This document discusses making the case for in-house training programs in libraries. It argues that conducting training programs in-house allows the training to be tailored to the library's unique culture and strategies. In-house training is also viewed as an investment in developing the skills of existing staff, rather than just a cost. The document provides suggestions for developing an effective in-house training program, including conducting a needs assessment, analyzing jobs and core competencies, and evaluating the long-term impact of the training on both individual skills and organizational performance.
Day 2 - Wednesday 18 March 2015: Preparing for our Institutional Challenge
Learning & Development Track: Setting Up and Managing a Corporate Development Centre. Presented by Dr Wim Brits, Head: Shared Services, South African Reserve Bank Academy.
#astdza2015
MBA Dissetation- Training and development pratices in MNC subsidiaries in ChinaJoseph Uzah
“An analysis of the gap in skill level between expatriate managers and host country managers (Subsidiary managers) to determine if the current training and development practices in MNC subsidiaries in China can minimize the skills gap”
Day 2 - Wednesday 18 March 2015: Preparing for our Institutional Challenge
Learning & Development Track: Setting Up and Managing a Corporate Development Centre. Presented by Dr Wim Brits, Head: Shared Services, South African Reserve Bank Academy.
#astdza2015
MBA Dissetation- Training and development pratices in MNC subsidiaries in ChinaJoseph Uzah
“An analysis of the gap in skill level between expatriate managers and host country managers (Subsidiary managers) to determine if the current training and development practices in MNC subsidiaries in China can minimize the skills gap”
In this 21st century with the advancement of time and technology, the whole operational system has totally changed in the business organization. As completely marketing structure as well as organizational is changing, with this the range of competition level is also increasing with time. In case of every business organization the HRM mean the Human Resource Management plays the most important role. The human resources management mainly maintain four basic functions namely the staffing, training and development, motivation and maintenance.
Strategic Human Resource Design & linking it with Corporate Realities - "Bra...Farooq Omar
This is a real time brainstorming exercise for the business managers and Human Resource executives to analyze this artistically to enhance critical and creative skills to get into a 'Today's Future' . I tried it in academics in EMBA programs and workshops and got excellent results, from those who are more inclined to 'unlearn & learn' at the same time.
If done correctly, they will learn that the CV's at a glance means just gaps and real competencies which an organization demands to feed its functional and operational efficiency to perform par excellence are missed.
The net result is inefficiencies rather than efficiency and productiveness. The selection from using 'keywords' is a stone age practice, still in practice in many organizations. The careful analysis and coming out with value answers will help HR as a part of company's performance indicators, rather than just 'fiddling with papers and judging the applicant with his shinny CV and good looks.
Looks matter, but looks with a competencies person, who may not have a long tail of corporate attachments may very well be the best person for your organization. Such people are usually left out in the initial or first phase of our typical fancy HR rater models.
Annually, billions of dollars are lost in loss of innovation and wrongly applauded ROIs due to lost opportunities which are missed by using wrong 'fishing techniques' and rigid rules of engagement !Interestingly, there are still organizations who even modern times, gives more importance and interested in finding 20 years old 'terminal weakness', and over ride the newer expertise, talent and competencies. For example, some HR people will reject an applicant who had a bad CG PA in high school, but managed excellent outcomes later on in academics and working environment as well...'The poor cap'.!!!
Learn How Scotiabank Delivers e-learning: Case Study Bersin & DelloiteSaba Software
Overview
Learn how The Bank of Nova Scotia, or Scotiabank, uses Saba to deliver e-learning courses to most of its 48,000 employees via its internal network, to manage course registrations, and to track employee usage.
Business Challenge
Scotiabank established a federated training infrastructure. They needed to support 60,000 users in 25 countries on the cloud and educate the workforce to support a broad range of products and services, including personal, commercial, corporate and investment banking, to more than 12.5 million customers in some 50 countries around the world.
Business Benefits
-Enable learning and real-time collaboration for all 60,000 users
-Deliver over 600,000 course completions per year
-Provide flexible cloud-based access to Scotiabank employees on a daily and weekly basis
-Address extensive regulatory certifications and learning requirements
In this 21st century with the advancement of time and technology, the whole operational system has totally changed in the business organization. As completely marketing structure as well as organizational is changing, with this the range of competition level is also increasing with time. In case of every business organization the HRM mean the Human Resource Management plays the most important role. The human resources management mainly maintain four basic functions namely the staffing, training and development, motivation and maintenance.
Strategic Human Resource Design & linking it with Corporate Realities - "Bra...Farooq Omar
This is a real time brainstorming exercise for the business managers and Human Resource executives to analyze this artistically to enhance critical and creative skills to get into a 'Today's Future' . I tried it in academics in EMBA programs and workshops and got excellent results, from those who are more inclined to 'unlearn & learn' at the same time.
If done correctly, they will learn that the CV's at a glance means just gaps and real competencies which an organization demands to feed its functional and operational efficiency to perform par excellence are missed.
The net result is inefficiencies rather than efficiency and productiveness. The selection from using 'keywords' is a stone age practice, still in practice in many organizations. The careful analysis and coming out with value answers will help HR as a part of company's performance indicators, rather than just 'fiddling with papers and judging the applicant with his shinny CV and good looks.
Looks matter, but looks with a competencies person, who may not have a long tail of corporate attachments may very well be the best person for your organization. Such people are usually left out in the initial or first phase of our typical fancy HR rater models.
Annually, billions of dollars are lost in loss of innovation and wrongly applauded ROIs due to lost opportunities which are missed by using wrong 'fishing techniques' and rigid rules of engagement !Interestingly, there are still organizations who even modern times, gives more importance and interested in finding 20 years old 'terminal weakness', and over ride the newer expertise, talent and competencies. For example, some HR people will reject an applicant who had a bad CG PA in high school, but managed excellent outcomes later on in academics and working environment as well...'The poor cap'.!!!
Learn How Scotiabank Delivers e-learning: Case Study Bersin & DelloiteSaba Software
Overview
Learn how The Bank of Nova Scotia, or Scotiabank, uses Saba to deliver e-learning courses to most of its 48,000 employees via its internal network, to manage course registrations, and to track employee usage.
Business Challenge
Scotiabank established a federated training infrastructure. They needed to support 60,000 users in 25 countries on the cloud and educate the workforce to support a broad range of products and services, including personal, commercial, corporate and investment banking, to more than 12.5 million customers in some 50 countries around the world.
Business Benefits
-Enable learning and real-time collaboration for all 60,000 users
-Deliver over 600,000 course completions per year
-Provide flexible cloud-based access to Scotiabank employees on a daily and weekly basis
-Address extensive regulatory certifications and learning requirements
This paper was set to examine training and development in the banking sector and reaffirm the investment in training and development. In line with the assertion made by the literature and the evidences gathered in the process of the study, the following recommendations were made: It is an established fact that no serious minded organization like banks can be staffed by people with expertise and potentials in the various disciplines needed for its total functioning simply by recruitment and selection, it’s the systematic training and development of personnel on continuous basis that can harness the totality of human resources in the organization, banks should ensure that any training and development which takes place is based on proper analysis of its contribution to the effectiveness and efficiency of banking industry. The data collected from different sources was cross checked. Different statistical tools and techniques were used like mean, mode, median, averages, t-test and chi-square. The paper concluded that investment in the area of training and development in the human resources will bear the fruits much fold for the banking industry of the two countries. For the Indian banks have established their training institutes for the purpose of training its staff which was lacking with their counterparts. Each employer who invests seriously in the area of Training and Development will reap the benefits of an enriched working environment with higher levels of staff retention as well as increased productivity and performance. In the modern computer era training has gained the reputation of dynamic concept which needs to be understood in that perspective most of the modern banks which do not respond to the dynamic change that are seen in changed environment may fail to respond to the needs of customers. Training is one of most important and effective means of bringing about change in banking sector. Hence, the study is carried with the aim of studying training implementation in these selected banks.
772015 Case - MGT509 Human Resource Management (JUN2015FT-1).docxevonnehoggarth79783
7/7/2015 Case - MGT509 Human Resource Management (JUN2015FT-1)
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Module 3 Case
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT; TALENT MANAGEMENT;
ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Assignment Overview
Click The King Company Background to review information on the Company.
HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
The HRD division at The King Company is managed by training director
Karmen Scholl, who supervises two other employees: a trainer and an
administrative assistant, who coordinate the logistics of King’s training
programs. Recognizing the continuous dynamics of the hightech industry,
King has been a strong supporter of employee development.
With approval of the immediate supervisor, King encourages employees to
attend training seminars, and tuition reimbursement is available for college
level courses that are related to the employee’s job. Inhouse training is
conducted regularly to ensure all employees are uptodate on sexual
harassment and safety procedures. Other training is made available as the
need arises. Whenever possible, training programs are developed and
facilitated by inhouse staff members. When that is not practicable, a request
for proposal is generated and King hires outside facilitators.
Since the labor problem a few years back, Scholl aggressively trained
management employees with particular emphasis on skills for firstline
supervisors. She wants to see improvement in people skills and consistent
implementation of King’s policies across department lines. Unfortunately, her
efforts are not universally well received. Some managers grumble that HR just
gets in the way and ties their hands when dealing with difficult employees. All
too often Smith hears managers say that there is the “classroom way” and the
“shop floor way.” She sees training for King managers as an ongoing process.
Last year’s strategic planning process identified knowledge management as
an area for organizationwide improvement. King has a history of employees
working in silos, with little communication across functions. Hoping to bridge
the gap and encourage collaborative exchange, Scholl established
“communities of practice,” where individuals could meet to problem solve and
exchange ideas. Her first communityofpractice group consisted of individuals
from research and development, engineering and production. A number of
other communities have since been established. More informally, Scholl
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encourages “snack and chat” meetings on Friday afternoons, where
employees can drop by for a snac.
Every organization needs inventory for smooth running of its activities. It serves as a link between production and distribution processes. The investment in inventories constitutes the most significant part of current assets/working capital in most of the undertakings. Thus, it is very essential to have proper control and management of inventories. The purpose of inventory management is to ensure availability of materials in sufficient quantity as and when required and also to minimize investment in inventories. Raw materials, goods in process and finished goods all represent various forms of inventory. Each type represents money tied up until the inventory leaves the company as purchased products. Because of the large size of the inventories maintained by firms, a considerable amount of funds is required to be committed to them.
It is therefore absolutely imperative to manage inventories efficiently and effectively in order to avoid unnecessary investments. A firm neglecting the management of inventories will be jeopardizing its long run profitability and may fail ultimately. The reduction in excessive inventories carries a favorable impact on the company’s profitability.
The study starts with an introduction to inventory management, Company’s profile, Achievements and also the need for study, review of literature and objectives are set out for the study. Research methodology, Data analysis & Interpretation, Findings and Suggestions of the study follow.
One of the main areas of the project is the analysis part, where the data are analyzed & interpreted, to find out how the inventories were managed. Some of the tools used in inventory are regarding to:
Economic Order Quantity
Safety Stock
FSN Analysis
Trend Analysis and
Inventory Turnover Ratio.
ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS AFTER YOU PAPER BELOWQUESTIONS.docxYASHU40
ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS AFTER YOU PAPER BELOW
QUESTIONS
1. Was there a clear and concise thesis statement? Explain.
2. Was there a clear and concise problem statement?
3. Was the problem statement supported by evidence? Explain.
4. Was there a clear and concise research question(s)? Explain.
5. Was the body of research organized and easy to understand? Explain.
6. Did the author answer the research question(s) clearly in the discussion section? Explain.
7. Were inferences drawn from the body of research? Explain.
8. Did the paper use proper APA formatting? Explain.
9. Did the author support assertions with in-text citations and references? Explain.
10. What areas need improvement? Explain. What areas were strongest? Explain.
11. Do you have any other constructive feedback or recommendations to help your peer improve? Explain.
12. How did reviewing this paper help you with your own research paper? Explain.
Economic Benefits of Knowledge Management
Database Management and Communications are two fields of study that can be taken at a lot of higher learning institutions today. These fields play a major role in business and its sustainability. The developments in information and communications technologies which have made knowledge production and exchange easier and further enhanced the methodologies of knowledge discovery are the major factors for the amount of scientific knowledge produced in the last 30 years and continues to grow rapidly.(Kaniki & Mphahlele, 2002) The practice of Knowledge Management as a field is relatively new in the U.S but has been in use by European companies for quite some time.
Human capital as an asset is slowly being realized by companies as a major contributor to maintaining the accounting bottom line and even remaining relevant. There has been a recent boom in technological tools that promote knowledge shares such as Microsoft SharePoint. Coupled with the new field of Knowledge Management, is this a viable resource to improve a company's productivity and profitability? Businesses should adopt a knowledge management process and collaborative technologies to be innovative and competitive in today’s market.
Statement of the Problem
It has become important in today’s workplace to take inventory of a business’s knowledge assets to include both tacit and explicit to increase equity, innovation and competitiveness. In today's free market and ever-changing economy, businesses understand the need to manage proprietary knowledge or “in house” knowledge to maintain competitiveness. How this is done and fostered in a way that it is embraced by the employees is the challenge realized by those who understand the need for knowledge management. For this reason, many business managers are seeking a solution. (Carlucci, 2006)
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is to research different methods of knowledge management strategies to inform on how business can become more competit.
Employee training,
Training need assessment
Training methods
Training evaluation
Cross-cultural training,
Designing executive development programme
Techniques of executive development
Career planning and development
For INDONESIA area, please contact :
Representative of AIM for Executive Education program in Jakarta,
Martinus Benjamin
Tel. nos : +6221 2965588, +6221 30050688
Email : martinus.benjamin@ultimatesmart.com
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Accuprosys is a boutique business Consulting firm headquartered in Hyderabad. We provide end to end Consulting business Solutions to various corporates across mid market segments in India. Over the years, we have supported several organizations to emerge as successful business entities by keeping pace with their day to day business requirements. Accuprosys understands and upholds that each segment has its own requirements, our unique consulting expertise with decades of experience and knowledge base across various disciplines makes us the best option to help our clients to increase the productivity and organizational growth with a less turnaround time.
Training for Improved PerformanceChapter 9 .docxjuliennehar
Training for Improved Performance
Chapter 9
LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading this chapter you should be able to:Explain how employee training practices can be aligned with an organization’s competitive strategy.Describe how partnering and using a systematic process for developing training helps an organization benefit from training.Discuss the different ways organizations determine their training needs.Describe various training methods and explain how to make each more effective.Explain why the purpose of a training evaluation should be used to guide the evaluation process.
HOW CAN STRATEGIC EMPLOYEE TRAINING IMPROVE AN ORGANIZATION?What is Training?It is a planned effort by a company to help employees learn job-related knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Most organizations offer some type of training. Various formats are used. Such asLarge group lectures given by an expertOn-the-job training delivered by a supervisorSimulations guided by a computer programSmall group projects coordinated by an executive or online discussions with colleagues from around the country
Training is a planned effort by a company to help employees learn job-related knowledge, skills, and attitudes.
The vast majority of companies offer training programs, and they come in many shapes and sizes: large group lectures given by an expert; on-the-job training delivered by a supervisor; simulations guided by a computer program; small group projects coordinated by an executive; or on-line discussions with colleagues from around the country.
The common element that defines training is that employees go through a structured experience that helps them to learn something they can use to improve their performance at work.
Improving Organizational EffectivenessTraining, when designed and delivered properly, can improve the overall effectiveness of an organization in three ways:
1. It can boost employees’ commitment and motivation.
2. Training helps employees perform their work more effectively and efficiently.
3. Training benefits organizations is by helping them to meet their strategic objectives
Training, when designed and delivered properly, can improve the overall effectiveness of an organization in three ways.
First, it can boost employees’ commitment and motivation. Opportunities to learn new skills are important in today’s economy, so employees appreciate learning opportunities offered by training. As a result, companies that offer more training foster employee commitment.
Second, training helps employees perform their work more effectively and efficiently, so the organization is able to function better on a day-to-day basis. If you’ve ever been to a grocery store where the cashier had not been trained to use the cash register efficiently, then you’ve been a victim of poor training (or, if you were really unlucky, it might have been a combination of poor employee selection and poor training
Third, training benefits organization ...
1. The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0888-045X.htm
LEADING RESULTS Making the case
for in-house
Making the case for in-house training
training
167
Michael A. Crumpton
Jackson Library, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, Received 8 July 2011
North Carolina, USA
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide the structure needed to create an in-house training
program for libraries as a means for improving staff competencies during periods of economic
problems.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper pulls information from the business environment and
gives a human resources perspective on training programs used in companies that also have limited
financial means.
Findings – The information and structure provided for development of a training program has had
proven results.
Practical implications – This information will require action on the part of libraries interested in
gaining this advantage.
Originality/value – These proven methods and steps can increase a library’s case when seeking to
justify allocation of resources and will add value to the organization as it serves its primary clientele.
Keywords Training, Value, Human resources, Competences, Librarians
Paper type Viewpoint
In these tough financial times, many limitations can be imposed on libraries that foster
a culture of staff and/or professional development. Hiring activities shift to more
transitional activities; including assessing training needs and gaps in the skills sets of
incumbent staff. In good economic times the human resource function expands on
staffing, employee involvement programs and training. In poor times these activities
are usually the first to go in the cutbacks. However; the need is never greater to invest
in training programs and activities that provide additional organizational agility and
flexibility as hiring new staff is disrupted. Libraries must put on their human resources
hat in order to continue to provide these developmental needs, in particularly during
tough economic times.
In a Journal of Management (27) article by three human resource colleagues at
Cornell University, “Human resources and the resource based view of the firm”, the
strategic use of human resource management is discussed as it relates to the use of
human capital as a resource. The development of human capital, by training internally, The Bottom Line: Managing Library
is vulnerable to not only hard economic times, but also to a variety of arguments for Finances
Vol. 24 No. 3, 2011
outsourcing or detaching the training function so that it becomes an external activity. pp. 167-172
Libraries are full of individual expertise that should be nurtured and shared in order to q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0888-045X
gain the organizational benefit for all staff. This could play an important role in how DOI 10.1108/08880451111186008
2. BL the library is viewed within the larger institution, and how staff could maintain a
24,3 competitive advantage within the field.
The following human resources perspective is meant to give suggestions and make
the case for in-house training programs, which libraries can develop to improve their
positioning with human capital. Libraries have many potential resources for
developing training content including in-house knowledge, collaborative partnerships
168 with other libraries and consortiums and vendors who are willing to contribute to
content and skill development needs. Proper attention must be given to the assessment
and development of a program that ensures effective use of time and money and will
lead to enhancement of organizational value.
Resource-based view of human resources
Wright and McMahan in 1992 presented the resource-based view as one perspective in
determining that an organization’s human resources could provide a potential source of
competitive advantage. This resource-based view combines the analysis of a
company’s internal activities with the external analysis of the industry and the
competitive environment. This is a theoretical rationale for human resources having
implications for forming strategy as well as implementation of objectives. For libraries
this puts the focus on staff and their usefulness to the end user over resources and
materials that may have been purchased or needs to be accessed.
But human resource practices do not form the basis for a competitive advantage or
justification of receiving consideration for shared resources. It is the human capital
pool (staff) that has the potential to create the advantage with both a high level of skill
and willingness to perform. The distinction is the skill set, creating a talented and
committed workforce and the development of employees that are capable of learning.
The successful results of this will be a competitive advantage or increased value of the
organization.
Regarding strategy, in a Harvard Business Review article, “What is strategy?”
(1996), Michael E. Porter discusses the difference between strategy and operational
effectiveness. Operational effectiveness, while necessary for the competitive advantage
or justification of resources, really means performing similar activities better than
could be done by others. Strategy is about being different and developing unique
activities that are different than the competition. This should be reflected in the
training programs that are delivered to employees and can affect the resulting
behavior, such as developing programs that embrace the unique aspects of
librarianship.
What’s the training or developmental need?
A good starting place for determining training needs is a self-assessment. As an
example, the federal government, which employees a diverse group of individuals with
a broad range of skills and knowledge requirements, has put together a Human Capital
Self-Assessment Checklist for their Agency Leaders (www.gao.gov/ special.pubs/
cg00014 g.pdf). It recognizes that human capital or people, are assets whose value can
be enhanced through investment, or training. It also recognizes that human capital
policies must be designed, implemented and assessed by a shared vision or strategy of
the organization.
3. Libraries who are faced with downsizing or reduced resources and cannot pursue Making the case
new initiatives, must assess the current human capital skills sets in order to address for in-house
repurposing opportunities that will be necessary to maintain currency and value to the
larger, ever changing, institution. training
The example self-assessment checklist relates to the competitive strategy that an
organization can formulate for its workforce. It is organized as follows:
.
Strategic planning: establishes the mission, vision, core values, goals and 169
objectives and strategies.
. Organizational alignment: integrates human capital into the organization’s core
business practices.
.
Leadership: fosters a committed leadership team that supports the strategic
planning process.
.
Talent: recruit, hire and train employees to develop skills and behaviors needed
for the competitive advantage.
.
Performance culture: motivate workforce through empowerment.
This self-assessment checklist then provides direction regarding formal training
programs or a human capital development process for federal government employees.
Libraries have similar resources available that can contribute to an overall training
program.
Developing the training program
The decision now is regarding the formulation of a Training Program that not only fits
the library’s strategic plans, but also creates the infrastructure that supports the
development of human capital to gain a competitive advantage within the market and
for service to the institution. A training needs assessment would be appropriate and a
good starting point to determine the direction needed.
According to the Society for Human Resource Management (Learning System,
2008), conducting a needs assessment is valid for the following reasons:
(1) To determine “IF” training is needed – Training needs can be a result of poor
performance, competition, a decline in business or morale issues. This can avoid
applying training to a non-training problem. For the library environment, this
can also mean that a decline in resource allocation or hiring restrictions imposed
could create a training need.
(2) To determine the cause of poor performance – Poor performance can have
many causes in business, including professionals feeling that they have fallen
behind the learning curve.
(3) To determine content and scope of training – The type of training is important
to achieve expected results. You want to do what is best for the situation
logistically, workshop, self-study, OTJ, etc. in order to achieve maximum
learning. Also you want to determine when, who and to what degree training is
needed.
(4) To determine desired training outcomes – This identifies what knowledge,
skills, and behaviors are targeted for competitive advantage.
4. BL (5) To provide a basis or measurement – A needs assessment will establish a
24,3 baseline in which to measure results or changes.
(6) To gain management support – This creates the leadership commitment
needed to be successful.
The methods for conducting a needs assessment are varied and could be discussed in
170 great lengths.
Job analysis and core competencies
A needs assessment could also include a job analysis and a review of the core
competencies that are essential in fulfilling the job successfully. From a job analysis, a
job description is created and used for recruiting and the posting of openings. Job
specifications are the knowledge and skills that are perceived as being required to do
the job successfully. This is the basis for the whole recruiting and hiring process in the
human resource environment. Or in the case of non-hiring, this could be the basis for
re-purposing positions to maintain focus on organizational priorities.
Core competencies are the basic skill level and purpose of any given professional
position. The goal of successful recruitment and interviewing is to match a candidate’s
experience and skill set, with the core competencies of the job as close as possible. The
goal of the successful candidate is to develop the skills, through education, experience
or additional training to match the position that they seek. Employers must identify the
organizational need or competencies within position requirements and seek job
candidates who are trained to match those competencies or plan training programs
that create skill equity.
In “Designing and implementing an HR Scorecard”, by Walker and MacDonald,
2001, a discussion of training investment vs recruiting expenses makes a strong case
for internal training programs to create the core competencies needed by organizations.
This is helpful for both succession planning, backing up specialty or unique skills
needed and re-purposing people as needed within the organization in order to perform
prioritized tasks.
To in-house or out-sourced?
Training programs are expensive and time consuming. Whether a training program is
developed in-house or outsourced the cost can be high. Typically only larger
companies or organizations can afford to totally provide the needed training in-house.
Outsourced training firms have grown substantially over the years, seeking medium
and small companies that have smaller training programs as their target market. Some
larger companies will supplement their in-house programs with external programs for
various reasons. Recruitment and hiring of experience and skill sets already trained
avoid the cost of training but add cost in different areas, including recruitment, as
mentioned earlier. Katherine Morrall, in her article, “Bring training in-house”, Bank
Marketing (1996), makes the point to consider several options, but recommends
keeping your core training activity in-house.
The decision regarding whether or not to outsource training activity also depends
on the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. An organization that does not
have the resources in-house to provide the training and development needed by the
workforce has other problems as well. Within the field of librarianship, skills and
5. talents are plentiful and should be harvested to provide value and support for an Making the case
in-house program. Other arguments for in-house development include: for in-house
.
In-house training should relate to in-house culture. Programs developed training
internally can be tailored to match company strategy, goals and objectives.
.
Leadership buy-in is stronger when a training program is proprietary as it also
provides the opportunity to influence the material.
171
.
In-house training should be viewed as an investment, as opposed to a cost. This
investment in human capital can be measured in the evaluation process.
.
Outsourcing of training programs creates the need to provide the outsourcing
company with company information that go beyond typical public assessable
material. This is not good for the competitive advantage of being different or
unique because despite confidentiality agreements information has “left the
building”.
A good argument for the use of outsourcing training activity is when the need is a
universal topic, an industry expert or a product compliance type of need. In these cases
the options that should be explored should be more logistical in nature. In-house
training can supplement external sources through satellite hook-ups, teleconferencing
or distance learning programs and keep the core foundation of behavior modification
in-house.
Evaluating the program
Regardless of the type of training program developed and implemented, training
becomes an expense, viewed as either a cost or an investment. How do you justify these
costs or ensure that the program is effective enough to create a return on that
investment?
The current and most common evaluation method of training programs is
monitoring. But the true benefits of training are not easily measured in quantitative
terms. Especially programs in which behavior modification is expected to gain a
competitive advantage. This requires a longer-term view of measurement and moves
from monitoring to evaluation.
In an article by Christopher Rowe, “How useful was it: the problem of evaluating
in-house training programs”, the following five-step model of evaluation was
developed at British Aerospace at Brough to determine the long-term effects of their
training programs and this could represent the basic elements for any in-house training
evaluation.
.
Level One: Instance monitoring of new skills through questionnaires.
. Level Two: Project work that provides trainees the opportunity to assess their
own learning development.
.
Level Three: Interviews in the work environment to encourage discussion of
direct application of the training program’s content.
.
Level Four: An evaluation of awareness and behavior changes, of the trainees, by
senior management.
.
Level Five: An evaluation of the company’s business performance through a
variety of methods utilizing the training material.
6. BL While evaluation of training is never an exact science, long-term evaluation by all
members of the organization helps to reinforce the material and sustain behavioral
24,3 changes indefinitely.
Conclusion
In an organization that is truly committed to the utilization of human capital, in order
172 to gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace or in the case of most libraries
justifying their need for resources, in-house training programs are the most effective to
the long term success of the organization’s strategic goals. Training should be seen as
an investment in the organization’s strategic plans and internal training should be seen
as an investment in the current workforce.
To compete strategically, you must first determine the training need through
self-assessment, develop a training program that will support the job analysis and core
competencies needed then determine whether or not you have the resources internally
to train “competitively”.
Outsourcing training programs can be impersonal and lack the culture and
teamwork that reinforces training values. Collis and Montgomery, in the Harvard
Business Review (1995), site many successful companies that utilize in-house training
programs, in their article “Competing on resources: strategy in the 1990s”. These
companies all pride themselves on the internal teamwork and personal standards that
they establish within their organization. Libraries have this same opportunity to foster
a learning culture internally and preserve their value to their respective clientele.
Corresponding author
Michael A. Crumpton can be contacted at: macrumpt@uncg.edu
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