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Chapter-I

Introduction

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INTRODUCTION

In the present scenario of globalization and liberalization, the intensity of competition

increases day by day in all spheres of business and the banking sector is no exception.

While all the resources at the command of an organization can be imitated by the

competitor to have an edge over the rivals, it is the Human Resource (HR) which

eludes the duplication due to its uniqueness. HR is not just a number game, it is the

sum total of the inherited intelligence, acquired knowledge, learned skill and

accumulated experience over the years. According to Pfeffer(1994), the significance

of HR as the greatest asset of an organization assumes highest importance since it

constitutes the organization’s intangible, irreplaceable and inimitable resource.

The journey towards a knowledge economy demands the new additional type of

competencies like team spirit, co-operation, etc. To reach the destination of

knowledge economy in high productivity places like banks, the lifelong learning

concept be applied to its workforce. During the last ten years, “lifelong learning” has

become one of the most frequently heard terms in training circles. This is perhaps an

apt response to the increasingly rapid changes under-way in modern societies. As a

sequel, every business entity worth its salt is placing utmost importance on the

development of Human Capital - the knowledge, skills and motivation embodied in

people. The growing share of economic output in the services sector, including that of

banking is turning to be knowledge and information-intensive. This in itself is placing

a high premium on the continued upgrading of skills and competencies of the

workforce.

The growth of the knowledge economy that has, of course, partly been stimulated by

demand for the new types of goods and services, increasing globalization of economic

activities and technological changes, have only multiplied the need and urgency for

new or additional type of competencies, such as team work, problem solving

communication skills and capacity to see workplace development in a broader

context, among the employees. With the kind of reforms and the resulting changes

that are currently overawing the Indian banks, the urgency to inculcate such

competencies among the workforce is getting intensified in the banking sector.

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The present - day economy is very much dependent upon the various functions of

banking practices; it is unthinkable for the country’s economy for its growth,

sustenance and development without the role of banks. The role of banks is essentially

carried out by the people and therefore it is essential to have a well - trained and

motivated staff to manage the banking operations.As Peter Drucker points out, “For

the first time in human history, it really does matter whether or not people learn”.

Every organization needs to have well-trained and experienced people to perform

various activities. If the current job occupant can meet this requirement, training is not

important but when this is not the case it is necessary to raise the skills levels and

increase the versatility and adoptability of employees. Inadequate job performance

requires some type of training efforts. As the jobs become more complicated, the

training needs also increase. In a rapidly changing society, employee training is not

only an activity that is desirable, but also an activity that an organization must commit

its resources to if it is to maintain a viable and knowledgeable workforce.

An organization which aspires to grow must be in tune with the changing needs of the

society. Training becomes relevant in this context since it is only through training that

the gap between performance of organization and the felt need of a changing society

can be neutralized. Training reduces the gap by increasing employees’ knowledge,

skills, ability and attitude.

Training makes a very important contribution to the development of the organizations

human resources and hence to the achievement of its aims and objectives. To achieve

its purpose, training needs to be effectively managed so that the right training is given

to the right people , in the right form, at the right time and at the right costs.

T – Talent and tenacity (strong determination)

R - Reinforcement (something positive is to be reinforced into memory and system)

A – Awareness (with which it can easily take long strides of progress)

I – Interest (which is invariably accompanied by excitement and enthusiasm)

N – Novelties (the new things, the like of which would sustain our interest)

I – Intensity (training instilled into trainee’s mind must acquire experience oriented

intensity)

N- Nurturing (incessant nurturing of talent)

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G – Grip (a fine grip over the situation solves multiple problems)

In an era of rapid high-technology changes, all indicators show that the move of

technological innovation will continue to accelerate in the future (Adler, 1991;

Pulakos et al., 2000; Quinones, 1997). In an environment of rapid change, it is clear

that an individual must be able to adapt to meet new challenges. That is, changing

technologies continue to alter the nature of work tasks, requiring employees to learn

new knowledge and skills to perform their jobs. Training is one of the crucial

strategies for organizations to assist employees to gain those necessary knowledge

and skills needed to meet the challenges (Goldstein and Gilliam, 1990; Rosow and

Zager, 1988).) More recent studies indicated that today's organizations will face two

oncoming trends, the increasing age of the workforce and the increasing introduction

of new technologies, and suggested that training is especially critical, as the

workplace introduces further new technologies, such as web-based operation,

computerized intelligent systems, and other task technologies (Colquitt et al, 2000;

Howard, 1995; Quinones, 1997). Training will play a critical role in increasing

workers' adaptability and flexibility which employers have found is becoming

increasingly important. Thus, it is important for an organization to maintain a

necessary competence in its employees through adequate training. Recent researchers

have suggested that the training motivation of employees represents an important

factor in improving the effectiveness of training outcomes. Additionally, researchers

have learned that employee training motivation can be profoundly affected by

management actions, such as intentional or unintentional cues or signals (Baldwin and

Magjuka, 1991). For instance, Tsai and Tai (2003) found that employees had more

training motivation when they were assigned to attend training program by

management than they made their choice freely. That is, a training assignment by

management sent a clear signal that attending the training was important and the

nature and manner of the assigning of the training (i.e. volunteer or mandatory

attendance) can further enhance trainee perception of the task. In addition, the framing

of the assigned training to the needs of a department by a supervisor will increase

employee perception regarding the importance of the training and the value of

attending a specific training program (Quinones, 1997). However, to date, there is

little empirical research that has examined the effects of training framing. To this end,

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the purpose of the present study is to examine the effects of training framing on

trainee self-efficacy and training motivation, and further examine how these variables

subsequently influence overall training effectiveness.

1.1 Banking Industry-An introduction:

The importance of banks in the modern economy cannot be neglected. They occupy a

very important place in the field of commerce and industry of any country. No

country can achieve commercial and industrial progress in the absence of a sound

banking system.

According to section 5(b) of the Banking Regulation Act, the term banking is defined

as accepting for the purpose of lending or investment of deposits of money from the

public, repayable on demand or otherwise and withdrawal by cheque, draft, and order

or otherwise.

Banking in India originated in the last decades of the 18th century. The oldest bank

in existence in India is the State Bank of India, a government-owned bank that traces

its origins back to June 1806 and that is the largest commercial bank in the country.

Central banking is the responsibility of the Reserve Bank of India, which in 1935

formally took over these responsibilities from the then Imperial Bank of India,

relegating it to commercial banking functions. After India's independence in 1947, the

Reserve Bank was nationalized and given broader powers. In 1969 the government

nationalized the 14 largest commercial banks; the government nationalized the six

next largest in 1980.

Currently, India has 88 scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) - 27 public sector banks

(that is with the Government of India holding a stake), 31 private banks (these do not

have government stake; they may be publicly listed and traded on stock exchanges)

and 38 foreign banks. They have a combined network of over 53,000 branches and

17,000 ATMs. According to a report by ICRA Limited, a rating agency, the public

sector banks hold over 75 percent of total assets of the banking industry, with the

private and foreign banks holding 18.2% and 6.5% respectively.

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Early History

Banking in India originated in the last decades of the 18th century. The first banks

were The General Bank of India, which started in 1786, and the Bank of Hindustan,

both of which are now defunct. The oldest bank in existence in India is the State Bank

of India, which originated in the Bank of Calcutta in June 1806, which almost

immediately became the Bank of Bengal. This was one of the three presidency banks,

the other two being the Bank of Bombay and the Bank of Madras, all three of which

were established under charters from the British East India Company. For many years

the Presidency banks acted as quasi-central banks, as did their successors. The three

banks merged in 1925 to form the Imperial Bank of India, which, upon India's

independence, became the State Bank of India.

Indian merchants in Calcutta established the Union Bank in 1839, but it failed in 1848

as a consequence of the economic crisis of 1848-49. The Allahabad Bank,

established in 1865 and still functioning today, is the oldest Joint Stock bank in India.

It was not the first though. That honor belongs to the Bank of Upper India, which was

established in 1863, and which survived until 1913, when it failed, with some of its

assets and liabilities being transferred to the Alliance Bank of Simla.

Foreign banks too started to arrive, particularly in Calcutta, in the 1860s. The

Comptoire d'Escompte de Paris opened a branch in Calcutta in 1860 and another in

Bombay in 1862; branches in Madras and Pondichery, then a French colony,

followed. HSBC established itself in Bengal in 1869. Calcutta was the most active

trading port in India, mainly due to the trade of the British Empire, and so became a

banking center.

The first entirely Indian joint stock bank was the Oudh Commercial Bank,

established in 1881 in Faizabad. It failed in 1958. The next was the Punjab National

Bank, established in Lahore in 1895, which has survived to the present and is now

one of the largest banks in India.

The period between 1906 and 1911, saw the establishment of banks inspired by the

Swadeshi movement. The Swadeshi movement inspired local businessmen and

political figures to found banks of and for the Indian community. A number of banks

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established then have survived to the present such as Bank of India, Corporation

Bank, Indian Bank, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank and Central Bank of India.

Post-independence

The Government of India initiated measures to play an active role in the economic life

of the nation, and the Industrial Policy Resolution adopted by the government in 1948

envisaged a mixed economy. This resulted into greater involvement of the state in

different segments of the economy including banking and finance. The major steps to

regulate banking included:

In 1948, the Reserve Bank of India, India's central banking authority, was

nationalized, and it became an institution owned by the Government of India.

In 1949, the Banking Regulation Act was enacted which empowered the

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) "to regulate, control, and inspect the banks in

India."

The Banking Regulation Act also provided that no new bank or branch of an

existing bank could be opened without a license from the RBI, and no two

banks could have common directors.

However, despite these provisions, control and regulations, banks in India except the

State Bank of India, continued to be owned and operated by private persons. This

changed with the nationalisation of major banks in India on 19 July, 1969.

Nationalisation

By the 1960s, the Indian banking industry became an important tool to facilitate the

development of the Indian economy. At the same time, it emerged as a large

employer, and a debate was ensued about the possibility to nationalise the banking

industry. Indira Gandhi, the-then Prime Minister of India, expressed the intention of

the GOI in the annual conference of the All India Congress Meeting in a paper

entitled "Stray thoughts on Bank Nationalisation." The paper was received with

positive enthusiasm. Thereafter, her move was swift and sudden, and the GOI issued

an ordinance and nationalised the 14 largest commercial banks with effect from the

midnight of July 19, 1969. Jayaprakash Narayan, a national leader of India, described

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the step as a "masterstroke of political sagacity." Within two weeks of the issue of the

ordinance, the Parliament passed the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer

of Undertaking) Bill, and it received the presidential approval on 9 August, 1969.

A second dose of nationalization of 6 more commercial banks followed in 1980. The

stated reason for the nationalization was to give the government more control of credit

delivery. With the second dose of nationalization, the GOI controlled around 91% of

the banking business of India. Later on, in the year 1993, the government merged

New Bank of India with Punjab National Bank. It was the only merger between

nationalized banks and resulted in the reduction of the number of nationalised banks

from 20 to 19. After this, until the 1990s, the nationalised banks grew at a pace of

around 4%, closer to the average growth rate of the Indian economy.

Banking Scenario

The future of the banking sector appears quite promising though there are quite a few

challenges to contend with. The customer is more discerning and has a much wider

access to technology and knowledge. Hence the imperative need to roll out innovative

customized products which will be the key differentiator amongst banks. Time and

distance have shrunk and the internet has greatly facilitated global reach and

therefore, evolution of delivery channels and interactive services have been a boon to

banking. The core banking solution platform is being increasingly adopted by the

banks to fully realize the opportunity thrown up by technology.

Importance of training in banking sector

The globalization of economy, deregulation of interest rates and introduction of

prudential accounting, norms have introduce a new element of competition which has

forced the bank to recast their old age systems and procedures and make them

compatible to present system of deregulated economy. The introduction of

information technology and mechanization of banks operation has changed the face of

global banking like never before. Since banks are service organizations, their

productivity and performance depend upon the performance of its personnel. To

increase the skill-sets, knowledge and adoptability of employees , training should be

imparted to the employees.

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But merely imparting training to the employees is not enough, proper attention should

be given to ascertain the attitude of employees towards training programmes and it

must also be seen whether the training acquired is actually transferred or not.

That is why, the researcher has chosen the topic – “Employees’ attitude towards

training and its impact on their transfer of learning”.

1.2 Definition of Training

Training is a variety of activities that aim to influence the ability and motivation of

individual employees as well as to improve the employees’ worth to their employer

and to themselves.

Training can be defined as a planned learning experience designed to bring about

permanent change in an individual's knowledge, attitudes, or skills (Campbell,

Dunnette, Lawler, & Weick, 1970).

Training is a process of learning, a sequence of programmed behavior. It’s application

of knowledge. It gives people an awareness of the rules and procedures to guide their

behavior. It attempts to improve their performance on the current job or prepare them

for an intended job..

According to the Manpower Services Commission (1981), training can be defined as

“a planned process to modify attitude, knowledge or skill behaviour through learning

experience to achieve effective performance in an activity or range of activities. Its

purpose, in the work situation, is to develop the abilities of the individual and to

satisfy the current and future needs of the organization”. In a similar way, training can

be seen as “a systematic development of the attitude / knowledge / skill/ behaviour

pattern required by an individual to perform adequately a given task or job” (The

Department of Employment Glossary of Training Terms, 1971).

It is a learning process that involves the acquisition of knowledge, sharpening of

skills, concepts, rules, or changing of attitudes and behaviours to enhance the

performance of employees.

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Training is activity leading to skilled behavior.

It’s not what you want in life, but it’s knowing how to reach it

It’s not where you want to go, but it’s knowing how to get there

It’s not how high you want to rise, but it’s knowing how to take off

It may not be quite the outcome you were aiming for, but it will be an outcome

It’s not what you dream of doing, but it’s having the knowledge to do it

It's not a set of goals, but it’s more like a vision

It’s not the goal you set, but it’s what you need to achieve it

Training is about knowing where you stand (no matter how good or bad the current

situation looks) at present, and where you will be after some point of time.

In the opinion of Edwin B. Flippo, training is the act of increasing the knowledge and

skills of an employee for doing a particular job. Its purpose is to achieve a change in

the behavior of those trained and to enable them to do their jobs better.

Training is a process with clearly defined parameters where employees are

empowered by inviting them to make optimal use of the opportunities provided for

leaning in training programmes. It is a journey of self-awareness and self-discovery

that leads to growth and development of employees and they can realize their

potential and talent.

Training is about the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA) through

professional development. Every organization needs to have well trained and

experienced people to perform the functions and duties assigned to them in the

organization. It is necessary to raise the skill levels and increase the versatility and

adaptability of employees in a rapidly changing environment.

Due to globalization of trade and liberalization of business, employee training and

development has become an activity in which an organization must invest resources,

if it is to maintain a viable and knowledgeable workforce.

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1.3 Importance of Training

Optimum Utilization of Human Resources – Training and Development

helps in optimizing the utilization of human resource that further helps the

employee to achieve the organizational goals as well as their individual goals.

Development of Human Resources – Training and Development helps to

provide an opportunity and broad structure for the development of human

resources’ technical and behavioral skills in an organization. It also helps the

employees in attaining personal growth.

Development of skills of employees – Training and Development helps in

increasing the job knowledge and skills of employees at each level. It helps to

expand the horizons of human intellect and an overall personality of the

employees.

Productivity – Training and Development helps in increasing the productivity

of the employees that helps the organization further to achieve its long-term

goal.

Team spirit – Training and Development helps in inculcating the sense of

team work, team spirit, and inter-team collaborations. It helps in inculcating

the zeal to learn within the employees.

Organization Culture – Training and Development helps to develop and

improve the organizational health culture and effectiveness. It helps in

creating the learning culture within the organization.

Organization Climate – Training and Development helps building the

positive perception and feeling about the organization. The employees get

these feelings from leaders, subordinates, and peers.

Quality – Training and Development helps in improving upon the quality of

work and work-life.

Healthy work environment – Training and Development helps in creating

the healthy working environment. It helps to build good employee,

relationship so that individual goals aligns with organizational goal.

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Health and Safety – Training and Development helps in improving the health

and safety of the organization thus preventing obsolescence.

Morale – Training and Development helps in improving the morale of the

work force.

Image – Training and Development helps in creating a better corporate image.

Profitability – Training and Development leads to improved profitability and

more positive attitudes towards profit orientation.

Training aids in organizational development i.e. Organization gets more

effective decision making and problem solving. It helps in understanding and

carrying out organizational policies

Training helps in developing leadership skills, motivation, loyalty, better

attitudes, and other aspects that successful workers and managers usually

display.

1.4 Areas of Employee Training

1. Communications: The increasing diversity of today's workforce brings a

wide variety of languages and customs.

2. Computer skills: Computer skills are becoming a necessity for conducting

administrative and office tasks.

3. Customer service: Increased competition in today's global marketplace makes

it critical that employees understand and meet the needs of customers.

4. Diversity: Diversity training usually includes explanation about how people

have different perspectives and views, and includes techniques to value

diversity

5. Ethics: Today's society has increasing expectations about corporate social

responsibility. Also, today's diverse workforce brings a wide variety of values

and morals to the workplace.

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6. Human relations: The increased stresses of today's workplace can include

misunderstandings and conflict. Training can people to get along in the

workplace.

7. Quality initiatives: Initiatives such as Total Quality Management, Quality

Circles, benchmarking, etc., require basic training about quality concepts,

guidelines and standards for quality, etc.

8. Safety: Safety training is critical where working with heavy equipment ,

hazardous chemicals, repetitive activities, etc., but can also be useful with

practical advice for avoiding assaults, etc.

9. Sexual harassment: Sexual harassment training usually includes careful

description of the organization's policies about sexual harassment, especially

about what are inappropriate behaviors.

1.5 Methods of Training:

The most widely used methods of training used by organizations are classified into

two categories: On-the-Job Training & Off-the-Job Training.

ON-THE-JOB TRAINING is given at the work place by superior in relatively short

period of time. This type of training is cheaper & less time-consuming.

Coaching is learning by doing. In this, the superior guides his sub-ordinates & gives

him/her job instructions. The superior points out the mistakes & gives suggestions for

improvement.

Job Rotation: - In this method, the trainees move from one job to another, so that

he/she should be able to perform all types of jobs. E.g. In banking industry,

employees are trained for both back-end & front-end jobs. In case of emergency,

(absenteeism or resignation), any employee would be able to perform any type of job.

Off the Job Training: - is given outside the actual work place.

Lectures/Conferences:- This approach is well adapted to convey specific

information, rules, procedures or methods. This method is useful, where the

information is to be shared among a large number of trainees. The cost per trainee is

low in this method.

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Films: - can provide information & explicitly demonstrate skills that are not easily

presented by other techniques. Motion pictures are often used in conjunction with

Conference, discussions to clarify & amplify those points that the film emphasized.

Simulation Exercise: - Any training activity that explicitly places the trainee in an

artificial environment that closely mirrors actual working conditions can be

considered a Simulation. Simulation activities include case experiences, experiential

exercises, vestibule training, management games & role-play.

Cases: - present an in depth description of a particular problem an employee might

encounter on the job. The employee attempts to find and analyze the problem,

evaluate alternative courses of action & decide what course of action would be most

satisfactory.

Experiential Exercises: - are usually short, structured learning experiences where

individuals learn by doing. For instance, rather than talking about inter-personal

conflicts & how to deal with them, an experiential exercise could be used to create a

conflict situation where employees have to experience a conflict personally & work

out its solutions.

Vestibule Training: - Employees learn their jobs on the equipment they will be

using, but the training is conducted away from the actual work floor. While

expensive, Vestibule training allows employees to get a full feel for doing task

without real world pressures. Additionally, it minimizes the problem of transferring

learning to the job.

Role Play: - Its just like acting out a given role as in a stage play. In this method of

training, the trainees are required to enact defined roles on the basis of oral or written

description of a particular situation.

Management Games: - The game is devised on a model of a business situation. The

trainees are divided into groups who represent the management of competing

companies. They make decisions just like these are made in real-life situations.

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Decisions made by the groups are evaluated & the likely implications of the decisions

are fed back to the groups. The game goes on in several rounds to take the time

dimension into account.

In-Basket Exercise: - Also known as In-tray method of training. The trainee is

presented with a pack of papers & files in a tray containing administrative problems &

is asked to take decisions on these problems & are asked to take decisions on these

within a stipulated time. The decisions taken by the trainees are compared with one

another. The trainees are provided feedback on their performance.

1.6 Training Implementation:

To put training program into effect according to definite plan or procedure is called

training implementation. Training implementation is the hardest part of the system

because one wrong step can lead to the failure of whole training program. Even the

best training program will fail due to one wrong action.

Training implementation can be segregated into:

Practical administrative arrangements

Carrying out of the training

Implementing Training

Once the staff, course, content, equipments, topics are ready, the training is

implemented. Completing training design does not mean that the work is done

because implementation phase requires continual adjusting, redesigning, and refining.

Preparation is the most important factor to taste the success. Therefore, following are

the factors that are kept in mind while implementing training program:

The trainer – The trainer need to be prepared mentally before the delivery of content.

Trainer prepares materials and activities well in advance. The trainer also set grounds

before meeting with participants by making sure that he is comfortable with course

content and is flexible in his approach.

Physical set-up – Good physical set up is pre requisite for effective and successful

training program because it makes the first impression on participants. Classrooms

should not be very small or big but as nearly square as possible. This will bring

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people together both physically and psychologically. Also, right amount of space

should be allocated to every participant.

Establishing rapport with participants – There are various ways by which a trainer

can establish good rapport with trainees by:

Greeting participants simple way to ease those initial tense moments

Encouraging informal conversation

Remembering their first name

Pairing up the learners and have them familiarized with one another

Listening carefully to trainees’ comments and opinions

Telling the learners by what name the trainer wants to be addressed

Getting to class before the arrival of learners

Starting the class promptly at the scheduled time

Using familiar examples

Varying his instructional techniques

Using the alternate approach if one seems to bog down

Reviewing the agenda – At the beginning of the training program it is very important

to review the program objective. The trainer must tell the participants the goal of the

program, what is expected out of trainers to do at the end of the program, and how the

program will run. The following information needs to be included:

Kinds of training activities

Schedule

Setting group norms

Housekeeping arrangements

Flow of the program

Handling problematic situations

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1.7 Training Evaluation:

It is said that all social organizations are required to provide evidence of their

effectiveness of training programmes. With training evaluation, this “evidence” will

usually be established. In addition, there are many reasons why training evaluation is

required. These will be explained as follows:

1) The training evaluation provides information which can justify the cost of a

particular training event, and furthermore it will enable the effectiveness of an

investment in training to be appraised. In general, training can be seen as a kind of

investment so that it demands an expenditure of resources and money by the

organization that is expected to be returned. One of the difficulties in obtaining

money for a training budget is that the results are often regarded as intangible or

an act of faith.

2) Training evaluation provides feedback to trainers about the effectiveness of

training activities and the extent of the organizational objectives that have been

achieved. This will help in the training programmes being run and in the planning

of future ones (Bramley, 1996). In other words, the results of training evaluation

enable improvements to be made, either on the current proceeding training event,

or on the next training programme events in the future.

3) The training evaluation provides a better discrimination of training programme

events between those that are worth to support and those that should be dropped.

Apart from this, for those training programme that are worth to support, training

evaluation can be seen as a diagnostic technique to permit the revision so as to

meet the large number of organizational objectives.

4) The training evaluation can help organizations to decide who should participate

the future training programmes, because a good evaluation result can show which

trainees are likely to benefit organization most. Thus, it will be more cost effective

to offer those trainees the further training.

5) Bramley (1996, p6) pointed out that one of the reasons for evaluating training is

“to relate the training policy and practice to organizational goals”. The training

evaluation is required to give decisions about whether training is the best way of

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achieving changes and whether a particular training programmes is worth

sponsoring. It provides invaluable information of what objectives have been

achieved by individuals and organizations, and what lessons have been learned

from the training programme. Hence, the results of training evaluation can

identify whether and what further training needs might be required.

6) From the training evaluation, the trainers will get feedback about how well they

have performed and in what way the methods can be improved. Therefore, it will

become a part of their learning experience.

7) The training evaluation may improve the relationship between the department of

training and the rest of the organization by providing worthwhile evidences, and

by linking training events to improved organizational effectiveness. In addition, it

mayalso improve the cooperative relationship between trainers and line managers.

8) With respect to the training evaluation in political organizations, their

organization usually consists of different groups of people with distinct opinions

on training. For example, they may have different view on the importance of

training programme. Therefore, a formal results of training evaluation can give

them a critical standard for doing it.

9) Finally, the most common reason why doing training evaluation is that it

completes the process of planned training programmes (see the Figure below).

Bramley reminds us (1996, p7) that “the process of evaluation usually affects the

views of people concerned with, or affected by, the training. Therefore, If a

training programme is being evaluated, it will encourage people to think that ‘it

must be important’.

10) It is clear that the training evaluation is necessary, because evaluating the

effectiveness of training programmes has a great number of benefits as described

above. It is also obvious that there are strong links between the evaluation and the

training programmes. As Armstrong (1999, p531) has pointed out, “it is important

to evaluate training in order to assess its effectiveness in producing the learning

outcomes specified when the training intervention was planned and to indicate

where improvements or changes are required to make the training more effective”.

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1.8 Transfer of Training:

Transfer of training may be defined as the degree to which trainees apply to their

jobs the knowledge, skills, behaviors, and attitudes they gained in training.

“Transfer of training”, as it relates to workplace training, refers to the use put by

training participants of the skills and knowledge they learned to their actual work

practices. (Note that it is sometimes referred to as “transfer of learning”.)

In recent years there has been an explosion of organizational interest in becoming

“learning organizations,” creating corporate “universities”, and generally being more

proactive in approaching education and learning. Many organizational leaders

increasingly recognize that their firms’ future success will depend on the speed with

which people can learn and transfer new ideas and information.

There is no question that transfer of learning is a formidable challenge for

organizations. The most commonly cited estimate is that only 10% of learning

transfers into job performance and reports suggest that a substantial part of

organizations' investment in HRD is wasted due to poor learning transfer. There is no

question that much has been learned over the past twenty years that has affected our

understanding of transfer and its antecedents and inhibitors.

Why is it that such a small proportion of training ends up being used back in the

workplace? With increasing marketplace competition, leaner resources and a greater

focus on tangible outcomes, more and more managers are asking this question.

How can you increase the transfer of training in your organization? For any given

training program, you will need to look into three areas:

1. Training participant attributes (intelligence, attitudes)

2. Training program design and delivery

3. Workplace environment

What can you do to enhance the positive impact of each of these factors? Training

participant attributes may be influenced when introducing new employees to your

organization through an effective recruitment, selection and induction process.

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Attributes can also be influenced before training begins through pre-qualifying

nominees during the registration process.

The second factor, training design and delivery, can be made more effective through

ensuring that the training program objectives are clearly focused on your

organization's priorities and goals. Tied in with this, participants’ learning outcomes

must be stated in terms of behavior required in the workplace and measurable

performance standards. To help you with aligning learning outcomes with

organizational objectives, review our practical eBook Writing Learning Outcomes.

Along with effective design, to maximize training transfer to the workplace ensure

that the training is delivered in accordance with what we know about how adults learn

best. Our Trainer Effectiveness Rating Form included within our Training

Management Template Pack is a useful tool that can help you here.

The most significant, yet most neglected, factor influencing the extent of training

transfer is the third area mentioned above, the employee's workplace environment.

What happens before employees attend the training event and what happens after they

return to work are the most important variables determining workplace performance

following training. If your organization is struggling to see tangible benefits from

training, ask yourself these key questions of your last training program:

Did instructional designers, trainers and line managers work together in

partnership or was work on the program done in isolation with little

collaboration?

Were non-training solutions seriously considered or was a training request

received and an off-the-shelf solution delivered?

Were training outcomes stated in behavior and performance terms or were

outcomes unstated or stated in fuzzy terms?

Were training objectives tied to stated organizational objectives or were they

left floating in the organizational ether?

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Were managers and supervisors actively involved before, during and after the

program or was the program divorced from the employee's day to day work?

Was post-training support provided back in the workplace, such as coaching

and on-the-job aids, or were employees left to flounder with no opportunity to

practice?

Were new procedures and role expectations clearly communicated to

employees or were they left wondering why they were nominated for the

program?

Were workplace performance expectations agreed with employees prior to the

training, or was it back to "business as usual"?

Was the training integrated with a well thought-out and implemented change

or improvement program, or was the training a single point "silver bullet"

solution?

Did you measure the organizational impact of the program or rely solely on

"happy sheets" for feedback?

The PRACTICE Approach to Training Transfer

Business Performance Pvt. Ltd has consolidated the various attitudes and activities

required for maximum transfer into an easy to remember and use model. By focusing

on each of the eight key elements, organizations can be assured of maximizing their

training investments. These eight key elements of the PRACTICE Approach to

improve the transfer of training can be summarized as follows:

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Procedures say how to perform and why

update relevant policies and procedures before training begins

use actual policy and procedural documents during training

Roles & Responsibilities say what level of performance is required

clarify role responsibilities and update relevant role descriptions

link learning outcomes to role descriptions

Aids on the job extend the training room into the workplace

replicate training aids on the job

encourage employees to use on-the-job aids

Coaching overcomes individual barriers to skill

application

plan for and dedicate on-the-job coaching resources

train coaches in how to coach effectively

Targets and measurement proves people are

performing

agree and set measurable organizational and individual goals

link program learning outcomes to organizational and individual goals

translate goals into required on-the-job behaviors

Incentives give a personal reason to perform

modify incentives to reward goal achievement and expected behaviors

provide employee feedback frequently and using a variety of methods

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Communication informs and involves all stakeholders

communicate information to all appropriate levels in organization

use a variety of communication mediums and styles

Engagement motivates participants to apply skills

brief employees before training on purpose and application of program

managers and supervisors introduce training and attend sessions

review learning after training and identify opportunities for skill application

follow up regularly progress on skill application with employee

Transfer of Training Strategies

Many trainers are faced with the challenge of motivating their training program

participants to use the new skills they learned during the program back in their

workplace. Whether using the new software system to enter customer interactions,

acting in a more collaborative manner with other team members or delegating more

often to direct reports, this is what the training program is meant to be all about. If the

training program does not in the end change workplace behaviors, the money and time

spent on training is simply wasted.

All trainers have experienced at one time or another training program participants that

are neither interested in the program nor motivated to apply the skills and knowledge

in their jobs. Here are some tips that you as a trainer can use to help participants want

to learn and to transfer that learning to their jobs. Working towards training transfer

starts before the training course begins and continues on after the training completes.

So, training transfer tasks have been separated into things you can do before, during

and after the training is completed.

Before Training

Get the participants’ managers to conduct a pre-course briefing with each participant.

If they do not know how, show them. This briefing is the place for each manager to

introduce discussion about how the principles, techniques and skills learned will be

applied practically once the participant returns from the training event. Their manager

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is also in the best position to ensure that participants have completed any pre-requisite

reading or exercises. Most important of all, the pre-course briefing sends a powerful

message that the organization cares about the employee’s development and is serious

about seeing the benefits of training.

During Training

For training to be effective, the fundamentals of training design will need to have

been followed. These basics include selecting the right trainees, matching

performance objectives to organizational outcomes, delivering at the right time and

choosing the appropriate methods and delivery modes. In addition, the following four

points need to be kept in mind during the conduct of the training sessions.

Goal Orientation

Participants actively engage the subject matter when they see a purpose in the

learning. This could be reducing time to market for new products or minimizing the

company’s environmental impact. If there is a sense that the program is “going

somewhere”, that there is a significant point to the training beyond the training room,

many trainees will latch onto that purpose – so long as there is a “hook” to make that

connection. That “hook” may be personal. It may be the social acceptance that will

come from passing the course, or it may be earning the eligibility to join a respected

professional association, for example. So, ensure that the organizational objectives of

the program are clearly described to trainees at the start of the program and state the

WIIFM (“What’s In It For Me”).

Real Work Relevance

Showing how the program relates directly to people’s day-to-day work significantly

lifts the level of participant interest in the program. Firstly, demonstrate your expertise

in the knowledge and skills being taught, or at least rely on subject matter experts at

the appropriate times. Next, use a host of real-life examples and scenarios from the

participants’ own workplaces. Make role-plays, simulations and examples as true to

life as you can.

In addition, demonstrate how models, theories and principles need to be

contextualized for each workplace situation. Involve participants in making those

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connections by generating free and frank discussion about how the learning can be

applied back on the job. Another fruitful strategy is getting the participants’

supervisors and managers to introduce the program or each session. Doing this sends

a strong message that the person to whom they report considers the program to be

practical and relevant to their work. Even better, where possible, get the participants’

supervisor or manager to deliver one or more components of the program.

Practice

Building in opportunities for practice during the training helps to spark participants’

interest as they experience new aspects of the skill and builds their self-confidence as

they gain success. Factoring in opportunities for practice also increases motivation to

use the skills on the job by revealing to participants first hand how the new skills can

improve their work on the job. Be sure to intersperse theory with practice sessions.

The variety of physical movement and mental activity also helps to maintain

participant interest.

Interpersonal Interaction

Learning in the workplace is largely a social activity, in which goals and aspirations

are shared, experiences are discussed, different approaches are debated and ways of

doing things are demonstrated. In some programs, participants will learn more from

each other than from the trainer. And when the participants return to their workplaces,

shared learning between participants will be paramount. Interactions that encourage

participation and collaboration will foster motivation and transfer.

Things you can do here include asking plenty of questions that gain attention and

generate discussion. Ask some questions of the whole group so that they can get to

know something about their peers. Whole group questions start to dissolve the initial

apprehension that people feel when faced with new people and surroundings. Next,

plan for group work in your program design. Use groups consisting of two to six

trainees to construct lists, discuss a scenario, role-play and solve problems.

Relationships can quickly become fractured and learning blocked through the actions

of one or more attention-seeking, disruptive or abusive participants. So, be sure to

establish ground rules at the start of the program. Lastly, give trainees rewards to

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mark their achievements. Success that is recognized helps to develop team spirit,

especially if all of the participants are striving toward a common goal.

After Training

Transferring skills to the workplace at the conclusion of the training program begins

with a post-course debriefing. Continuing on from the pre-course briefing, get

participants’ managers to review with the participants the content of the training and

the participants’ experiences. The post-course debriefing is an ideal juncture at which

to identify, plan and agree with the employee where the skills will be applied and to

set specific goals for their application.

1.9 Attitude:

An attitude is a hypothetical construct that represents an individual's degree of like or

dislike for something. Attitudes are generally positive or negative views of a person,

place, thing, or event— this is often referred to as the attitude object. People can also

be conflicted or ambivalent toward an object, meaning that they simultaneously

possess both positive and negative attitudes toward the item in question.

Attitudes are judgments. They develop on the ABC model (affect, behavior, and

cognition).The affective response is an emotional response that expresses an

individual's degree of preference for an entity. The behavioral intention is a verbal

indication or typical behavioral tendency of an individual. The cognitive response is a

cognitive evaluation of the entity that constitutes an individual's beliefs about the

object. Most attitudes are the result of either direct experience or observational

learning from the environment.

Attitude Formation

Unlike personality, attitudes are expected to change as a function of experience.

Tesser (1993) has argued that hereditary variables may affect attitudes - but believes

that they may do so indirectly. For example, consistency theories, which imply that

we must be consistent in our beliefs and values. The most famous example of such a

theory is Dissonance-reduction theory, associated with Leon Festinger, although there

are others, such as the balance theory.

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Attitude change

Attitudes can be changed through persuasion and we should understand attitude

change as a response to communication. Experimental research into the factors that

can affect the persuasiveness of a message include:

1. Target Characteristics: These are characteristics that refer to the person who

receives and processes a message. One such trait is intelligence - it seems that

more intelligent people are less easily persuaded by one-sided messages.

Another variable that has been studied in this category is self-esteem.

Although it is sometimes thought that those higher in self-esteem are less

easily persuaded, there is some evidence that the relationship between self-

esteem and persuasibility is actually curvilinear, with people of moderate self-

esteem being more easily persuaded than both those of high and low self-

esteem levels. The mind frame and mood of the target also plays a role in this

process.

2. Source Characteristics: The major source characteristics are expertise,

trustworthiness and interpersonal attraction or attractiveness. The credibility of

a perceived message has been found to be a key variable here; if one reads a

report about health and believes it came from a professional medical journal,

one may be more easily persuaded than if one believes it is from a popular

newspaper. Some psychologists have debated whether this is a long-lasting

effect and Hovland and Weiss (1951) found the effect of telling people that a

message came from a credible source disappeared after several weeks (the so-

called "sleeper effect"). Whether there is a sleeper effect is controversial.

Perceived wisdom is that if people are informed of the source of a message

before hearing it, there is less likelihood of a sleeper effect than if they are told

a message and then told its source.

3. Message Characteristics: The nature of the message plays a role in persuasion.

Sometimes presenting both sides of a story is useful to help change attitudes.

Cognitive Routes: A message can appeal to an individual's cognitive evaluation to

help change an attitude. In the central route to persuasion the individual is presented

with the data and motivated to evaluate the data and arrive at an attitude changing

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conclusion. In the peripheral route to attitude change, the individual is encouraged to

not look at the content but at the source. This is commonly seen in modern

advertisements that feature celebrities. In some cases, physician, doctors or experts

are used. In other cases film stars are used for their attractiveness.

Implicit and explicit attitudes:

There is also considerable research on implicit attitudes, which are generally

unacknowledged or outside of awareness, but have effects that are measurable

through sophisticated methods using people's response times to stimuli. Implicit and

explicit attitudes seem to affect people's behavior, though in different ways. They tend

not to be strongly associated with each other, although in some cases they are. The

relationship between them is poorly understood.

Employees’ attitude towards training:

It is imperative to know the attitude of employees towards training. If an employee

values training program or thinks that training program is going to be beneficial for

him, then he is likely to attend it with positive attitude and great enthusiasm whereas

if he thinks that it is a compulsion for him to attend the training program and there

will be no value addition, then he may perceive it with negative attitude.