Learning, Training and Development Flashcards
Why is the focus of developement important?
Skill Adaptation: As technology and market demands change, so must employees’ skill sets. Training ensures that employees remain competitive and can contribute meaningfully to the organisation’s goals.
Psychological Growth: Beyond technical skills, employees must develop core psychological attributes like problem-solving, emotional intelligence, and leadership abilities. These are critical for long-term performance and engagement.
Employee Retention and Engagement: Opportunities for learning and growth are among the top factors influencing an employee’s decision to stay with an organisation. Development programmes help retain top talent by showing employees that the organisation is invested in their long-term success.
What elements does learning in organisations involve?
Onboarding and Initial Training: Upon selection, employees need an introduction to their role and the organisation. This includes familiarising them with organisational culture, role-specific skills, and expected behaviours.
Ongoing Development: After onboarding, employees need continuous opportunities to hone their skills, acquire new knowledge, and further develop their psychological capacities. This may include:
-Formal training programmes: These could be technical workshops, leadership courses, or industry certifications.
-On-the-job learning: Employees often learn by doing, and organisations should support environments where learning from experience is encouraged.
-Mentoring and Coaching: These forms of social learning provide guidance and feedback from experienced professionals within the organisation.
Leadership Development: For high-potential individuals, development programmes focus on preparing them for leadership roles by building managerial competencies, emotional intelligence, and strategic thinking.
What is the link between development and organisational success?
Organisations that invest in learning, training, and development are better positioned to achieve their strategic goals. A strong development framework helps to:
Increase organisational agility: Employees trained and capable of adapting to new challenges allow organisations to respond quickly to changes in the marketplace.
Improve productivity: Well-trained employees are more efficient and effective in their roles, directly impacting the organisation’s bottom line.
Foster innovation: Development encourages creativity and problem-solving, which can lead to innovative solutions and process improvements.
What are the factors that contribute to the success and failure of learning, development and training?
First, individual difference factors, which encompass the unique attributes of employees, and second, training transfer and organisational factors, which focus on how well training is applied in the workplace and the broader context of the organization.
Why was the Gully and Chen’s Model created?
People vary significantly in how they respond to learning and development interventions, and these differences are shaped by various attributes such as ability, personality, and motivation. Gully and Chen (2009) developed a model to explain the impact of these individual differences on learning outcomes, offering insight into how personal traits interact with training methods to affect learning at work.
What are the aspects of the model?
Trainee Characteristics: These include abilities (e.g., cognitive ability), personality traits (such as conscientiousness or openness), and demographics (e.g., age). For instance, older workers may approach learning differently than younger colleagues (Bertolino, Truxillo, & Fraccaroli, 2011).
Intervening Mechanisms include how individuals process information, manage effort, and regulate emotions during learning. These factors mediate the relationship between personal characteristics and learning outcomes.
Attribute-Treatment Interactions: Learning outcomes are not solely determined by individual differences but are also affected by how people respond to specific training interventions. In other words, learning outcomes result from the interaction between personal traits and the nature of the training.
What are the three key areas of individual differences?
Ability and Cognition
-General Cognitive Ability (GCA): This is a key predictor of learning outcomes. It is particularly important in complex jobs where acquiring new knowledge is essential. Colquitt, LePine, and Noe (2000) found that higher cognitive ability leads to better acquisition of declarative knowledge, skills, and training transfer.
-Individuals with higher cognitive ability tend to absorb, organise, and adapt information more efficiently. They may benefit from less structured, problem-solving-based training. In contrast, those with lower cognitive ability may require more structured and guided training interventions.
Personality Traits
The Big Five personality traits offer a valuable framework for understanding how different personalities influence learning and development. Some key findings include:
-Conscientiousness: Highly conscientious individuals are more likely to persist with challenging goals, leading to enhanced training outcomes.
-Extraversion: Extraverted individuals may engage more enthusiastically in training, particularly in interactive or group settings.
-Openness to Experience: Those who are open to new ideas and experiences are more receptive to learning, particularly in dynamic and innovative training environments.
Goal Orientation
Goal orientation refers to an individual’s approach to learning and achievement. There are two primary types:
-Learning Goal Orientation (LGO): Individuals with LGO focus on developing competence, mastering new tasks, and acquiring new skills. These individuals are more adaptable and motivated, leading to better learning outcomes.
-Performance Goal Orientation (PGO): Those with PGO focus on demonstrating competence and receiving positive evaluations. While PGO may enhance performance in familiar tasks, it is generally less effective for learning new skills.
How does climate and leadership impact goal orientation and learning outcomes?
The organisational context, particularly the climate and leadership, significantly impacts goal orientation and learning outcomes. Potosky and Ramakrishna (2002) found that individuals with high LGO performed better and felt more capable of learning in organisations with a supportive climate for skill development. This underscores the importance of creating an environment that encourages learning and growth.
Why is it important to understand individual differences to effectively people respond to learning and development interventions?
Individual differences play a significant role in determining how effectively people respond to learning and development interventions. Understanding factors such as cognitive ability, personality traits, and goal orientation can help organisations tailor their training programmes to maximise effectiveness. Additionally, fostering a supportive organisational climate can enhance learning and development outcomes by encouraging a learning goal orientation across the workforce.
What is training transfer?
Training transfer refers to the extent to which knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOs) gained through training are successfully applied in the work environment. It is a crucial marker of the success of learning, training, and development initiatives. Merely acquiring new skills and knowledge during a training session does not guarantee that these will be used effectively in the workplace. The challenge for organisations is ensuring that the investment in training leads to tangible improvements in performance, quality, or productivity.
Salas and Cannon-Bowers (2001) define training transfer as the extent to which KSAOs acquired in a training programme are applied, generalised, and maintained over time within the job environment. This is key for organisations to see a return on their training investment.
What are the factors that affect training transfer?
- Individual Factors
Individual differences, such as motivation, ability, and goal orientation, play a significant role in determining whether learning is transferred. Perceived usefulness of the training content is especially important; when trainees view the course material as highly relevant and beneficial, they are more likely to apply what they have learned (Alliger et al., 1997; Van Eerde et al., 2008). - Training Design
Training programmes need to be designed with application in mind. This means ensuring that the material is practical, relevant, and aligned with the trainee’s work tasks. Moreover, incorporating opportunities for hands-on practice and immediate feedback within the training can improve the retention and application of new skills. - Organisational Factors
Organisational factors have a profound impact on both transfer intentions and actual transfer. The work environment plays a significant role in whether trainees have the opportunity and support to apply their new skills. Quinones et al. (1995) emphasised the importance of work design and the opportunity to perform. Employees not being given opportunities to apply their learning soon after training can lead to learning decay.
By addressing these factors and fostering an environment that promotes the quick and sustained application of learning, organisations can maximise the return on their training investments.
What is the significant between training and application?
Arthur et al. (1998) found that delays between training and application significantly reduce training effectiveness. Therefore, organisations should aim to create opportunities for quick application of learned skills. Furthermore, it is critical to ensure that employees feel supported by supervisors and peers when applying their new knowledge.
What are the ways a organisation can improve training transfer?
Ensuring training is perceived as useful: Trainees are more likely to transfer learning if they believe the training content is directly relevant to their job.
Designing training that aligns with job tasks: Training should be practical and provide opportunities for trainees to practice applying their new skills.
Providing opportunities for immediate application: Organisations should design jobs and workflows that allow employees to use their newly acquired skills soon after training.
Supporting a culture of continuous learning: Creating a supportive work environment where both supervisors and peers encourage the application of new skills can enhance transfer.
How does training affect organisational outcomes?
- HR Outcomes
The training was found to enhance several HR-related metrics, contributing to more positive employee attitudes, such as:
-Increased job satisfaction, commitment, and involvement.
-Lower absenteeism and fewer grievances.
-Higher employee retention and reduced turnover.
Training also contributed to an overall increase in human capital, as it improved the skills and competencies of employees. This suggests that training does transfer to some extent across the organisations studied, enhancing employee performance and well-being.
Training is also a key element of high-performance HR practices, which have been shown to improve work-related attitudes, including commitment and satisfaction
- Organisational Performance Outcomes
In terms of organisational performance, training was shown to positively impact:
-Productivity and quality, including better customer satisfaction
-Objective measures of organisational performance, such as improved output and service quality.
-Managerial perceptions of organisational performance, which indicated enhanced leadership and operational efficiency.
- Financial Outcomes
While the direct link between training and financial performance was less evident, training was still positively correlated with perceptions of financial performance. The impact on actual financial outcomes was found to be modest, though there is evidence that when training is aligned with the organisation’s strategic goals, its impact on financial and organisational performance strengthens.
For instance, Bell et al. (2017) discuss how training plays a role in buffering organisations against economic downturns. Kim and Ployhart’s (2013) research highlighted that internal staff training is particularly beneficial in stable economic conditions, helping organisations build “slack resources” that support resilience in tougher times.
What is Kirkpatrick’s four-level model?
Proposes that training should be evaluated on the following criteria:
Reactions: This involves measuring the trainees’ attitudes towards the training they have received. Typically, this is done through satisfaction surveys, where trainees express their views on the training’s content, delivery, and perceived outcomes. While reactions provide valuable feedback, they don’t directly indicate whether learning has occurred.
Learning: This refers to the knowledge, skills, and abilities that the trainees have acquired during the training. This can be assessed through tests or other assessments administered after the training. The timing of such assessments can vary, but it is crucial to assess whether the learning objectives have been met.
Behaviour: This measures changes in how trainees apply their newly acquired skills or knowledge in the workplace—essentially focusing on training transfer. Behavioural change assessments may be conducted through performance reviews or on-the-job observations.
Results: These are organisational or team-level performance outcomes, such as improvements in productivity, quality, or profitability. While these results are typically broader than the immediate aims of the training, they provide a key indicator of whether training has contributed to the overall success of the organisation.\
The findings revealed that training positively influenced outcomes at all levels, providing robust evidence that it enhances both individual and organizational performance.
