0264 · 2.1.3Training

Benefits of training

0:00A café recruits a friendly employee who has never used its coffee machine. Customers are waiting, and every wasted drink costs the business money. Clear instruction helps the employee serve orders safely and correctly. By the end of this video, you will understand how training helps both sides and how businesses choose a suitable approach. Training is improving the skills and knowledge of employees. Recruitment gives a business employees, while instruction helps them perform their jobs effectively.

0:26Even someone with experience needs to learn unfamiliar equipment or procedures. Existing employees also need support when their responsibilities change or the business introduces new technology. Two measures matter here. Labour productivity is the output per employee in a period of time. Turning to employees who quit, labour turnover is the rate at which employees leave a business and have to be replaced. For the business, training can bring higher labour productivity, better quality, fewer accidents, effective use of new technology, more motivated employees and lower labour turnover.

1:00Once someone understands an efficient method, they complete more tasks during the same working time, so labour productivity rises. This helps the business meet customer demand with its existing employees. Better quality follows when employees learn how to meet the required standard. A correctly prepared order gives customers a more reliable service and reduces the business’s waste. Safety instruction explains hazards and protective procedures, so employees face fewer accidents. Training in new technology also enables the business to use equipment effectively.

1:32Employees who feel capable and supported can become more motivated because their employer invests in their development. Chances to grow also encourage employees to stay, so labour turnover is lower. The business then spends less on recruiting replacements. These benefits depend on suitable instruction and opportunities to practise the skills afterwards. Employees benefit through new skills, better promotion chances, greater job satisfaction and improved job security. Learning an unfamiliar task increases what someone can do.

2:02Broader abilities can make an employee suitable for a more responsible position, so their promotion chances improve. Successfully handling difficult tasks also brings a sense of achievement, which improves job satisfaction. Job security concerns the likelihood of keeping employment. Someone who can use the business’s new equipment remains useful as its operations change. That adaptability can improve their prospects of keeping a job. Training therefore offers employees a personal benefit alongside the improvements their employer receives.

Induction and on-the-job training

2:31There are three types of training: induction training, on-the-job training and off-the-job training. Induction training is an introduction for a new employee to the business, its layout, people, rules, and health and safety. Imagine arriving for your first shift at an unfamiliar hotel. Knowing where to go and whom to ask makes starting work much easier. Harbour Rooms provides accommodation for visitors. During induction, a manager shows a new receptionist the building and introduces colleagues.

2:59The employee learns the business’s rules and emergency procedures. This creates a foundation for working confidently before detailed instruction in particular tasks begins. For the employee, induction reduces uncertainty because essential information is available from the start. The business gains because newcomers settle quickly and become productive sooner. Explaining safety rules also helps employees avoid hazards and respond appropriately during emergencies. For example, knowing the evacuation route supports a safer response to a fire alarm.

3:31However, organising and delivering induction takes the manager’s time, which reduces time available for other duties. The business also pays the new employee’s wages during introductory activities that produce no output. An extensive programme therefore creates an immediate expense. Managers need to provide useful information at a pace the newcomer can absorb. On-the-job training is learning at the place of work by watching and working with an experienced employee. Sunrise Bakery produces bread for local customers.

3:59A skilled employee demonstrates how to shape dough, then supervises the learner’s attempts. Feedback connects each correction directly to the task the learner will perform. This approach is usually cheap for the business because it uses existing employees and equipment. The learner can produce some saleable bread during instruction, so useful output continues. Employees also gain the exact skills their particular job requires. Practising with the actual equipment makes those lessons immediately relevant.

4:27The trainer’s output falls because demonstrations and corrections take time away from normal duties. Employees can also learn bad habits if their guide uses an unsuitable method, so the quality of their work suffers. Finally, learning only the business’s own methods limits exposure to other approaches. Both employer and learner may miss techniques that would improve future performance.

Off-the-job training

4:48Off-the-job training is training away from the workplace, at a college or training centre, often by specialists. Willow Fields grows vegetables for local shops. Its employees could attend a centre to learn safe operation of unfamiliar machinery. Dedicated equipment allows them to practise before using those skills at the business. Expert trainers benefit employees because they have specialist knowledge and experience in explaining difficult techniques. Exposure to wider methods gives the business ideas beyond its existing routines.

5:18A structured course can also cover many skills, which expands employees’ capabilities. These advantages are especially useful when the employer lacks the expertise needed to teach a new task. The business faces course fees and may also pay travel or accommodation expenses. Employees produce no output for their employer while attending the course, so covering their duties creates another difficulty. Newly qualified employees may then leave for a better job elsewhere.

5:44Their greater employability benefits them, while their departure reduces the employer’s return from its investment.

Choosing and justifying training

5:51Use purpose and method to classify an example accurately. Induction introduces a newcomer to the organisation and can include a tour at the workplace. For on-the-job training, identify learning through an experienced employee during practical work. An off-the-job course provides instruction away from the workplace, often with specialist support. Cedar Components manufactures car parts and has twelve employees. It has nine hundred dollars available to prepare an operator for a new machine.

6:18No current employee knows how to use it, and a specialist course costs five hundred dollars. The course takes place during a quiet production week, and the business aims to avoid errors when manufacturing starts again. Start with the skill required: safe and accurate operation of unfamiliar equipment. Next, check who can teach it; the business currently lacks an experienced operator. The specialist course provides the missing expertise, and its fee is within the available budget.

6:45The quiet week also reduces disruption from the employee’s absence, which strengthens the case for off-the-job training. In Paper One Short Answer and Data Response and Paper Two Case Study, connect your reasoning to the stimulus material. Explain means set out purposes or reasons, say why and how, supported with relevant evidence. For example, explain one advantage of off-the-job training for Cedar Components. Build a chain from the specialist’s expertise to the operator’s competence and then to the business’s aim.

7:16A specialist can teach the operator the correct procedures for the unfamiliar machine. Cedar Components has no experienced employee who could provide that instruction internally. Correct operation reduces errors when car part production starts again. The business therefore gains the expertise needed to meet its accuracy objective. I recommend off-the-job training because the specialist provides knowledge that Cedar Components currently lacks. The quiet production week limits disruption while its operator attends the course.

7:43On-the-job training is weaker here because no employee can demonstrate the machine’s correct operation. The course fee of five hundred dollars leaves four hundred of the budget unspent. Off-the-job training therefore gives Cedar Components accurate production when normal activity starts again, at a cost it can afford. Remember that training is improving the skills and knowledge of employees. For induction training, keep this definition: an introduction for a new employee to the business, its layout, people, rules, and health and safety.

8:12On-the-job training is learning at the place of work by watching and working with an experienced employee. Finally, off-the-job training is training away from the workplace, at a college or training centre, often by specialists. The strongest choice matches the employee’s needs, the available expertise and the business’s resources. Benefits come from better performance, while costs arise from instruction and time away from normal duties. Employees gain useful abilities and stronger career prospects.

8:42Always trace how the chosen approach produces an outcome for the business or its employees.