The Theory and Practice of Training

Citation

Skinner, D. (2001), "The Theory and Practice of Training", Personnel Review, Vol. 30 No. 5, pp. 602-607. https://doi.org/10.1108/pr.2001.30.5.602.2

This is the fourth edition of a book that, as the introduction explains, is written on the basis of “what has worked best for the authors and which it is believed will be of help to others” (p. xvi). Identifying a critical and demanding role for training in the context of a complex and turbulent business environment, the authors have based their approach on the premiss that training must be an open system sensitive to changes in the external environment and seen within the organisation as responsive and professional, for the “training function cannot allow itself to become the ‘dinosaur’ of the organisation” (p. xv).

The first chapter sets the scene by establishing the difference between training and education, identifying some of the benefits of training and briefly considering it in the context of organisational strategy, performance management and the concept of the learning organisation. Links between training and systems thinking are also introduced and are further developed in Chapter two to form the systematic approach to training which effectively provides the framework for the remainder of the book. Each of the stages identified as being part of the process is considered in detail in subsequent chapters. Before embarking on this detailed consideration, however, the authors devote two chapters to highlighting the difference between reactive and proactive routes into training. The former is described as being the use of training to remedy human performance problems and six stages in problem identification are identified, culminating in a presentation of recommendations to the client. Proactive training is described as being future‐oriented and the ways in which the need for training might be identified in this context are explained. The authors recognise that there may be constraints in both scenarios that limit what can be achieved in terms of the needs analysis; however, they urge caution in giving into the “quick and dirty” approach, which may ultimately result in trainers being the target of criticism, and suggest that there is some onus of responsibility on trainers to educate managers about the tools that trainers employ.

In the chapters which follow, the training process from needs analysis through to evaluation is considered and, although the authors state that the book is not intended to be a step‐by‐step guide to undertaking a training project, the text does provided a detailed and extensive consideration of the practicalities of each stage of the training process. Ways of undertaking training needs analysis, the effect of individual learning preferences and different methods of delivery are all considered at some length. Issues likely to be faced by trainers charged with creating and delivering a training programme are unpacked at each stage, terminology that may be unfamiliar to newcomers in the world of training is explained and a range of approaches and techniques that could be used is offered. Indeed, in places the range of tools offered is almost too great, and there is a danger that novices may be overwhelmed by choice. I also had some concerns that the explanation of some (the use of repertory grids, for example) was sufficient to encourage use yet was too limited for a full understanding of the approach to be gained. Use is made throughout of theoretical models that are helpful and relevant but disappointingly there is little to suggest that the revision of the text incorporated the updating of the book’s theoretical underpinnings to reflect more recent thinking.

Particularly useful features of the book are the illustrative figures and practical examples relevant to the topic under discussion in each chapter. For instance, the chapter relating to training objectives includes examples for a specific programme and offers alternative ways in which they could be formatted, while the chapter on the delivery of training offers an example of a training programme plan and discusses its use. There is some recognition of the political reality in which training has to operate within organisations’ although this might usefully have been further developed, if only to fully prepare the novice trainer for the tensions and pressures with which they may have to contend, not least in trying to educate managers as the book suggests!The chapter relating to the assessment of the effectiveness of training is welcome, as it recognises the lack of meaningful evaluation in many organisations and promotes the need to evaluate a training programme beyond the “happy sheet” to an organisational level assessment of the effects and value of training, including some suggestions of how this might be done. Consideration of need to evaluate is extended in the subsequent chapter, in which the need to audit the training function, albeit primarily at the departmental level, is established. It is in this and the following chapter that the focus shifts from the practicalities of delivering training to a consideration of wider issues relating to the management of training in organisations and the changing role of the trainer but again the absence of references to current thinking and debates was disappointing.

Overall this book does, as the publishers claim, offer a comprehensive introduction to the complexity of undertaking training within organisations and contains much that would be very helpful to a newcomer in terms of understanding the differing perspectives and practicalities involved. The processes that need to be followed to design, deliver and assess a successful training programme are clearly explained and there are many useful ideas and examples that could be put to practical use with little additional work. However, while the advice and guidance offered are largely based on ideas and opinions which are well established, much of the thinking does relate most easily to the more traditional concept of the training course. I did feel that the authors had missed an opportunity. The process of revision had not been used to incorporate references to more recent research or to more fully develop sections on issues such as computer based simulation, facilitation or wider organisational learning, which are increasingly important in the context of organisations and training in the twenty‐first century.