Unit 2: Designing training programs

• Trainee readiness: basic skills and motivation to learn; self-efficacy (belief that one can learn).
• Learning styles (Kolb): diverger, assimilator, converger, accommodator — design varied methods to suit all.
• Adult learning principles (andragogy, Knowles): adults are self-directed, bring experience, want problem-centred learning, need to know why they learn.
• Climate for transfer: if the manager does not support new skills on the job, training fails.

A training budget estimates the costs of training activities and is justified by expected benefits.

Approaches to fixing the training budget

• Percentage of payroll (often 1–3%).
• Per-employee allocation (₹X per employee per year).
• Zero-based: each programme justified from scratch.
• Previous year plus increment.
• Return on investment (ROI) basis — programmes funded according to expected returns.

• On-site: company training room or the workplace — convenient, low cost, but distractions.
• Off-site: hotels, conference centres, institutes — focus and networking, but costly.
• Virtual: online classrooms and LMS — flexible, scalable.

Considerations

• Comfortable and accessible; free from noise and distractions.
• Adequate space, lighting, ventilation, temperature and seating.
• Equipment: projector, screens, whiteboards, audio, internet.
• Safety, restrooms and refreshment arrangements.

Seating arrangements

• Internal trainers: managers, HR specialists, subject experts — know the organisation, cheaper, but may lack training skills.
• External trainers: consultants, academics — expertise and fresh perspective, but costly and less familiar with company context.
• Train-the-trainer (TTT) programmes build internal capacity.

Qualities of a good trainer

• Subject knowledge and practical experience.
• Communication and presentation skills.
• Ability to engage adults and manage groups.
• Empathy, patience and enthusiasm.
• Ability to give constructive feedback.
• Flexibility to adjust to trainees' needs.

• Learning objectives have three parts (Mager): performance (what the trainee will do), condition (under what circumstances), criterion (standard of acceptable performance). Example: "Given a customer complaint (condition), the executive will resolve it (performance) within 10 minutes following the SOP (criterion)."
• Lesson plan: a detailed guide for each session — objectives, topics, time, methods, materials, activities.
• Pre-training communication: tell trainees the purpose, schedule and pre-reading.
• Post-training support: job aids, follow-up sessions, mentoring for transfer.
• Design document / course outline: summary of the whole programme.