Hr

An organisation should consist of an equal balance mix of both HRM and HRD activities. HRM focuses more on making profits for the firm and thus it is considered to be a hard practice. On the other hand, HRD is referred to as soft, due to the fact that these activities focus more on the individual and his development. HRD could include activities such as project working, coaching development, distance learning and worker education. Organisations which follow HRD practices are considered as a learning organisation. A learning organisation is one where managers recognize that training and development are a vital part of their role, and fundamental for the success and progress of the firm's performance.

Training can be described as the development of knowledge, skills, and attitudes required to perform a certain task adequately. Being an HRD activity, its essential aim is to help the employee add to his value. Training involves learning, which can be done either on an individual's personal initiative, or it could also be provided by the firm to employees as an incentive. Such incentives need to be backed up by the employee's willingness to learn and apply the training he receives and also to accept the guidance and facilities offered by the firm.

When workers are trained to follow pre-determined procedures, the working experience could lead to be a monotonous routine, which disables their capability of adapting to new situations. However, when the adequate training is given and proven to be effective, it minimises learning costs, it enhances individual, group and firm's performance regarding productivity and quality, and also increases worker flexibility due to multiskilling. Training helps workers obtain more job satisfaction, gain higher rewards and to progress further within the organisation. Training increases the motivation and participation provided by the employees and also increases overall employee commitment, since it helps employees to identify with the firm's objectives. Training helps individuals be more aware of the need and reasons to change and adapt to new situations which they might face at work and also helps employees to increase their levels of service to customers. Overall, the firm would start to experience a new positive culture, which is orientated towards performance improvement.

The necessary stages that make up the training process are the following:

Training must be directed towards the satisfaction of the firm's future demands. Therefore, it must be well-prepared beforehand in order to meet the requirements and objectives set by the firm. The most appropriate training methods, techniques, facilities, locations and trainers must be decided so that the impact and effectiveness of training is beneficial for the firm. The training must be continuously monitored and the results must be analysed and validated, so the firm could improve, amend and develop the training as necessary.

The firm assesses the value of training in order to find out if it was effective regarding cost-benefit terms. There are five levels of evaluation of training effectiveness according to Hamblin. The first level is referred to the Reactions level. This determines how practical and useful the trainee feels that the training was. It also takes into consideration what the trainee would change, add or take away from the training. The Learning level of evaluation measures the new skills and knowledge acquired by the trainee and the changes in attitude that have taken place. Job Behaviour evaluation is concerned with the extent to which the trainee applies the learning on the job. Organisational Unit evaluation analyses the effect of changes on the job behaviour of trainees, such as the increase in output, productivity, quality and such others. This type of evaluation assesses the improvements that have been done for the department in which the trainee is employed. Ultimate Value evaluation measures the benefits gained from training as an entire organisation, in terms of profitability, efficiency, stability and growth, or in terms of personal goals for the trainee.

These five levels are connected in a sequence, however, at one point there could be missing link, for instance, a trainee can learn new skills and knowledge, but he resists to change. The credibility of training and development is greatly enhanced when it can be shown that the organisation as a whole has benefited tangibly. However, Hamblin's levels of evaluation can be difficult to measure the effect of training.

To examine the cost-effectiveness of training, the firm must consider the direct costs, opportunity costs, and the recurrent (capital) costs. Direct costs refer to the costs incurred by the firm or the trainee to pay for the training done. If the training s done at the firm's expense, the firm must calculate the rewards training bring about. The firm must calculate the training's opportunity cost - whether the benefits training brings about exceed the costs incurred by training. Furthermore, the recurrent (capital) cost refers to the substantial impact training brings about, such as the increase in quality of the goods, the less discards produced, less material handling, less idle time and less delays.

On the other hand, Performance Management refers to improving the organisation's, team's and individual's performance in order to achieve better outcomes by understanding and managing performance within an agreed framework of planned objectives, standards and competence requirements. Performance Management refers to the actions individuals need to take in order to achieve the day-to-day delivery of results and manage performance