Before talking about the phases of training, let talk about training. Training is an essential activity related to human resource of the organization, which helps employees to become competent which would improve the organizational performance. The main focus of training is to equipped employees with certain skills & knowledge or to assist them in covering the deficiencies in their performances. In the Human Resource Management training has a great importance,  which allows individuals to enhance their skills, while becoming fruitful for organization. Below are a complete overview, infect the different methods and phases of training in details.

Challenges in Training

It is the need of today’s organizations to improve the performance of their employees by updating their skills & knowledge. The need for training brings the following challenging questions before the management of the organization.

01- Is training effective solution to the present problematic situation?

02- Are the goals realistic & clear?

03- Is training considered as good investment?

04- Will training Work?

Training Process

The internal & external environments of the organizations are changing from time to time. These changes show the need for proper adjustment in the working environment of the organization. This need for adjustment is referred to as training need that includes two questions which are as follow.

01- What are the training needs of the organization?

02- What should be achieved through the effort of training?

So the first step is to identify the objectives of the training and finally the methods are determined through which these objectives would achieved. There are several methods of training but the management of the organization chooses according to the goals of the training. But in general training should be evaluated consistently so that the change is facilitated which helps in the accomplishment of the objectives of the organization.

Different Phases of Training

There are four phases of training which are as follow.

• Need Assessment & Objectives Establishment
• Delivering the Training
• Training Methods
• Evaluation of the Training

Need Assessment & Objectives Establishment (Phase 1)

Organizations train their employees in order to compete with each other. In the first step, the need for training is identified and if the need exists then efforts are made to give the information needed to design the training programs. Three levels of analysis are included in the assessment which is as follow.

01- Organizational Analysis

02- Task Analysis

03- Personal Analysis

• Organizational Analysis

In organizational analysis, different types of problems are examined along with their present location.

• Task Analysis

It is also called operational analysis in which the identification of the behaviors & skills needed to perform the duties of particular job is made along with the performance standards that should be met.

• Personal Analysis

In this analysis the performance of certain employees are examined in order to ascertain whether any of them require the training or not. Providing training to all the employees of the organization is not good a good decision and it results into the wastage of the resources. The employees also feels unpleasant situation when they do not require training.

The training objectives must be clear & relevant to the identified areas only. Moreover, they should be precise, achieve able, challenge-able & understood by all. In simpler terms when the performance of employees is not according to the required standards, there is a strong need of training to improve the performance. There are certain factors that must be considered before start of any training program. These important factors are as follow.

• The number of employees who face skill deficiency
• Severity of skill deficiency
• Importance of skill
• The degree of improvement in the skills by training.

Determination of Training Needs

Following are the sources through which the needs of training can be determined.

• Self Assessment
• Company Records
• Customer Complaints
• New Technology
• Employee Grievances
• Interview with Managers
• Customer Satisfaction Surveys
• Observation

Delivering the Training (Phase 2)

The problems in the organizations is assessed & resulted into a direct response in the shape of training programs. The delivery of training programs is varied according to the location like:

1. On the Job Training

Training is provided by the actual work equipment in the actual work environment.

2. Off the Job Training:

In this case training is provides other than the actual work site. For this purpose specially designed training facility is used.

Methods of Training (Phase 3)

Following are of the common Methods of Training.

1. Lecture

In this method, high portion of factual information is presented to a large number of people (employees) at one time. It is similar to teaching in which material is clearly organized & presented in an understandable manner. In case of lecture, the learners are not actively participated.

2. Case Method

In this method, the trainees study a given case by themselves & conclude some decisions on their behalf.

3. Simulations

The real world is duplicated by complex devices called simulators. In this way artificial working environment is created for the training of employees which resembles to the real world environment.

4. Apprenticeship

In this method a new worker performs his job duties under the direction of a skilled worker.

5. Internship

Internship method is similar to the apprenticeship method of training but the difference is that in the former one the trainees are working on the post which are relatively higher in rank & require higher qualification. Colleges & universities facilitate the internship training to its students at different organizations.

6. Coaching & Mentoring

In this method an experienced person is assigned by the organization to teach a group of new employees. The mentor or teacher provides training to the new employees by improving their job skills, providing emotional support to them & encourage them to do better work. Coaching & mentoring is related to on the job training in which employees learn as one to one basis. In general coaching is referred to be a responsibility the boss who possesses the experience & expertise to provide useful advice to its new subordinate. Similarly the mentor provides guidance to the new employees but he may be posted at some other location of the organization or even he may be an outsider.

7. Discussions

Although group discussions & conferences are used to make decisions on certain issues but these can also serve as a training method because new employees consider them as forums where they learn new things. The attitudes & behaviors are changed as a result of group discussions.

8. Games

In this method, the simulators are used which create copy real world situations & create similar selective artificial situations for the participants to manipulate & learn from them.

9. Role Playing

In this method the participants responds to the specified problems that they face in the real work place.

10. Computer Base

Computer based training is also common now-a-days in which the computer technology is used to provide training with greater memory, speed & flexibility of instructions.

11. Multimedia

It is a method of training that supports computer based training by the additions of graphics, animations, audio & interactive videos.

12. Virtual Reality

In this training method the trainees view objects in a unique perspective that is not possible in the normal working environment.

13. Video Training

In this kind of popular training method, video tapes are used. Behavior modeling is presented as illustration of videotape in which it is shown that how managers work & function in the various situations in the working environment. These videotapes actually improve the interpersonal skills of the trainees.

14. Vestibule Training

In this method certain equipment is arranged at the separate training location that resembles the actual equipment place at the working environment.

All of the above training programs are potential methods of training the employees but they can be effective only when the required knowledge is transferred effectively by the trainer to his trainees. Following are some of the reasons that obstacle in the transfer of knowledge effectively.

• Don’t learn material
• The real life applications are not understood
• Lack of confidence
• Forgetting the material

Evaluation of Training (Phase 4)

The training programs are said to be credible when they reflect some tangible results in the favor of the organization. Several approaches are developed to determine the worth of a particular training program. In this evaluation phase of training process, the effectiveness of the training is measured which may be in both monetary & non monetary terms. The most important aspect in the assessment of training is that had it clearly reflected the needs that should be reflected. Following are ways of evaluating the training programs.

1. Opinions of the participants

For the evaluation of the effectiveness of the training, one way is to ask the participants to give their opinions on the training. This is an inexpensive method which results into immediate suggestions & response for improvement. But there is a serious issue with this approach that it is not based on the fact but on the opinion. In other words, there are chances that the trainee learns nothing but he may pretend that he learns a value able experience from training.

2. Extent of Learning

Some organizations use pre-tests, post-tests & certain designed control groups for the evaluation of learned experience by the trainees in the training.

3. Behavioral Change

The tests taken for the evaluation of training by the trainees may show the learned experiences clearly & fairly but the desired behavioral changes are not completely ascertained through these tests.

4. Accomplishment of Objectives of Training

Another method for the evaluation of the training programs is to ascertain the degree to which the stated objectives of the training are accomplished.

5. Benchmarking

In benchmarking approach, the exemplar practices of other organizations are used to evaluate the training programs of the organization. Estimation shows that 70% of the organizations in the USA are involved in benchmarking.

6. A Case of Simplicity

In this method evaluation of training program is made by measuring the value of positive change & impact of training.

7. Post Training Performance Method

In this approach the measurement of the performance of participant is made after attendance of training program so that resulting behavioral change is determined.

8. Pre-Post Test approach

In this approach, the performance of employees is measure before providing him the training. Then training is given to him and once again his post training performance is measured. Finally both performances are measured to ascertain the positive effects of training in the shape of increased level of employee productivity.

9. Control Group & Pre-Post Training

In this method two groups of employee are developed including control group & experimental group. The actual job performance of both of these groups is evaluated. The control group is not provided the training while the experimental group is passed through training programs. At the last step the actual performance of both groups are evaluated again. If performance of experimental group is better than the control group then it indicates that the training is effective.