Types of Training in HRM & Objectives

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What is Training?

Training refers to programs and procedures undertaken with an attempt to improve current or future employee performance. Let’s now look into types of training.

Types of Training

There are different types of training that are conducted depending upon the requirements of the trainee and the organization.

  1. Orientation Training
  2. Promotional Training
  3. Refresher Training
  4. Skills Training
  5. Internship Training
  6. Cross-functional Training
  7. Team Training
  8. Creativity Training
  9. Diversity Training
Types of Training
Types of Training

Orientation Training

Just after the recruitment and selection of a new employee, a new employee is made to undergo induction and orientation training.

The objective behind this type of training is to:

  • Help settle the employee in a new and unfamiliar environment

  • Inducted about the procedures, rules, and regulations followed by the company

  • In-depth knowledge about the company background, organization structure, products and policies is imparted to the new employee

  • An employee is also made familiar to his superiors and subordinates

  • It helps develop a feeling of certainty and satisfaction in the mind of the new employee as he feels cared for and is handled in the initial phase of his new job.

Promotional Training

Employees who have the potential to grow and handle larger roles are identified and selected. They are further trained in various areas that they might need to cover when they would have to handle larger roles after promotion.

Refresher Training

In today’s dynamic world there is a constant change in technology, procedures and policies. The traditional way of working may become obsolete very soon.

Under Refresher Training, the existing employees are trained to follow new and improved procedures and techniques to stay abreast with the competition. They are made to undergo short term courses so that they can adopt the latest developments in a particular field and are able to confidently face the upcoming challenges.

Skills Training

If there is a gap between the skills required for successful completion of a job and the skills possessed by the employees, there arises a need for training.

A training program is planned and the content is developed to meet the training objectives. An effective method of training is selected which could be a lecture, coaching, special courses etc. These skills could be as basic as reading, writing, communication skills, interpersonal skills etc.

Internship Training

Under this types of training professional colleges like management schools or engineering institutes approach organizations, companies and corporate setups and place there students under them. This helps to enhance the knowledge of the students as it gives a practical experience on the job to the theoretical knowledge gained in the college.

Cross-functional Training

Under this types of training, the aim is to educate and train the employee in area of work other than their assigned jobs. This gives them a broader perspective of the business on a whole, helps them gain diverse knowledge, enhances their career path and chances of promotion.

Cross-functional training can be done by job rotation i.e placing the employees under different roles after a suitable period of time. It can also be done where the departments can exchange their personnel for a certain period that gives an insight to the employees on how other departments are working.

Team Training

Team training generally covers two areas: content tasks and group processes.

  • Content tasks specify the team’s goals such as cost control and problem-solving.

  • Group processes reflect the way members function as a team – for example how they interact with each other, how they sort out differences, how they participate etc

Companies are investing heavy amounts, nowadays, in training new employees to listen to each other and to cooperate. They are using outdoor experiential training techniques to develop teamwork and team spirit among their employees (such as scaling a mountain, preparing recipes for colleagues at a restaurant, sailing through uncharted waters, crossing a jungle, etc.).

Creativity Training

In creativity training, trainers often focus on three things :

  1. Breaking away
  2. Generate new ideas
  3. Delaying judgement
  • Breaking away: In order to break away from restrictions, the trainee is expected to:

    (i) identify the dominant ideas influencing his own thinking,
    (ii) define the boundaries within which he is working,
    (iii) bring the assumptions out into the open and challenge everything


  • Generate new ideas: To generate new ideas,

    (i) the trainee should open up his mind;
    (ii) look at the problem from all possible angles and list as many alternative approaches as possible.
    (iii) The trainee should allow his mind to wander over alternatives freely,
    (iv) switch over from one perspective to another


  • Delaying judgement: To promote creative thinking,

    (i) the trainee should not try to kill off ideas too quickly;
    (ii) they should be held back until he is able to generate as many ideas as possible.
    (i) Brainstorming often helps in generating as many ideas as possible without pausing to evaluate them

Diversity Training

Diversity training considers all of the diverse dimensions in the workplace – race, gender, age, disabilities, lifestyles, culture, education, ideas and backgrounds – while designing a training programme.

  • It aims to create better cross-cultural sensitivity with the aim of fostering more harmonious and fruitful working relationships among a firm’s employees.

  • The programme covers two things:

    (i) Awareness building, which helps employees appreciate the key benefits of diversity, and

    (ii) Skill building, which offers the knowledge, skills and abilities required for working with people having varied backgrounds.

Objectives of Training & Development in an Organistion

The quality of employees and their development through training and education are major factors in determining the long-term profitability of any company. If you hire and keep good employees, it is good policy to invest in the development of their skills, so they can increase their productivity.

Training often is considered for new employees; this is a mistake as ongoing training for current employees helps them adjust to rapidly changing job requirements.

Purpose of Training and Development emphasises on the growth and development of personnel that includes creating a pool of readily available and adequate replacements for personnel who may leave or move up in the organisation.

Further, enhancing the company’s ability to adopt and use advances in technology because of sufficiently knowledgeable staff. Building a more efficient, effective and highly motivated team, which enhances the company’s competitive position and improves employee morale.

The objectives of training and development are not just limited to increasing productivity and efficiency as the busy market and ceaselessly active competition of today demands much more than that from organisations.

All thanks to the conditions that a company faces and the race of “growth” has made the addition of new skills and improvement of the existing skill-set extremely important aspect of a business.

Main objectives of training and development are:

Objectives of Training, Development in an Organistion
Objectives of Training, Development in an Organistion

Increased Productivity

For any company, keeping productivity at its peak is as important as getting in new customers for the business. Since even the slightest of disturbance can take the business to the brink of huge losses. Moreover, to tackle with the immensely growing competition in the target market, it is important for one to increase the productivity of its workers while reducing the cost of production of the products.

So, that’s where the training comes as a saviour of the company, jumps in the scenario and takes it out of the dangers bravely. Training takes the current capabilities of the workers of a brand, polishes it and makes them learn and devise new and effective methods of doing the same thing, in a repeated manner.

Quality Improvement

Improving the quality of the product is a significantly important objective of training and development since it’s not like those times when customers weren’t such quality conscious.

Today’s customer knows what’s better for him and what’s not. Simply said, those old methods of some sweet talk and business won’t work for much longer, because once they know the reality behind the curtains through the services and products quality, they will leave the company as it is without giving it, even, a second thought.

Even if the price is a little higher for providing a better quality of service or product then it is most likely the case that most of the customers will pay for it happily.

Learning time Reduction

Keeping an eye on the learning capabilities of employees, and providing them the help which they need, can be highly beneficial in the longer run. This capability of the employee is that determines how quickly employees grab the newly discovered fact and so, shape the future products on this discovery.

The weaker the capability, the harder it is to learn. But this scenario can also be supported by the usage of proper learning material and experienced instructors who prefer real-life experience than cramming.

Safety First

Safety of anyone, either he is a worker, an officer or even a customer, is not something that can be taken lightly, especially in cases, where one knows that even a minute mistake can even lead to life threats.

Therefore, providing the knowledge, for using the equipment in a proper way and creating a life-friendly product, also belongs to one of the objectives of training and development. The higher, the employees are better at handling equipment; the better it is both for the company and for the workers.

Labour turnover Reduction

No business can flourish well while it is regularly turning over its workforce since it is obvious that every new workforce will require some time to understand the type of work, its principle and safety precautions, which lead to decreased productivity. Moreover, it also diminishes the feeling of self-confidence among the workers, and this is really not a good thing.

On the contrary, training ensures that the company doesn’t need to turn over its workforce again and again because it prepares the employees to face any situation which proves helpful in bringing in the feeling of workers. Therefore, the workforce feels safe and secure at a particular job.

Keeping oneself updated with technology

Training and education to the employees keep them updated with the latest of additions to the technologies, methods, techniques and processes. Since it also opens a new gateway for them to look for a way which is greater in productivity and efficiency but decreases the need of manual work immensely.

For example, spraying of pesticides and herbicides to keep the crop healthy and safe from invaders with the help of a hand pump is a lot more tiresome work than it would be with the help of semi-automated machinery.

But how can workers know that such a type of machinery is available in a market, which cuts the time needed in the matter of hours instead of days, without any update.


Reference

  1. R. P. Lynton, U. Prateek, “Training for Development”, Sage Publications 2002.
  2. Goldstein, “Training in Organizations”, Burr Ridge: McGraw Hill, Irwin, 1999
  3. Fitzgerald, W. (1992). Training versus development. Training and Development46(5), 81-84.

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