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Discussion on: Is training really an investment?

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Training is the use of systematic and planned instruction activities to promote learning. It is an organized activity aimed at imparting information and/or instructions to improve the recipient’s performance or to help him or her attain a required level of knowledge or skill. As per Tenorio & Sanchez, “ Training is the process that begins with the study of worker needs and includes plans to increase and improve the attitudes and skills of employees and their adaptation within an organization.” In any organization, incorporating training that develops employees towards long-term career goals can promote greater job satisfaction. Training should be systematic: specifically designed, planned and implemented. It is proactive strategy which strengthens the productivity and helps in adapting with the changes in environment.

Training is an investment because a lot of resources (time, money, effort, expert knoewledge) are to be deployed while conducting training. No company can expect improved productivity if investment in people is not in its agenda. Companies invest in training to bridge the gap between employees’ present capabilities and their present job requirements so that they can keep the qualified and productive workers who will help the company succeed (Singh & Sthapit, 2008). Training offers return by bringing out the best out of people’s talent and helping in retention of the staff. However it may take some time to see the return on investment because training not always deals with what is strictly practiced and it is not always directly applicable to daily tasks of the employees. But the longterm gain from training will make a big difference to the company. The more trained the employees are, the more valuable they are and this makes the company and its products and/or services more valuable (Zahra, n.d.). The investment in training is made to yield return in the form of increased employee loyalty, decreased turnover, flexibility in the market, higher production, reduced errors, lower internal costs, more motivated employees and competitive advantage over other companies. For example the intensive, month-long training and leadership program to the prospective employees prior their hiring in Amazon is one of the the reasons behind its success as an e-commerce company.

Training is considered as good investment if it is effective, enagaging and successful in generating the desired results. If no knowledge, skills, capabilities, behaviors and attitudes are developed in the employees post training, the time, money and effort spent on conducting the training is wasted. Training succeeds only when individuals goals are aligned with the training objectives, the other people in the organization supports the newly learned skills and attitudes, trainees have opportunity to apply newly learned abilities and there are sufficient resources to practice new learning (Beer, Finnstorm, & Schrader, 2016). If training is considered as a formality and there is no evaluation of the learning outcomes from the training, the investment goes in vain. For example a company decides to switch to new mangement software as it will improve the functionability of the company. Before purchasing the software, it organizes a training for the employees. Without evaluating the learning properly, the company purchases the software based on the assumption that the employees have learned what was delivered in the training. On applying the learning of the training in the actual workplace, the employees fail. In this case, the investment made both on the software and training has no value addition.

The evaluation of learning in training is important to find out the effectiveness of the training as well as to plan future training activities. Kirkpatrick has given the following four levels for evaluating the learning:

Level 1 - Reaction: This level helps to understand how well the training was received by the audience. The reactions are typically measured at the end of the training program to know the degree of satisfaction, engagement and relevency of the training program. If majority feels the training as useful and informative, the training is considered effective.

Level 2 – Learning: This level helps to measure the degree of knowledge, skills and attitudes learned by the trainees. It helps to find out the principles, facts and techniques understood and absorbed by the participants. It can be evaluated only after the training or both before and after the training. If the learning of the employees match the objectives set prior the training, the training is effective.

Level 3 – Behavior: This level specifically looks over how the trainees apply the information provided on the training. Training is said to be effective if it brings about the expected changes in the trainees’ job behavior. Both pre and post evaluation is done to find out the change in behavior.

Level 4 – Result: This level assesses the benefits of training against its costs and aims on finding the added value of learning and development program. It involves both pre and post measuremnet of the training. The measurement is easier when quantified.
The training effectiveness can also be evaluated through visual confirmation (uploading video or audio recording or any other visual proof of task completed), social ownership (teaching others by showing how the training concepts can be applied in real life) and skill assessment (assessment of employees’ skills sets and performance before and after training) (Eades, 2014).

References
Beer, M., Finnstorm, M., & Schrader, D. (2016). The Great Training Robbery. Harvard Business School. Retrieved from hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20File...

Eades, J. (2014, September 30). eLearning Industry . Retrieved from elearningindustry.com/3-ways-measu...

Kirkpatrick, D. L. (1994). Evaluating Training Programmes. San Francisco: Berret-Koeher.

Singh, T. M., & Sthapit, A. (2008). Human Resource Management. Kathmandu: Taleju Prakashan.

Tenorio , G. J., & Sanchez, S. R. (2004). Fundamentos de Dir.y Gestion de Recursos Humanos. Madrid.

Zahra, M. (n.d.). Misco . Retrieved from The Sunday Times of Malta: misco.miscomalta.com/content.aspx?id=381867