approval of top management. It decides whether the training programme is going to be internal or external, duration, course content, infrastructure facilities, and venue. For external training programmes it maintains contacts with external agencies which conduct such training programmes.

Assessment of usefulness of training

It is a fact that training must lead to changes towards improvement in the areas of job knowledge, skills or attitude, individually or in all the areas simultaneously. Since training involves generally huge amounts, the employers are particular in knowing about the return on investment in training. For this purpose, the training department determines the procedure to evaluate the impact of a particular training programme in the actual working field after the completion of the training programme. The training department keeps in continuous touch with various departments to know the improvement in the performance of employees in specific terms such as quality and quantity of products, attitudinal and behavioural changes etc. The data elicited during evaluation is further processed and put into use to bring effective changes in future training programmes. Training and Development 17 Identifying specific areas in training

The role of training manager

The training manager is a leader, coordinator, motivator and catalyst in conducting training programmes. He/she:

• Makes an assessment of training needs;
• Prepares training budget;
• Ensures that nominations are properly communicated to the trainees;
• Prepares lists of various training institutions/experts, and keeps in touch with them;
• Identifies guest faculty on an ongoing basis;
• Arranges for infrastructure facilities required;
• Contributes to the preparation and supply of course material;
• Prepares and stores data related to training;
• Introduces, conducts and supervises the suitable evaluation procedures and methods both at classroom and post-training levels;
• Coordinates with other training colleges and systems;
• Devises methods and systems to keep up with the latest training methods and technology;
• Makes an effort to develop internal guest faculty;
• Coordinates among various departments of the organization, and organizes seminars and conferences inside the organization to elicit the views of the line managers and other executives, so that the functioning of the training system is made smoother