BTEC EDEXCEL HND DIPLOMA IN BUSINESS (MANAGEMENT & HUMAN

RESOURCES)

Human Resources Development

Husna Mohamed
Batch 14/35
ICBT Nugegoda

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Individual Assignment

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank Mr. J Anton Johnson.

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Executive Summary
There are 4 different learning styles. They are the activist, reflector, theorist and pragmatist.
While the activist learns better by doing the job, reflectors learn well by observing. They like to
think before acting.
A theorist is the person who likes to analyze facts, statistics to solve problems, while a
pragmatist would be most likely to try out ideas, theories to see how they turn out.
The behaviorist approach indicates that behavior takes place as result of an individual's response
to events and the resulting the positive or negative outcomes. Cognitive learning theorists believe
that learning is an internal process in which information is integrated or internalized into ones
cognitive or intellectual structure. Learning occurs through the process of information internally.
According to social learning theory individuals learn both directly and indirectly by observing
others.
The learning curve is the period of time it takes an inexperienced person to reach the particular
level of experience required.
For effective training , training needs have to be analyzed at different staff levels such as trainee
as managers and trainees and managers should work together to achieve the training needs.
Training and development needs of TESCO could be met by conducting both on the job and off
the job training. There are various on the job training methods including coaching and training
the trainees and off the job training methods are lectures and seminars. While on the job training
is less costly, the learning environment is less conductive. In off the job training, the participants
are given training from more experienced people in their fields, but it is more expensive to the
organizations as they would have to make separate place to conduct the training and hire experts.
The mangers should train the employees by utilizing best possible methods. When preparing a
training program. The training program should also be evaluated to achieve the best possible
results of training .During the planning process of the training program, factors such
as participants reaction to the program, learning outcomes, positive changes in behavior and
attitudes after program, the costs incurred and effectives of raining should be considered. The
training methods should be evaluated using different models such as the Kirkpatrick model.
The role of the government is to encourage and facilitate organizational training. The
government facilitates lifelong learning by conducting development and management programs
for all age groups which also enables lifelong learning. The organizations in public and private
sector are investing more on human resources development; employees are offered more
opportunities for growth .Cotemporary training initiatives taken by the UK government offers
faster learning curve which enables companies like TESCO to gain competitive advantage.
The organization NHRDC conducted by the Sri Lankan government also conducts training
initiatives for the purpose of human resources development.

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Table of Contents
Acknowledgements

Executive Summary

Table of Contents

Introduction

Body

Task 1

Different learning styles

Different learn theories

Importance of leering curve and transfer of leering

Task 2

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Training needs of staff at different levels.

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Various training/development methods and Advantages and disadvantages of these

methods.

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Training program for new staff

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Task 3

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Importance of evaluation of training nag factors to be considered

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Evaluation of raining methods and justification of them

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Task 4

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Role of Government in training and development

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How the development of the competency movement has

impacted
Contemporary training initiatives introduced by the UK
government contribute
Conclusion

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References.

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Introduction
Human Resource Development is an important part of human resource management. It deals
mainly with training and development of the employees in the organization.
Human resource development consists of training and developing the work force and to achieve
the human resource requirements, offering opportunities to learn new skills. To attain the
organizations goals and objectives, people with suitable skills, abilities and experience have to
be employed, or the skills can be developed by employing people and then training them. The
human resource functions are the planning and resourcing of the workforce, reward and
performance management, analyzing health and safety welfare, employee relations and training
and developing the workforce.
It is important for every organization to develop their human resources, to be vital and growthoriented. This could be achieved by providing tainting and development opportunities for the
employs and also an environment where they are able to work for highest competence. Human
Resource Development system aims at creating such an environment. A number different
employee training methods can be utilized to achieve training needs of employees.
The focus of all aspects of Human Resource Development is on developing the most superior
workforce so that the organization and individual employees can accomplish their work goals in
service to customers.
Human resource development includes training program which could be done in classroom
setting, a seminar, or an organizational planned change effort. Or, Human Resource
Development can be informal as in employee coaching and mentoring done by the managers.
HRD concept was first introduced by Leonard Nadler in 1969 in a conference in US. He
defined HRD as those learning experience which are organized, for a specific time, and designed
to bring about the possibility of behavioral change.

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Body
Task 1
1.1 Briefly explain the different learning styles and if one of your colleagues argues that
his/her learning style is the best one, how would you defend your preferred style, giving
some practical examples.

There are 4 learning styles according to Honey and Mumford.

Activist.
They have an open-minded approach to learning, involving them fully and without bias in new
experiences. They live in the present. They prefer to solve problems by brainstorming. They
would learn by trying new things. They work well in groups as they like to be involved with
others.
Reflector.
Reflectors are keen to observe and think about what events have taken place. They may avoid
leaping in and prefer to watch from the sidelines. They would rather stand back and view
experiences from a number of different perspectives, collecting data and taking the time to work
towards an appropriate conclusion.
They learn by researching their collected data and reviewing them.
Theorist
These learners like to understand the theory behind the actions. They need models, concepts and
facts in order to engage in the learning process. They prefer to collect and analyze information to
come to a systematic and logical 'theory'. They learn by collecting statistics.
Pragmatist
These people need to be able to see how to put the learning into practice in the real world.
Abstract concepts and games are of limited use unless they can see a way to put the ideas into
action in their lives. Experimenters, trying out new ideas, theories and techniques to see if they
work. They conduct experiments; try out new ideas, theories and techniques to see how they
work out and should they be focused on practical issues. They should be exposed to people that
they could emulate.

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1.2 Briefly analyze the different learning theories and explain why it is important for
organizations like TESCO to consider these theories when designing the training and
development programs.
The behaviorist approach
It is the belief that changes in behavior takes place as result of an individual's response to events
and the positive or negative resulting consequences.
Ivan Pavlov conducted an experiment with dogs. Pavlov 'taught' the animals to salivate on
hearing a ringing bell by linking the time of their feeding to the bell being rung. Although he
stopped feeding them this way, the dogs continued to salivate when they heard the bell. So the
learned behavior was not a conscious thought process, it was a result of sentence of events
experienced. Pavlov discovered what is now termed classical conditioning.
The basis of conditioning is that a reward following a desirable response acts as a reward or
reinforcement and increases the likelihood that the desirable response will be repeated. Reward is
the core of the behaviorist approach. Continuous reward in every instance of desirable behavior
is useful when a behavior is being introduced. Once a desired behavior is established,
intermittent reward maintains the behavior.
The cognitive approach
Cognitive learning theorists believe that learning is an internal process in which information is
integrated or internalized into ones cognitive or intellectual structure. Learning occurs through
internal processing of information. From the cognitive viewpoint, how new information is
presented is important. According to this theory, our behavior is intentional that is to say our
actions are motivated by our pursuit of significant goals or objectives.

The social learning approach theory

According to this theory individuals learn both directly and indirectly by observing others. This
theory places great significance on learning with other people, through interpersonal interactions.
An issue of this approach is that individuals are selective about what they choose to copy rather
than copying everything they see. It is therefore important for managers or trainers to
demonstrate best practice while using this approach to training so that their employees and pick
up on mistakes quickly.

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Tesco should consider these theories as help in the training and development of employees.
Proper training increases employee morale, motivation that would subsequently increase their
performance. It would also increase customer service which leads to customer satisfaction. The
employees would be able to develop their group and team skills needed to achieve goals
to increases overall efficiency, it allows managers to reach unit goals and objectives. Employee
satisfaction would decrease employee turnover.
1.3 Explain the importance of learning curve and transfer of learning. Evaluate the
effectiveness of the actions taken by TESCO to ensure the transfer of learning in its work
place environment.
The learning curve calculates the progress of a person to learn something. The time it takes for
an inexperienced person to reach the required experience in a job
Learning curves are also known as experience curve, cost curves, efficiency curves and
productivity curves. These curves help demonstrate the knowledge of an employee. Learning
curves and experience curves is extensively used by organization in to assess training and
development needs of employees
Transfer of learning or transfer of knowledge or refers to learning in one context and applying it
to another, i.e. the capacity to apply acquired knowledge and skills to new situations. Transfer
of training is of paramount concern for training researchers and practitioners. Despite research
efforts, there is a growing concern over the "transfer problem. (Baldwin and Ford, 2006)

Transfer of learning is the process of learning more quickly and developing a deeper
understanding of the task if we bring some knowledge or skills from previous learning to a new
learning situation. Therefore, to produce positive transfer of learning, we need to practice under a
variety of conditions and environments.
Transfer of learning is important as it is the goal of all training and learning interventions.
Transfer of learning starts to happen at the training stage and continues much after the training.
Effectiveness of the actions taken by TESCO to ensure the transfer of learning in its work place
environment.

The employees are more efficient.

Customer satisfaction is high because the employees are able to overcome difficulties of
customers.

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Task 2
2.1 TESCOs aim to expand and diversify requires the business to have the right people, in
the right place, at the right time. Analyze the training needs of staff at different levels at
TESCO
Trainee

Trainees recognizes their training and development needs to be able to do their job
efficiently. They should show interest in their training and development.
Takes part in workshops regarding their training and also taking part in development days
conducted by TESCO for the employees.
Collects training of workshop completion certificates or evidence.
Appreciates the feedback from managers, goes through development needs and work
towards improving their performance.

Managers

The training needs of employees identified are logged in a Personal Development Plan.
Employees and line managers decide how they will fill these gaps by training or
development activities. Any skill shortages of employees are identified.
Coaching and guiding the trainees as needed. They should help trainees work to their full
capability.
TESCO employees have a wide range of skills; the managers should conduct
performance reviews to see that the employees benefit from the training.
Provide necessary feedback.

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2.2 Identify the various methods that TESCO uses in its training and development
program and assess the advantages and disadvantages of those training methods.

Employees are given both on-the-job training and off-the-job training. On-the-job training
methods at Tesco include:
Shadowing: A person already in the job showing the trainee how to do the job
Training: A manager or designated colleague enable trainees to solve problems and find
solutions.
Mentoring: A more experienced member of staff acting as an adviser
Job rotation: Trainee has the opportunity of covering their target role, taking full responsibility
on a temporary or limited basis.

Advantages of on the job training

It is less expensive that off the job training.

Providing employees with on the job training enables managers to see progress of
employees and can help them tackle problems quickly.
The employee would be working during training so is more productive. The employee is
able to put what they have learned into practice.
The job training being tailored to specifically suit the needs of the company and its
workforce; this also allows a new trainee to be integrated far more easily and quickly into
the company.

Disadvantages of the job training

They training may not be efficient or systematic.

Trainees may be given boring and repetitive.
The learning environment might not be conductive which makes training less effective.

Poorly trained employees might cause potential disruption to work.

The mangers may not be skilled to be able to train employees whereby they might pass on bad
practices.

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Off the job training

Off-the-job training is often more suitable for training in specific new skills or for developing the
individual, in areas such as team-building, communications, or organization and planning.

Lectures.
Employees may be asked to attend lectures conducted in a class room setting. These lectures may
be delivered by some executives of the organization or specialists from vocational and professional
institutes.

Seminar
The experts give presentations and conduct question and answers session whereby they answer
questions raised by participants.

Conference
A conference is a meeting of people organized by the company to an organized plan in which the
members seek to develop knowledge and understanding of a topic by verbal participation.
Advantages of off the job training

Employees are able to gain a wider range of skills or qualification.

They are provided training form more experienced people in their field or experts.
Employees are more confident when beginning job as they have been given prior training.
Under off-the-job training, employees gain more information within a shooter period of time.
More mistakes could be avoided as off the job training foes not require them to be at the
workplace.

Can learn from outside specialists or experts

Employees can be more confident when starting job
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Disadvantages of off the job training

Off the job training does not take place at the workplace, employees are unable to
get the experience along with the knowledge.
The trines do not get feedback from managers as training happens outside the
workplace.
It is more costly to the organization as they have made separate place for training
and they might also bring specialists.

2.3 Devise a training programme for these new staff (assuming they have had no previous
experience). You will need to identify the knowledge, skills and qualifications required, and
then determine what on and off-the-job methods can be used to ensure the workers gain
these.

Identify training needs

Assess training needs by defining company needs and goals. Based on these needs and goals,
identify knowledge skills and qualifications required for the job. The employees should have the
necessary skills and experience required to prepare food required, dealing with customers in a
friendly manner, managing accounts of the shop etc.
Create a training schedule which states employee names, job titles and all training needs
required. Placing scheduled training dates next to the employee's names for each training would
make it possible to use it as a training guide
Suitable person should be assigned to train the employees to help develop and create your
business and should utilize all necessary resources available. An independent training company
might also be hired to train employees or if the owner is skilled they oversee all training
programs.
Follow through with the training, to get employees trained as quickly as possible.
Monitor the training progress of employees, give feedback.

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Coaching.
Coaching is a one-to-one training. It aids in quickly identifying the weak areas and trying to
focus on them. The new staff should be given coaching on their weaker areas.
Job rotation.
This type of training involves the movement of the trainee from one job to another.
The trainee receives job knowledge and gains experience from the supervisor about how to
conduct different jobs.
Workshops
Workshops would be conducted to learn the required skills and knowledge to operate a sandwich
shop.

Task 3
3.1 Discuss the importance of evaluation of training programs and identify the factors to be
considered when conducting the evaluation and briefly explain them.

Importance of evaluation of training programs.

Evaluation of training program is done to analyze the effectiveness of training. Evaluation of
training program is done to identify how much of training goals objective have been achieved. It
enables to improve the how training is conducted by identifying the strengths and weaknesses of
the training programme. It enables to collect information regarding nature, experience and the
result of training. It helps to identify the accountability of training program. This is done by
determining cost and benefit ratio, return on investment etc. Management is able to gain
information regarding skills and competencies, cost of training etc.
Factors to be considered when conduction evaluation.
Participants reactions: Level of satisfaction of participants.
Learning outcomes: Whether the participants would gain new information, knowledge, skills and
attitudes.
Change in behavior: Positive change in behavior of trainees after the completion of training.
Change in Performance: High performance levels of the trainee or organizational performance.
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Training costs: Are the cost incurred necessary?

The effectiveness of the training
Will the desired performance of the trainees be achieved?

3.2 TESCO uses on-the-job and off-the-job training to develop colleagues at all levels.
Prepare an evaluation of training methods using suitable techniques and justify the
selection of your techniques.
Kirkpatrick Model
Level 1: Reaction
This level analyzes how your trainees, reacted to the training such as on the job training as
coaching, mentoring.
Coaching is the process whereby an experienced member of staff will help trainees learn skills
and processes through providing instructions or demonstrations or sometimes both.
The desired result of training was to enable the trainees to gain as much knowledge as possible.
The employees should feel good about the instructor, the topic, the material, its presentation, and
the venue.
It's important to measure reaction, because it enables to analyze how well the training was
received by your audience. It also helps to improve the training for future trainees, including
identifying important areas or topics that are missing from the training.
The trainers should consider about what changes they could make to trainee, based on the
trainees' feedback and suggestions.

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Level 2: Learning
At Level 2, how much has their knowledge increased as a result of the training?
During planning of the training session of trainee lectures and seminar, there should a list of
specific learning objectives compiled: these should be the starting point.
In these lectures employees are gathered to the room to give training by trainer in the form of
lectures seminars.
There are different ways to measure learning in different ways depending on these objectives,
and depending on whether the trainees interested in changes to knowledge, skills, or attitude.
The level of knowledge gained should be measured, because knowing what the trainees are
learning and what they aren't will help to improve future training.
It's often important to evaluate skills, experiences of employees both before and after training.
So, before training commences, test the trainees to determine their knowledge, skill levels, and
attitudes.
Once training has been completed, the trainees should be tested your trainees a second time to
evaluate the effectiveness of the training.

Level 3: Behavior
At this level, you evaluate how far your trainees have changed their behavior, based on the
training they received from simulation, role playing exercises.
In off the training method such as role playing, the trainees assume roles and act out situations
connected to the learning concepts. Specifically, this looks at how trainees apply the information.
It's important to realize that behavior of trainees can only change if conditions are favorable.
Positive behavior is the effect of effective training For instance, if training level has not been
analyzed have been skipped at the first two Kirkpatrick levels and, when looking at your group's
behavior, you determine that no behavior change has taken place. Therefore, it might be assumed
that your trainees haven't learned anything and that the training was ineffective.
However, because they are no change in behavior, it does not mean that trainees havent learned
anything. Sometimes they might have difficulty applying themselves
It can be challenging to measure behavior effectively in regard to the training that has taken
place.

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Level 4: Results
At this level, you analyze the final results of your training give to employees from on the training
such as coaching, job rotation, off the job training as lectures, workshops, role playing
techniques etc This includes outcomes that you or your organization have determined to be good
for business, good for the employees, or good for the bottom line.
It might be costly and time consuming to evaluate the results of the training. The biggest
challenges are identifying which outcomes, benefits, or final results are most closely linked to
the training and coming up with an effective way to measure these outcomes over the long term.

Task 4
4.1 Explain the role of Government in training and development and the growing emphasis
on lifelong learning.

The role of the government is to encourage and facilitate organizational training and
development. This could be achieved by encouraging employer demand for skills and providing
sufficient funding for education and training. Learning should be encouraged for all levels and
age groups. The development programs for of management skills of young people should be
conducted which increases employment opportunities for them

The government should aim to remove the obstacle of the lack of knowledge skills and try to
Help those that are not equipped for workplace environments to gain the confidence to do so in
order to facilitate lifelong learning.
The emphasis on importance of lifelong learning for individuals is being also facilitated by the
governments continuous investment in education and training; not just for young people but also
for adults with minimum skills. The government should support employers objectives for HRD
and employees employability objectives. NVQ for example are structured to meet the needs of
the organization through continuous training on updating their knowledge on the equipment and
technology the learner users at work

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4.2 Explain how the development of the competency movement has impacted on the public
and private sectors.
It supports the career and development of learners in private and public sectors. The people in
both sectors are able to get variable experiences related to their jobs. This is done by ongoing
training and development programs at the workplace. The employees are able to develop their
HRD skills.
In Public sector, organizations are investing more on developing the human resources.
Employees are provided with high achieving prospects for steady growth.
Employees are motivated to work harder in their development in their responsible areas.
In the private sector, the organizations are focusing on increasing customer satisfaction by
conduction performance appraisals and designing training programs to develop the human
resources of the organizations. Providing customers with efficient customer service distinguisher
organizations from one other .the working environment is a friendly environment where which
encourages workers to work to highest competence and sincerity.

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4.3 Assess how contemporary training initiatives introduced by the UK government

contribute to human resources development for an organization like TESCO. Compare the
same with Sri Lankan Governments initiatives.

Contemporary training initiative was taken by the UK government to provide public and private
organizations an effective training and development program to bring stability and growth in the
economy. It offers faster learning curve which enables companies like TESCO to gain
competitive advantage. High employee performance does also mean high productivity which
increases total output. This helps the company be more growth-oriented.

The Sri Lankan government also conducts training initiatives for the purpose of human resources
developments e organization NHRDC certainly confirms the need to address issue with the
intervention of Job-seekers Training Providers and job providers thinking about and finding
solutions to problems of the human resources. They conduct programs such as seminars, lectures
to develop the skills from youths. The success of these programs is important as these programs
help youth find more employment opportunities.

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Conclusion.

Human resources play an important role in the organization. To enable the highest competence
of the human resources, they need to be trained and developed. To ensure the training is the best
method, the training and development would also have to be evaluated. The employees should be
able to work in a friendly environment which helps them perform better. The employees are able
to work better when management provides them full support to the employees.

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References

http://gsi.berkeley.edu/gsi-guide-contents/learning-theory-research/learning-overview/
http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/tesco/how-training-and-development-supports-businessgrowth/identifying-training-needs.html#axzz3uTYX5zJj
http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/tesco/how-training-and-development-supports-businessgrowth/training.html#axzz3uTYX5zJj
http://www.skillsforsecurity.org.uk/index.php/happening/2/209
Dessler,G&Vakkey,B.(2009)
Kingsley(India)Pvt.Ltd.

Human

Resources

Management,2nd

Edition,India,Dorsley

Bratton, J. &Gold. (2007) Human Resource Management Theory and Practice, 4th edition, UK
Palgrave Macmillan.

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