Southeast University 
 
MIDTERM ASSIGNMENT (Spring Semester)

Course Title: Human Resource Management & Practices 
Course Code: HRM518.3 
Friday (MBA) 
Submitted To: 
JINNAT REHENA 
LECTURER 
SOUTHEAST BUSINESS SCHOOL 
SOUTHEAST UNIVERSITY 
 
Submitted By: 

Name ID
Md. Badiul Alam  2020210005026 
 
 
Date of Submission: 18 April, 2021 
 
 

 
Answer to the Question Number 1 (a)
1(a).
Human resource management can be defined as “employing people, developing their resource,
utilizing maintaining and compensating their services in tune with the job and organizational
requirements”.

Human Resource Management is the process of recruiting, selecting, inducting employees,

providing orientation, imparting training and development, appraising the performance of
employees, deciding compensation and providing benefits, motivating employees, maintaining
proper relations with employees and their trade unions, ensuring employees safety, welfare and
healthy measures in compliance with labour laws of the land and finally following the Orders
/ Judgements of the concern High Court and Supreme Court, if any.

Figure ‐1 
  
  Figure ‐2 

Human Resource Management involves management functions like planning, organizing,

directing and controlling

 It involves procurement, development, maintenance of human resource

 It helps to achieve individual, organizational and social objectives
 Human Resource Management is a multidisciplinary subject. It includes the study of
management, psychology, communication, economics and sociology.
 It involves team spirit and team work.
 It is a continuous process.

Human resource management as a department in an organization handles all aspects of

employees and has various functions like human resource planning, Conducting Job analysis,
recruitment and conducting job interviews, selection of human resources, Orienting , training,
compensating, Providing benefits and incentives, appraising, retaining, Career planning,
Quality of Work Life, Employee Discipline, black out Sexual Harassments, human resource
auditing, maintenance of industrial relationship, looking after welfare of employees and safety
issues , communicating with all employees at all levels and maintaining awareness of and
compliance with local, state and federal labor laws. The historical rule of thumb for Human
Resource staffing requirements is one full-time professional Human Resource person should
be hired for every 100 employees. The actual ratio for a business can varies depending upon
factors such as the degree of HR centralization, the geographic distribution of the employees
Nature of HRM
The various features/ Nature of HRM include:
1) Pervasive Force: HRM in pervasive in nature. It is present in all enterprises. It permeates all
levels of
management in organizations
2) Action Oriented: HRM focuses attention on action, rather than on record keeping written
procedures
or rules.
3) Individually Oriented: It tries to help employees develop their potential fully. It encourages
them to
give their best to the organizations.
4) People Oriented: HRM is all about people at work both as individuals and groups. It tries to
put
people on assigned jobs in order to produce good results.
5) Future Oriented: Effective HRM helps an organization meet its goals in the future by
providing for
competent and well motivated employees.
6) Development Oriented: HRM intends to develop the full potential of employees. The reward
structure is tuned to the needs of employees.
7) Integrating Mechanism: HRM tries to build and maintain cardinal relations between people
working
at various levels in the organization.
8) Comprehensive Functions: HRM is to some extent concerned with any organizational
decision
which has an impact on the workforce or the potential workforce.
9) Auxiliary Service: HR departments ex

The purpose of the Human Resource Management

The purpose of the Human resource management is to make the job and deal with the job holder
(employee). So as to perform a job in an organization, one needs to be identified. In order to
identify right person for a particular job, notification should be issued which contains job
description ( duties and responsibilities) and specifications ( academic qualifications and
physical qualifications). So as to verify the correctness of the candidates invited, they should
be tested by the suitable selection methods for picking-up right person. Subsequently selected
candidates should be provided with the proper training for performing his duties &
responsibilities mentioned in the notification. Later, assessment of employees' performance
should be done to know whether employees are performing to the desired standards set by the
management. Accordingly, employees should be rewarded or paid for the job they did in the
organization and their safety in the job is the responsibility of Hr manager or safety officer who
should instruct safety measures for the employees and see that they are scrupulously followed.
Healthy and welfare measures are so-so important to keep employees happy and motivated
which has direct impact on their productivity. Doing so all, maintaining proper and healthy
relationships between employees and management avoids conflicts which will affect the
overall performance of the organization. Most important thing is adherence and not to ignore
employment and labor laws which govern all the above said activities for a job. Contravenes
of employment laws will cost to the organization and its branding. Hence the Human resource
management is like a guardian angel for the organization to sail smoothly and long-live.

The ten "Cs" of human resources management are: cost effectiveness, competitive, coherence,
credibility, communication, creativity, competitive advantage, competence, change, and
commitment. The ten "Cs" framework was developed by Alan Price in his book "Human
Resource Management in a Business Context".

Objectives of human resource management

The objectives of HRM can be broken down into four broad categories:
1) Societal objectives: Measures put into place that responds to the ethical and social needs
or challenges of the company and its employees. This includes legal issues such as
equal opportunity and equal pay for equal work.
2) Organizational objectives: Actions taken that help to ensure the efficiency of the
organization. This includes providing training, hiring the right number of employees
for a given task or maintaining high employee retention rates.
Functional objectives: Guidelines used to keep HR functioning properly within the
organization as a whole. This includes making sure that all of HR's resources are being
allocated to their full potential.
3) Personal objectives: Resources used to support the personal goals of each employee.
This includes offering the opportunity for education or career development as well as
maintaining employee satisfaction.
Within the unit of each organization, the objectives of HRM are to:
1) Help the organization achieve its goals by providing and maintaining productive
employees.
2) Efficiently make use of the skills and abilities of each employee.
3) Make sure employees have or receive the proper training.
4) Build and maintain a positive employee experience with high satisfaction and quality
of life, so that employees can contribute their best efforts to their work.
5) Effectively communicate relevant company policies, procedures, rules and regulations
to employees.
6) Maintaining ethical, legal and socially responsible policies and behaviors in the
workplace.
7) Effectively manage change to external factors that may affect employees within the
organization.

Importance of Human Resource

Behind production of every product or service there is an human mind, effort and man hours
(working hours). No product or service can be produced without help of human being. Human
being is fundamental resource for making or construction of anything. Every organization
desire is to have skilled and competent people to make their organization competent and best.
Among the five MS of management, i.e., men, money, machines, materials, and methods, HRM
deals about the first M, which is men. It is believed that in the five Ms, "men" is not so easy to
manage. "every man is different from other" and they are totally different from the other Ms in
the sense that men possess the power to manipulate the other Ms. Whereas, the other Ms are
either lifeless or abstract and as such, do not have the power to think and decide what is good
for them.
The role of HRM practices are to manage the people within a workplace to achieve the
organization's mission and reinforce the culture. When done effectively, HR managers can help
recruit new professionals who have skills necessary to further the company's goals as well as
aid with the training and development of current employees to meet objectives.
A company is only as good as its employees, making HRM a crucial part of maintaining or
improving the health of the business. Additionally, HR managers can monitor the state of the
job market to help the organization stay competitive. This could include making sure
compensation and benefits are fair, events are planned to keep employees from burning out and
job roles are adapted based on the market.

How does HRM work?

Human resources management works through dedicated HR professionals, who are responsible
for the day-to-day execution of HR-related functions. Typically, human resources will
comprise an entire department within each organization.
HR departments across different organizations can vary in size, structure and nature of their
individual positions. For smaller organizations, it is not uncommon to have a handful of HR
generalists, who each perform a broad array of HR functions. Larger organizations may have
more specialized roles, with individual employees dedicated to functions such as recruiting,
immigration and visa handling, talent management, benefits, compensation and more. Though
these HR positions are differentiated and specialized, job functions may still overlap with each
other.
Amazon is an example of a large company with multiple types of specialized HR positions.
Amazon's career website lists 15 different HR job titles:
HR assistant
HR business partner
HR manager
Recruiter
Recruiting coordinator
Sourcer
Recruiting manager
Immigration specialist
LoA and accommodation specialist
Compensation specialist/manager
Benefits specialist/manager
Talent management specialist/manager
Learning and development specialist/manager
HR technology/process project program manager
HR analytics specialist/manager

Conclusion: A career is a lifetime journey of building and making good use of your skills,
knowledge and experiences. It is the total of all events and relationships in your life that may
relate to all your work: family, friends, education, jobs, and leisure activities. Careers involve
choice, long-range planning, and often, higher pay. Each job you take advances you in your
career. If HRM is your career, you might move from HR assistant, to Compensation manager,
to a manager or management trainee, to a consultant

------------------------- The end------------------------

Answer to the Question Number 1(b)
Primarily, Personnel management is often considered an old-fashioned name for human
resource management, and in some organizations, there may well be little difference between
the old personnel department and today’s HR department. But HRM can also mean a particular
philosophy of the role of HRM in organizations, and how people are developed and nurtured
to achieve organizational goals.

Figure-1(Personal management)

HRM

Figure-2
The Scope of Services
Human Resource Management is broader in scope than Personnel Management.
The scope of personnel management includes functional activities such as manpower
planning, recruitment, job analysis, job evaluation, payroll administration, performance
appraisals, labor law compliance, training administration, and related tasks. Human resources
management includes all these activities plus organizational developmental activities such as
leadership, motivation, developing organizational culture, communication of shared values,
and so forth.
The human resource management approach remains integrated to the company’s core
strategy and vision. It seeks to optimize the use of human resources for the fulfillment of
organizational goals. This strategic and philosophical context of human resource management
makes it more purposeful, relevant, and more effective compared to the personnel
management approach.
Difference in Approach
The personnel management approach tends to attach much importance to norms, customs and
established practices, whereas the human resource approach gives importance to values and
mission.
The personnel management approach also concerns itself with establishing rules, policies,
procedures, and contracts, and strives to monitor and enforce compliance to such regulations,
with careful delineation of written contract. The human resource management approach
remains impatient with rules and regulations. HR managers tend to relax rules based on
business needs and exigencies, and aim to go by the spirit of the contract rather than the letter
of the contract.
An illustration of this difference in approach lies in the treatment of employee motivation.
The personnel management approach holds employee satisfaction as the key to keeping
employees motivated, and institutes compensation, bonuses, rewards, and work simplification
initiatives as possible motivators. The human resource philosophy holds improved
performance as the driver of employee satisfaction, and devises strategies such as work
challenges, team work, and creativity to improve motivation.
Difference in Nature
Another dimension of the difference is the proactive nature of human resource management
compared to the reactive nature of personnel management.
Personnel management remains aloof from core organizational activities, functions
independently, and takes a reactive approach to changes in corporate goals or strategy.
Human resource management remains integrated with corporate strategy and takes a
proactive approach to align the workforce toward achievement of corporate goals.
For instance, while the personnel management approach concerns itself with a reactive
performance appraisal process, human resource management approach has a more
comprehensive and proactive performance management system that aims to correct
performance rather than make a report card of past performance.
Difference in Application
Personnel management is an independent staff function of an organization, with little
involvement from line managers, and no linkage to the organization's core process. Human
resource management, on the other hand, remains integrated with the organization's core
strategy and functions. Although a distinct human resource department carries out much of
the human resource management tasks, human resource initiatives involve the line
management and operations staff heavily.
Personnel management also strives to reconcile the aspirations and views of the workforce
with management interest by institutional means such as collective bargaining, trade union-
based negotiations and similar processes. This leads to fixation of work conditions applicable
for all, and not necessarily aligned to overall corporate goals.
Human Resource management gives greater thrust on dealing with each employee
independently and gives more importance to customer-focused developmental activities and
facilitating individual employees rather than bargaining or negotiating with trade unions.
Distinguishing between HRM and PM
First of all Staffing objectives, Performance objectives, Change-management objectives and
Administration objectives need to be taken into account, whether personnel management or
HRM. However, personnel management is viewed as workforce centered and more operational
in focus. Personnel managers recruit, select and carry out administrative procedures in
accordance with management’s requirements. They act as a bridge between the employer and
the employee. As a result, personnel managers were seen as functional specialists rather than
strategic managers and often had little power or status in the organization. The personnel
manager needed to understand the needs of the manager and the employee, and articulate those
needs to both sides. Some organizations, however, see HRM as a particular approach in the
management of people. HRM can be seen as a radical new approach linked to strategy and
viewing people as assets who need to be actively managed as part of the long-term interests of
the organization. HRM can be viewed as a radical integrated approach to the management of
people in an organization and, as such, can be seen as a general management function. Where
personnel managers can be viewed as specialists, HRM can be seen as the responsibility of all
managers, particularly senior managers, and as such is proactive rather than reactive.
1. Personnel management deals with employees, their payroll and employment laws. On the
other hand, Human Resources Management deals with the management of the work force, and
contributes to an organization’s success.

2. HRM basically deals with developing personnel management skills. It is Human Resources
Management that develops a team of employees for an organization.

3. While Personnel management is considered to be reactive, Human Resources Management

is stated to be proactive.

4. Personnel management focuses on administrating people or employees. On the other hand,

the prime focus of Human Resources Development is to build a dynamic culture.

5. Personnel management is independent from an organization. On the contrary, Human

Resources Management forms an integral part of a company or an organization.

(Please refer to the below table of comparison next)

Difference between Personal Management & HRM

Dimension Personal Management Human Resource Management

Differences On The Basis Of=Beliefs And Assumptions
1. Contact Careful delineation of written Aim to go beyond contract
contracts
2. Rules Importance of devising clear 'Can-do' outlook; Impatience
rules/mutually with 'rule'
3. Guide to Procedures Business-need'
management
action
4. Behavior Norms/custom and practice Values/mission
referent
5. Managerial task Monitoring Nurturing
vis-a-vis labor

6. Nature of Pluralist Unitarist

relations
7. Conflict Institutionalized De-emphasized
Conflict Differences On The Basis Of=Strategic Aspects
8. Key relations Labor management Customer
9. Initiatives Piecemeal Integrated

10. . Corporate Marginal Central

plan
11. Speed of Slow Fast
decision
Differences On The Basis Of=Line Management
12. Management Transactional Transformational leadership
role
13. Key managers Personnel/ IR specialists General/business/line managers
14. Communication Indirect Direct

15. Standardization High Low

16. Prized Negotiation Facilitation
Management
Skills

Differences On The Basis Of=Key Levers

17. Selection Separate, marginal task key task
Integrated
18. . Pay Job evaluation (fixed grades) Performance-related

19. Conditions Separately negotiated Harmonization

20. Labor Collective bargaining contracts Towards individual contracts

Management
21. Thrust of Regularized through facilities Marginalized (with exception
relations with and training of some bargaining for change
stewards models)

22. Job categories Many Few

and grades
23. Communication Restricted flow Increased flow
24. Job design Division of labor Teamwork

25. Conflict Reach temporary truces Manage climate and culture

handling
26. Training & Controlled access to courses Learning companies
Development
The Human Resources Management has taken gradually as the companies grew, a new
weight. More different heavy environmental trends such as the globalization of markets, the
Evolution technology, investment policies and the slowdown in growth, requires the
management of human resources to evolve considerably.
The basic steps of the Human Resources Management are:
- Manage new employees (hiring procedures)
- Maintain existent staff (monitoring of employees in the company)
- Predict future skills needs of the company (forward management of human resources).
This is according to this order that are discussed chnologique human resources management
tools.
The main difference between personnel management and human resource management is that
the former is the traditional approach the latter represents the modern approach toward
managing people in an enterprise. This article will discuss the numerous differences between
the two approaches.
Personnel management is a predominantly administrative record-keeping function that aims to
establish and maintain equitable terms and conditions of employment.
Human resource management integrates the traditional personnel management functions to
corporate goals and strategies, and performs additional people-centered organizational
developmental activities.
Significant difference exists between personnel management and human resource management
in terms of scope, approach, and application.

Finally, in any discussion of personnel management vs human resource management, we must

include that personnel management lays down rigid job description with many grades and a
fixed promotion policy--usually based on seniority and performance appraisal ratings. Human
resource management, on the other hand, has relatively fewer grades and ranks, with broadly
defined job responsibilities providing much scope for applying creativity and initiative, and
plenty of career paths, with skills, talent and commitment the key drivers of career
advancement.
Answer to the Question Number 2(a)

Human resources planning is the important managerial function. It ensures the right type of
people, in the right number, at the right time and place, who are trained and motivated to do
the right kind of work at the right time, there is generally a shortage of suitable persons.

According to E.W. Vetter, Human Resource Planning is ―the process by which a management

determines how an organization should make from its current manpower position to its desired
manpower position.

Beyond a simple consideration as the workforce, the human resources of an organization

represent the sum of knowledge, skills, aptitude, creative abilities, and talents available to the
enterprise, in addition to the values, attitudes, and benefits that each individual contributes to
the business.

Human resource planning is a systematic and strategic process aimed at evaluating the current
state of an organization’s human resources and predicting its future workforce requirements.
Also known as workforce planning, human resource planning helps organizations recruit,
retain, and optimize the deployment of people they require to meet strategic business objectives
and respond to changes in the market and the general environment.

A key part of human resource planning is projecting future workforce requirements and
developing strategies for deploying this talent to avoid skills shortages or surpluses proactively.
The aim is to achieve a balance of skills based on the needs and objectives of the enterprise.
HR planning must, therefore, be a continuous process, with a structure and monitoring system
that enables the organization to provide sufficient lead time for the recruitment and training of
employees to meet its future requirements.

HR Planning Methodology

While forecasting workforce demand is at the heart of human resource planning, HR

professionals require a comprehensive and in-depth view of their organization and an
understanding of multiple factors to put together a plan. Smartsheet.com identifies seven key
steps in the planning process, which may be applied in terms of their relevance to the
circumstances of a specific enterprise:
Step One: Analyze the objectives of your organization

Step Two: Make an inventory of current human resources

Step Three: Forecast your HR demand

Step Four: Determine the number and extent of skills gaps

Step Five: Draw up an action plan

Step Six: Integrate and implement the plan

Step Seven: Monitoring, measurement, and feedback

Figure-1(HR Planning)

Nature of Human Resource Planning

1) Human Resource Planning deals with the manpower needs of an organization.

2) It helps in discovering the unused talent presently available with the organization.

3) It also tells about the present inventory of manpower of the organization.

4) It projects the future manpower needs of the organization.

5) It deals with the procurement, utilization, improvement and preservation of manpower.

Importance of Human Resource Planning

1) To Make Optimum Utilization of Human Resources: HRP helps to make optimum utilization
of

the human resources in the organization. It helps to avoid wastage of human resources.

2) To Forecast HR Requirements: HRP helps to forecast the future HR requirements of all

organizations. It helps to forecast the number and type of employees who will be required by
the organization in a near future.

3) To Face HR Problems: HRP helps to face the HR problems, which are caused by labor
turnover, introduction of new technologies, etc.

4) To Integrate Different Plans: HRP helps to integrate the personnel plans with the other
important plans of the organization.

5) To Make Employee Development Programs More Effective: HRP selects the right person
for the right job. The right person will get maximum benefits from the employee development
programs. Therefore, HRP helps to make the employee development programs more effective.

6) To Reduce Labor Cost: HRP helps to avoid both shortage and surplus of labor. It helps to
make optimum utilization of labor. It also helps to reduce labor turnover. All this helps to
reduce labor cost.

7) To Enable Organizations to Grow: When an organization grows, the number of jobs also
increases. More employees are required to perform these jobs. HRP helps to supply these
employees to the organizations. So HRP enables the organization to grow.

8) To Identify Potential Replacements: Each year many employees either retire or leave or are
taken out of the organization. HRP helps to find replacements for these employees. These
replacements may be either from inside or from outside the organization.
9) To Avoid Disturbance in the Production Process: In HRP, the manpower requirements of
the organization are determined well in advance. So the manpower is supplied continuously to
the organization. This helps the production process to run smoothly. Thus, HRP helps to avoid
disturbances in the production process.
10) Basis for Effective Recruitment and Selection: HRP is the basis for effective recruitment
and selection in the organization. It helps the organization to select the right man for the right
post.
The Benefits and Implications of Human Resource Planning
In a globalized economy fueled by technological innovation, changing work patterns,
demographic or cultural shifts, and changes in customer behavior, the life cycles of business
designs and products are shortening – and organizations must be able to adapt swiftly. Human
capital is more flexible in this regard than physical infrastructure or finance, and the strategies
that a business adopts to survive and thrive must take the management of this vital human
resource into account.
Organizations around the world are recognizing the importance of this. For example, 2020 HR
statistics reveal that 89% of medium-to-large companies have started using comprehensive
annual surveys for engagement assessment. These studies are assisting them in understanding
their workforce better and learning how to keep employees motivated and productive.
Businesses are also appreciating the importance of making a good first impression on their
prospective employees, and providing an incentive for them to fit into the organization and
work enthusiastically for its success. Human resources statistics from 2019 indicate that 87%
of applicants make a positive evaluation of the company and position they’re applying to, after
a positive interview and onboarding experience. The reverse also holds, with 83% of applicants
who reported a negative interview experience changing their initially positive opinion about
the company and the position they’re applying to.
Moving forward, human resource planners will not only have to face the adoption of new digital
processes and technologies — they will also have to accommodate new methods of doing
business, and new realities such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, with its movement
restrictions and emphasis on remote working and collaboration. They will likely have to
develop new methodologies for nurturing and retaining existing skills and cast a broader net in
discovering new talent.
Matthew Burr, Moderator of the Upstate HR Podcast and Principal at human resource
consulting firm Burr Consulting, LLC, sums it up like this: “The war for talent around the
world continues to grow. To win the human capital competition, companies should use a
strategic human resource plan as a roadmap to achieve three- to five-year goals. Strategic plans
influence the development of tactical resource planning. For example, a human resources
strategic plan may include long-term aims to recruit and retain excellent staff with a high level
of technical expertise. The tactical plan would include detailed action plans with completion
due dates. For the strategic recruitment goals, the tactical program might consist of short-term
goals, such as benchmarking salaries via survey data, or creating a social media campaign to
identify and recruit technical professionals. The plan may also target filling IT positions
through international recruiting.”
What Human Resource Planning Brings to the Organization
Deployed effectively, HR planning enables a business to optimize its usage of human
resources, increasing productivity while reducing labor turnover, employee unrest, and
absenteeism. It’s important to the enterprise in several respects.
The five business management functions of planning, organizing, leading, directing, and
controlling rely on the oversight and action of human resources planners for their effective
execution. At the organizational level, good HR planning enables the enterprise to optimize its
deployment and utilization of available talent, and to recognize earlier and in more detail the
need for additional or alternative skills.
Besides optimizing its usage of skills, the planning function also provides the organization with
a clearer path to the future, both in terms of anticipating skills requirements and creating an
order of succession for the promotion and shifting of talent within the corporate hierarchy.
Strategic workforce planning enables managers to more easily adapt to changes when
employees retire or leave the organization, and when it comes time to promote or transfer
personnel.
In times of economic uncertainty, human resource planning becomes a value add for the
organization, with its power to foresee and avoid short-sighted staffing decisions. For example,
unnecessary downsizing may result in costs to the enterprise due to the possibility of backlash
from worker’s unions, and the immediate loss of skilled personnel whose replacement will
require time, effort, expense, and training.
For the worker, a comprehensive and well-executed HR plan can provide improved
communications with management and a greater connection with the vision and objectives of
the enterprise. A human resources scheme with provision for incentives can also increase the
worker’s engagement with the organization, their commitment to its progress, and their sense
of job satisfaction.

The Challenges Facing HR Planners

Besides the difficulty inherent in the core function of predicting workforce requirements based
on business projections, a number of challenges face human resource professionals in effective
planning.

Human resource challenges

As we observed earlier, change management is an integral requirement for any human resource
planning scheme. Resistance to the process may come from workers who feel that their
workload will increase as a result of the implementation, or from those who feel uncomfortable
with changes to their working patterns and established routines. External change, such as
fluctuations in market conditions, employee turnover, seasonal employment, absenteeism, and
the effects of new technology, may also play a part in complicating matters.
In terms of technology, although 2020 HR statistics suggest that 70% of companies use data
analytics to process their employment data, IT and HR managers need to ensure that those
human resource information systems are reliable, comprehensive, and up to date. This requires
them to keep a close eye on data integrity, management, and in the era of intense privacy
legislation, security protection.
Legal and regulatory compliance requirements can form an obstacle to effective HR planning
in themselves. In the US, for example, the processes and documents that employers use for
recruiting, interviewing, and staffing may have different requirements or injunctions from state
to state. And with many states passing new harassment prevention laws in response to the “Me
Too” and “Time’s Up” movements, organizations must take account of their own status with
regards to their obligations for mandatory training, revised policy language, and other
compliance demands.
In terms of demographics, the gender pay gap continues to be an issue. Again, legislation comes
into the picture with, for example, the passage of the Massachusetts Equal Pay Act (MEPA) in
2018, and moves by several states to ban companies from asking pre-employment questions
about a candidate’s salary history. Proactive measures taken by individual institutions such as
the recent decision by the University of Eindhoven to make vacancies for academic staff
exclusively open to women may also have to be taken into account.
Finally, organizations must go into the endeavor with an awareness of the time and
commitment involved in completing and continuously repeating the seven steps of the planning
process. It can be an expensive undertaking, leading some companies to avoid it altogether.
Ideally, HR professionals should be system and integration project managers who understand
deadlines and highly complex projects. Many academic institutions offer a degree path in
Human Resources Management, and certification programs are available to qualified
individuals coming from various fields. Within the organization, employees will often work
within an HR role for three to five years, before attaining management level.

Human Resource Planning in Action

Besides nurturing in-house talent, HR experts suggest a number of strategies for effective
planning.
Organizational policies such as employment classification, benefits, compensation,
performance, and improvement can assist human resource planners with the selection, training,
and support of workforce members, and provide employees with guidelines for conduct and
orientation in and outside the work environment.
Social media platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter can aid in recruitment and provide an
engaging platform for workers to communicate with the organization and each other. But it’s
important to carefully monitor these platforms and take corrective action when the social media
buzz runs counter to the objectives or brand image of the business.
In terms of implementation, the most effective organizations use proactive human resource
plans, which anticipate business needs and develop strategies that achieve short term and long-
term objectives. Such plans will employ progressive practices such as allocating a portion of
the staffing budget and resources to recruitment and the hiring of key talent for future-looking
projects.

Final Thoughts
Besides creating a smooth and efficient process for employee management and future
workforce development, human resource planning gives business leaders more freedom to
focus on meeting goals that drive revenue for the enterprise, rather than having to deal with
administrative issues and employee documentation. And with a number of options available,
HR planning isn’t restricted to huge corporations having hundreds of people on their HR teams
— it’s accessible to small and medium-sized businesses, as well.

Summary:

Businesses are therefore wise to lay greater emphasis on building a healthy organizational
structure that motivates the workforce, and on promoting healthy communications between
management and employees. Effective management and planning for human resources can
assist in this. Human resource planning enables businesses to meet their current and future
demands for talent, allowing human resource managers to anticipate and develop the skills
most valuable to an organization, and providing the enterprise with the optimal balance of staff
in terms of available skill-sets and numbers of personnel. Proper planning also provides a path
for future development by establishing a reservoir of talent capable of filling leadership roles.
And in the long term, human resource planning helps align human capital management more
closely with business strategy.

HR Planning Methodology: Step One: Analyze the objectives of your organization Step Two:
Make an inventory of current human resources Step Three: Forecast your HR demand Step
Four: Determine the number and extent of skills gaps Step Five: Draw up an action plan Step
Six: Integrate and implement the plan Step Seven: Monitoring, measurement, and feedback.
Answer to the Question Number 2(b)

Discuss the Major functions of HRM Management and describe different roles of
HRM manager. 

Human resource management is a central pillar of many organizations. Human resource

departments are responsible for activities spanning a wide variety of core functions.
In short, human resource activities fall under the following five core functions: HR acquisition,
HR development, Performance & Compensation, Motivation & Maintenance and Industrial
relation. Within each of these core functions, HR conducts a wide variety of activities.
These activities are all linked by a concern for employee well-being and ensuring organizations
treat employees in a way that provides mutual benefit for both the employee and the
organization.

Figure1 -HRM functions;

The above-mentioned functions are briefly discussing below;

1) HR Acquisitions:
i) HR planning: The first HR function is all about knowing the future needs of the
organization. What kind of people does the organization need, and how many?
Knowing this will shape recruitment, selection, performance management, learning
 and development, and all other human resources functions.  Human resources
planning is similar to workforce planning. Both focus on where the organization is
today and what it needs to be successful in the future.
ii) Recruitment and selection: The second HR function involves attracting people to
work for the organization and selecting the best candidates. Attracting people
usually starts with an employee brand. Being an attractive employer has plenty of
advantages – just as it is the other way around. A good example of the latter is the
tobacco industry which struggles to attract talent due to its tainted reputation. With
a strong employer brand and the right sourcing strategies, you’re already halfway
there. Once candidates apply, the selection process is an HR instrument to pick the
best qualified and highest-potential candidates. Technological developments in
recruitment have gone very fast and as a result, there are different types of
recruitment tools for each part of recruitment funnel.
iii) Placement: Placement is the process of assigning specific jobs and work places to
the selected candidates. It involves putting square pegs in to square holes i.e.
matching the individual and the job. Correct placement is in no way less important
than accurate selection. Even a competent employee maybe inefficient and
dissatisfied if put on a wrong job. Correct placement helps to improve efficiency
and satisfaction of employees. While placing employees on the job the requirements
of both the organization and the employee should be considered requirements of the
organization include nature of job, number of vacancies in a particular branch or
unit degree of difficulty in the job etc. Age, marital status, language patterns,
qualifications and experience of a particular candidate should also be considered
while placing the right man on the right job. In selecting the successful candidate,
the panel must make a decision based on the merit and eligibility of the candidates
as judged by: Content of application, Qualifications. Performance at Interview.
Outcome of any selection tests, right to work.
2) HR Development:
i) Career Planning: Career planning is the systematic process by which one
selects career goals and the path to these goals. From the organization’s
viewpoint, it means helping the employees to plan their career in terms of their
capacities within the context of organization’s needs. It involves designing an
organizational system of career movement and growth opportunities for
employees from the employment stage to the retirement stage. Individuals who
 can fill planned future positions are identified and prepared to take up these
positions. It is a managerial technique for mapping out the entire career of young
employees. It tells an individual employee as to where he will be in the
organization say, after five years and ten years and what the prospects of growth
are in an organization. For example, an MBA may be offered the following
career plan by an industrial enterprise. The salient features of career planning
include the following:
(i) Career planning is a process of developing human resources rather than an event.
(ii) It is a continuous process due to an ever changing environment.

(iii) It is not an end in itself but a means of managing people to obtain optimum results.

(iv) It is the responsibility of the organization to provide guidance and counselling to its
employees in planning their careers and in developing and utilizing their knowledge and skills.

(v) The basic aim of career planning is integration of individual needs and organizational
needs.

ii) Training &Development: Training is a systematic process through which an organization’s

human resources gain knowledge and develop skills by instruction and practical activities that
result in improved corporate performance.

On the other hand, Training is a planned effort by a company to facilitate employees’ learning
of job-related competencies. Competencies include knowledge, skills or behavior critical for
successful job performance.

The goal of training is for employees to master the competencies and apply them to their day-
to-day activities.
Training is an Intellectual Capital that is concerned with basic skills advanced skills an
understanding of the customer or manufacturing system, and self-motivated creativity.
3) Performance & Compensation: As a business and society changes, so too must an
efficient HR function. Function evaluation is a technical aspect of HR. By evaluating
the HR function, the department ensures that the company is successful at both a
strategic level and with service delivery and support. The company needs to deliver the
level of services required, whilst operating strategically. Practically, function
evaluation involves comparing various parts of the overall HR operation. This can
include the quality, and availability of workers, job location, working times, the
economic situation, job responsibilities, and how much value a job adds to your
organization. The idea behind function evaluation is that similar jobs should be
rewarded similarly. There are different ways of internally ranking functions.
Become a People Analytics Specialist and start replacing gut feeling with data-driven
decision making
Ranking method: a method in which subject matter experts rank functions in terms of
how much they contribute to the organization as a whole. Functions are paired and
raters have to decide which one is more valuable. This is done with all functions and
based on the outcome, a ranking is established.
Classification method: jobs can also be classified in different categories using
classification methods. In this case, jobs are categorized and then ranked within these
categories to come up with a ranking. Categorizations can include education,
experience, the degree of specialized skills needed to do the job, the degree to which
these skills are in-demand, and so on.
Points method: jobs are categorized according to the factors the organization believes
contribute most to its success. Points are then awarded to each category for every job.
These categories can include key competencies, like problem-solving, technical
knowledge, communication and influencing skills, innovative capability, business
acumen, and so on. These competencies will differ per organization
Personal method: in this method, the job itself is not evaluated but the person doing
the job is. Here, employees are rewarded based on their skills and competencies.
Rewards
Rewarding employees for their work is a function that is impossible to miss.
Compensation and benefits are integral to attracting the right kind of candidate for the
role, and company. These will vary across different fields, countries, and cultures.
However, in countries such as the UK, where a public health system provides most
healthcare, to most people, this is not the case. Yet the total rewards framework shows
that rewards are more than just money. They can also be relational and psychological
outcomes.
Rewards include salary but also growth and career opportunities, status, recognition, a
good organizational culture, and a satisfying work-life balance. For example, fantastic
colleagues and meaningful work are also rewarding to employees. The monetary
reward of the job consists of financial rewards and other (secondary) benefits.
 The Employee Value Proposition (EVP) sums up all these aspects. The EVP of your
company is distinct from the external image and brand. It is the image a company
reflects to its employees. Rewards are thus much more than just financial. Here is a
non-exhaustive overview of total rewards:
Base salary
Performance-based-pay
Bonuses
Social environment
Job security
Status
Alternating work
Autonomy
Growth opportunities
Feedback
4) Motivation & Maintenance

Health and safety

HR plays an important role in creating and implementing health and safety regulations.
Making these regulations part of the company culture is one of the main functions of
HR.
A famous example is oil company Shell where it is forbidden to walk the stairs without
holding the railing – also in the company’s HQ. This is part of Shell’s ‘Goal Zero’,
which stands for zero accidents. Although holding the railing is much more important
on an oil platform, safety is such a big part of the company culture that safety roles are
applied everywhere.
Personal wellbeing
HR has a function in assisting and taking care of employees when they run into personal
problems. Personal wellbeing is about supporting employees when things don’t go as
planned. Problems in the workplace and outside can negatively impact employee
performance, engagement, and productivity. This, in turn, harms a company’s bottom
line.
Good personal well-being led by your HR department must work at the level of one-
on-one communication with employees, and communication across teams, and
companies. For example, a company may offer an employee assistance program by
 which anyone with mental health issues, can access counseling. On an organization-
wide level, the company could hold a mental health awareness day.
Administrative responsibilities
The final function of HR is its administrative responsibility. These include personnel
procedures and Human Resource Information Systems.

Personnel procedures involve the handling of promotions, relocations, discipline,

performance improvement, illness, regulations, cultural and racial diversity, unwanted
intimacies, bullying, and so on.
For each of these situations, policies and procedures need to be developed and followed
to successfully comply with the requests, or overcome these challenges.
Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) store employee data. These systems
need to be purchased, implemented and managed so the data can be used for better
decision-making.
Over to you
HR is a multi-faceted role that enables companies to get the most out of their workforce.
As an HR professional, you need to have a wide-ranging skill set to perform across
these core HR functions. Within HR, education cannot end with gaining your core
qualification. Society and the workplace are constantly changing and evolving. You too
must continuously develop, to lead your workforce confidently through change.
5) Industrial Relation: Another function of HR is maintaining and cultivating
relationships with labor unions and other collectives, and their members. Unionization
is still prevalent in Europe, although it is declining overall. In 2018, 92% of employees
in Iceland were a member of a union and 67% of employees in Denmark. However, in
the UK and Estonia, only 23% and 4% of employees, respectively, were. In the USA
trade union membership is low, with 10% of employees being members in 2018.
Maintaining good relations with unions will help to spot and resolve potential conflicts
quickly and will also be beneficial in more difficult economic times when layoffs or
other actions are required.
Answer to the question Number 3 (a)

Most of us have, at some time been a ‘trainer’. As the training confirms, people, animals even
plants, can be ‘brought to a desired standard of efficiency, condition or behavior by instruction
and practice. Although there is legislation that requires statutory training to be identified,
organizations need to establish their own minimum standards for safe practice tailored to their
business demands and requirements. By publishing their mandatory training requirements, they
are establishing an organizational standard that offers clarity for the workforce and ensures
consistency and quality in their provision of statutory and mandatory training. To provide
proper training and after that its proper evaluation is essential for growth of any organization.

Objectives of Training & Development

The aims and objectives of this paper are as follows:

a. Critical analysis of nature of Training and its impact on the performance of the
Organization
b. To identify the gaps that exists between current situation and what is/ will be required
c. To study the cultural change of the organization through training
d. Suggest ways to improve the training based on the identified needs
e. To build confidence in employees to work with clients
f. Improve life style of clients through training of employees

Critical analysis of nature of Training and its impact on the performance of the Organization

Definitions of Training

a. According to Buckley and Caple training is:

“A planned and systematic effort to modify or develop knowledge/skill/attitude through

learning experience, to achieve effective performance in an activity or range of
activities. Its purpose, in the work situation, is to enable an individual to acquire abilities
in order that he or she can perform adequately a given task or job.”

b. Mayo noted that:

“Training is concerned with know-how, and should be driven by a clearly defined

need that is about improving a component of capability.”

c. The term training does not mean a traditionally defined program or event. It
has broader meanings because it covers a range of learning methodologies both within
the current job and beyond it.

Benefits from employee Training

Trainee may get intrinsic or extrinsic job satisfaction. Intrinsic job satisfaction may come from
performing a task well and from being able to perform new skills. And extrinsic job satisfaction
involved extra earnings because of job performance and more chances of promotion in and
outside of organization. On the other hand Buckley and Caple (2007) describes that
organization also gets many benefits, including improved productivity because of better
performance, less absenteeism, low turnover, decrease in wastage, less accidents and great
customer satisfaction.

Training gives confidence to employees to cope with the changes within and outside of
organization. An organization can only be successful by releasing and realizing the potential
of its workers and it can only be achieved by training. In service led industries, people in an
organization are its most important assets and training gives confidence to these people to
perform well. Training always plays a role in the performance of employees and hence
performance and success of organization.

Some of the benefits which an organization can achieve through training are given
below:

a. Increased job satisfaction and morale

b. Increased motivation
c. Increased efficiencies in process, resulting in financial gain
d. Increased capacity to adopt new technologies and methods
e. Increased innovation in strategies and products
f. Reduced employee turnover
Organizational objectives

An organization is successful if its set objectives are being achieved regularly. It does not
matter if the organization is non-profit making or a commercial organization. Everyone in the
organization has to focus on their tasks to achieve these objectives. According to Truelove
(2007) training provides competence to individuals to perform their job efficiently. It also play
strategic role in long-term by involving leadership and organizational issues in training. It also
develops the organization by examining current methods, values and standards.

Analysis of Organizational training needs

To provide best training, it is important to know that what type of training is needed. Martin
and Jackson (2002) describes that training needs arise because of various reasons. Including
political changes, economic changes, and environmental changes, changes in law,
technological changes and social changes.

Analysis of organizational training needs (AOTN) is a process to overview organization’s

performance. Main objective is to find out that what areas of organization can be improved by
training. AOTN helps to identify problems in advance and also helps to take an action before
it become a serious problem. According to Truelove (1996) AOTN provides the basis of
evidence to make a decision about training, and it also tells what areas of training are most
beneficial for investment. It also helps to find out that currently employed resource in training
are up to what extent beneficial and how to get more benefits from these resources.

Identifying the training gap

According to Truelove (2007) poor performance can be due to lack of abilities, lack of
motivation and lack of competence. He argues that training can help to improve motivation and
competence but lack of innate ability cannot be improved much with the help of training.
Following three types of training needs has been derived from Hackett’s (2003) work.

a. Organizational training needs. This type of need applies to the whole

organization. All mandatory trainings come under organizational training needs. For
example, fire awareness, health and safety, and first aid training.

b. Group Training needs. Occupational or group training need applies to a

particular category of employee. It deals with a particular group in an organization. For
instance, it is recommended after gathering primary data that in CCS group of those
employees who are working with company from more than three years, they need to go
through new induction process.

c. Individual training needs. Individual training needs can be thought of as an

occupational need that applies to a specific employee and not to the whole group of
employees. For example, training for proper communication for a particular employee.
Torrington et al (2002) refers that for effective learning, individuals should have
knowledge of their own weaknesses and strengths.

Different types of training

Training takes place not only in schools and colleges but also in many other settings. It can be
community based training or at workplace. So, it can be classed base or on the job training.
There are many ways of training described in books. The committee on Post-Secondary
Education and Training for the Workplace describes four types of training based on the
characteristics of trainees.

a. Qualifying Training, this is basic training

b. Skill improvement Training, this type of training is for employed people who
want to upgrade their job mobility and knowledge through training.

c. Retraining, this type of training is for those people who have been or are about
to be displaced from their jobs so need to prepare for new line of work.

d. Second chance training, this training is for those people who need some basic
education and also job skills in combination with other social services, to reach
economic self-sufficiency through employment.

Another way of classifying training is by the contents of training, for instance, differentiating
the ‘on the job training’ from ‘general training’. In a general training the trainee can use the
gained skills in any firm or job. General training includes basic training skills, stress and time
management, basic computer skills, etc. But on the other hand on the job training is specific to
that job and usually cannot be used in any other firm. For example, training of handling of
customers through a specific machine or specific software used in a firm.

Management’s responsibility for training and development

The CIPD (2007) reported that in 74% of organizations, line managers had taken on
responsibility for learning and development. Most of them are doing this job efficiently. They
suggest that top management should involve them in creating a positive attitude to human
resource development. They should also involve in creating human resource policies and
providing resources for these policies. They should present themselves as a role model for their
subordinates with their personal involvement in training decisions.

middle and junior level managers are responsible for implementing the training policies
developed by senior management. They should provide all the relevant information to people
involved in training. They should also allow leave to those trainees who have to go for external
training courses. Managers are responsible for team activities, project teams, problem-solving
group work, sharing knowledge, conducting performance reviews, and agreeing development
plans.

Managers sometime report some hurdles in training process. For instance, many organizations
has limited resources, hence they find it difficult to provide funds for training. Training requires
time which sometimes becomes hard because managers are extremely busy in other important
tasks at work. Lack of understanding about the impact of learning and development is also an
obstacle in learning process.

Critical Analysis

Ideally, all organizations integrate training into a comprehensive human resource strategy.
Each member of staff should have a training profile, as part of their own personal development
plan. Social services agencies tend to play this game at the organization level and fail culpably
at the individual level. Their plans, like community care plans and children’s plan, make
excellent, even if soporific, few agencies put the same level of effort into planning for
individual members of staff, unless they are staff with problems who tend to receive a
disproportionate amount of attention in order to dot the i’s and cross the t’s before shifting them
out of the workforce.

An analysis of who gets training in social work agencies tends to show that while some staff
put themselves forward for lots, other get none at all. Sometimes, provider-led courses are put
on with no reference to a training needs analysis simply because an in-house trainer has an
expertise in a particular area. Often, the staff who needs training most avoid it at all cost as part
of their general strategy to evade scrutiny. The social care organization of the future will be a
learning one. It will rely upon its own staff rather than external consultants. It will seek to
rebuild the camaraderie lost during the cold excesses of some public sector business planning
regimes.

Conclusion

This chapter has provided different theories and methods of training. It has also provided the
base to do the research in right way and to explore different angels of training in this research
in the light of the work done by experts of this field. It takes us to the next chapter to discuss
various research methodologies to gain an insight of the various prospects at offer in forms of
forming the right research pattern that could give us reliable results.
Answer to the question Number 3 (b)

Training
The acquisition of Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA), to improve performance on one’s
current job. Usually consists of short-term focus on acquiring skills to perform one’s job
employees to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to carry out the work needed
to meet an organization’s objectives.

Development
The acquisition of knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA), required to perform one’s future job
responsibilities and for the long-term achievement of individual career goals and organizational
objectives. The goal is to prepare employees for managerial careers. Improving an individual
in line with the requirements of that individual.

Methods of training

On the job training: A training method in which a trainee receives instruction and training at his or her
workstation from a supervisor or an experienced coworker. Method by which employees are given hands-on
experience with instructions from their supervisor or other trainer.

On the job training is unstructured most of time. On the job training is not restricted to trainees
own current job. There are also other helpful ways to provide training, for instance, job rotation,
special projects and work shadowing. On the job training can be readily provided on a just-on-
time basis without any delay. Following are the examples of on the job training.

a. Job instruction

b. Work diaries and log books.

c. Coaching

d, Mentoring

e. Peer relationships

f. Self-development groups

g. Learning logs

h. Work shadowing

Comfort Care Services & Bluebird Care both companies are using work shadowing, learning
logs, work diaries and log books very successfully at the moment. It is recommended to provide
staff with books and other material at work place. So, they can gain more knowledge about
mental health issues and care plan of the Service Users. It is also recommended to use role play
techniques for learning. Managers can be trained off-the-job and then they can provide on-the-
job training to staff. It will reduce cost of training for the organization. For instance, cost
involved to send a member of staff on a training course and also cost of covering his/her shift.

Advantages of On Job Training

• OJT is relatively inexpensive. Trainees learn while producing and there is no need for
expensive training facilities like classrooms or programmed learning devices.

• OJT also facilitates learning because trainees learn by doing and get prompt feedback
on their performance. So it is most effective because it is learning by experience

• It is directly in the context of job. So it is free from artificial classroom situations

• It is often informal

• It is least expensive

• Trainees are highly motivated

Disadvantages of On Job Training

1. Trainer may not be experienced enough to train or he may not be so inclined.

2. It is not systematically organized
3. Poorly conducted programs may create safety hazards.
4. The lack of a well-structured training environment
5. Poor training skills of managers
6. The absence of well-defined job performance criteria

 Overcoming OJT training problems

1. Develop realistic goals and/or measures for each OJT area.

2. Plan a specific training schedule for each trainee, including set periods for
evaluation and feedback.

3. Help managers establish a nonthreatening atmosphere conducive to learning.

4. Conduct periodic evaluations, after training is completed, to prevent regression.

On-the-Job Training: Approaches:

On-the-spot lecture

Gather trainees into groups and tell them how to do the job.

Viewed performance

Watch the person at work and give constructive feedback

Feedback
such as when the sales manager makes a call with a new salesperson.

Following Nellie

This describes the process of working alongside a colleague to observe and learn the skills
needed for a particular process. This can be a faster and more useful way of learning a job role
than studying a written manual. The colleague is always on hand to answer any questions or
deal with any unexpected problems.

Job-aid approach

A job aid (step-by-step instructions or video) is followed while the trainer monitors
performance.

The training step

The trainer systemically introduces the task.

Sequence

Following a planned sequence. On-the-spot lecture, gather trainees into groups, and tell them
how to do the job.

Off the job training: Off the job training helps to get the background knowledge needed for
some jobs. Off the training is mostly provided at academic schools, colleges and universities.
It helps individuals to develop skills to get a job. Off the job training will help individuals to
acquire basic knowledge, theories and legislation governing specific type of job. Off the job
training is very helpful to build confidence in individuals. Following are other examples of off
the job training.

a. Seminars and workshops

b. Visits to other organizations

c. Computer simulation

d. Outdoor development training

Disadvantages of Off-the-job training: Vickerstaff (1992) reports that a comprehensive research

was conducted on the management of training in 200 small firms in the UK. Almost all
companies in the study faced similar problems in the organization and management of their
training effort. Following were the main areas of difficulty:

a. Investment in their training effort.

b. Finding the right way of training which suit their needs.

c. Good management of their training effort.

Employers are now giving more emphasis on ‘on-the-job’ training as compare to ‘off-the-job’
training because it is more effective and also cheaper, in terms of cost. To choose right method
of training it is very important to find out what the learning style of the trainees is? And then
that learning style should keep in mind while delivering required training. Different learning
styles are discussed in detail below. Honey and Mumford (1992) describe four different styles
of learning. These styles are as follow.

a. Activists: Activists learn best from trying something out without

preparing. Activists are those people who are very open-minded towards learning.
They are always happy to learn things as soon as possible with immediate
experiences. They are always enthusiastic about new things and new technology.
They face challenges with courage and always looking for new challenges. They like
to center all activities on them.

b. Reflectors: Reflectors are very good at listening and observation.

Reflectors always gather and reflect of all available information before making a
decision. They are thoughtful people who think from every angle before making a
decision. They prefer to stand back, listen and observe people. When they act it is part
of wider picture because of their own knowledge and also observation of other people
in past and present.

c. Theorists: Theorists think about problems in a logical way. They build

concepts on the basis of their analysis. They are also good at integrating different
pieces of information. They are perfectionists who will carry on working until things
are tidy and fit into a rational scheme. They are rational people they don’t believe in
anything subjective or ambiguous. Their decisions are always crystal clear. They learn
through theories, models and concepts.

d. Pragmatists: Pragmatists use practical approaches to solve problems. They

like to take first opportunity to experiment their ideas. These people are perfect to
send on management courses because they bring lots of ideas from those courses.
They are practical and down to earth people who like to solve problem through
practical decisions. They always keen to learn and will find a way to apply their
knowledge in real situation.

The Training cycle

Training is an ongoing process. According to Martin and Jackson first of all it has to be
analyzed that what are the training needs usually it is called ‘training needs analysis’ then the
next process is to find out that how to plan a training program to satisfy all those training needs
which has been identified. Third step is to implement training program, it is recommended for
a trainer to keep in mind that what learning style is preferred by trainees. Last step is to evaluate
the training provided. This training cycle is continuous, because of today’s dynamic business
world.

The most effective ways in which people learn in organizations

There are many methods of training. Organizations have to find best suitable method of training
for its employees. There are many factors which determine the method of training. These
factors include cost, culture of organization, nature of learner group or individual learner,
benefits, applicability of method and organization’s strategic goals. It is noted by Marching
Ton & Wilkinson that traditional ways of learning and development are still most common and
effective. At non-managerial level and junior manager level instructor-led training was most
effective way of training but for senior level managers external coaches or a mentor was seen
to be most effective.

Why should we evaluate training and development?

Training and development activities are not ends in themselves. Unless, there are some positive
changes in the performance of organization, training method need to be improved. It is
necessary to evaluate training to improve performance of company. Evaluation is also
necessary because organizations invest heavy amounts of money in training. Without
evaluation of training it is impossible to improve the process of training. Following points are
expanded from the reasons of training evaluation Martin and Jackson (2002) has described:

a. Providing feedback to the trainer.

b. To see whether the needs and objectives of the training have been met.

c. Identification of further needs and consequently improve training in future.

d. Justification of expenses.

e. To show the benefits of training to top management.

Why it is so hard to evaluate training in the workplace?

Training sometimes lacks planning, resources, time and also sometimes training is done for the
wrong reasons or in a wrong way. Evaluation of training is also difficult because most of time
it is hard to measure. Sometimes it is measurable but the expectations of outcome may be
wrong. For example, operating unit managers are looking for increased performance only after
training and not necessarily the increased learning, but trainers usually judge their training by
the increased learning of trainee. According to Berge (2008) it is very important to know the
causes for difficulty in evaluating training in the workplace because it will be helpful for
planners to plan training evaluation and to develop ways to overcome the difficulties.

It is hard to evaluate training in a company which deals with people suffering from mental
health problems because it is difficult to see changes in service users’ life due to staff training
and these changes are also not measurable. Some changes might does not have direct link with
staff training at all. But still there are many things which can be noticed and judged after
training and hence training can be evaluated to some extent. Personal experience tells that
training can be evaluated by interviewing employees to check their confidence level after
training, change in their behavior and improved performance can be noticed.

What aspects of training should be evaluated?

According to Torrington, it is easy to evaluate training when outputs of training are clear to
see. For instance, increasing trainee’s typing speed or reducing errors while dispatching goods
in a warehouse. But it is very difficult to evaluate the success of management training program
or social skill development. Training can be evaluated at different levels with different
techniques for each level. Examples of these levels are given below:
 a. Level 1: At this level reaction of trainee observed about training and
methods of training. It is also recommended to observe that what the point of view of
trainee about training is.

b. Level 2: At this level it is checked that whether the trainee learned what
was expected.

c. Level 3: This level comes after providing training. At this level it is

checked that if there is any change in job behavior because of the training provided. At
this level observation of trainee is recommended after training. If employee is doing
same job in a better way then it means that training objectives has been achieved.

d. Level 4: It is monitored that after training what are the changes in the
performance of that particular department.

e. Level 5: This is an ultimate level. At this level, the effect of training

checked on the organizational level in terms of business objectives. At this ultimate
level training can be evaluated by comparing its performance objectives with its actual
performance. If set objectives of company have been achieved after training then it
means that training was successful.

Why are Training and development important?

To survive in this commercial world, all organizations have to continuously provide training
to their employees to make sure that they have up-to-date knowledge and up-to-date skills
(Martin and Jackson, 2002). These are essential for any organization to prosper. In a free market
economy all organizations has almost similar access to capital, customers and employees. The
only thing which distinguishes one organization from other is effectiveness and efficiency of
that organization. And this effectiveness and efficiency can only be acquired from knowledge
and skills of employees through training.

Nine Steps in the Training Process:

1. Assessing training needs: Conduct a training needs analysis by either one, or both, of the 

following. External approach - Company, guests, society. 

Internal approach – using a staff opinion survey. 

2. Preparing training plan: Ask your self “What are we going to achieve in the time
period?” Use a holistic approach by using a calendar for inputting your training
activities. Consider whether to design a long (5-10 years), medium (3-5 years) or short
(1 year) term plan.

3. Specifying training objectives: Training Objectives must be specific & measurable. What

should trainees be able to accomplish after participating in the training program? 

What is the desired level of such accomplishment, according to industry or

organizational standards? 
 Do you want to develop attitudes, skills, knowledge or some combination of these
three? 

4. Designing the training program(s): Program duration, Program structure, Instruction

methods, Trainers qualifications, Nature of trainees, Support resources – materials,
OHP, classroom, etc.

5. Selecting the instructional methods:

On-the job-training (OJT) Learn while you’re working.

Off -the job-training ,In house, training or classroom, External, consultancies or ,

attending external classes, Independent bodies, such as government talks, Distance
learning, from books or notes, Computer-assisted learning, Interactive-video training,
Video conferencing, same as classroom except teachers and students are in different
locations.

6. Completing the training plan: Target group – assess your audience, Topic – task, skill
or attitude ingredient, Method –direct (one way communication) or indirect
(discussion, games, experimental exercises…). Important as evaluation of trainees
usually lies on the perception on what they did in the training session, Time – length,
period, breaks important to consider, Location – away from the office?

7. Implementing the training program:   Besides  trainers’  qualifications  and  experience: 

Participant selection, Group comfort - physical & psychological, Trainer enthusiasm &
skills,  Effective communication,  Feedback mechanism, the need to learn new training
skills, Preparation by trainers. 

8. Evaluating the training: Three  Levels  of  Evaluation,  such  as,  Immediate Feedback, 
Survey or interview directly after training,  Post-Training Test,  Trainee applying
learned tasks in workplace?  Post-Training Appraisals,  Conducted by immediate
supervisors of trainees. 

9. Planning future training: After taking all evaluated comments, trainers should modify
the programs to keep good things and make suggested improvements

Remember, even with the same topic for different trainees, trainers should address
many parts of the training process again and consider new approaches.