AboutLeo Lingham Expertise Questions include managing work situation, managing work relations,
managing your boss, personal problems, career planning, career
development, training, coaching, counseling etc
Experience 18 years working managerial experience covering business planning,
strategic planning, management services, personnel administration etc
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24 years of management consulting in business planning, strategic planning, human resources development, training, business coaching,
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Question What is the scope of “functional training”? Pls give suitable examples
Discuss the need for evaluation of training. How can evaluation help the design of training programs?
Discuss the role of an outside consultant in training
Answer DEEPTI,
HERE IS SOME USEFUL MATERIAL.
REGARDS
LEO LINGHAM
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1. What is the scope of functional training. with suitable examples?
Many people perform functional strength training to help THEM improve THEIR performance in athletic activities.
Fitness experts now recommend functional strength training as another way to enhance coordination, muscular strength and endurance - and ultimately to build a body better able to meet the challenges of sports performance.
Functional strength training is an integrated approach to strength training focused on exercising multiple muscles and joints together instead of working muscles in isolation as with conventional strength training. FST emphasizes the body's core muscles - abdomen and back - as stabilizers. The core plays an important role in nearly every sports activity.
"Functional strength training is becoming more popular because it is so practical," . "This type of training is an ideal way to help maximize sports performance."
FST should supplement traditional weight lifting and is not intended to replace it. It provides variety and additional benefits that directly transfer to common sport movements. For optimum results, people should perform traditional strength training regularly and supplement this with FST. · FST uses free weights such as dumbbells and barbells, pulley weight machines, elastic bands, stability balls and balance boards. Conveniently, these tools now are available for use in the home as well as the gym.
Basically, in FST, exercises should mimic the movements of the sport while working against resistance. For best results, train with movements that follow and are equal to or greater than the current range of motion, and are at the same speed as the sport's movement to be performed. Research indicates that training at high speeds improves performance on dynamic movements, such as a vertical jump, better than training at low speeds.
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THIS SAME PRINCIPLE IS FOLLOWED IN BUSINESS FUNCTIONAL TRAINING.
A more comprehensive approach is provided by the LEARNING centres. These incorporate a range of assessment techniques and typically have the following features:
• The focus of the centre is on behaviour.
• Exercises are used to capture and simulate the key dimensions of the job. These include one‑to‑one role‑plays and group exercises. It is assumed that performance in these simulations predicts behaviour on the job.
• Interviews and tests will be used in addition to group exercises.
• Performance is measured in several dimensions in terms of the competencies required to achieve the target level of performance in a particular job or at a particular level in the organization.
• Several candidates or participants are assessed together to allow interaction and to make the experience more open and participative.
• Several COACHES/ observers are used in order to increase the objectivity of assessments. Involving senior managers is desirable to ensure that they 'own' the process. Assessors must be carefully trained.
LEARNING centres provide good opportunities for indicating the extent to which candidates match the culture of the organization. This will be established by observation of their behaviour in different but typical situations, and by the range of the tests and structured interviews that are part of the proceedings. Assessment centres also give candidates a better feel for the organization and its values so that they can decide for themselves whether or not they are likely to fit.
THE APPROACH TO FUNCTIONAL TRAINING IN BUSINESS
1. Identify performance criteria for individuals and work units.
2.Identify individuals and work units that meet, exceed, and fall below the performance criteria.
3. Interview job incumbents and informed observers.
4. Observe job incumbents directly—just 'a day in the life."
5.Develop interim competency model‑analyze data for themes and patterns and look for differences
between exceptional and standard performers.
6. Administer a survey and/or conduct focus groups to include a
wider population and test the degree of relevance and importance
of the competencies to the job.
7. Analyze survey or focus group data and refine the model
.
8. Validate the model: to identify competencies that correlate with
exceptional performers.
9. Finalize the model.
Defining What You Want FROM THE FUNCTIONAL TRAINING
‑ job challenges /Preparatory experiences [ what one has done.]
‑ Organizational knowledge (what one knows).
‑ Behaviorally defined competencies (what one is capable of]
Job Challenges
Job challenges are descriptions of the kinds of situations that an individual entering management should have experienced or at least had some exposure to. Examples include:
• Carry an assignment from beginning to end.
• Solve a difficult problem.
• Assume a significant leadership role.
• Build and lead a team.
• Follow through with a plan, product, process, or market start‑up.
• Manage or become heavily involved with a merger, acquisition, strategic alliance, or partnership opportunity.
• Implement a companywide change.
• Complete an assignment with tight time and resource constraints (e.g., be first to market).
• Manage in an e‑commerce environment.
• Assume responsibility for growing, downsizing, reorganizing, or shutting down a unit or operation.
• Handle an emergency situation,
• Build an entrepreneurial mind‑set in a unit.
• Develop and implement a plan to cut costs or control inventories.
• Learn and apply skills quickly.
• Manage a union or nonunion operation.
• Be responsible for an operation in another country or in multiple countries.
• Take on an expatriate assignment.
• Deal with conflict, change, or hurt feelings.
• Build a new management team.
• Identify/Select talent.
• Without position power, lead a team or group through personal influence (e.g., project team, task force).
*Manage a turnaround/"fix‑it" situation.
• Oversee a corporatewide process (e.g., new product development, hiring).
• Negotiate agreements with external organizations.
• Face a situation outside the individual's area of technical expertise, relying heavily on leadership skills.
• Deal with people from different disciplines, cultures, or countries who have diverse perspectives.
• Manage a geographically dispersed team.
• Operate in high‑pressure or high‑visibility situations.
• Manage in a fast‑paced, hard‑nosed business environment.
• Work with people outside the organization, such as government bureau representatives or special interest groups.
• Make presentations to senior managers or a board of directors.
• Develop others.
• Manage a quality improvement team or project.
• Manage a large‑scale infrastructure project (e.g., build an office building).
• Lead a formal meeting where attendees compose different functions within the organization.
• Assume bottom‑line responsibility for an operation.
• Interact directly with an external customer.
• Leverage technology into products or services.
• Create multi‑organization relationships.
• Create a corporate culture.
• Develop or maintain alliances with external partners.
• Implement systems, processes, and strategic plans.
• Work in a line/staff position.
• Work in or with fast‑, slow‑, or hyper‑growing organizations.
• Create a new product.
• Manage a group of consultants.
• Manage a large project.
• Manage a product.
• Manage a long‑ or short‑cycle business.
• Create a breakthrough product or service (as opposed to incremental improvement).
• Control costs against a fixed budget.
• Manage "Generation Xers."
• Show entrepreneurial skills.
Organizational Knowledge Areas
Organizational knowledge refers to the understanding that managers have about how the various parts of the organization operate. There are four components of organizational knowledge: functions; processes; systems; and products, services, and technologies. Using this breakdown helps ensure that no important knowledge areas are left out. (There is some overlap in the areas.)
Functions
To perform effectively, an executive must have at least a working knowledge of the company's functions as well as how they interrelate. Examples of organizational functions include:
‑ Major Division or Group Office
‑ Sales
‑ Field Operations or Field Office
‑ International Operations
‑ Research & Development
*Product Management or
Brand Marketing
Processes
There are three types of processes to consider:
‑ Distribution
‑ Finance& Accounting
‑ Human Resources
Information Technology
(e.g., MIS)
‑ Engineering
Core Business Process‑Activities that physically create a product or service that is of value to external customers. A key source of competitive advantage, core business processes interact with internal or external customers at the beginning and end of the process. For instance, the auto industry's core process might be new car design, manufacturing, distribution, sales, and service.
Enabling Business Process‑Produces outputs that act as the inputs to core processes. In other words, the enabling process gives the core process the materials needed to operate. Examples of the enabling business process include selection/recruitment (employee acquisition is the input to the core processes), financial reporting (provides "feedback" input to the
Support Process‑A pool of resources that is assigned to and shared by core and enabling processes. Examples of support processes include information technology management, financial management, employee orientation, and staff development.
Leaders need a thorough understanding of company processes to improve the efficiency, accuracy, productivity, and quality of products and services. Many leaders lack the process orientation or knowledge to be able to differentiate between process or system problems and people issues, Understanding these processes will help in that assessment.
Systems
The third component of organizational knowledge is systems knowledge‑the degree to which a senior manager understands how the organization's internal systems‑work. Organizational systems include:
Because many systems support business processes, there can be overlaps in
the lists (e.g., staffing/ selection/promotion is both a process and a system).
Products, Services, and Technologies
The fourth component of organizational knowledge is familiarity with core products, services, and technologies. Because senior managers often must deal with issues that cut across the total organization, they need a working knowledge of these areas of the company.
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A CLASSICAL EXAMPLE OF FUNCTIONAL TRAINING
SALESPERSON FUNCTIONAL TRAINING.
1.HOW TO SET UP AND OPERATE A PROSPECTING SYSTEM.
2.HOW TO MAKE AN INITIAL SALES PRESENTATION.
3.HOW TO DEVELOP A SALES PROPOSAL.
4.HOW TO PRESENT / SELL THE PROPOSAL TO THE PROSPECT.
5.HOW TO SELL THE BENEFITS.
6.HOW TO CONDUCT A NEGOTIATION-SELLING.
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Outcomes of FUNCTIONAL training
. The outcomes they depict (self, role, and organization) are only possibilities. Possible outcomes are as follows:
Self
1. Increased awareness of own feelings and reactions, and own impact on others.
2.Increased awareness of feelings and reactions of others, and their impact on self.
3. Increased awareness of dynamics of group action.
4.Changed attitudes toward self, others, and groups; i.e., more respect for, tolerance for, and faith in self, others, and groups.
5.Increased interpersonal competence; i.e., skill in handling interpersonal and group relationships toward more productive and satisfying relationships.
Role
6. Increased awareness of own organizational role, organizational dynamics, dynamics of larger social systems, and dynamics of the change process in self, small groups, and organizations.
7. Changed attitudes toward own role, role of others, and organizational relationships, i,e., more respect for and willingness to deal with others with whom one is interdependent, greater willingness to achieve collaborative relationships with others based on mutual trust.
8. Increased interpersonal competence in handling organizational role relationships with superiors, peers, and subordinates.
Organization
9. Increased awareness of, changed attitudes toward, and increased interpersonal competence about organizational problems of interdependent groups or units.
10. Organizational improvement through the training of relationships or groups rather than isolated individuals.
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2. TRAINING EVALUATION
-it is a process of establishing a worth of something.
-the worth which means the value, merit or excellence of the thing.
-it is a state of mind , rather than a set of techniques.
PURPOSE OF EVALUATION
-feedback... on the effectiveness of the training action.
-control...over the provision of training
-intervention...into the organizational process that affects training.
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This evaluation is ongoing throughout the entire training process.
That is, it is performed during the analysis, design, development, and implementation phases. It is also performed after the learners return to their jobs. Its purpose is to collect and document learner performance in a training course, as well as on the job. The goal is to fix problems and make the system better, not to lay blame.
The most exiting place in training is the gap between what the trainer trains and what the employee learns. This is where the unpredictable transformation takes place.
Evaluations help to measure gap by determining the value and effectiveness of a learning program. It uses assessment and validation tools to provide data for the evaluation. Assessment is the measurement of the practical results of the training in the work environment; while validation determines if the objectives of the training goal were met.
There are five main purposes of evaluation:
Feedback - Linking learning outcomes to objectives and providing a form of quality control.
Control - Making links from training to organizational activities and to consider cost effectiveness.
Research - Determining the relationships between learning, training, and the transfer of training to the job.
Intervention - The results of the evaluation influence the context in which it is occurring.
Power games - Manipulating evaluative data for organizational politics.
Evaluations are normally divided into two broad catagories: formative and summative.
1.Formative
Formative evaluation (also known as internal) is a method of judging the worth of a TRAINING program while the program activities are forming (in progress). This part of the evaluation focuses on the process.
Thus, formative evaluations are basically done on the fly. They permit the learner and the instructor to monitor how well the instructional objectives are being met. Its main purpose is to catch deficiencies so that the proper intervention can take place. This allows the learner to master the required skills and knowledge.
Formative evaluation is also useful in analyzing learning materials, employee learning and achievements, and trainer's effectiveness.... Formative evaluation is primarily a building process which accumulates a series of components of new materials, skills, and problems into an ultimate meaningful whole.
2. Summative
The summative evaluation (also know as external) is a method of judging the worth of a program at the end of the program activities (summation). The focus is on the outcome.
If we refer to Kirkpatrick's four levels of evaluation,
--levels one and two (reactive and learning) are formative evaluations
The reactive evaluation is a tool to help determine if the objectives can be reached, the learning evaluation is a tool to help reach the objectives.
-- levels three and four (performance and impact) are summative evaluations.
The performance evaluation is a tool to see if the objectives have actually been met, while the impact evaluation is a tool to judge the value or worth of the objectives.
The various instruments used to collect the data are questionnaires, surveys, interviews, observations, and testing. The model or methodology used to gather the data should be a specified step-by-step procedure. It should be carefully designed and executed to ensure the data is accurate and valid.
Questionnaires are the least expensive procedure for external evaluations and can be used to collect large samples of graduate information. They should be trialed before using to ensure the recipients of the questionnaire understand their operation the way the designer intended. When designing questionnaires, keep in mind the most important feature is the guidance given for its completion. All instructions should be clearly stated...let nothing be taken for granted.
THE EVALUATION HELPS TO IDENTIFY THE GAPS
-IN CONTENT
-IN STRUCTURE
-METHODS EFFECTIVENESS
-LEARNERS' IMPACT
WHICH HELPS TO RE-DESIGN OF THE TRAINING PROGRAM.
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3..the role of an outside consultant in training?
AN OUTSIDE CONSULTANT FACILITATES / HELPS TO
improve positive attitude towards training/ orientation.
Improve objective job knowledge and skills at all levels in the organisation
Improve trainees morale.
Help people and organisational alignment with corporate objectives.
Enhance corporate image
Foster authenticity, openness and trust
Aid Organisational development
Help prepare guidelines for training/development
Aid implementation of organisational environment policies
Help predict future environmental needs
Enhance decision making and problem solving
Enhance “promotion” probability of trainees
Aid replicating external “success” factors
Enhance productivity
Optimize the use of resources
Enhance “learning orientation” of the organization.
Enhances internal trainers' expertise.
Enhance communication
Help to manage “change management”
AN OUTSIDE CONSULTANT HELPS MANY ASPECTS OF
Development
*Managerial and behavioral skills and knowledge
*Conceptual and general knowledge
*Long term
PROVIDES, Mostly for managerial personnel
Organizational viability and transformational process
To match employee specifications with job requirements and organizational needs
Technological advances
Organizational complexity
Human Relations
Change in job assignment
To prepare for changing demands
To prevent obsolescence
To align with job specifications
To prepare for next job
To enhance productivity
Career and Succession planning
Benchmarking with outside world
HELPS TO CONDUCT
Organizational Analysis
Departmental Analysis
Job / Role Analysis
Manpower Analysis
Group/Organizational Analysis
Organizational goals and objectives
Organizational climate indices
Efficiency indices
Exit Interviews
MBO or work planning systems
Quality Circles
Customer Feedback
Change
Individual Analysis
Performance Appraisal
Work Sampling
Interviews
Questionnaires
Attitude Surveys
Training progress
Rating Scales
Observation of behavior
Motivation
Progress Information
Reinforcement
Practice
Full vs Stage-wise
Individual differences
On the basis of the quality of learning
Impact on the job behavior
Organizational parameters like Productivity / Quality / Morale etc
Trainee’s reactions regarding usefulness, coverage, depth, method and skills.
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