The Significance of Training in an Organization

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Role of Professional Trainers
Case Study 1: McDonald Australia
Case study 2: Australian Union Bank
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Innovation is a critical component that drives corporate strategy. An innovative professional is important because of his/her innovative capability, his/her skills and experiences. Various company directors seize the opportunity of being pioneers to lay foundation for innovation for their companies. An innovative individual is one who can contribute both strategically and technically towards the growth of an organization.

Trainers are people who are aware of any change that is to be implemented in an organization. When the management makes decisions, they turn to training departments and request for training to be carried out in order for the changes made to be effectively implemented. Traditionally, trainers used to undertake their tasks by designing programs and inviting employees for various training skills where they present the course content; this has been considered a waste of time and money.

Modern training professionals have the capacity to assist organizations reduce this waste by developing strategies that enable the management to implement best practices that may lead to innovation and change. The need for trainers has been prompted by the execution problem of the managers and their ability to make mistakes.

These mistakes are: their notion that they only need to tell the employees and the employee will in turn respond affirmatively or change is achieved by mere pronouncements; and secondly, they assume that they know a lot about the organization and they understand the impact of change and how change should be managed in order to realize better results (Miller, 2010, p. 56).

This essay will analytically dwell on the significance of training to an organization, characteristics of trainers, trainees perception of how training will impact on the organization and the outcome of training.

Role of Professional Trainers

Seasoned professionals have been involved with the role of designing organizational change and the introduction of innovation. The core issue is not the changing of strategy or the structure but the changing of the peoples behaviors. Trainers are in strong positions to integrate various elements that can guide the management through change initiatives. With the advent of globalization, firms have adopted different strategies; among the strategies is the desire to upgrade their capital stock and capabilities.

There has been a debate as to which is the best form of training whether it is informal, formal, on-job or off-job training. The accelerating competition and technological changes have prompted business firms to upgrade their human resource in order to cope with the changes (Mainga, Hirschsohn and Shakantu, 2009, p.1881).

The various forms of training are aimed at serving the following aims:

To improve the efficiency and the effectiveness of workers.
To enhance the capability of human capital.
Strengthen the ability of workers to cope with increasing technological innovation.
To grow the ability of workers to adapt to particular production changes.
To increase the morale of workers because of increased pay that accompanies particular trainings.

Increased diversity in the workforce has presented a lot of opportunities as well as challenges to organizations, if this diversity is managed well, it may result in increased creativity, change, performance and innovation. In order to meet the challenges in organizations, various firms have turned to training and learning. In spite of this increased need for training, its effectiveness has not been guaranteed and hence there is need for better qualified trainers who will be providing guidance in achieving training objectives.

The effectiveness of training will be gauged by the reaction of employees. Companies spend billions of money in order to equip their employees with adequate training. This training can be theoretical as well as practical (Blandy, Dockery, Hawke and Webster, 2000).

Training will result in various changes in an organization which may include change in employee morale and productivity. Furthermore, employees who are equipped with better training are likely to be innovative due to the skills and experience they acquire in the training process (Holladay and Quinones, 2008, p. 345).

Caridian BCT is one of the companies that have placed emphasis on employee training. Leadership development and behavioral change is at the core of their organization. A company that values training has to have faith that there will be a result at the end. For innovation to be achieved then there should be a culture which will propel the engine of innovation and people should be held accountable, the technical skills and the competencies of the workers have to be enhanced if innovation and change is to be realized in a company.

For all the above to be achieved, according to the Caridian BCT, there needs to be a competent trainer or training department that will be charged with the responsibility of equipping employees with relevant and innovative skills that can bring change in an organization (Bingham and Galagan, 2011, p. 35).

Training professionals understand the importance of proper training, not only does training enable workers to acquire skills but also enhance the ability to develop new skills that they have acquired in building their competency. Training is expensive but at the end it can prove to be cost effective since as an investment in the workforce, it pays off by enhancing productivity and employee efficiency.

Professional trainers organize seminars and short professional courses and conferences for employees (Wescott, n.d, p. 10). Apprentice training is also offered by training professionals; this is because it enhances the skills of the employees and enables them to have a high esteem in the work place. Apprentices have the capability to rise to management position after completing training. Training professionals offer categorized courses based on the initial training of the employee, job experience and their job responsibilities.

This is because training equips them with skills necessary to meet the dynamics in organizational operation. Builders Merchants Federation (BMF), which is a training firm in UK, specializes in apprentice training where their trainers provide mentoring services to employees both in the private and public sectors. BMF, to ensure that they discharge their mandate, have created a pool of well trained, qualified, and motivated trainers (BMF, 2011, p. 42).

Intense globalization and quick development changes make constant innovation as the only option to enhancing competitiveness in a volatile market. Beckers fundamental theory on training posits that the only incentive if a company is to remain competitive in the market is to invest in training since better part of workers productivity and returns result form training. To enhance human capital, firms have to invest on on-job training and they should invest some cash on training or they should rent on training (Bauernschuster, Falck and Heblich, 2008, p.2).

Case Study 1: McDonald Australia

McDonald Australia is a perfect example of firms that value employee training. McDonald spends considerable amount of money on training and staff development. It provides training to all levels of staff. According to McDonalds management, large amount of money is used in training in order to develop and enhance workforce skills, knowledge, customer and their experience. This policy of training has been recognized by various accreditation bodies.

It has also been recognized by Australian education and training. McDonald has its pool of trainers that it also outsources. According to McDonald, its training policy is motivated by the market dynamics and changing consumer preferences especially in the hospitality industry (McDonald, n.d., p.3). By embracing training policy, McDonald has recorded several changes and has managed to be among the leaders in the hospitality industry by being highly innovative in its services and products.

Case study 2: Australian Union Bank

Australian Union Bank is one of the rapidly growing banks in Australia. It employs its staff directly from school unlike other banks who poach experienced workers from other banks. Employee training is essential in AUB to induct the workers into the banking environment. In AUB, workers are given training on ecommerce service delivery system where employees individually respond to e-mails. AUB is pursues Pre-Fordist policies which emphasize on real and local knowledge.

Staff training enabled them to feel closed o their customers and they have been able to deliver personalized services. The bank also has developed formal human resource policies and structures which are posted to all the staff through the internet and it is considered an induction tool kit. Staffs are also provided with training on intranet. Online training is considered particularly key to AUB since it can deliver privacy training (Blount, Castleman & Swatman, n.d.).

Conclusion

The phenomenon of training was motivated by increased competitiveness and globalization of the market. It is imperative for any organization to embrace the training of its employees if it is to remain relevant in the market and if it aspires to enhance the capability of its workers. With increasing demand for staff training, there are emerging training firms and professional trainers who render training services to various companies and organizations.

Australian firms which have embraced the services of professional trainers have recorded improved profitability, enhanced productivity, good human resource management, and competitiveness advantage and quality standards. In the contemporary world, the services of training professionals are much sought after due to their relevance in the market.

The focus on generic skills that comes with recruitment does not end; employees need to be trained on aspects like teamwork and personal responsibility for quality work production. They should also acquire skills that come with employment like customer services. It is only on training these workers that they can acquire skills that focus on business skills.

References

Bauernschuster,S., Falck, O and Heblich,S. (2008) The Impact of Continuous Training on a Firms Innovations, Leading House Working Paper No. 24. 1(1), p. 1.

Bingham, T and Galagan, P. (2011) Committed to innovation. American Society for Training & Development, 1(1), pp. 32-37.

Blandy, R., Dockery, M., Hawke, A. and Webster, E. (2000) Does training pay? Evidence from Australian enterprises. National Centre for Vocational Education Research Ltd. 1(1), p. 1.

Blount, Y., Castleman, T & Swatman, P. (n.d.) Employment Development Strategies in the B2C Banking Environment: Two Australian Case Studies. Web.

BMF. (2011) Apprentice training. Builders Merchants Journal. 1(1), p. 1.

Holladay, C.L and Quinones, M.A. (2008) The Influence of Training Focus and Trainer Characteristics on Diversity Training Effectiveness. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 7(3), 343354.

Mainga, W., Hirschsohn, G and Shakantu, W. (2009) An exploratory review of the relationship between enterprise training and technology upgrading: evidence from South African manufacturing firms. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 20(9), pp.18791895.

McDonald. (n.d.) McDonalds Australia. Web.

Miller, N. (2010) Leading workplace innovation and change. Brave New role. Web.

Wescott, F. (n.d.) The importance of training. Journal of Housing & Community Development. 1(1), p. 1.

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