HRD Plan
The Training Process Model
This book will take you through the complete training process as it would be conducted under ideal conditions. Unfortunately, most organizations do not operate in ideal conditions. Insufficient financial resources, time, and training professionals represent just a few of the challenges faced by most companies. Recognizing these limitations, we also provide variations to training practices and systems that, although not ideal, do a reasonable job of accomplishing training objectives . Of course, these shortcuts exact a price, and we identify the major consequences associated with these shortcuts. Thus, we try to provide both “ideal” and more practical approaches to implementing the training processes. Nonetheless, even in less-than-ideal conditions, all of the training processes are critical to the success of training. Although less-than-ideal methods may be used to carry out the training processes, elimination of one or more of the processes places the entire effort at grave risk.
Effective training is not just running a lot of people through a lot of training programs. To view training this way is shortsighted. Instead, training should be viewed as a set of integrated
1-1Training in ActionTeam Building Sizzles, then Fizzles
The director of a city utilities department felt that creating employee problem-solving teams would improve the quality of operations and the efficiency of the department. All employees were provided the opportunity to participate in team-building and problem-solving training. About 60 percent of the employees, including the director and his management group, signed up for the training. Three-hour training sessions took place once a week for ten weeks. Working on a common process within their department, employees were grouped into teams for three weeks of team-building training and seven weeks of problem-solving training.
At the beginning of the problem-solving training, each team identified a problem in its area of operation. Each team then worked through the problem as they progressed though each step of the training. The team members were delighted to be learning new skills while working on a real problem. By the end of training, each group actually solved, or made significant progress toward solving, the problem it was working on. Evaluations taken at the conclusion of training indicated that trainees enjoyed the training and understood the steps, tools, and techniques of team building and problem solving. The director was pleased with the results and submitted a report documenting the successes of the training to the city manager.
Follow-up evaluation conducted six months later showed only one team still in operation. The other teams fell apart for various reasons, such as excessive workloads, little recognition being given when problems were solved, nontrained employees resisting making changes in work processes, or teams being ridiculed by those who had not participated in training. Clearly, the training did not achieve the desired outcomes. If the director had understood the system and what was and was not rewarding, a more successful outcome could have been achieved. By using the analysis phase of the Training Process Model, the relevant aspects of the system would have been identified and adjustments to either the system or the training could have been made.
processes in which organizational needs and employee capabilities are analyzed and responded to in a rational, logical, and strategic manner. When training is conducted this way, both the employees’ and organization’s performance will improve. This will increase the value of the training unit, and, as a result further investment in training is likely to occur. Our model of training processes, depicted in Figure 1-3 , reflects this approach.
Figure 1-3 is merely an overview of the process. A more detailed figure for each phase is provided at the beginning of each relevant chapter, with the input and output of each process described in considerably more detail. Our model is an adaptation of what has become widely known as the ADDIE model. ADDIE is an acronym for the major processes of training: Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and Evaluation. Many, including your authors have attempted to find the original source for this model, but apparently there is no single source. It seems to have evolved over time to become an umbrella term without a fully articulated underlying structure. 5 Like others, we have used ADDIE as the generic basis for our own model of how training should proceed. In the following paragraphs, we will briefly describe each of the ADDIE phases and their relevant inputs and outputs. This model is used extensively throughout the book , so it is important to be familiar with it.
The training process begins with some type of triggering event. A triggering event occurs when a person with authority to take action believes that actual organizational performance (AOP) is less than the expected organizational performance (EOP) . For example, the quality standard (the EOP) at Company X is three rejects per thousand. An examination of the data for the previous month indicates that the actual quality level (AOP) was 17 rejects per thousand. If a person with authority to take action sees this gap as a concern, it would trigger an analysis of why the number of rejects is so high. This analysis is discussed next.
Analysis Phase
The analysis phase begins with the identification of the organizational performance gap (AOP is less than EOP). Things such as profitability shortfalls, low levels of customer satisfaction, or excessive scrap are all examples of a current performance gap. Another type of performance gap is future oriented. Here, the company is seen as likely to perform poorly in the
Figure 1-3 Training Processes Model
future unless changes are made. For example, if an organization wanted to install robotic equipment in six months but employees were not able to program the robots, then there is an expected performance gap in the future. Once a performance gap exists, the cause must then be determined. *
* There are often multiple causes of a performance gap, but we are using a single cause here for simplicity.
Once the cause is determined, and its elimination is believed to be important, the elimination of the cause becomes a “need” of the organization
The analysis phase is often referred to as a training needs analysis (TNA) . However, both training and nontraining needs are identified with this process, so it is incorrect to say it only focuses on training needs. The cause of the performance gap might be inadequate knowledge, skills, or attitudes (KSAs) of employees. If so, then training is a possible solution. However, KSA deficiencies are only one of many reasons for performance gaps. Other reasons, such as motivation or faulty equipment, must be separated from KSA deficiencies, as these are nontraining needs and require a different solution. In the analysis phase, the causes of a performance gap are identified, whether due to KSAs or something else. Those performance gaps caused by KSA deficiencies are identified as “training needs” because training is a solution. All other causes are defined as nontraining needs, and require other types of solutions.
The analysis phase also attaches priorities to the training needs that are identified. Not all needs will have the same level of importance for the company. This process of data gathering and causal analysis to determine which performance problems should be addressed by training is the analysis phase of the training process. It will be discussed in great detail in Chapter 4 .
Design Phase
The training needs identified in the analysis phase, as well as areas of constraint and support, are the inputs to the design phase . An important process in the design phase is the creation of training objectives. These provide direction for what will be trained and how. They specify the employee and organizational outcomes that should be achieved as a result of training and become inputs to the development and evaluation phases of the model. As such they become the evaluation objectives.
Another part of the design process is determining how the organizational constraints will be addressed by the training. Finally, identifying the factors needed in the training program to facilitate learning and its transfer back to the job are key outcomes from the design phase. All of these factors are used to create the guidelines for how the training will be developed. The design phase is the topic of Chapter 5 . Chapters 6 and 7 provide detailed descriptions of the various methods that can be used to deliver the content of the training.
Development Phase
Development is the process of using the guidelines from the design phase to formulate an instructional strategy that will meet the training objectives. Obtaining or creating all the things that are needed to implement the training program is also a part of this phase. The instructional strategy describes the order, timing, and combination of methods and elements to be used in the training program to meet the objectives. The training objectives provide the focus for program development and the guidelines from the design phase set the parameters for what will and will not work. Outputs from this phase are all of the things needed to implement the training program. These include the specific content for of the training, instructional methods used to deliver the content, materials to be used, equipment and media, manuals, and so forth. These are integrated into a coherent, well-organized training plan focused on achieving the training objectives. These outputs of the development phase serve as inputs to the implementation phase. Both the development phase and the implementation phase are the focus of Chapter 8 .
Implementation Phase
All the previous phases of the training process come together during the implementation phase . It is useful to conduct a dry run or even a pilot of the program before actually delivering the training. This dry run, or pilot program, allows for the testing of the training to determine if any modifications are necessary before it is ready to go live. Chapter 8 addresses the key aspects of the dry run and delivery of the training.
Evaluation Phase
Although we discuss this phase of the model last, it actually begins during the development phase. Recall that evaluation objectives are an output of the design phase. In the design phase the training objectives were identified, and these were used in the development phase to create the instruments and measures that will be used to evaluate the training. These become inputs to the evaluation phase . More input comes from the organizational constraints. Time, money, and staff all affect how training is evaluated. Two types of evaluation are useful. First, process evaluation determines how well a particular training process achieved its objectives (i.e., outputs). In other words, did the trainer follow the exact training process suggested? For example, if role-plays were in the design, were they used properly? Collecting and analyzing process data can provide early warning of potential problems in the training program.
Outcome evaluation is the evaluation conducted at the end of training to determine the effects of training on the trainee, the job, and the organization. This type of evaluation uses the training objectives as the standard. Outcome evaluation can also be used to improve training processes. Outcome evaluation data by themselves do not provide enough information for program improvement, but in combination with process evaluation data, they serve as a powerful tool for improving programs. For example, if one or more objectives are not achieved, the training process evaluation data can then be used to identify problems in the process and corrective action can be taken. Chapter 9 provides a detailed discussion of the evaluation process.