Technology in training
Introduction
The rapid technological changes have greatly improved and transformed collaborations and interpersonal communications between employees in an organization. Many organizations have discovered the power of technology in training; they have started implementing technologies in their training and development programs so as to cut costs incurred in training and to facilitate a continual learning even outside the classroom setting. There are several technological tools that firms have engaged to help in training their employees and include; Web 2.0 to allow the sharing of knowledge through websites, web teleconferencing to allow instructors conduct sentient meeting and trainings through the internet. Additionally, a social networking platform makes it possible to establish professional connections, podcasts allows participants to download training contents and listen to them attentively. Other tools for engagement comprise blogs, micro blogs, interactive collaboration workplace tools, wiki, social bookmarks, virtual world and instructional tools.
The thesis statement for this report is the positive benefits of engaging technology in training personnel at work places. In other words: what are the advantages that an organization will get from integrating technology in training their personnel? It has been asserted that technology is constantly changing and that organizations and their employees must keep up with the pace of the changing technology. It has been proved through research that it is difficult for employees to master technology on their own and so an organization must come in to integrate and reinforce technology in training (Harward Doug and Ken Taylor 13). Technology when integrated in training will help an organization to run smoothly and efficiently thereby helping it to move forward in the right direction.
Methods and types of technology training
As pointed out earlier there are diverse methods that an organization can employ to train their employees and include the following; first, web –teleconferencing method that allows the instructors to perform and conduct training through the internet. It has been ascertained that about 60% of the participants attending trainings would have the opportunity of asking pertinent questions and participate in online polls (Moskowitz Michael 25). This method uses tools like Webex and live meeting and therefore the training facilitator must be well conversant with the tools.
Second, it is affirmed that social networking method will allow an online group of learners to develop friendships and make it easy to gather knowledge and share information (Harward Doug and Ken Taylor 17). The training facilitator will create the online communities and the participants will be actively involved in the training sessions through sharing knowledge amongst themselves. It is eluded that through this method, instructors and participants will provide links to training articles, webinars and other on-job trainings during and after the training session (Human Resource Management 12).
Third, podcast and blogs will help in delivering content to the participants through downloaded files and enhanced sharing of ideas, opinions and reflections. These methods would allow training at different times depending on the availability of downloadable content; the instructors are also in a position to prepare content for the participants to listen to later.
Lastly, mobile training method that allows the trainees to learn across contexts and location through the use of mobile devices like laptops, mobile phones, smartphones and tablets (Harward Doug and Ken Taylor 22). They help the participants to access learning resources across platforms and foster collaboration between instructors and participants. Scholars have found out that instructors are also able to perform assessments and evaluate performances of the trainees while capturing evidence of learning activity (Harward Doug and Ken Taylor 12).
Importance of technology in training personnel
It is believed that the professional development of all employees in an organization is crucial for the business to retain its clients and to stay competitive while realizing its goals and objectives. The need for technology in training can be reinforced through the assertions of The American Society for Training and Development that in 2011 discovered that $156 billion was spent on employee training (Human Resource Management 20). It was later discovered that 90% of the skills and knowledge the employees had acquired through the training were lost with the statistics pointing to only 10% of knowledge retained (Human Resource Management 22). In the past decade technology in training has brought life to corporate learning as it offers new training capabilities that in return help the learners to retain knowledge gained.
“Technology will allow instructors to think and teach outside the box because different people have different learning styles” (Moskowitz Michael 33). For instance, most of the employees would rather learn by doing and hence technology would offer the best way to inflict content to such people. Sitting in a training room without doing anything is an old fashioned way of doing things and as such technology brings on board new methodologies. Moreover, technology brings in a blend of training methods by facilitating interactions through online forums. Technology adds interaction to the training to allow employees gain and maintain the much needed knowledge.
Secondly, technology makes training more convenient and portable and as pointed out earlier the new portable devices like laptops, smartphones and tablets makes it easy for instructors to deliver content to the participants irrespective of their locations or time (Moskowitz Michael 35). Learning materials can be uploaded on the internet and then accessed by the participants thereby enhancing training unlike having packs of books drugged on crowded halls for training. Additionally, interactive technology training intensifies personnel engagement by changing immensely the learning landscape of active involvement of all the participants in the training session to promote corporate learning.
It is eluded that introducing technology in training personnel advances the knowledge of employees and the society they serve (Moskowitz Michael 40). This is because technology is constantly changing and the best training methods it brings on board will help the employees adapt to the ever increasing needs of the clients. It has been ascertained that the world appears to be a digital village courtesy of technology and therefore good career training should reach out to the employers and employees; something technology can do.
Leveraging technology in training employees has important benefits as it increases productivity; training exercises using computers have the potential of avoiding the loss of productivity. This is because new methods of training gives employees new skills and helps them in boosting their confidence to effectively serve their clients well and in the process also promote their career development.
Recommendations
Training employees has been beneficial to organizations despite having a huge financial burden on the companies. The cost of training employees has been high coupled with the time needed to bring an employee up to speed on the company’s activities. This means that the human resource department should find ways of making training more cost and time effective.
The human resource professional designing the training should ensure that he/she integrates interactive training materials like e-books. This will make it possible to assess a new employee’s skills and knowledge that matches the level of expertise. For instance, a video can be attached on the training material to expand knowledge on an aspect under study.
The professional should introduce interactive gaming in training, having gained popularity currently. It has been discovered that most companies are in the process of embracing the use of games in training (Noe and Winkler 10). This is because they create competitive environment that helps keep employees engaged and focused on the information from the training session. In addition, games have an immersive effect that helps employees retain knowledge and skills gained. This is a bold recommendation that when implemented would eliminate the boredom of having to read or listen to the instructor in a training room.
The human resource professional in charge of training should design an internal wiki-a forum with an internal knowledge repository. “The repository should contain company related information in addition to allowing other employees to add information that will be useful to other employees” (Noe and Winkler 24). This will be useful in cases where the external environment is constantly changing and so helps the employees to keep abreast with the new developments.
Lastly, the personnel department should introduce ‘Just-in-Time Training’ so that employees can get valuable information and instructions when they need it. This feature will use mobile devices that are always online and are connected to instructors who will instantly provide information to those who need.
Conclusion
From the discussions in the paper, technology training is afoot that has pushed organization training. It is evident that the shift in training offers more cost effective and practical benefits. It has brought a revolutionized training that is more effective and targets more employees. It is thought that human resource professionals need to approach the transition in training as a change management initiative and ensure that they create an enabling environment (Human Resource Management 8). This will be done by highlighting the link existing between human resources in the organization and the elements of technology-based training to help the organization in realizing its goals.
Works cited
Harward, Doug, and Ken Taylor. What Makes a Great Training Organization?: A Handbook of
Best Practices. , 2014. Print.
Human Resource Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage. New York: McGraw-Hill,
2008. Print.
Moskowitz, Michael. A Practical Guide to Training and Development: Assess, Design, Deliver,
and Evaluate. San Francisco: Pfeiffer, 2008. Internet resource.
Noe, Raymond A, and Colin Winkler. Employee Training and Development: For Australia and
New Zealand. North Ryde, N.S.W: McGraw-Hill, 2009. Print.