Human Resources Preparation Tactics

Training and Development Strategy There are a number of different facets of training that are detailed in the first two chapters of Blanchard and Thacker's tome Effective Training that are of interest to Human Resource generalists who have limited experience in T&D. Nonetheless, not all of these topics are as important as some of them are, which is why if I were to lecture a group of such generalists I would tend to focus on four topics that have broad areas of applicability across training.

The four areas I would focus on include Trends in Training, the training process model, aligning training with strategic planning, and understanding how Human Resources, Human Resource Development, and Organizational Development interrelate to implement tactics for training to achieve organizational strategic objectives. In many ways, the vast majority of the trends in training have been influenced by the prominence of technological advances in the workplace and in the increasing trend towards globalization.

More than any other factors, organizations must account for these disruptors when considering the various aspects of training that they need to do. Advances in technology is one of six current trends in training that directly pertains to the significant impact that the internet and mobile technologies have had on training. The crux of these factors is that oftentimes, standard training sessions on white boards in a conventional classroom are not the most viable means for effecting training.

There are a number of social media outlets in particular that organizations should utilize for training purposes (Blanchard, p. 9-10). The trend towards globalization is most clearly evinced in the trend of managing talent due to altering demographics. The workforce is increasingly including a number of historic minority groups (including women); it is necessary for organizations to not only understand how to manage but also leverage the various skills and abilities of these different types of employees.

A third trend, aligning training with business strategy, combines both elements of globalization and technological advances for the simple fact that these two factors are responsible for a rapidly evolving business climate (Blanchard, p. 9). Both globalization and technology can render current business practices obsolete quickly; organizations need training on the new methods emerging in their wake. Two trends, improving the training function and quality, are directly related to the second topic, the training process model.

There are several different ways in which implementing a standard open training model (discussed in the next section) can improving the training function and quality. Lastly, legal issues (some of which pertain to technology and globalization) are serving as drivers for training. Prior to implementing the most efficacious and time honored training model ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and Evaluation) (Blanchard p. 6), it is necessary to have a basic understanding of an open system approach.

In such an approach one invariably has inputs which stem from the external environment and the organization involved in training, and outputs (which go back to the external environment) (Blanchard, p. 4). Training does not exist in a vacuum and takes place for an organization to create better business value and serve its customers -- in the external environment -- better.

Thus, when implementing the recommended ADDIE model it is pivotal to begin with a trigger event in which there is a clear lapse in organizational wide expectations: ideally, one which might involve the external environment or organizational output. Then, in the first phase of the Addie model, it is necessary to discern the cause of an organization's performance gap and to prioritize those causes. Various factors of prioritization could include that which is ameliorated most readily or, perhaps, most difficult.

The design phase involves creating specific training objectives, which should redress various aspects of the gap in performance. The development phase is similar to the design phrase but distinct in that it requires formulating specific instructional strategies for achieving training goals (Blanchard, p. 8). Different choices in strategies may relate to the plethora of options technology has presented for training. The implementation aspect of the ADDIE model is the phase in which organizations actually act on their plans made through the aforementioned phases.

Quite simply, this is the step in which training actually begins. Finally, there is an evaluation phase to conclude the training process, in which it is possible for organizations to ascertain what areas of the training were successful, which ones were not, and how training has impacted the very organization itself. There are several different things that human resource professionals need to be aware of when aligning training efforts with overall strategic planning.

The first is that strategic planning occurs at the highest level of an organization, and typically involves C-level executives. Moreover, strategy is created in response to an organization's mission statement. Mission statements define the very purpose of organizations and denote what its overall objectives are. Strategies are typically either proactive or reactive -- the first involves long-term planning and anticipates the future while the second is more agile, iterative, and responsive to the climate affecting the organization (Blanchard, p. 29).

Regardless of what sort of strategic approach is used, organizations must then transmute those overarching strategies from their highest levels to the individual units or business units. Such units include Human Resource departments, which must then determine specific tactical measures to best achieve those objectives. GraphTherefore, when organizations are seeking to implement training models, they must do so in accordance with their overall organizational strategy. Moreover, they must set accordant goals for training that directly facilitate the achievement of such strategy, whatever it is.

A fair amount of the tactical implementation of that strategy occurs at the Human Resources (HR) level, which includes Human Resources Development (HRD). In terms of implementing organizational strategy from a training perspective, there is a critical confluence between the input of HR, HRD, and Organizational Development (OD). OD is largely made up of mangers and even upper level management,.