Orientation programs not only improve the rate at which employees are able to perform their jobs but also help employees satisfy their personal desires to gain a sense of belongingness in the form or organisation. The HR department generally orients newcomers to the organisation by introducing new employees to coworkers and others involved in the job.
However, simply hiring and placing employees in jobs does not ensure their success and there are some changes that may signal that current employees need training such as
• Introduction of new equipment or processes
• Change in the employee's responsibilities
• Any drop in the productivity of employee or in the quality of output
• An increase in safety violations or accidents
• Increased number of complaints by customers and/ or coworkers
Once managers decide that their employees need training, there arises a need to develop clear training goals that outline anticipated results and a need to clearly communicate these goals to employees.
Types of training
Upon establishing specific training goals, training sessions can be scheduled to provide the employee an opportunity to meet his or her goals. The following are typical training programs provided by employers:
• Basic literacy training.
A lot of adults have limited literacy skills, and out of them, many can read little or not at all since most workplace demands require a tenth‐ or eleventh‐grade reading level, organisations increasingly need to provide basic literacy training in the areas of reading and math skills to their employees.
• Technical training.
New technology and structural designs have increased the need to upgrade and improve employees' technical skills in both white‐collar and blue‐collar jobs.
• Interpersonal skills training.
Most employees belong to a work team, and their work performance depends on their abilities to effectively interact with their coworkers. Interpersonal skills training helps employees build communication skills.
• Problem‐solving training.
Most employees today work as members of self‐managed teams responsible for solving their own problems thereby making problem‐solving training become a basic part of almost every organisational effort to introduce self‐managed teams or implement Total Quality Management (TQM).
• Diversity training.
As one of the fastest growing areas of training, diversity training increases awareness and builds cultural sensitivity skills. Awareness training tries to create an understanding of the need for, and meaning of, managing and valuing diversity. Skill‐building training educates employees about specific cultural differences in the workplace.
Most training takes place on the job due to the simplicity and lower cost of on‐the‐job training methods. Two popular types of on‐the‐job training include the following:
• Job rotation.
By assigning people to different jobs or tasks to different people on a temporary basis, employers can add variety and expose people to the dependence that one job has on others. Job rotation can help stimulate people to higher levels of contributions, renew people's interest and enthusiasm, and encourage them to work more as a team.
• Mentoring programs.
A new employee frequently learns his or her job under the guidance of a seasoned veteran. In the trades, this type of training is usually called an apprenticeship. In white‐collar jobs, it is called a coaching or mentoring relationship. In each, the new employee works under the observation of an experienced worker.
Sometimes, training goals cannot be met through on‐the‐job training; the employer needs to look to other resources. Off‐the‐job training can rely on outside consultants, local college faculty, or in‐house personnel. The more popular off‐the‐job training methods are classroom lectures, videos, and simulation exercises. Thanks to new technologies, employers can now facilitate some training, such as tutorials, on the employees' own computers, reducing the overall costs.
Regardless of the method selected, effective training should be individualised. Some people absorb information better when they read about it, others learn best by observation, and still others learn better when they hear the information. These different learning styles are not mutually exclusive. When training is designed around the preferred learning style of an employee, the benefits of training are maximised because employees are able to retain more of what they learn.
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