Dear Kushboo,
Greetings!
In addition to my previous message, here is some more information on ON-THE-JOB TRAINING and OFF-THE-JOB TRAINING.
ON-THE-JOB TRAINING
Managers have two powerful ways of improving the performance and productivity of their subordinates, which are counseling and on-the-job training.
Counseling is the process of helping a subordinate define and resolve personal problems that affect performance or in order to develop a good attitude towards work.
On-the-job training is the process of explaining, demonstrating, and the structured supervision of specific skills or particular tasks. It is similar to the teaching process. On-the-job training is often referred to as OJT.
These are highly effective in three situations:
1. Resolving people problems
All managers are faced with problem people from time to time. Counseling and training are always the first considerations in these cases, but they do not always result in success, and sometimes more radical action is required. This is covered in the Problem People and Positive Discipline modules.
2. Maintaining group standards
The management of people, both as individuals and groups, is a dynamic process as nothing remains static – problems are always arising. A good manager must be aware of this and be constantly ready to use counseling and training to maintain standards.
3. To achieve continuous improvement
The best way to avoid problems is to keep ahead of them by being proactive. You must have a plan for each individual in your group and for the group as a whole. In particular, new and inexperienced group members need special treatment so that they can meet required levels of performance.
Counseling and training share many of the same skills and, in many cases, they are used together to achieve your results.
The following are typical signs of change to look for when you must decide to initiate counseling or training (or both) initiatives:
TYPICAL SIGNS OF NEED FOR HELP
- Avoids difficult work
- No cooperation
- Lack of interest
- No initiative
- Complaining
- Making mistakes
- Avoiding contact
- No communication
- Depressed
- Poor quality
- Argumentative
- Unsafe working
- Poor productivity
- Delegating to others
- Laziness
- Absenteeism
- Irritability
- Blaming others
The most important sign to look for is a change in behavior or performance. For example, if an employee who has always been well-behaved, with a pleasant disposition suddenly becomes aggressive, you can bet on him having some problem that needs counseling.
Counseling
On-the-job counseling is a process of talking about things that affect the performance of the work. It involves sitting down in some quiet place and getting job problems out in the open without hurting each other.
It's all about talking, listening, and trying to understand the other person's point of view. All supervisors are counselors whether they realize it or not. Sometimes a long heart-to-heart talk is needed to clear the air, or a quick exchange will clear up a misunderstanding. Perhaps the supervisor does most of the talking; the next time it may be the other way around. However, counseling is more than a casual discussion resulting from an accidental encounter.
Counseling is a very effective management tool to increase productivity by solving problems and strengthening or repairing working relationships. Other kinds of problems of a personal or psychological nature should be avoided and left to professionals in that field.
On-the-Job Training
Training is almost a natural human instinct. We all train our children without even thinking about it, but when we have the job of training someone at work, we find problems.
On-the-job training is often a one-to-one situation, usually involving the supervisor and one of the group. The supervisor uses the actual work as the training location, and works with the trainee to improve skills or introduce new tasks. This process is also referred to as coaching.
Advantages of on-the-job training:
- It is cost-effective
- It strengthens relationships within the group
- Feedback and support are easy
Nearly all the problems associated with on-the-job training are very simple to overcome. Like so many other parts of our work, they require us to take a more systematic approach to the situation.
Most workers usually take pride in learning a new skill. The new skills gained are to our mutual benefit as it's good for the worker to improve his future employment value and for us to have new capability in our groups. In addition, by making learning possible, you earn their respect and build enduring relationships.
The supervisor is frequently the only person in the organization that teaches the basic knowledge and the many key skills that the group needs to learn. On-the-job training should never stop.
OFF-THE-JOB TRAINING
Advantages:
If the course has been designed by a staff member, it can be delivered to fit in with the employee's regime and workload, so it does not affect productivity.
Can work out to be extremely cost-effective as no hotel fees, trainer fees, or extra equipment are incurred; all is provided in-house and in works time.
Depending on the course, employees are able to meet other employees, perhaps from other branches or departments they would not have normally met.
As employees are familiar with the trainer and the environment they are being taught in, this would help them to feel more relaxed.
The person developing the course would be able to gauge the level of ability and content for the course to be taught.
The course would be more relevant and adaptable to the needs of the company.
Disadvantages:
Extra audio or visual aids to aid learning (whiteboard, overhead projector, projector, video, etc.) might not be available, and so this would mean courses might be basic or substandard.
As a member of staff may be delivering the course rather than an experienced trainer, the employees might not take the course seriously, and this might hamper learning.
Employee rivalry and banter may mean that employees bypass the course and undervalue its content as they think they know better or have better ways of doing it.
Depending on the teaching skills of the employee training the members of staff, they might not be able to gauge the existing abilities, knowledge, skill, or need for training, and so employees attending the course might already know what is being taught already.
If the need for training has not accurately been gauged, this would result in the workspace being wasted where it could have been utilized more productively.
If resources are limited, equipment available may be different than that used by the employees, and this would be counterproductive.
Employees may feel devalued if they are sent on an internal training course to improve skills rather than learn new ones, and so courses have to be selected and promoted to the employees very carefully and sensitively.
Regards,
John N