Week Discussion 8

This will be turned into Turnitin.com. Please cite 2 outside references and the textbook author:

Blanchard, P. B., Thacker, J. W., & Crosby, D. M. (2023). Effective training: Systems, strategies, and practices (7th Ed.). Sage Publications, Inc. ISBN 13: 9781071927809

DISCUSSION HOMEWORK BELOW:

Your CEO has asked you to present to senior leadership at SLUHE about future trends in Training & Development. Choose the 2 specific trends below that will impact the future of the field. Explain these trends, including how they represent a change in the nature of the field today ....

Choose 2 of the three below to discuss!

· Improved interactive videos

· More collaborative learning

· Increase in use of performance support tools

Summaries info from Textbook:

What is the future of diversity training?

Start by calling it Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion instead.

Diversity has been a buzzword for so long, but it means more than just hiring more people from under-represented groups.

Consider that today diversity applies not only to race and gender, but also to combating generationalism, ableism and even providing equal representation for physically present vs. remote workers.

Equity refers to providing fair treatment for all groups – if organizations want to be seen as transparent, the same rules should apply to everyone when it comes to wages, access to training, and succession planning.

Inclusion means ensuring that opportunities exist for all groups and that the plan for diversity is more than just lip service – how can trainings, promotions and other perks be awarded based wholly on merit instead of favoritism?

Modern training, particularly for managers, should include addressing unconscious bias that can impact employees; no one wants to believe that they are biased toward or against anyone, but it is a reality – it’s just good psychology that we tend to treat our in-groups differently than our outgroups. Recognizing it is the first step to reducing it.

You’d have to be living in a cave not to know that a big puzzle in many organizations is how to emphasize support for gender identity, whether that comes down to how to treat employees regardless of their pronouns, or whether to have unisex bathrooms.

Finally, the flip side of all this is tempering DEI initiatives with constitutionally protected individual rights. If you’re interested, google a couple of recent newsworthy developments: at the University of Oklahoma, faculty and staff complained that they were forced to give only specific answers in order to complete mandatory diversity training. And, at Converse College in South Carolina, a professor refused to complete the required diversity training because he alleged the administration was too selective in what constitutes diversity awareness.

Orientation (ONBOARDING)

An effective orientation is a way to assimilate new hires into the company environment. When done properly, it provides the new employee with information on what is required of them, as well as some history of the firm, the company’s culture, and its strategic vision.2 It begins the socialization process for new employees by helping them learn about the way the organization works and what it values. Orientations can be short (half or one day) or much longer (a week with periodic meetings for months thereafter). Some authors use the term onboarding to define the longer more in-depth orientations that focus on socialization process and orientations are shorter introductions to the organization with some basic training and completion of forms required by Human Resources. Others use the term onboarding specifically for managers, and still others simply use the terms orientation and onboarding interchangeably. Here, we will use the term orientation to represent both short and long-term initial socialization processes of all employees.

Why spend time and money on an orientation? New employees will eventually learn about all the aspects of their job whether an orientation program exists or not. Right?

Why It is Important

From a learning theory perspective, we know that new learning is based on previous learning. New information is interpreted and understood in the context of what is already known. The best companies recognize that providing new employees with the information they need to understand the company and its expectations is a good investment. On the first day, the new employee is anxious to impress, nervous about what this new job is all about, and excited about what is in store. It is the new employee’s first entry to the organization, so what happens on that first day and the next few days is critical. The first impression of the organization will be lasting, and it is important to orchestrate it in a manner that creates all the images and impressions that will enhance the effectiveness of the company and the employee.

Research shows that employees who attend orientation programs are more willing to adopt the organization’s goals and values than those who do not.3 Orientations also provide guidance to the new employee regarding management’s expectations and inform the employee about job expectations. Effective orientations result in several positive outcomes for the organization, as depicted in Table 11.1. Higher commitment to the organization, increased job satisfaction, more job involvement, clear role understanding, and increased tenure are all outcomes of an effective orientation.4

What Organizations are Doing!

In some organizations, the orientation lasts a few hours; in others, it can be spread over months. Large organizations often develop orientation packages but forget about revising them until they are far out of date. Small organizations frequently develop them with little thought, if they do them at all. The positive outcomes identified by research suggest that the design and development of effective orientations is a good investment for most organizations.

Orientations often have a number of practices associated with them and a recent study examined what new employees saw as most helpful. In this study, those practices whose averages were above 4 (most beneficial) and below 3 (considered least beneficial) are listed in Table 11.2.5 Most of the averages for new employee usefulness fell in between these points. The study also determined that the more of these practices that were included in an orientation, the more socialized new hires became.6

Reduced anxiety: A better understanding of expectations and formalized meeting of coworkers results in the new employee not feeling the higher level of anxiety associated with the first few days on the job.

Reduced role ambiguity A structured opportunity to determine what is required on the job and a comfortable feeling about approaching the supervisor and coworkers to ask questions about the job provide an opportunity to clear up any misunderstandings about job requirements.

Reduced turnover: Substantial evidence indicates that effective orientations reduce turnover.

Improved job performance: A better understanding of job requirements and the willingness to ask for assistance result in fewer errors and the ability to get up to top production levels sooner, all of which translates to improved performance.

Higher level of commitment: Evidence suggests that those who receive effective orientations are more committed, more involved in their job, and more likely to take on the values of the organization.

More effective/efficient organization: The organization with more employees achieving optimal performance quicker, operating at a higher level of performance, showing a clearer understanding of their responsibilities, staying with the organization for a longer time, and being more committed to the values and objectives of the organization is definitely going to be

s chapter examined in depth five of the more prevalent training practices taking place in organizations today: orientation, diversity, equity, and inclusion, sexual harassment, team, and cross-cultural training. For the orientation, we discuss the importance of it and what organizations are doing. We also provide a hypothetical example, following the training model, to assist readers in understanding how to go about developing orientation training. For the other four training types, we again discuss the importance and what organizations are doing. Then, following the training model, we briefly outline the points to consider in developing such training.

Additional issues and training programs were discussed more generally and briefly. Equity was discussed in relationship to employment and training opportunities; employees are more often selected from within the organization than not. Even when promotions and transfers are based on the person’s skills and potential, all employees, regardless of their race, gender, or disability, must be provided access to training and development opportunities. The importance of equitable access in preventing costly litigation is understood, but it is more important in terms of fair treatment and obtaining the best employees in all positions.

The need for highly skilled, continually learning employees requires a solid foundation of basic reading, writing, and arithmetic skills. More and more companies are taking it on themselves to provide these skills. However, employees experiencing functional illiteracy are unlikely to admit it unless organizations take the time to develop and market training that addresses these skills.

Many companies see safety training as a significant cost savings tool. In the past, it was generally presented in an uninteresting manner, leading to poor learning and transfer to the job. If safety training is to achieve its cost avoidance potential, it needs to be designed to arouse the interest of the trainees.

With the availability of technology, trainees have become an active part of the training process. This will continue and future trainees will be able to use any device they want to receive their training. There will be an increase in micro learning, use of more of mobile apps, and there will be more collaborative learning taking place. There will be an increase in the use of gamification, improved interactive videos, and more performance support tools. Another major reason for the influx of technology into training is the costs are likely to come down and the savings for companies that do not have to bring employees to a central location for training is substantial.

The training professional’s competencies have been changing and they will be seen as more of a strategic partner in the future. This is because to be competitive organizations must continually improve customer service and quality products at an affordable price. They will become more of a consultant, analyzing performance processes and continually providing employees with necessary KSAs to improve. Development of methods for providing training nuggets and job aids will be a priority, more so than the typical instructor-led training of the past.

Lifelong leaning will be a big part of the future. As quality and productivity will continue to be important, innovation and creativity will be what moves an organization to the forefront. This requires a culture of continuous leaning. As a result, the learning organization should become more relevant in the future as well.

KEY WORDS TERMS

cross cultural issues

developmental review

diversity training

duty to accommodate

literacy training

orientation training

quid pro quo harassment

sexual harassment

talent management

team training

training equity

Teach back

This will be turned into Turnitin.com. Please cite 2 outside references and the textbook author:

Blanchard, P. B., Thacker, J. W., & Crosby, D. M. (2023). Effective training: Systems, strategies, and practices (7th Ed.). Sage Publications, Inc. ISBN 13: 9781071927809

DISCUSSION HOMEWORK BELOW:

Your CEO has asked you to present to senior leadership at SLUHE about future trends in Training & Development. Choose the 2 specific trends below that will impact the future of the field. Explain these trends, including how they represent a change in the nature of the field today ....

Choose 2 of the three below to discuss!

· Improved interactive videos

· More collaborative learning

· Increase in use of performance support tools

Summaries info from Textbook:

What is the future of diversity training?

Start by calling it Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion instead.

Diversity has been a buzzword for so long, but it means more than just hiring more people from under-represented groups.

Consider that today diversity applies not only to race and gender, but also to combating generationalism, ableism and even providing equal representation for physically present vs. remote workers.

Equity refers to providing fair treatment for all groups – if organizations want to be seen as transparent, the same rules should apply to everyone when it comes to wages, access to training, and succession planning.

Inclusion means ensuring that opportunities exist for all groups and that the plan for diversity is more than just lip service – how can trainings, promotions and other perks be awarded based wholly on merit instead of favoritism?

Modern training, particularly for managers, should include addressing unconscious bias that can impact employees; no one wants to believe that they are biased toward or against anyone, but it is a reality – it’s just good psychology that we tend to treat our in-groups differently than our outgroups. Recognizing it is the first step to reducing it.

You’d have to be living in a cave not to know that a big puzzle in many organizations is how to emphasize support for gender identity, whether that comes down to how to treat employees regardless of their pronouns, or whether to have unisex bathrooms.

Finally, the flip side of all this is tempering DEI initiatives with constitutionally protected individual rights. If you’re interested, google a couple of recent newsworthy developments: at the University of Oklahoma, faculty and staff complained that they were forced to give only specific answers in order to complete mandatory diversity training. And, at Converse College in South Carolina, a professor refused to complete the required diversity training because he alleged the administration was too selective in what constitutes diversity awareness.

Orientation (ONBOARDING)

An effective orientation is a way to assimilate new hires into the company environment. When done properly, it provides the new employee with information on what is required of them, as well as some history of the firm, the company’s culture, and its strategic vision.2 It begins the socialization process for new employees by helping them learn about the way the organization works and what it values. Orientations can be short (half or one day) or much longer (a week with periodic meetings for months thereafter). Some authors use the term onboarding to define the longer more in-depth orientations that focus on socialization process and orientations are shorter introductions to the organization with some basic training and completion of forms required by Human Resources. Others use the term onboarding specifically for managers, and still others simply use the terms orientation and onboarding interchangeably. Here, we will use the term orientation to represent both short and long-term initial socialization processes of all employees.

Why spend time and money on an orientation? New employees will eventually learn about all the aspects of their job whether an orientation program exists or not. Right?

Why It is Important

From a learning theory perspective, we know that new learning is based on previous learning. New information is interpreted and understood in the context of what is already known. The best companies recognize that providing new employees with the information they need to understand the company and its expectations is a good investment. On the first day, the new employee is anxious to impress, nervous about what this new job is all about, and excited about what is in store. It is the new employee’s first entry to the organization, so what happens on that first day and the next few days is critical. The first impression of the organization will be lasting, and it is important to orchestrate it in a manner that creates all the images and impressions that will enhance the effectiveness of the company and the employee.

Research shows that employees who attend orientation programs are more willing to adopt the organization’s goals and values than those who do not.3 Orientations also provide guidance to the new employee regarding management’s expectations and inform the employee about job expectations. Effective orientations result in several positive outcomes for the organization, as depicted in Table 11.1. Higher commitment to the organization, increased job satisfaction, more job involvement, clear role understanding, and increased tenure are all outcomes of an effective orientation.4

What Organizations are Doing!

In some organizations, the orientation lasts a few hours; in others, it can be spread over months. Large organizations often develop orientation packages but forget about revising them until they are far out of date. Small organizations frequently develop them with little thought, if they do them at all. The positive outcomes identified by research suggest that the design and development of effective orientations is a good investment for most organizations.

Orientations often have a number of practices associated with them and a recent study examined what new employees saw as most helpful. In this study, those practices whose averages were above 4 (most beneficial) and below 3 (considered least beneficial) are listed in Table 11.2.5 Most of the averages for new employee usefulness fell in between these points. The study also determined that the more of these practices that were included in an orientation, the more socialized new hires became.6

Reduced anxiety: A better understanding of expectations and formalized meeting of coworkers results in the new employee not feeling the higher level of anxiety associated with the first few days on the job.

Reduced role ambiguity A structured opportunity to determine what is required on the job and a comfortable feeling about approaching the supervisor and coworkers to ask questions about the job provide an opportunity to clear up any misunderstandings about job requirements.

Reduced turnover: Substantial evidence indicates that effective orientations reduce turnover.

Improved job performance: A better understanding of job requirements and the willingness to ask for assistance result in fewer errors and the ability to get up to top production levels sooner, all of which translates to improved performance.

Higher level of commitment: Evidence suggests that those who receive effective orientations are more committed, more involved in their job, and more likely to take on the values of the organization.

More effective/efficient organization: The organization with more employees achieving optimal performance quicker, operating at a higher level of performance, showing a clearer understanding of their responsibilities, staying with the organization for a longer time, and being more committed to the values and objectives of the organization is definitely going to be

s chapter examined in depth five of the more prevalent training practices taking place in organizations today: orientation, diversity, equity, and inclusion, sexual harassment, team, and cross-cultural training. For the orientation, we discuss the importance of it and what organizations are doing. We also provide a hypothetical example, following the training model, to assist readers in understanding how to go about developing orientation training. For the other four training types, we again discuss the importance and what organizations are doing. Then, following the training model, we briefly outline the points to consider in developing such training.

Additional issues and training programs were discussed more generally and briefly. Equity was discussed in relationship to employment and training opportunities; employees are more often selected from within the organization than not. Even when promotions and transfers are based on the person’s skills and potential, all employees, regardless of their race, gender, or disability, must be provided access to training and development opportunities. The importance of equitable access in preventing costly litigation is understood, but it is more important in terms of fair treatment and obtaining the best employees in all positions.

The need for highly skilled, continually learning employees requires a solid foundation of basic reading, writing, and arithmetic skills. More and more companies are taking it on themselves to provide these skills. However, employees experiencing functional illiteracy are unlikely to admit it unless organizations take the time to develop and market training that addresses these skills.

Many companies see safety training as a significant cost savings tool. In the past, it was generally presented in an uninteresting manner, leading to poor learning and transfer to the job. If safety training is to achieve its cost avoidance potential, it needs to be designed to arouse the interest of the trainees.

With the availability of technology, trainees have become an active part of the training process. This will continue and future trainees will be able to use any device they want to receive their training. There will be an increase in micro learning, use of more of mobile apps, and there will be more collaborative learning taking place. There will be an increase in the use of gamification, improved interactive videos, and more performance support tools. Another major reason for the influx of technology into training is the costs are likely to come down and the savings for companies that do not have to bring employees to a central location for training is substantial.

The training professional’s competencies have been changing and they will be seen as more of a strategic partner in the future. This is because to be competitive organizations must continually improve customer service and quality products at an affordable price. They will become more of a consultant, analyzing performance processes and continually providing employees with necessary KSAs to improve. Development of methods for providing training nuggets and job aids will be a priority, more so than the typical instructor-led training of the past.

Lifelong leaning will be a big part of the future. As quality and productivity will continue to be important, innovation and creativity will be what moves an organization to the forefront. This requires a culture of continuous leaning. As a result, the learning organization should become more relevant in the future as well.

KEY WORDS TERMS

cross cultural issues

developmental review

diversity training

duty to accommodate

literacy training

orientation training

quid pro quo harassment

sexual harassment

talent management

team training

training equity

Teach back