BY: TOM HIGGINS12/15/98For this paper I couldn’t really just choose one question to do my paper on so I decided to do it on all of Chapter 7 which covers training.
Some of the things that I will be writing about will be 1) what are some characteristics of a good trainer? 2) Why would a manager need to train a new employee who already has experience? 3) What is wrong with evaluating trainee performance with a system that uses terms such as “unacceptable”, “poor”, “acceptable”, “good”, and “excellent”? 4) What steps should you take to prepare for a group-training meeting. 5) What are some myths about training, and why are they myths? 6) And what are the different ways to train someone?The first thing that I am going to write about is just training in general. According to the book, “experts predict that during the rest of the century over half of the job content of all positions will change, and at least a third of existing jobs will disappear. ” This means that a smaller amount of people are going to need to know how to do a lot more different things than they already know how to do.
And to do all of these new jobs they are all going to have to be trained in some manner or another. Then they are going to have to be able to train others on how to do these new positions. Management executives are now pushing for more effective training, by budgeting for it and asking for progress reports. These companies that are really serious about training spent about 30% of their training budget on research.
This includes follow-up and evaluation of the training programs. These programs are now disproving the six main myths about training. These myths are 1) positions turn over so fast, it doesn’t pay to train. 2) Experienced employees don’t need training. 3) What do we have a human resources department for? 4) Training is a waste of time.
5) Training is simple. Anybody can do it. 6) Employees always resist training. The first myth is “positions turn over so fast, it doesn’t pay to train. ” This is a myth because if you train your employees well, they will be less likely to leave. Also, if you don’t train your employees then they won’t know anything about their jobs an everything will just go straight down the drain along with your business.
The second myth is “experience employees don’t need training. ” This is a myth because the experience employee may not have necessarily been trained or know exactly what they are doing in this particular field. Just because someone has some experience doesn’t mean that they necessarily know everything there is to know about every job in the place. I have some personal experience with this particular subject. I started out as a busboy at Pedro’s in Wisconsin Dells and did this job for three years.
Then this past summer I was promoted to a supervisory position. When this happened I had to be trained into every single position in the restaurant, from dishwasher to cook to waiter. It wasn’t just assumed that because I had worked there for three years that I knew how to do every job in the place. Then this fall when I came to school I became a waiter on the weekends for them, but before I was allowed on the floor by myself I had to go through the formal training.
This happened even after I was a part of the management team and helped with the training of other waitstaff. The third myth is actually a question and it is ” what do we have a human resources department for?” A human resources department is not used for the training of new employees. It is actually use for a totally different purpose, and that is to hire and fire employees. They also help with the handling of complaints and other things like that. But it is not their responsibility to train employees and that is what many people tend to believe about the human resources department, and it is false.
Another myth about training is “training is a waste of time”. This statement is totally absurd. I feel this way because in my opinion training is not a waste of time by any means. This is because if you didn’t train your employees you would have a bunch of people running around like chickens that just got their heads chopped off. While on the other hand if you train your employees they will know what to do in certain situations and they will look like they belong as a part of your staff. Again I have to go back to Pedro’s’ policy on training.
For example, they put such an emphasis on the training of waitstaff that they have to go through a seven-day training program. In these seven days they have to bus tables, host, expedite, follow a waiter/waitress for two days, and be followed for two days. Then they have to pass a ten-page test before the are allowed on the floor by themselves. This way management knows the person knows what he/she is doing before they are alone.
The next myth about training is ” training is simple. Anybody can do it”. This statement is more than just absurd. It is simply idiotic. You can’t just go and pick just any Joe Blow to train your employees, you have to have someone who is a good, hard worker and knows what he/she is doing while on the job. If you do just pick anyone to do the training you could end up with an employee getting trained by your laziest most worthless employee, because he/she was the only one not doing anything.
If this happens then the trainee is going to be taught that is alright to be lazy and do nothing. Also, not just anybody can do it. Sometimes your best employees are your worst trainers. A trainer needs to know his/her job, but this person also needs to be able to communicate with other people and be patient in showing others how to do things properly.
The last myth as stated by the book is ” employees always resist training. ” This statement is also false, because for the most part people are more than willing to be trained into a job. They feel this does nothing but help them, so why should they resist it. I have personally trained over 30 people into various positions and not once have I encountered someone who resisted my training.
In fact, the people were more than willing to be trained. This is because they knew nothing about the position and I was going to try and show them how to do things quickly and effectively without being hard on them. Some characteristics of a good trainer are 1) they are good judges of people. 2) They are objective. 3) They are aware, understanding, and accepting of the differences in people. 4) They are good at listening and communicating.
5) They are good role models for the department, and the company. They also take pride in their own work, and give attention to detail, accuracy and neatness. They are logical, patient, good planners, tactful, cooperative, helpful, sincere, and honest. They are also out-going, and not selfish, competitive, and they don’t play favorites. (managing human resources in the hospitality industry, ch. 7, pp.
147-149)Other things to consider about trainers is that they may not always be your best employees, or the employees that learned their position the fastest. They may be the employees that had more difficulty than others learning the skills of the job. This is because they know what it is like to have to learn things slowly, and they can teach things this way. They will tend to have a little more patience, because they will have been there before.
Also if someone has learned a position quickly they will come to expect others to learn quickly too, because they will tend to think that the position is easy, and doesn’t take much training. What is wrong with evaluating trainee performance with a system that uses rating terms such as “unacceptable”, “poor”, “good”, and “excellent”? Well it is bad in a couple of ways. First off if an employee sees that his/her rating is “unacceptable” or “poor” they will tend to think that they are doing a horrible job, and that they just can’t do the job. This will lead to low self-esteem and a poor working environment. Also, if a manager or supervisor does these evaluations or sees them they will tend to think less of the employee, and thus creating a poor working environment.
On the other hand if the employee sees that his/her rating is “good” or “excellent” they could get a little cocky and start telling people what he/she got, and rub it in people’s faces. This again could lead to a poor work environment. Again if the manager or supervisor sees these evaluations he/she will tend to think higher of the employee, thus maybe letting them get away with a little bit more here and there. This also will create a poor working environment. Granted this may not happen often, but it happens often enough for it to be an issue in the industry today.
When training you can go about it in three different ways, depending on what the situation calls for. The two most common methods are individual training, and group training. The other method is the learner controlled instruction. These are all used at different times and situations, but some are more popular than others, and some are more effective than others too. Individual training also known as on-the-job training is used for new people once a facility has been opened.
This is because it’s generally the cheapest, fastest and most flexible way of training someone. In my opinion this is the best of the three training methods, because this one allows the trainer and the trainee to get on more of a personal level during the training. While in group training there is often to many people for the trainees to get really acquainted with the trainer. And in learner controlled you don’t even get to meet a trainer. When doing your training you should cover these four main areas. 1)Purpose and accountability.
2) Procedures. 3) Rationale. 4) Standards. This will teach the trainee how the job helps the company achieve its goals, the base elements of the job and how they’re performed, and why each procedure or portion of a procedure is done, and the standards by which you decide when the job is done well. Also, in individual training you are on a more personal level with the trainee so you need to try and get to now them a little bit.
You have to introduce yourself an try to make conversation with them. Try to find out a little about their background. By doing this it will help you when you are training them. It gives you a head start in knowing what they know and just what kind of person they really are.
You can usually tell who is going to work out and who isn’t within the first couple of minutes by talking and getting to know a little about them. The next section in the book states eight things that should be trained. These eight things are: friendliness, appearance, teamwork, opening duties, operating duties, closing duties, reports, and equipment. In my opinion the last five are things that can actually be taught, but the other three can not be taught. You can’t teach someone how to be friendly, or how they should look, or even how to be a team player. It just doesn’t work.
For instance, if you could actually train people how to dress, and how they should look, then do you think that we would have all of these people running around dressed like freaks? That is why you don’t train them how to do it, you just tell them that that is that. Also when training someone how to do the other five main duties don’t just assume that these things will be obvious. Cover all of them completely until the trainee has a good idea of what their responsibilities are. Group training is most often used when opening up a new facility or learning how to use a new piece of equipment. This according to our text is ” the most effective method when teaching human relation skills like conflict resolution, team-building, or problem solving.
It is often an important part of a company’s human resources strategy and its attempt to create a positive organizational structure. ” One bad thing about this is if you let your employees choose their own groups to work in, no matter what the age, they will always choose to work with friends and this will hurt your training program. This will hurt it because they will place themselves in loosely structured groups, that have their own values, standards of behavior, etc. Then when they are placed in other groups there is friction formed between them because of the different environments that they were trained in. When preparing for a group meeting you need to spend a lot of time to get things right. Often a professional trainer will spend between three and eight hours preparing for each hour of training time.
To help you with your training you need two things. 1) A training plan, and 2) a checklist of materials needed and things that should be looked over before hand. And you should always prepare 10% more than you think you will need. Your checklist will help you select a location for the meeting. It will help you determine if a room is too spacious, or to cramped to hold the meeting. It should also consist of checking to make sure things like ventalation, heating, and air conditioning are acceptable and in working order.
Also, you need to try and eliminate distractions like outside noises or windows with distracting views. You can do this by closing doors and windows, or by choosing rooms in more remote locations. To eliminate the distracting view you can close the shades or put a demonstration in front of it. Another thing to look for in group meetings is breaks.
Make sure that if the meeting is going to be long that you allow adequate time for meals, and a couple of short 10-15 minute breaks every couple of hours. This will allow the employees to unwind and clear their heads. When it comes to the presentation you have to greet people as they come in, and try to break up any cliques that may have formed. Make sure that you start on time, as not to encourage latecomers. Start with ice-breakers and try to get on good terms with the group. Then you have to introduce yourself, and try to establish an informal, non-threatening environment.
Also, keep things interesting don’t be monotonous, and ask lots of questions to keep the audience involved. There are four types of questions that can be asked, 1) the overhead question. 2) The direct question. 3) The rhetorical question. 4) And the relay question.
An overhead question is used to get a discussion going and the group as a whole involved. A direct question is a question that is directly asked to one specific person. The rhetorical question is used to make the audience or group think about their answers. And a relay question helps to keep the trainer from doing all the talking or giving his/her opinion.
Along with asking questions four other things are used for participation in group training. They are 1)brainstorming, 2) case studies, 3) role-playing, 4) and simulation. Brainstorming allows the participants to generate new ideas and ways to solve problems. The emphasis of this is quantity instead of quality. Case studies are cases that are taken from real situations in the work place.
This is used to help the employee develop his/her problem solving skills. Role-playing is self explanatory, you assume roles and act them out. This allows them to practice newly acquired skills in a realistic situation. Simulation is the final thing and it is another form of role-playing, but it is done in a more realistic environment. This allows you to check employees thoroughly before using them of the floor with guests or customers. The last type of training is Learner Controlled Instruction, otherwise called self-instruction.
This is in my opinion the worst possible form of training and it is also the least used form. This allows the trainee to work alone and set their own pace for learning. Things used for these programs are videos, instruction manuals, and computer training programs. These programs help to cut company costs of traveling and other training expenses but they are also timely since the trainee has to learn on their own time.
As you can see training plays an important role in this industry. You can also see the different way that this can be done and is being done. And why evaluating trainees on a system of “unacceptable” to “excellent” can create a poor working environment. Along with the six myths about training and why they are myths, I hope that now you have a better understanding of why training is so important.
