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REPORT ON HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

A study on the effectiveness of on and off-the job training programmes on employee performance in an organisation

Submitted to Ms. G Archana Das

Submitted by Arka jyoti Paul, Avinash Salarpuria Subash Kar, Sowmya Mounica, Subrata Bhowmick, Vikash Kumar Pradeep Kumar Singh.

Acknowledgement

We owe a great many thanks to a great many people who helped and supported me during the preparation of this report. Our hearty thanks to our Research Methodology lecturer Ms. G M Archana Das for guiding us through the project and correcting the various documents with attention and upmost care. She has taken the pain to go through the report and make necessary adjustment and correction where required. We would also thank our Institution and our Faculty members without whom this project would have been a distinct reality. We also extend our heartfelt thanks to our family and well wishers.

Declaration

We hereby declare that this project titled Effectiveness of on and off-the job training programmes on employee performance in an organisation has been written by us during the academic year 2010-2012 under the guidance of my faculty guide Ms. G.M. Archana Das, GITAM School of International Business, GITAM University. We also declare that this project has been conducted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of MBA 2010-2012 offered by GITAM University. This project is not based on any previously submitted project for the award of any degree or diploma offered by any university.

Names of the students and Registration Numbers: Arka jyoti Paul: 203 Avinash Salarpuria: 204 Subash Kar: 238 Somiya Mounica: 246 Subrata Bhowmick: 239 Vikash Kumar: 244 Pradeep Kumar Singh: 224

Date: 10th March 2010 Place: GITAM School of International Business, GITAM University

Abstract

Training is essential to the growth and economic well-being of a nation. This need for training pervades all levels of industry, for a national level where a countrys well being in enhanced by training, to each company where productivity is improved, down to the individual whose skills are enhanced and as a result improve their position in the workplace. In other words, Training is one of the most pervasive methods for enhancing individual productivity and improving job performance in the work environment Training effectiveness must cause behavioural change (i.e. skill transfer for job performance), thereby resulting in organizational performance. The results of this study shows that on the job training is strongly affects to more creativity, achieving organizational objectives and improves work quality.

Purpose of Research

Although the bottom line for most training and development programs is an improvement in overall organisation performance, organisation often devote little attention to evaluate training effectiveness. The aim of this research is to measure the impact of training program on the performance of general employees of different departments of an organisation. It is also designed to evaluate effectiveness of training of managerial staff of different organisation from qualitative data gathered through interview, questionnaires observation. Based on these observations we will provide suggestion for improvement in training programmes. It is very much important for an organisation to develop efficient training programmes for their employees as because in todays competitive world the employees should be ever ready to perform to their maximum capacity in any period of time.

Industry Review
Hotel Industry, one of the fastest growing sectors in the worlds economy and the multibillion dollar growing enterprise in todays world. The hotel industry is diverse enough for people to work in different areas of interest and still be employed within the hotel industry. This trend is not just in India but also globally. Modern hotels provide refined services to their guest. The customers are always right. This principle necessitated application of management principles in the hotel industry and the hotel professionals realized the instrumentality of marketing principles in managing the hotel industry. The emerging positive trend in the tourism industry indicates that hotel industry is like a reservoir from where the foreign exchange flows. This naturally draws our attention on management of hotel. Like other industry, the hotel industry also needs to explore avenues for innovation, so that a fair blending of core and peripheral services is made possible Training and development activities are designed in order to impart specific skills, abilities and knowledge to employees. The training programmes are required to be developed in the face of technological sophistication. The leading hotel companies have been found promoting an ongoing training programme so that the personnel come to know about the use of sophisticated communication technologies. Effective training is basic ingredient of success in hotel industry. But the main problem in hotel industry is that investment in training and development of employees is a reactive process for any companies. Frequently need for training arises due to significant change in the operational environment or as a consequent of crisis such as staff turnover or major department problems. Training is then used to cope with the immediate difficulty. Training programmes in hotels helps the employees to react in adverse situations, maintain quality service, communication, gain technical knowledge, customer service. In hotel industry both on the job and off the job training methods are used efficiently.

Company Review
Taj wants their employees to succeed. Through their world class training and development programs, they ensure our employees are constantly learning and continuously growing. Taj provides employees with the tools necessary to become successful. The STARS was not only successful as an HR initiative, but it brought many strategic benefits to the group as well. The service standards at all hotels of the group improved significantly because the employees felt that their good work was being acknowledged and appreciated. This resulted in repeat customers for Taj hotels. Because of STARS, the Group won the 'Hermes Award 2002' for 'best innovation in HR' in the hospitality industry. Analysts felt that the fame and recognition associated with the winning of the Hermes award would place the Taj Group of hotels at the top of the list of the best hotels in the world. The group also received requests for setting up hotels in Paris (France), where the 'Hermes award' function took place. Hotel Operations Management Trainee (HOMT) Program: Many of the industry's top people have learned their skills in this intensive training programme, this 12-month program has been designed to train the trainees to the level of an Asst. Manager of an outlet or equivalent in any of our operational departments. Learning comes by doing, based on this principle the on-the-job training is built in as very important component of entire program. The Taj Management Training Programme: Food Production is the premier hospitality management-training programme for culinary education in the country. The TMTP- Food Production programme focuses on culinary skills and the managerial ability to run kitchen operations. A typical career path could include joining as a Taj Management Trainee and attaining the position of a General Manager of a Hotel by lateral movements through various functions such as Human Resources, Sales, Food & Beverage and Front Office. In hotel industry, because of tight time schedule and tough duties employees turnover is very high. Developers say that strong training program, incentives and opportunities for internal growth are powerful tools that foster an environment that will attract and retain talented employees. Taj Group had been highly successful because of its ability to provide better opportunities and give greater recognition to its employees, which motivated them to work to

the best of their abilities. The Employee Retention Rate (ERR) of the Taj Group was the highest in the hospitality industry because of its employee-oriented initiatives. In late 2005, the Taj Group, to demonstrate its strong belief in employees, announced plans to make further investments in training, development, and career planning and employee welfare. The group also tried to standardize its various processes and develop a common work culture. After winning the Hermes Award in 2005, the group also planned to nominate the BSS for the Hermes Awards 2006.

Introduction

Taj as an organization that wants to succeed, and to continue to succeed, has to maintain workforce consisting of people who are willing to learn and develop continuously. In taj training and developing human capital is tremendously important in the effective management and maintenance of a skilled workforce. Training is one of the ways of improving hotel industrys effectiveness. In order to implement right training methods, organization should be aware of the training methods and their effectiveness. Study provides conceptual framework of determining which methods to use when developing training program. In a hotel industry customer relationship is a vital factor and hence good customer care training is also a need in Taj. Training is widely understood as communication directed at a defined population for the purpose of developing skills, modifying behaviour, and increasing competence. Maintenance of quality of service is also a vital issue in a hotel, so proper training program is required to retain customers. Generally, training focuses

exclusively on what needs to be known. Education is a longer-term process that incorporates the goals of training and explains why certain information must be known. Education emphasizes the scientific foundation of the material presented. Both training and education induce learning, a process that modifies knowledge and behaviour through teaching and experience. Training is a part of the human resource development, along with the other human resources activities, such as recruitment, selection and compensation. The role of human resource department is to improve the organizations effectiveness by providing employees with knowledge, skills and attitudes that will improve their current or future job performance. In

order to implement the right training methods, the training specialist should be aware of the pros and cons and effectiveness of each training method. Besides, for evaluating training effectiveness, measurement should be done according to the models.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Training The verb to train is derived from the old French word trainer, meaning to drag. Hence such English definitions may be found as; to draw along; to allure; to cause; to grow in the desired manner; to prepare for performance by instruction, practice exercise, etc. Training can be described as providing the conditions in which people can learn effectively. To learn is to gain knowledge, skill, and ability To understand the function of training in a company, it is needed to ask the question of what training is state for the company. Training is an opportunity for learning and it is accomplished by providing employees with opportunities to learn how to perform more effectively and by preparing them for any changes in their job. Training focuses on the acquisition of knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to perform more effectively on ones current job. Role of training may be seen as ensuring that the organization has the people with the correct mix of attributes, through providing appropriate learning opportunities and motivating people to learn, and thus enabling them to perform to the highest levels of quality and service. Training must be therefore managed as a frontline business activity. The investment in people, both in developing and maintaining the appropriate skills, becomes a vital part of the organizations strategy for the future. Like any investment, investment in training should produce an effective and measurable payback. Effective training enhances the knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviour of people and hence their performance. Training activities and businesses objectives are related to each other as links. Effective training program helps organizations to achieve their objectives. General objectives of training activities are; orienting new employees to the organization and their job, helping employees perform their current jobs well, helping employees qualify for the future jobs,

keeping employees informed of changes within the organization, providing opportunities for personal development. Purpose of Training Reason of emphasizing training and development of employees are as follows: 1) Creating a pool of readily available and adequate replacement personnel who may leave or move up in the hierarchy of the organisation. 2) Enhancing the companys ability to adopt and use advances in technology because of a sufficiently knowledgeable staff. 3) Building a more efficient, effective and highly motivated team, which enhances the companys competitive position and improve employees morale. 4) Ensuring adequate human resource for expansion onto new programs It has been experienced that companies can benefit a lot from training and development of their workers. Some of the advantages which an organisation may enjoy from a well trained employee are stated as under: 1) Increased Productivity 2) Reduced employee turnover 3) Increased efficiency resulting in financial gains 4) Decreased need for supervision. Employees frequently develop a greater sense of self-worth, dignity and well-being as they become more valuable to the firm and to society. Generally they will receive a greater share of the material gains that result from their increased productivity. These factors give them a sense of satisfaction through the achievement of personal and companys goals Off-The-Job Training Methods Training which takes place in environment other than actual workplace is called off-the job training. Off-the-job training is usually designed to meet the shared learning needs of a group rather than a particular individuals needs. Lectures, computer-based training, games and simulations are the common forms of off-the-job training methods.

On-The-Job Training Methods The purpose of the on-the-job training session is to provide employee with task-specific knowledge and skills in work area. The knowledge and skills presented during on-the-job are directly related to job requirements. Job instruction technique, job rotation, coaching and apprenticeship training are the common forms of on-the job training methods. Fully on-thejob training theoretically does not involve any off-the-job training. However, it is very rare for 100% of training to take place as part of the productive work of the learner. Job instruction training is a structured approach to training, which requires trainees to proceed through a series of steps in sequential pattern. The technique uses behavioural strategy with a focus on skill development, but there are usually some factual and procedural knowledge objectives as well. This type of training is good for task oriented duties such as operating equipment. The instructor or supervisor prepares a job breakdown on the job, while watching an experienced worker perform each step of the job. Job instruction technique consists of four steps, preparation, present, try out and follow up. Job rotation is the systematic movement of employees from job to job or project to project within an organization, as a way to achieve various different human resources objectives such as: simply staffing jobs, orienting new employees, preventing job boredom or burnout, rewarding employees, enhancing career development, exposing employees to diverse environments (Woods, 1995:188). Excellent job rotation program can decrease the training costs while increases the impact of training, because job rotation is a hand on experience. Job rotation makes individuals more self-motivated, flexible, adaptable, innovative, eager to learn and able to communicate effectively. One of the possible problems with the rotation programs is the cost, because job rotation increases the amount of management time to spend on lower level employees. It may increase the workload and decrease the productivity for the rotating employees manager and for other employees. Job rotation may be especially valuable for organizations that require firm-specific skills because it provides an incentive to organizations to promote from within. Coaching is the process of one-on-one guidance and instruction to improve knowledge, skills and work performance. Coaching is becoming a very popular means of development, and often includes working one-on-one with the learner to conduct a needs assessment, set major goals to accomplish, develop an action plan, and support the learner to accomplish the plan. The learner drives these activities and the coach provides continuing feedback and support.

Usually coaching is directed at employees with performance deficiencies, but also used as a motivational tool for those performing well. Coaching methods solve precise problems such as communication, time management and social skills. Executive coaching generally takes place on a monthly basis and continues over a period of several years. Often, coaches are brought in where there is a change in the structure of the company, when a team or individual is not performing well or where new skills are required. Coaching assumes that you are fine but could be even better. Apprenticeship is one of the oldest forms of training which is designed to provide planned, practical instruction over a significant time span. Apprenticeship was the major approach to learning a craft. The apprentice worked with a recognized master craft person.

Employees training allow organisation to achieve management objectives, solve issue and align culture to their mission and values. Employee training and development initiatives can transform organisation. Specialized skill training to the employees not only increase safety and productivity but it also lead to high job satisfaction which highly improves performance of the organisation and lead to job retention. Many organisations are including employee training as an important and effective part of their organisation strategy. It has been estimated that education and training programmes accounted for as much as 46% of the increase in US production capacity between 1999 and 2005.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
In this, research methods will be introduced, the research methods of this thesis will be discussed, how the data is collected, the contents of the research will also be talked about in this report. In the final part there will be a validity and reliability analysis. Research Methods There are two kinds of research methods, qualitative research and quantitative research, in the empirical part of this thesis; both of the research methods are used. Quantitative research was done by sending questionnaires to the employees and qualitative researchpersonal telephonic interviews with the Assistant Human Resource Manager of the Taj hotel Kolkata. Data Collection All the employees in Food & Beverages department are the sample group of this study, the questionnaire designed is about the staff training system in the chosen hotel. The questions on the questionnaire can be divided into two parts, the first part is about the respondents basic information, their gender, age, previous hospitality education, previous hotel working experience etc. and the second part is about the training they had in the hotel, how they felt about the training, and what opinions they have about the training system, how do they realize the importance of the organized training. There are 76 questionnaires sent out to the employees, 53 were answered. The response rate is 69.7%. The interview questions were designed before the interviews took place, the questions can be grouped into three sections, the first section is about interviewees background information, positions, work experience and work tasks etc.; the second section is about purposes and goals of the training programs in the case hotel; the third section focuses on the improvements of the training programs. The interviews were done through telephone, individually with the Assistant Manager from Human Resource department, Training Manager. Validity and Reliability analysis Reliability is the consistency of the measurement; the results will not change every time when testing in the same way with the same subject. A measure is considered reliable if a person's score on the same test given twice is similar. Reliability cannot be measured only can be estimated. Validity suggests that if the measure measures what it supposed to analyze. In short, validity is about the accuracy of the measurement. It is vital for a test to be valid in order for the results to be accurately applied and interpreted. Validity isnt determined by a single statistic,

but by a body of research that demonstrates the 29 relationship between the test and the behaviour it is intended to measure. In this report, the questions are designed generalized and suitable for the employees from Taj employees department, with the support of the personal interviews, all the interviewees are experienced and skilful, makes the results reliable.

RESULTS AND ANALYSIS OF THE SURVEY


Employees background Information Displayed below are the results and analysis from the quantitative research, from the statistics we would see the basic information of the employees and their attitudes towards the trainings organized in Taj Hotel 1) Gender 76 questionnaires were sent out, and 53 of them have been returned by the respondents, there are 32 male respondents and 21 female respondents accordingly. The ratio of male to female is approximately 3:2. In the Food and Beverage department, Chinese kitchen and Western kitchen have mainly male at work, which is the reason of the difference in gender. 2) Age The second question is to get to know about employees age so that some relationship between age group and trainings can be found. Since hotel and restaurant business stands in a competitive and fast changing environment, young employees from 18 to 35 are mostly chosen to work in this industry as they can adjust to new environments quickly and easily.

Figure 1: Age of respondent The HR department should consider the age groups when conducting training, young workers do not like theory too much but more interesting information is accepted by them, on the

other hand, employees who are between 26 and 35 years old can accept both. By considering this aspect, the effectiveness of trainings could be improved.

3) Work experience This question is to find out employees previous related working experience in the industry, the purpose of this question is to investigate the need of training according to their related working experience. The results can be seen in figure 2 below.

Figure 2: Employees previous work experience

4) Positions This question is to check the respondents positions in the hotel in order to understand the level of their received trainings during their years of working. The positions like manager, assistant manager, supervisor etc. are listed in the answers and positions like waitress, bartender, chef etc. are adjusted into the choice of full time worker when analyzing. Employees are at higher level of positions received more training than full time worker did, more attention should be paid to full time workers because they need to have more trainings to improve their abilities and skills at work in order to reach a higher level of position.

Figure 3: Employees position

Position and work experience

When analyzing the question of previous hotel working experience with employees positions, we can find out that normal full-time workers have less experience, some of them have just graduated from college, and some of them do not have a related education. Employees like supervisors, managers have more previous experience. As we discussed above, full time workers should have more training to improve themselves in order to reach a higher level, and they should be earnestly considered when trainings are conducted.

Training Question number seven and eight aim to find out whether employees have training before they started with their work tasks, if they did have trainings, what is the training about. 43 respondents did not have training when they started, 10 other respondents did have, and the trainings were about hotel general introduction, customer service, computer system usage, departmental guide etc. According to the Assistant Manager of Human Resource department , it is not possible to organize training for every new employee, because they are hired at separate times, it will be reasonable and cost efficient to organize training for a group of new employees. However, adequate trainings before the work help employees get used to the environment and work tasks very quickly and avoid the obstacles and possible accidents during work. Adequate trainings before work lead to the better attitudes towards their work, as a result, better services will be offered to customers. In this case, the hotel organized a beginners training only when there is a group of new employees in order to save costs for the department, but trainings before work is more beneficial if possible to be organized. The human resource department should also understand the importance of staff training, either the trainings are organized before the work starts or afterwards, and to realize the benefits brought by staff training so that they will pay more attention to all the trainings that will be organized. HR department should be informed about the importance of the trainings and make all efforts in assisting organizing the trainings in order to help employees to improve, to ensure the growth of the business and to achieve better results from staff trainings. Evaluation of training This question is about employees evaluation of the first training they have taken part in; the results help us to know the employees attitude towards the first training held in the hotel. Most of the respondents think trainings which they firstly attended was important, similar number goes to the choice of necessary, and 8 respondents thought the first training was just a routine. No respondents thought the first training they attended was not important. Most of the employees realized the importance of the first training; this means that the goals of the first training were successfully achieved, which are introducing employees about the general information and helping employees to get familiar with the work environment and the work itself.

Figure 5 Evaluation of the training Frequency of training In the next question, the frequency of training was asked, 48 respondents suggested that the training is on daily basis and the rest 5 respondents chose they had trainings twice a year. The quality and quantity of training should be kept on the same level, as discussed above, employees complain that the training takes too much time every day, the contents of trainings are repeated On the other hand, trainers and HR DEPARTMENT hold different opinions about repeating training (Training Manager 2009.); they think repeating training helps to improve employees mastery of knowledge, skills so that they can provide better customer services etc. The importance of training This is a question for respondents to order the importance according to their opinions, in the order from the most important to the least important factor. The answers can just represent employees own thoughts but at the same time, to a certain extent, these choices indicate their opinions about the existing training and expectations for them, what trainings should be in their minds

Table 1: Importance of Training

As shown in above tables, 23 respondents chose Motivates employees and helps them to perform better as the most important factor of staff training. Then for the second importance 15 respondents chose Management team can evaluate employees performance and Motivates employees and helps them to perform better. 11 respondents thought trainings Helps organizational development is the third most important reason of trainings. Except one respondent considered training not important, 16 participants chose Encourages self development & self-confidence as the least important reason.

The results let us know that employees do not consider trainings as a tool for self development or for building up self-confidence, but the trainings are important that they motivate employees to perform better in competition and provide a channel for communication between management and employees as well as management can evaluate the training better in order to set appropriate goals for future trainings and make the best use what employees are good at.

Satisfaction of training By knowing the satisfaction of employees towards staff trainings helps Human Resource department to adjust the trainings which will lead to preferable results.

Figure 6: satisfaction level of the employees with training process The results explain us that over half of the respondents were feeling very satisfied with the organized trainings, other 25 participants do not feel the trainings are at their best favourites. According to employees opinions obtained in the open question, which indicates that they were satisfied with the trainings because the trainings are well planned and organized, employees were pleasant to participate, and they have learnt from the training.

Opinions and suggestions on improvement:


Many respondents spoke highly of the trainings in this question; they thought the trainings are helpful, well planned in long-term view and well implemented, they also considered the trainings express taj service spirit, and the trainings encourages them to perform better in their work fields. Dissatisfactions from employees point of view: Some participants suggested that the trainings are part of their everyday work tasks which cost too much time, sometimes they have to work overtime for the training, and the training contents are repeating. Three respondents claimed that trainings for beginners contain too much theory, which is distracting when sitting a long day in the training room. CONCLUSION Human Resource Management has been enormously important in the hotel business, when dealing with people; the basic requirement for the enterprise is to have good internal relationships between management and employees. Favourable Human Resource

Management ensures business growth, and staff training is the most effective way to develop employees in order to have a good HRM. Therefore, staff training is concerned a lot in nowadays businesses. Staff training is an essential management tool, it has many benefits, such as shortens the study time, increases work effectiveness, helps employees and the company itself to compete in the fast changing environment, reduces damages and wastage. Staff training is a way of motivating employees, upgrading their skills, expanding their knowledge, preparing employees for self-development. From both quantitative research and qualitative research we know that the trainings are very important and should be carefully considered, but in Taj Hotel there are some existing problems with trainings. 1. The outcomes of training are not as expected; because some employees are not aware of the importance of training and what they will benefit from staff training so that trainings are regarded as normal courses to participate. 2. There is a lack of good communication between management and employees, when employees have complaints about trainings for instance the trainings are time consuming, but

management team does not know, so that the trainings would never be improved until they communicate. 3. About one thirds of the employees felt they did not get self-development and build selfconfidence after the training, which did not match the purpose of the trainings.

REFERENCES Web Center for Social Research Methods. Reliability and Validity: Whats the Difference? [Online]. Available in www-form: <URL: http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/tutorial/Colosi/lcolosi2.htm>. The importance of staff training. Published on 05.01.2009. [Online] [Referenced 15.05.2009] Available at <URL: http://www.train01.com/news_show.asp?news_id=877> HR369. Analysis on training needs in the hotel industry. Published 02.06.2008. [Online]. [Referenced 18.11.2009] Available in www-form: <URL: http://www.hr369.com/html/42/t-1742.html> https://publications.theseus.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/7213/Final%20Thesis-The%20importance%20of%20Staff%20training%20in%20the%20hotel%20industy.pdf?seque nce=1

http://www.scribd.com/doc/37891473/THE-TAJ http://www.dir.ca.gov/chswc/english_training_program.pdf

Additional reading reference Taj Stars in New HR Thrust, www.tata.com Indian hotels becomes Harvard case study www.tata.com The Taj Stars shine Bright www.tata.com

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