Regardless of whether it is training or development, the same outcome is required. That is, the HRM specialists or managers are attempting to help individuals learn! Learning is critical to everyone’s
success, and it’s something that will be with the employees throughout their working lives. But learning for learning’s sake does not happen in a vacuum. It is important to understand how people learn—that is, to understand learning principles—in order to design an effective training program.
Learning Principles
Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior or behavioral potential that results from direct or indirect experience. The intention of training and development is for employees to learn behaviors that are more effective. Thus HRM specialists and managers interested in training and
development must understand the fundamentals of learning theory as they apply to training and
development. In addition, some organizations in the last few years have begun to pay particular attention to the importance of learning and have even gone so far as to attempt to redefine their organizations as learning organizations. A learning organization is one whose employees continuously attempt to learn new things and to use what they learn to improve product or service quality. Such an organization and its employees see learning not as a discrete activity that starts and stops with conduct of a specific training program but rather as a fundamental and continuous part of the organization and the employee work relationship (Atkinson, 1994).
Beyond this general and fundamental strategic approach to learning, however, a number of more specific learning techniques and principles also relate to employee training and development, such as the use of sound learning principles during the development and implementation of training and development programs. One basic learning principle has to do with motivation. In order to learn, a person must want to learn. In the context of training and development, motivation influences a person’s enthusiasm for training and development, keeps attention focused on the training and development activities, and reinforces what is learned. Motivation is influenced by the beliefs and perceptions of the trainee. If a trainee is not motivated, little can be accomplished in a training or development program.
The learning that occurs during training and development must also be reinforced in the organization.
Researchers have demonstrated that people learn best with fairly immediate reinforcement of
appropriate behavior. Suppose an employee learns how to do a new job in a way that takes a bit more effort but that provides a dramatic improvement in output. When the employee takes this behavior back to the workplace, the employee’s supervisor recognizes the new behavior and provides some sort of reinforcement or reward, such as praise and positive comments. To the extent that the manager ignores the new behavior, or even worse, questions or challenges it, then it will not have been reinforced and will likely not be repeated in the future.
In addition, the behaviors that the individual is attempting to learn must be meaningful. That is, the individual who is undergoing the training and development must recognize the behavior and its associated information as being important and relevant to the job situation that she or he faces.
Appropriate materials for sequential learning (reading lists, discussion outlines, problems, and cases) must be provided. The trainer acts as a facilitator in the learning process.
Even if the material is meaningful and important, if this message is not communicated effectively to the trainee, she or he will not work hard to master the material, which will presumably cause problems later.
The individual must be able to effectively receive the information being imparted
and must respond favorably to that material. To a large extent, effective communication depends on matching the training technique with the material to be transmitted. Any learning methods used should also be as varied as possible. It is boredom that destroys learning, not fatigue. Failure to recognize such requirements, along with the inability to effectively use the training technique in question, results in major obstructions to the communication of information. Furthermore, information must be
communicated in a unified way and over enough time to allow absorption.
Another important learning principle related to employee training and development is the notion of practice and repetition. The old adage “practice makes perfect” is applicable in learning. It takes time for people to fully internalize what they have learned in training and development. They need time to
practice it, to actually use it, and to see how it really affects their work performance. Having trainees perform a particular operation helps them concentrate on the subject. Repeating a task several times develops facility in performing it. Practice and repetition always enhance effective learning.
Another issue that those responsible for training and development must consider is how much practice is enough. Overlearning is practicing beyond the point at which the trainee has mastered and performed the task correctly several times. This concept helps explain the traditional wisdom that once people learn to ride a bicycle or to swim, they never forget how to do so. Overlearning should be used in training and development when the trainee is learning a task in which the first reactions must be absolutely correct.
Overlearning is important because (1) it increases retention over time, (2) it makes the behavior more automatic, (3) it increases the quality of performance under stress, and (4) it helps trainees transfer what they have learned to the job setting.
Finally, the material that is being taught must be transferable to the job setting of the individual employee. Mastering material in a training setting is pointless unless the trainee can then apply that material on the job. Two important considerations can facilitate this transfer of training. First, the training setting, or at least the setting in which the new skill or behavior is practiced, should resemble the actual job setting as closely as possible. Managers or trainers cannot always know all the settings in which the material will be applied, but it is nonetheless important to try to anticipate the actual
conditions on the job and replicate them in training.
Training is also facilitated if the behaviors learned in training are close to those that will be required on the job. That is, it would be pointless to teach employees to do a job on a piece of equipment if they will be using different equipment that requires different procedures when they actually return to the job setting. In fact, such training would result in negative transfer, which would interfere with performance on the job. But, over time, equipment changes and so procedures learned for one piece of equip-
ment might no longer apply when new equipment is introduced. In this situation it is important to retrain the employees to avoid problems of negative transfer.
Besides the traditional learning theory recommendations for maximizing transfer of learning, there are other guidelines organizations can follow to enhance transfer. Some of these occur during training, whereas others have to do with the pre- and post-training environment. Also, during the training, the trainer should work on building trainee self-efficacy, since it has been shown that efficacy at the end of training predicts the extent to which trainees attempt to use their new skills back on the job (Hill, Smith, and Mann, 1987). In addition, as trainees learn skills, the trainer should ask them to develop an action plan, including measurable goals, for performing the new behaviors back on the job. After the training, trainees should be encouraged to assess themselves against these personal goals on a regular basis (Garavaglia, 1993).
The relapse prevention model suggests that training time should be devoted both to anticipating
situations that could cause relapse and to planning strategies for dealing with these situations in advance (Marx, 1982). For instance, if managers who have just been taught to use a participative leadership style expect a relapse to the old autocratic style when working under a tight deadline, they can plan how to avoid the relapse.
Back on the job, a number of factors can affect transfer. One important factor is the opportunity to perform trained tasks. If one is taught how to use a new computer program but does not have on-the-job access to the program for several months after the training, clearly some benefits of the training will be lost. A supportive climate for the new behaviors back in the workplace is another key factor for
successful transfer of training. If superiors and peers do not accept or reward new behaviors by trainees, the new behaviors will be given up quickly or may not be tried at all. To facilitate transfer, trainees should be counseled both before and after the training by their immediate superior and receive encouragement to follow through with what they have learned.
Whenever possible, groups or teams that will be working together should be trained together so that they can learn both the training content and how to apply it in the unique mix of personalities and KSAs found in their own team. Intact group training should also facilitate development of group norms that support the new behaviors. Providing reminders or job aids to cue and to support performance also enhances transfer of training. If employees have been taught time management techniques, a cue might be a screen message to each computer user first thing in the morning, asking, “Have you made your to- do list today?” A wallet card listing the steps in a systematic decision-making process or a template to lead the performer through a task would be examples of performance supporting job aids.
Trainers should plan as carefully for transfer of training as they do for
the formal portion of the training. The key concept is embedding. Training programs are more effective when they are thoroughly embedded in the work setting. Programs must be consistent with the
organization’s culture and values; be understood, sold, and supported by trainees’ superiors beforehand;
and be reinforced by peers, superiors, opportunities, and reward systems afterward.