Training and Developing Employees
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Strategic Objective
All organizations must manage four resources: money, equipment, information, and people. Investments in better equipment may speed up production or reduce waste. Information is power; data about products, prices, and customers are essential to every business. Investments in training and development of employees can make them more productive or more effective in their jobs, directly contributing to the bottom line. Burke and Day’s (1986) meta-analysis of managerial training effects (across six training content areas, seven training methods, and four types of training outcomes) showed that managerial training is moderately effective. Collins and Holton (2004), in their evaluation of 83 studies from 1982 to 2001, including education, government, medical, and military organizations, came to a similar conclusion. Even a moderately effective training program can have a substantial effect. A training program for 65 bank supervisors was found to cost $50,500, but the utility to the organization was over $34,600 in the first year, $108,600 by the third year, and more than $148,000 by the fifth year (Mathieu & Leonard, 1987). The purpose of training and management development programs is to improve employee capabilities and organizational capabilities. When the organization invests in improving the knowledge and skills of its employees, the investment is returned in the form of more productive and effective employees. Training and development programs may be focused on individual performance or team performance. The creation and implementation of training and management
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APPLIED HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
development programs should be based on training and management development needs identified by a training needs analysis so that the time and money invested in training and management development is linked to the mission or core business of the organization (Watad & Ospina, 1999). To be...