M4A1 Human Resources

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©2013 Argosy University

The Training Cycle

Training can be best described as a process and can be simply illustrated in the following diagram.

Business Plan

The business plan provides the training and development professional with the overall goals of the organization. Without the knowledge of the business plan, the training and development (T&D) professionals can’t effectively develop programs to support organizational objectives.

Training Strategy and Policy

This is the T&D professionals’ statement of their role in the organization. In essence, this is what they will do for the organization and includes:

 The T&D mission

 The T&D objectives and goals

 The T&D policy procedures

Training Needs Analysis

The fundamental principles governing every training needs analysis are:

 Evaluating what the organization is doing now

 Comparing this to what the organization aims to do in the future

 Analysis of the reasons for the performance gap (what is expected versus what is actually happening)

 Identifying the types of training interventions, which might bridge the gap between the current and

Business Plan

Training Strategy and

Policy

Training Needs Analysis

Training Plan

Implementation of Training

Evaluation of Training

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2 The Training Cycle

expected performance

The training needs analysis is fundamental in ensuring that the identified training is meeting the business need.

Training Plan

For a T&D plan to be effective, there must be:

 Allocation of specific responsibilities for drawing up and implementing plans

 A clear link to the business plan and the identified training needs

 A process to ensure operational managers and T&D personnel work together to agree upon the training outcomes and how these will be evaluated

 The plan must be integrated with the training policies and procedures

For every planned training intervention, the following should be outlined:

 The reason for which the training intervention is needed and the intended outcomes for both the participants and the organization

 The staff for which it is intended for

 The learning objectives, content, method of delivery, and people responsible for designing, organizing, and delivery

 The cost of training and the implications of required resources

 The time and venue of the training

 The manner in which the intervention will be evaluated

Implementation of Training

Some issues for consideration here are:

 How are company policies, procedures, and standards documented? How does training content reflect these?

 Who carries out training operations? How are trainer-skills developed in these people and how are they supported?

 Where are external trainers used and how are their training abilities assessed?

 Where is training carried out?

 How are trainees briefed before and after training interventions?

 How is the work of trainees covered during training?

 How are expenses dealt with for offsite training?

 Who is responsible for setting up training facilities and equipment?

 How is training recorded? This can be manually or via a software package.

Evaluation of Training

Evaluation of training takes place after the session has taken place. To be effective, you should consider the following:

 Administer the evaluation at the end of the training session to ensure you capture the experience

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of the attendees.

 Consider a 6-month post evaluation to measure whether or not the training retained its impact from the initial experience.

 Compare your first evaluation to your post evaluation to see if your training has long-term impact.