Brayton Bowen is president of The Howland Group, a human resources and change management consulting firm. Glicksman is currently president and CEO of The Beam Group, a human resources and management consulting firm.
Introduction
Some of the supervisors participated in the procedure two times, and the results were compared. Both groups participated in the procedure and evaluations of their individual management competencies were obtained.
Assessing Your Present Training
Analyzing Your Training
Department’s Effectiveness
This word refers to the individuals and entities who use the services of the training function. Now, let’s determine how you and others perceive the effective- ness of the training function.
TRAINING ACTIVITIES
If training outsourcing is used by your organization, you can still answer the above questions for the portion of the training they perform. Answer three additional questions for each of the activities that are applicable to your training function.
YOUR TRAINING ACTIVITY PERCEPTIONS
On a one to nine scale (one being low, five being typical, and nine being high), how well do you think employees of the training function feel it is performing. On a one to nine scale (one being low, five being typical, and nine being high), how well do you think the internalclients of the training function within the organization feel it is per- forming.
TRAINING DEPARTMENT SURVEY
Column three is for the average ratings of the training department’s employees, and column four is for the average ratings of training’s internal clients. Again, the training department employees’ average ratings are entered in column three, and the internal clients’ aver- age ratings are entered in column four.).
TRAINING RATING COMPARISON FORM
If all the ratings for an activity (whether good or poor) are the same, that is a positive result. The last column, degree of agreement, is for you to indicate the amount of agreement between the three ratings for each activ- ity.
COMPLETED TRAINING RATING COMPARISON FORM
CODED TRAINING RATING COMPARISON FORM
Use the table below to determine degree of agreement and enter the appropriate number in the last column of the form. Activities with eighty-five and one hundred degrees of agreement indicate you and the other two groups perceive the training func- tion as performing in the relatively same way.
TRAINING RATING COMPARISON FORM SHOWING DEGREE OF AGREEMENT
What are the reasons for the ratings of the department em- ployees and internal clients. What is the basis for the ratings of the department employ- ees and internal clients.
TRAINING ACTIVITY PRIORITY LIST
Here again you should base your prioritizing on the importance of each activity to the success of the training function, your knowledge of the organiza- tion, and the training function. Your per- ceptions for the internal clients’ ratings are in the fourth column of the form in Figure 2-2.
DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEES’ RATING COMPARISON
A BLANK INTERNAL CLIENTS’ RATING COMPARISON FORM
When the ratings are on the same side of five, you both see the activity as above or below typical but to slightly different degrees. However, when the two ratings are on both sides of five, one of you is seeing the activity as requiring improve- ment and the other is seeing it as above typical.
A COMPLETED INTERNAL CLIENTS’ RATING COMPARISON FORM
The advantage of the interview is that it allows you to ask follow-up questions based on the answers you receive. You can also gain additional insights into the effectiveness of the training function by using a number of other standard calculations.
COST COMPARISON-ANALYSIS
It can be compared with other training depart- ments if the information from them is available. Sometimes, such information is collected and published by industry groups and professional associations, and some of the information such as total employees, sales, and total assets is available in annual re- ports.
ASSET COMPARISON MATRIX
Analyzing Your Training Department’s Organization
The list of activities provided in Chapter 2 may be of assistance in identifying your training department’s key result areas. Now let’s construct a training department organizational chart based on the mission statement and key result areas you have identified.
KEY RESULT AREAS
This is because it is a staff support position; its chart position will be described in a moment. As mentioned previously, the administrative assistant is a staff support position, so it is not in the line of authority for the depart-.
ORGANIZATION CHART FOR A TRAINING DEPARTMENT
ORGANIZATION CHART WITH LINES OF AUTHORITY AND SUPPORT POSITIONS
In such a case, each position should be accountable for a different element of the key result area. If more than one position is assigned the same key result area, you need to investigate. In such a case, each element of the same key result area could be assigned to a different position.
KEY RESULT AREA/POSITION FORM
POSITION DESCRIPTION PREPARATION FORM
Ensure the key result area you identified as assigned to the position is covered by the mission statement. The final portion of the position description preparation form calls for the position’s responsibilities—the activities the position is to accomplish. However, if they cannot agree, it is ultimately the supervisor who must determine the contents of the position description.
SAMPLE POSITION DESCRIPTION FOR A TRAINING MANAGER
How well do your perceptions of how the training depart- ment is performing compare with those of department em- ployees and clients. How well is the training department perceived by its organi- zational clients to be providing services. With the last question in mind, it is time to move on to proce- dures for identifying the training needs of your organization and individual employees.
Planning and Procedures for
Needs Identification
Distinguishing Between Organizational and
Employee Training Needs
Employees—who recognize possible training needs to improve their current performance or prepare for other jobs. Actually, anyone associated with the organization should be able to suggest the need for possible training and thus initiate the identification of training needs. The training needs of the organization have to do with the requirements to meet the organi- zation’s objectives.
Identifying Possible Areas in Which People Need
Training
The important element is to ensure that the training department is in the communication loops regarding all such possible inputs. This approach provides early information on training require- ments and ensures that the training function is in the loop. All of the aforementioned examples involve the training func- tion in the continuing operations of the organizations.
TRAINING DEPARTMENT’S ANNUAL REVIEW QUESTIONNAIRE
Questions Three, Four, and Five—Future Training Needs Questions one and two deal with current training requirements. Questions three, four, and five indicate future training needs and other ser- vices that training may provide. The lower portion of the form is to re- cord employees who might have training needs other than those required to close performance gaps.
ANNUAL EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE SURVEY
The answer could be that the course has application to the needs of some departments but not all. Any additional areas in which training can be of assistance You next need to prioritize the lists for action. The last two lists you need to make concern employees who need development assistance and any additional areas in which training can be of assistance to the various departments.
A SAMPLE FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONNAIRE
Keep in mind at this point you are only trying to identify areas where training needs may exist. With the above information, you will know whether a training needs analysis is required, the course should be eliminated or re- vised, or the course should be offered to different employees. You will have then identified the areas that require an identifi- cation of training needs.
Planning to Identify Training Needs
In some instances, it may be impossible to fulfill the need, but that is not the decision of the person conducting the training needs analysis. The training is required to be completed by October 3, when the new law goes into effect. The number of people to be trained can have a significant im- pact on the training program design.
SAMPLE TRAINING NEEDS ANALYSIS REPORT
The process of identifying possible areas of training probably in- cludes some of the people who possess the information you re- quire. The third column is used to indicate the sequence of information gathering (i.e., the first person to contact; the second, and so on). We have already introduced general investigative methods to use for information gathering—the interview, the questionnaire, and the meeting.
Procedures for Identifying Training Needs
When based on some type of objective criteria, they provide accurate information of the employee’s job performance. Job analysis is the formal process of identifying the specific re- quirements of a job—the qualifications, skills, and competencies. Actually, some of the pre- viously mentioned information-gathering techniques are often used for this purpose.
Implementing
Specific Methods to Gather Information
Standard Interviews
To be successful, an interview should be planned with a specific objective and identification of the information desired. By first listing the subject and then the questions, it is easy to determine if the questions will prompt the type of answers—and the information—you require. Actually, if the second question had a follow-up—What could you have done to make your poorest deci- sion a good one?—you’d be even more likely to obtain the type of information you are seeking.
INTERVIEW PLANNING FORM
You will always receive more cooperation when the interview is sched- uled at a convenient time for the interviewee. If you do not know an answer, say so, and if appropriate offer to find the answer and report it to the interviewee. Again, answer any questions the interviewee may have at the con- clusion of the interview.
Job Analysis Grid Interviews
In our example the responses are primarily in terms of job competencies, since that’s the informa- tion we’re seeking in this case. The three possible groups are: 1) Musts— . the competencies a new supervisor must absolutely have in order to function successfully;. The next column in Figure 9-1 (i.e., the column headed with the number 1) is used to record information gathered from the first manager interviewed.
GRID RESULTS COMBINING FORM (EXAMPLE 1)
In Figure 9-2, the form has been further com- pleted with the addition of the subjects and rankings from the first manager interviewed. In Figure 9-3, the form has been further com- pleted with the rankings from all three managers. It is not uncommon for the participants to all have the same top-ranked inputs and to have differences in those ranked lower.
The Need-to-Know Process
In fact, the last element of the book explained opening moves—the point at which most such books begin. The mutual funds training was designed to be conducted using the Need-to-Know Process. The trainer then began by asking the partici- pants to report the current number of shares in a client’s ac- count and the current value of the shares—the same item that was the first request in the Need-to-Know Process.
Performance Standards