Essay on Employee Training

The challenges that human resources management faces nowadays are stronger than ever before. The global competition and constant technological development are important factors that influence any organization. How should the organization respond to these modern challenges in terms of its human resource policy? The reaction may be the usage of innovative and flexible tools for staff’s development and training, because this is the only way to accomplish the top performance in comparison to the rivals.

These innovative tools are the elements of the personnel strategy. The strategy of human resource management in any organization should have a developing character. Personnel strategy is a component of general innovative approach of the enterprise; this innovative approach should also include other intellectual, organizational and financial capacities.

Training is a vital part of the personnel strategy; it’s necessary for organizational growth and performance. Of course, the way the training process is organized is also quite important; the company has to be sure that employees are being trained in the best possible way. In order to ensure the trainings are effective, employees and HR team often suggest using the newer technologies like virtual class rooms, PDAs, podcasts.

Virtual class rooms

What are the major advantages of training in a virtual class room? A few could be named, such as: development of communication skills and better understanding how technology is changing business communication.

Moving a business into a virtual environment is more about the human experience of work than about technology. The move altered the hierarchical business organization, leadership, corporate culture, and relationships between colleagues. (Carnegie, 2003)

There are a few important elements of the virtual class room method that need to be considered:

• Logistics. It’s crucial to select the right time, date and location of the training.
• Content. Materials should have an appropriate content. Some issues like politics or culture may be difficult subjects for discussion in diverse teams. The information that will be presented in the class should respect and represent your audience.
• Learning styles. Set expectations beforehand with clear instructions about how the session will run and the types of exercises, with an emphasis on how the participant will benefit from the session. Then match diversity with diversity by offering participants a variety of exercises, and giving them options for responding, such as typing in a chat or verbalizing. Participants will select what feels right for them. (Darlene, 2011)
• Rehearsal. The presentation should be rehearsed in order to be presented in a fluent and easy manner. Darlene (2011) suggests using participants from the certain country or area and to test the course on them.
• Facilitation. Specialists recommend using a correct “international” type of English language and not using any slang or mention things that may be misunderstood. In a virtual classroom, the tools of perception like body language or facial expressions are absent, so the speech should be able to compensate that. (Darlene, 2011)

Podcasts as tool for employee training

Podcasts are the series of audio or video files that are available for downloading via web and accessible through a variety of technology tools.

Podcasts are the element of the popular culture and the companies may use them as an educating tool. It should be noted that employers use mostly audio podcasts for training purposes.

Personal digital assistant as employee training tool

Mobile technologies are not only the communication tool that has dramatically changed the face of the global business; but it is also useful learning and organizing tool.

According to Waycott (2003), personal digital assistant or PDA is often used in different learning and workplace settings. It needs to be said that there is a variety of educational and training applications were developed for PDAs.

PDAs are quite affordable devices and with a host of educational software and portable keyboards available, they become modern high-tech motivational tools. For instance, they may help lecturer to organize the virtual classes or daily tasks or to access information without waiting and its saves precious time. Employees may use it to take notes and share information. PDAs may be very helpful in developing stronger organizational skills.

Virtual Reality technology and the safety issue

Williams (2000) indicates that the safety of Virtual Reality technology has become an important priority. He insists that there are two key areas of a successful safety management program: risk assessment and training. These elements are important in designing systems and environments that are as safe as possible; they are also useful for education and training of the personnel to operate safely within those environments. Virtual Reality (VR) technology is one tool that has been applied successfully to the training requirements across a wide range of industries. There are recent evidences that confirm VR technology is becoming more widely used, partly due to the reduced cost and a reduction in the perceived technological complexity. (Williams, 2000)