Training employees essay
It is known that training employees plays a significant role in any organization. It is clear that well-trained employees perform their duties in a proper way, reduce rework and avoid serious mistakes. In the following scenario, I act as a supervisor of employees’ whose task is to assemble tuning devices that go into cell phones. However, I find that the quality is not what it should be and that many of my group’s tuning devices have to be brought back and reworked; my own boss says: “You’d better do a better job of training your workers”. Taking into consideration the role of training in ensuring the quality of work, I should say that there are some staffing factors that could be contributing to this problem. First of all, some employees may lack proper education, so they fail to perform their tasks properly. Secondly, there may be serious problems with management, including poor experience, lack of the appropriate skills and abilities in training process, etc. Thirdly, there may be some problems with personal policy, including poor communication skills, lack of motivation, multicultural environment, etc. As there are many different staffing factors, in this situation it is very important to assess whether it is in fact a training problem. I’d try to find out whether my employees have the appropriate knowledge and skills to perform this task once more. I’d test them and choose those employees who will not fail the testing. In case, it is not a training problem, I’d try to improve management strategies.
Fred E. Fanning discusses the role of training employees in his article Engaging Learners: Techniques to Make Training Stick. It is found that training provides the employees with an opportunity to learn the appropriate skills for a particular work, while education gives an opportunity “to learn the major concepts and ideas from a universe of information” (Fanning, 2011, p.42). The author of the article states that it is very important to choose the appropriate method for training employees. It is known that adults are different from children and adolescents because of their life experience, and they require an individual approach. The major goal of a trainer is to provide opportunities for the employees to be fully engaged in the learning process. Fred E. Fanning represents several methods to train employees. Among them are job rotations, special assignments, reflecting on experience, coaching and counseling, mentoring, manager as teacher, learning teams and self-development, individual development plans, etc. (2011, p.43). In addition, the following training techniques can be effectively used in today’s environment: lecture, role-playing, talk, group examination, group projects with individual response, accelerated learning, peer coaching, guided discussions, simulations, and some other methods (Fanning, 2011, p.47). In the above mentioned scenario, it would be better to choose another method of training in order to improve the quality of work of the employees. Moreover, the trainers should remember that “adults prefer to work through information and get physically involved” (Fanning, 2011, p.43).
It is also found that supervisors play an important role in providing effective training for their employees. In the article Supervisors: Keys to Effective Training, Henry Pratt discusses the major training responsibilities of supervisors. He states that “the better trained our workers are, the more efficient and productive they can be” (Pratt, 1990, p.43). As a rule, employees are trained through their experiences, which can be accidental and planned, systematic. Training should be arranged in such a way as to provide for direct development of the appropriate knowledge, skills, and abilities. It is found that in a planned scenario, the employees can “learn more rapidly and accurately” (Pratt, 1990, p.43). In the article, Henry Pratt represents several categories of training, which include orientation training, job/ production training, refresher or maintenance training, and career or developmental training. Moreover, supervisors can help their subordinates in gaining new knowledge, skills, and abilities in order improve the quality of work and to achieve the major organizational goals. It is found that the value of training is of great importance. The statistics shows “American enterprise spends about $30 billion each year on training and development programs for employees” (Pratt, 2011, p.46). The employees should understand why their jobs are very important for the organization and for other employees, and what results should be expected in the process of performance. In the scenario, discussed in this paper, supervisor provided ineffective training as the product required reconstruction and correction of the mistakes. In that situation, it would be better to provide planned training system for employees, which will be very effective for further development of organization. The major goal of the supervisor is to get the employees “into the full production as soon as possible” (Pratt, 2011, p.45).