Page 235 - Fundamentals of Management Myths Debunked (2017)_Flat

234 Part 3 • Organizing
What Is Employee Training?
On the whole, planes don’t cause airline accidents,
people do. Most collisions, crashes, and other air-
line mishaps—nearly three-quarters of them—result
from errors by the pilot or air traffic controller, or
from inadequate maintenance. Weather and struc-
tural failures typically account for the remaining
24
accidents. We cite these statistics to illustrate the
importance of training in the airline industry. Such
maintenance and human errors could be prevented
or significantly reduced by better employee training,
as shown by the unbelievably amazing “landing”
of US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River
in January 2009 with no loss of life. Pilot Captain
Chesley Sullenberger attributed the positive out-
come to the extensive and intensive training that all
pilots and flight crews undergo. 25
Fred Blocher/Kansas City Star/Getty Images Employee training is a learning experi-
Employees at Villa Venture senior living
community participate in a perception ence that seeks a relatively permanent change in
exercise during the Virtual Dementia Tour, employees by improving their ability to perform on the job. Thus, training involves chang-
a training tool that helps them understand 26
Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of ing skills, knowledge, attitudes, or behavior. This change may involve what employees
dementia. The tour is a learning experience know, how they work, or their attitudes toward their jobs, coworkers, managers, and the
designed to improve employees’ ability to organization. It’s been estimated, for instance, that U.S. business firms spend billions each
care for victims of dementia.
27
year on formal courses and training programs to develop workers’ skills. Managers, of
course, are responsible for deciding when employees are in need of training and what form
that training should take.
Determining training needs typically involves answering several questions. If some of
these questions sound familiar, you’ve been paying close attention. It’s precisely the type of
analysis that takes place when managers develop an organizational structure to achieve their
strategic goals—only now the focus is on the people. 28
wHeN is training needed?
employee training
A learning experience that seeks a relatively
permanent change in employees by improving their The questions in Exhibit 7–6 suggest the kinds of signals that can warn a manager
ability to perform on the job
when training may be necessary. The more obvious ones are related directly to productivity.

Exhibit 7–6 Determining Whether Training Is Needed

What deficiencies, if any,
do job holders have in terms
of skills, knowledge, or
abilities required to Is there a need What are the
exhibit the essential and for training? organization's
necessary job behaviors? strategic
goals?

What tasks
must be
completed
to achieve
organizational
goals?
What behaviors are
necessary for each job holder
to complete his or her
job duties?