Organizational Training Policy on Job Description
COMM 6509 - Training and Development
Walden University
2022
Organizational Training Policy on Job Description
According to Sriyan de Silva (1997) there is need transferring information and knowledge
to employers, it is a way of equipping employers to translate that information and knowledge
into practice with a view to enhancing organization effectiveness and productivity, and the
quality of the management of people. Training policy as a basis of deriving and describing
employees role and what is required to do the job .it provides basic building blocks which
recruitment process is build acting as a tool in recruitment, selection, basis of employment
contracts, defense tool in case of discrimination, and finally as a means by which employers
expectations and priorities are communicated, Arthur et al (2001). Organizational Training
includes training to support the organization’s strategic business objectives and to meet the
tactical training needs that are common across projects and support groups. Specific training
needs identified by individual and groups are handled at support group level and are outside the
scope of Organizational Training. Project and support groups are responsible for identifying and
addressing their specific training needs Sriyan de Silva, (1997). An organizational training
program involves the following ,Identifying the training needed by the organization ,obtaining
and providing training to address those needs ,establishing and maintaining training
capability ,establishing and maintaining training records ,assessing training effectiveness Sriyan
de Silva, (1997).
According to Goldstein, (1980), effective training requires assessment of needs, planning,
instructional design, and appropriate training media (e.g., workbooks and computer software), as
well as a repository of training process data. As an organizational process, the main components
of training include a managed training development program, documented plans, personnel with
appropriate mastery of specific disciplines and other areas of knowledge, and mechanisms for
measuring the effectiveness of the training program. The identification of process training needs
is primarily based on the skills that are required to perform the organization’s set of standard
processes, Goldstein (1980). He reiterated that certain skills may be effectively and efficiently
imparted through vehicles other than in-class training experiences (e.g., informal mentoring).
Other skills require more formalized training vehicles, such as in a classroom, by Web-based
training, through guided self-study, or via a formalized on-the-job training program. The formal
or informal training vehicles employed for each situation should be based on an assessment of
the need for training and the performance gap to be addressed. Success in training can be
measured in terms of the availability of opportunities to acquire the skills and knowledge needed
to perform new and ongoing enterprise activities, Goldstein (1980).
Skills and knowledge may be technical, organizational or contextual. Job description rates
the employees according to their performance, effectiveness and relevance in place of work by
doing a survey so as to enable employees to stick to the rules and activities bestowed to perform.
Technical skills pertain to the ability to use the equipment, tools, materials, data, and processes
required by a project or a process. Goldstein et al (1980). Organizational skills pertain to
behavior within and according to the employee’s organization structure, role and responsibilities,
and general operating principles and methods. Contextual skills are the self-management,
communication, and interpersonal abilities needed to successfully perform in the organizational
and social context of the project and support groups.
Designing a training and development program involves a sequence of steps that can be
grouped into five phases: needs assessment, instructional objectives, design, implementation and
evaluation. To be effective and efficient, all training programs must start with a needs
assessment. Long before any actual training occurs, the training manager must determine who,
what, when, where, why and how of training. To do this, the training manager must analyze as
much information as possible about the organization and its goals and objectives, jobs and
related tasks that need to be learned, Competencies and skills that are need to perform. Training
contributes to sustainable development, and is recognized in Kenya as a priority area of
development intervention as is reflected in policy documents. The Government of Kenya has
developed key policy documents over the last ten (10) years; Poverty Reduction Strategy Plan
(PRSP) of September 2002 and its successor the Economic Recovery Strategy Programme (ERS)
of 2003, and the Vision 2030 of 2008; they all emphasize the importance of training, education
and development. The most important role that the government has done is the developments of
policies that guide the systems in place in order standardize training in various sectors.
First, it enables the organization to contribute to the development of a country's human
capital, through its influence on education policies and systems and training by public training
institutions, to better serve business needs. It also enables it to influence employers in regard to
the need for them to invest more in training and employee development which employers should
recognize as one key to their competitiveness in the future. Second, it provides an important
service to members, especially in industrial relations in respect of which sources of training for
employers in developing countries are few, Bennett, et al (1998). Third, it is an important source
of income provided the organization can deliver relevant quality training. Fourth, it compels its
own staff to improve their knowledge without which they cannot offer training to enterprises
through their own staff. Fifth, the knowledge required for training increases the quality of other
services provided by the organization - policy lobbying, advisory and representation services.
Sixth, it contributes to better human relations at the enterprise level and therefore to better
enterprise performance, by matching corporate goals and people management policies. Finally, it
improves the overall image of the organization and invests it with a degree of professionalism,
which can lead to increased membership and influence, Tubre, et al., (2003).
Training Evaluation Criteria and job description.
The choice of evaluation criteria (i.e., the dependent measure used to operationalize the
effectiveness of training) is a primary decision that must be made when evaluating the
effectiveness of training. Although newer approaches to, and models of, training evaluation have
been proposed by, Arthur, Gettman, (2001) on the four-level model of training evaluation and
criteria continues to be the most popular since it emphasizes on action reaction ways in training .
The objectives of training determine the most appropriate criteria for assessing the effectiveness
of training.
Job descriptions in place of work are important part in scheme of services for employee’s
daily routine tasks; this explains in detail the role of the staff, the level of responsibility and the
chain of command in work place. Training should therefore not end at empowering the people
but it should to be moved higher to the level of productivity to service delivery. Developing a
national role in training is important for an employers' organization for several reasons according
to government training policy (2003).
Reaction criteria, which are operationalize by using self-report measures, represent trainees’
affective and attitudinal responses to the training program. However, there is very little reason to
believe that how trainees feel about or whether they like a training program tells researchers
much, if anything, about (a) how much they learned from the program (learning criteria), (b)
changes in their job-related behaviors or performance (behavioral criteria), or (c) the utility of
the program to the organization (results criteria). This is supported by the lack of relationship
between reaction criteria and the other three criteria. In spite of the fact that “reaction measures
are not a suitable surrogate for other indexes of training effectiveness” Tannenbaum & Yukl,
(1992), anecdotal and other evidence suggests that reaction measures are the most widely used
evaluation criteria in applied settings. For instance, in the American Society of Training and
Development (2002) State-of-the-Industry Report, 78% of the benchmarking organizations
surveyed reported using reaction measures, compared with 32%, 9%, and 7% for learning,
behavioral, and results, respectively Van Buren & Erskine ( 2002).
Learning criteria are measures of the learning outcomes of training; they are not measures
of job performance. They are typically operationalized by using paper-and-pencil and
performance tests. According to Tannenbaum and Yukl (1992), “trainee learning appears to be a
necessary but not sufficient prerequisite for behavior change” In contrast, behavioral criteria are
measures of actual on-the-job performance and can be used to identify the effects of training on
actual work performance. Issues pertaining to the transfer of training are also relevant here.
Behavioral criteria are typically operational zed by using supervisor ratings or objective
indicators of performance. Although learning and behavioral criteria are conceptually linked,
researchers have had limited success in empirically demonstrating this relationship, Alliger et al.,
(1997 ) and Colquitt et al.,( 2000). This is because behavioral criteria are susceptible to
environmental variables that can influence the transfer or use of trained skills or capabilities on
the job, Arthur, Bennett, et al (1998).
Results criteria are frequently operational zed by using utility analysis estimates Cascio,
(2001,1998). Utility analysis provides a methodology to assess the dollar value gained by
engaging in specified personnel interventions including training. The effectiveness of a training
program may vary as a function of the criteria chosen to measure effectiveness Arthur, Tubre, et
al., (2003).
A product of the needs assessment is the specification of the training objectives that, in
turn, identifies or specifies the skills and tasks to be trained. A number of typologies have been
offered for categorizing skills and tasks e.g., Gagne, Briggs, & Wagner,( 1992 ), given the fair
amount of overlap between them, they can all be summarized into a general typology that
classifies both skills and tasks into three broad categories: cognitive, interpersonal, and
psychomotor Farina & Wheaton, (1973;) Fleishman & Quaintance,( 1986 ); Goldstein & Ford,
(2002). Cognitive skills and tasks are related to the thinking, idea generation, understanding,
problem solving, or the knowledge requirements of the job. Interpersonal skills and tasks are
those that are related to interacting with others in a workgroup or with clients and customers.
They entail a wide variety of skills including leadership skills, communication skills, conflict
management skills, and team-building skills. Finally, psychomotor skills involve the use of the
musculoskeletal system to perform behavioral activities associated with a job. Thus,
psychomotor tasks are physical or manual activities that involve a range of movement from very
fine to gross motor coordination.
Practitioners and researchers have limited control over the choice of skills and tasks to be
trained because they are primarily specified by the job and the results of the needs assessment
and training objectives. However, they have more latitude in the choice and design of the
training delivery method and the match between the skill or task and the training method. For a
specific task or training content domain, a given training method may be more effective than
others. Because all training methods are capable of, and indeed are intended to, communicate
specific skill, knowledge, attitudinal, or task information to trainees, different training methods
can be selected to deliver different content (i.e., skill, knowledge, attitudinal, or task)
information. Thus, the effect of skill or task type on the effectiveness of training is a function of
the match between the training delivery method and the skill or task to be trained, Wexley and
Latham (2002).
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