Training and Development Paper
Training is an essential part of any field without which even a qualified person cannot contribute effectively to an organization. It is important to evaluate every kind of training in order to determine whether it is producing the desired goals or it needs to be improved. Evaluation mostly involves getting ongoing feedback from the learner, trainer and supervisor so that there is continuous improvement in the quality and quantity. The different ways through which training can be evaluated are as follows:
· Effectiveness of training can be measured through employee performance evaluations which are carried out from time to time as a regular appraisal process. The impact of training can be known by evaluating employee’s performance and training can be altered if necessary.
· Training also has impact on business performance therefore evaluating business performance through sales, production costs, output, absenteeism, and turnover. Business performance can also be evaluated through qualitative improvements like quality of products and services, customer satisfaction achieved through superior customer service and greater innovation.
· The most useful way is through employee feedback. Employees should be asked directly that if the training was according to their expertise and expectations, what have they learnt and how will they put the training into action, can the training be improved so that it better work etc. Employees might hesitate to give responses face to face therefore, training assessment or evaluation forms can be used for this purpose.
· Finally, observation can also be a useful technique for evaluation the effectiveness of the training. Observation should be according to the objective of the training. If the training’s purpose was to enhance the communication skills of the employees then it can be observed how employees communicate with each other and with their customers in order to determine the training effectiveness.
Training should be treated as a necessity in the organizations and therefore, it should be continuously reinforced and sustained so that the employees can always show better performance than before. Training should be ongoing in order to sustain the performance of the learners. In order to accomplish this training should be never stopped instead it should be properly evaluated and improved from time to time.
There will not come any time when employees don’t need training because the business environment is continuously changing which require different abilities and skills at different times. Therefore, continuous training is the right way to sustain and reinforce better performance. Another way is support from the top management. When the superiors support their subordinates in acquiring knowledge then training can be reinforced. Thus, providing training is not the end instead sustaining and reinforcing it is also critical to ensure its effectiveness.
REFERENCES
Bramley, P. (1991). Evaluating Training Effectiveness: Translating Theory into Practice. New York: McGraw-Hill.
