Investing in Training Programs

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EMPLOYEE TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

ASSIGNMENT – LITERATURE REVIEW

Submitted to:   Sir Shiraz Ahmed

Submitted by:  Areeba Basharat

ID:  19324

INVESTING IN TRAINING PROGRAMS

Reportedly, the U.S organizations spend around $90 billion on Learning and development activities which tend to increase by 32.5% each year. The return on investment of these training activities is disturbingly low due to which it is considered a less powerful medium which fails to develop and transfer learning, knowledge and skills to the learners. However, professionals do not believe training to be useful at all times because it is explicitly used to address problems that cannot be actually solved by it. Training must be considered a powerful mean to transfer learning when the learning need is an undeveloped skill and should be designed with customized content, relevant material and skill based practices etc. A global financial service company invested in a training program with an aim to enable and train their employees to making small scale decisions on their own instead of having to wait around for their bosses’ approval but the reason for the failure of this training program was the inappropriate decision of implementing this new behavior (for employees to learn) through a training program. Hence, what has been discovered as root causes were ineffective decision-making process, scarcely distributed authority and no technologies to transfer information to support effective decision-making. Hence, in order for a training program to be productive and sustainable these condition must be ensured such as the support of the internal systems to the newly desired behaviors, a commitment to change and aligning the training solution with the strategic objectives. (Carucci, 2018)

Managers today are very keen to have highly skilled professionals on their team list to achieve greatest business outcomes. These employees being the most important asset to the company must feel valued in order to deliver the relevant and effective results but more critical part and role involves of a manager to make them feel devoted through investing time and money in these employees.  However it is believed that an experienced employee trained is less devoted than the one less experienced. Investing in employee training and development comes with a various benefits which are equally important to both the business and employees’ professional growth. Some of these include a competitive advantage over other companies, increased employee loyalty, decreased turnover and company becomes more flexible in the market etc.  Similarly in context to investment in employee training, having a relevant and effectively designed program is the best approach to learning and development.  LMS (Learning Management System), a software used for developing, managing and to deliver the content of the training. Moreover it is also used to connect between employees and trainers and has become a mean to monitor and gauge the performance of these employees in a training program. Hence, it is important for an organization’s success in the long run to invest time and money in employees along with the recognitions and appreciation to ensure the success on both ends. (Hetsevich, 2017)

Since employees are no doubt the most important asset to the organization, investing in this asset can be highly profitable in terms of organizational success in the long run. This investment involves training and development of employees to professional level to ensure productivity and growth. However, due to recent economic situations many organizations are making decisions to avoid this investment with an objective to cut costs. Strategic investment plans are what needed to be focused in current economic situations which help in running the business faster, smoother and better. Instead of spending hours and huge amounts on training and development of employees, a strategically designed training program caters to all the needs of the organization while being cost effective. There are numerous benefits of investing in your employees that an organization can enjoy such as motivation prevailing among the workforce, technological advancements to remain competitive in the market, low turnover, more job satisfaction, low risk and reputable image. On the other hand another important factor to consider is the training costs. Relevant decisions and analysis regarding financial spending on trainings can be more effective in conducting pertinent trainings. Offering online trainings to employees might have a great impact since employees may schedule their learning and tend to be more productive, updated, motivated and loyal towards the organization.  (Monroe, 2012)