What kind of training do new employees receive? Initially, when an employee is hired, an organization uses an orientation program to integrate a new employee into the company. Orientation can be as simple as an overview of an organization and the distribution of basic information, such as company procedures and expectations. Today, however, many companies are going beyond the traditional orientation program of explaining rules and regulations, as reflected in the orientation checklist in Table 9.1. Orientation is more effective when it familiarizes the employee with a company’s mission and discuss how a new employee’s contribution can add to a company’s success.

Table 9.1

New Employee Orientation

What other training is required of new and current employees? Training begins where orientation ends. Training should teach employees new skills or ways to improve their existing skills. For example, a salesperson might know how to sell a product but may not know all the intricacies of selling a new product. Often, other employees in the department or the recent hire’s mentor can conduct on-the-job training. With on-the-job training, employees learn skills by performing them. For example, there are many training and certification programs to become a pharmacy technician. But the specialty of nuclear pharmacy technician, a position that requires dispensing radiopharmaceuticals for use as therapies or for diagnostic testing in hospital settings, requires 500 additional hours of on-the-job training.4

Some jobs require an apprentice training program. In an apprentice training program, people go through classroom or formal instruction and get on-the-job training. For example, there is a growing need for underwater welders to repair the infrastructure of bridges and other underwater structures. To be an underwater welder, you need to complete a surface welder program and a commercial diving program. Next you would apply to a commercial diving company that offers underwater welding as a service. You would begin your career as a diver tender (apprentice diver) to gain experience. Once you gain enough experience, you can advance to welder-diver status, at which point your wage rate would increase.

A programmed learning approach is one in which an employee is asked to perform step-by-step instructions or respond to questions, often in the form of computerized multiple-choice tests that provide immediate feedback. The benefit of programmed learning is that an employee can progress at his or her own pace, picking up information piece by piece. For some settings, though, this kind of training may not match the type of complex decision making needed to teach employees. A firm must also provide computer access to employees and acquire and maintain the software needed for this type of a training program.

What kind of impact does technology have on training? Improvements in technology provide companies with other training options, such as simulated training and interactive multimedia training. Gamification, the application of game design concepts to nongame settings, has led to some training tools that are engaging. Cold Stone Creamery, the U.S. Army, and Hilton are all turning once-dull training into an interactive video experience by using games to train their employees. One study by the Entertainment Software Association showed that 70 percent of major U.S. employers have used interactive software and games for training.5

Other companies offer simulation training. Simulations provide employees with realistic experiences they would face on the job without having to worry about the catastrophic consequences that would result by making a wrong move. Simulation training is suitable for airline pilots, astronauts, and medical professionals for whom making mistakes during training is not an option or is too costly.

Online training allows employees to get training on the Internet either delivered live or at their own convenience. Instructors in one location can train groups of employees at remote locations via webcasts, webinars, and videoconferencing technology. These technologies allow users to share documents, share application software, swap control of meetings, and depending on the type technology, allow trainers to take over an attendee’s desktop for demonstration purposes. Attendees can ask questions in real time, comment to the group as videos are being shown, and archive the session for later viewing.

Electronic Performance Support Systems (EPSSs) contain online modules employees can access when they need training instead of attending long, formal training sessions disconnected from their daily work. Organizations are finding that EPSSs can be cost effective. One case study reported that after a client implemented an EPSS, a year later, the firm’s employees had made more than 300,000 requests for training. By being able to be train its employees on the spot and electronically, the company saved $2.6 million.6

Do managers need training? Yes, but because of their roles in the organization, managers require different types training. Managerial training often focuses on leadership, communication, teamwork, and relationship-building skills. In addition, managers need to keep abreast of changes in employment laws, such as laws related to discrimination and harassment, as well as updates in using new tools for electronic communication.

Management development programs prepare managerial trainees to become managers. These programs may have trainees participate in an on-the-job training program, which might include job rotation, whereby an employee rotates through different departments to learn firsthand the various aspects of the business, or a coaching/understudy program, in which an employee works directly with the company’s senior managers to learn how to plan, lead, and make decisions at the corporate level. With action learning, another management development training approach, trainees work alone or together on teams to analyze real-time corporate problems that extend beyond their areas of expertise. Companies such as Microsoft, DuPont, and Boeing have successfully implemented action-learning teams as part of their management development programs.

Some companies use off-the-job training and development techniques that require employees to participate in outside seminars, university-conducted programs, and corporate universities. Hamburger University, McDonald’s system of 22 corporate training facilities, trains employees for management roles. Nineteen full-time professors offer training for restaurant managers, department heads, and executive development. Through interpreters, McDonald’s trainers can deliver courses in more than 28 languages.7

How are experienced managers developed? Senior managers often use executive coaches to further develop their effectiveness. Executive coaches identify a manager’s strengths and weaknesses by interviewing those who work closely with the manager. They then meet with the manager to minimize their weaknesses and further develop their strengths.

Mentoring is another option companies use. A mentor is an employee with more experience who takes a less experienced coworker under his or her wing. The mentor shows the person how to perform specific tasks, creates opportunities for him or her to learn new skills, and counsels him or her about the consequences of particular actions and decisions. A new practice named reverse mentoring is beginning to show up in the workplace as well. In reverse mentoring, older employees, often executives, are trained by younger ones on how to use technology and on new trends in the marketplace. It benefits both because the younger employees garner experience and time with higher-level management. Like other forms of training and management development, mentoring increases employee performance, satisfaction, and loyalty.

Why are performance appraisals necessary? A performance appraisal is a formal evaluation, usually done annually or biannually, that provides an employee with feedback about how well he or she is doing on the job. A sample appraisal form is shown in Figure 9.5. Managers use the results of performance appraisals to make decisions about promotion, raises, additional training, or reassignments. The performance appraisal process is important for both employees and the organization as a whole and includes three aspects:

• Evaluating the performance of an employee relative to the job’s performance standards

• Providing feedback to reduce and eliminate poor performance and improve or enhance positive performance

• Setting goals toward which employees should aim in their work

Figure 9.5

A Sample Performance Appraisal

When employees are hired, they should have a good understanding of what is expected of them. These expectations become the performance standards on which they’ll be measured. Appraisals act as a confirmation of these standards and help employees establish quantifiable and measurable goals for improvement in the upcoming year.

Are there problems with performance appraisals? Performance appraisals, when conducted properly, are helpful to an employee and ultimately an organization. However, they are often not effective. Many managers shy away from them because they are uncomfortable delivering negative comments. Managers also sometimes have a difficult time objectively appraising the performance of employees because they often do not see all of the aspects of the employees’ performance. The use of a 360-degree appraisal can help in this instance. Input for the appraisal is solicited, usually anonymously, not from just a person’s managers but also from coworkers, customers, and subordinates.

Although performance appraisals are way to provide feedback to an employee about how to improve a weak performance or enhance a solid one, the process does not always result in follow-up to ensure the feedback has been acted on. Typically, it is not until the next performance appraisal that a manager and employee reluctantly admit that the needed training and development did not occur. And when the next appraisal can be a year away, more immediate crises can take time away from the focus on an appraisal’s recommendations.

What alternatives exist for performance appraisals? An alternative to a performance appraisal is performance management. Performance management is an approach that combines goal setting, performance appraisals, and training and development into a unified and ongoing process. As such, it is more of a cyclical and fluid process than the single occurrence of a performance appraisal. Employees are constantly receiving feedback and given opportunities for training and development to ensure that they have the right tools with which to perform their jobs. Table 9.2 summarizes several aspects of the performance management process. The concept, although often applied to employees, is also applicable to other components of an organization, including an entire department, a product or a service, or an organization as a whole.

Table 9.2

Aspects of Performance Management