How should the training process of the personnel be?

The rapid developments in our century, on the one hand, invalidate some of the existing knowledge, on the other hand, clarify many unknown things. The most effective and basic means of adapting to these rapid developments is undoubtedly education.

In the face of developing technology and social and economic changes, what school education provides is not enough, and it is of great importance to provide the personnel with the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed in business life. For this reason, organisations seek to employ new personnel with superior skills or to train existing personnel in accordance with changing conditions. In recent times, many institutions (organisations) have invested heavily in the training of their personnel, while making intensive efforts to provide employment security in order not to let the trained personnel escape from their hands.

In this article, within the scope of personnel training process; the necessity of training, the symptoms indicating the necessity of training, the content of the training plan based on the determination of training needs and the stages followed in the organisation of training programmes are explained.

Why is education necessary?

The necessity of training personnel who have difficulty in meeting the conditions of a rapidly changing society and profession with their previous education is increasing day by day. In fact, one of the aims of education is to ensure the continuity of education.

It is possible to summarise the necessity of continuous education in the following articles:

School education is not sufficient to reveal and direct all the talents of the individual. For this reason, it is seen that many people develop their hidden talents after they start working. Some skills of the individual can be developed by training in service.

In every occupational field, problems may be encountered which cannot be solved only by the behaviours acquired at school. In this case, training is needed for the personnel to adapt to their work in the organisation.

Science and technological developments bring new knowledge, techniques and tools to every occupational field, forcing employees to learn and grow in this respect. This compulsion undoubtedly makes in-service training necessary.

A training programme that requires the use of very expensive machinery and equipment cannot usually be provided in formal education. In addition, programmes to meet the knowledge and skill requirements of industries with one or few production and service areas are not included in the formal education system. This kind of training requirement can be met through in-service training.

The cultural, social and economic structure of the society is constantly changing. Adaptation of personnel to these changes can be ensured through training.

Since the personnel can be assigned many different duties and responsibilities in the career organisation, it requires a systematic training to overcome them.

Signs Indicating the Necessity of Training

Although the situations indicating the necessity of training in an organisation are limited, there may be one or more of the following symptoms:

• The goods and services produced in the organisation are below the determined or expected quality,
• Decrease in production rate,
• Delayed production and reduced productivity,
• Increased cost of production,
• Increase in defects, errors and work accidents in the production of goods and services, disruption of work order,
• Newly recruited personnel face some problems in adapting to the environment and work,
• Failures in communication, co-operation and co-ordination in the institution,
• Decrease in staff morale and job satisfaction,
• Increase in disputes and disciplinary incidents among the staff working in the institution,
• Increase in personnel mobility, relocation and separation in the institution,
• Decrease in the reputation of the organisation,
• Difficulties in providing personnel to carry out the work in accordance with the innovations related to the field of activity of the organisation.

In the light of these symptoms, training for the training of personnel has three aims:

• To realise the objectives of the organisation by increasing the efficiency of the personnel who have fallen below the measurements.
• To ensure the adaptation of personnel with behavioural disorders to the organisation by improving them.
• To help the staff to increase their sense of job satisfaction by enabling them to exercise their right to improve themselves.

How to Determine Training Requirements?

Before the implementation of the training programme, it is necessary to determine the training requirements. The determination of training needs is a research carried out to collect the necessary information for the planning of future training activities. A training need is a deficiency in terms of knowledge, skills and attitudes in the fulfilment of a job or service.

In order to determine the training needs, education managers should consider the following issues and carry out the determined procedures:

Determination of Organisational Objectives: Every institution has objectives that guide its policy and are accepted as targets in its work plans and programmes. The success of the institution depends on the degree of achievement of these general and specific objectives. For this reason, the objectives of the institution should be taken as a basis for the training activities.

Recognition of the Institution: In order to be able to plan the training, it is necessary to specify the authorities in the institution, their duties, authorities and responsibilities and the relations between them.

Determination of Job Requirements: Without knowing the qualifications required by the duties of the personnel working in the organisation, it is impossible to determine the qualifications to be sought in the individual.

Determination of the qualifications to be sought in the personnel: Professional and individual qualifications to be sought in the personnel of the institution should be determined according to the requirements of the job. Analysing the work done facilitates the determination of the qualifications to be sought in the personnel.

Determination of the qualifications of the personnel working in the task: The success of the personnel working in the organisation in their duties and their personality are evaluated. When personnel evaluation is carried out for the purpose of recognising the individual as a whole, the knowledge, skills and attitudes required by the job and possessed by the individual can be determined.

Determination of Training Needs: Training is carried out in order to eliminate the difference between the qualifications of the individual working in the organisation and the qualifications required and to provide the individual with the desired competences. Training requirement is the difference between the qualifications required by the task now and in the future and the qualifications of the personnel.

How is the Training Plan Prepared?

The planning of personnel training is the selection of the personnel to be taken into the training process and the decision of the ways of training. The realisation of the training based on a plan increases the efficiency of the organisation and the performance of the personnel.

The selection of the personnel to be taken into the training process and the determination of the ways of their training constitute the essence of the training plan. However, other information is also needed to help these two situations.

The main headings that will constitute the content of an organisation's personnel training plan should be as follows:

Justification of Training: At the beginning of the training plan, it should be clearly written why it is necessary to train the personnel. The rationale of the training should be able to show the objectives of the training to be implemented.

Training Principles: The principles of training should be determined clearly in a way that will guide the implementers of the plan and prevent them from deviating from the objectives until the implementation of the plan is realised. For example, these principles are clearly stated and explained in the laws, regulations and directives related to the process of training a pilot.

Training Rules: In accordance with the management style of the organisation, training rules should be determined in order to show the ways of action in the implementation of the training plan. Pilot training in civil aviation is carried out within the framework of the rules set by international aviation authorities such as the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the USA and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in the European Union, under the regulations and supervision of national civil aviation authorities. ICAO rules are valid all over the world and must be complied with.

Types of Training: There are three types of training applied for the realisation of the training plan in institutions; pre-service training, in-service training and retirement training. These training types constitute the main body of the training plan.

Training Programmes: In pre-service and in-service training, different training programmes can be prepared under different names in terms of purpose and content. Training programmes should be shown separately in the training plan.

Those to be trained: The number of personnel to be trained in each training programme should be shown based on the needs of the institution and the personnel.

Budget: The cost of the training programme in the training plan should be estimated on the basis of real data.

Facilities: In order to realise the training plan, all the facilities of the institution should be included in the plan.

How are Training Programmes Organised?

Training in organisations is a planned training just like school. Each planned training is carried out according to a pre-prepared programme. The training programme covers all activities for the realisation of education. There are three stages in the organisation of a training programme: preparation, implementation and evaluation. These stages are summarised below.

Preparation Phase: A programme is made for each training activity according to the long-term training plan of the institutions and the programme that constitutes a one-year period of this plan.

In the preparation phase of the programme, the following procedures should be carried out: Selection of those to be trained, recognition of those to be trained, determination of the expectations of the selected personnel from the training, collecting the suggestions of the selected personnel regarding the implementation of the training, designing the training programme, selection of trainers, preparation of trainers, determination and preparation of the training place, determination of the time of the training programme, preparation of lesson plans and notes, selection of those who will manage the training programme, making the necessary preparations for training management support services, making the necessary correspondences.

Implementation Phase: The cooperation, solidarity and coordination of managers and trainers in the implementation of training programmes are very effective in achieving the objectives. In the implementation phase, success can be achieved by providing appropriate environment, conditions and activities and by using appropriate teaching methods and techniques.

Evaluation Phase: Evaluation is to make a judgement about the degree of achievement of predetermined objectives at the end of planned activities. The evaluation of the implementation of the training programme should be able to reveal the situation of the trainees on the one hand and the adequacy of the programme on the other.

Conclusion

The importance of training personnel who have difficulty in meeting the conditions of a rapidly changing society and profession fuelled by global values with their previous education is increasing day by day. People can only become a valuable resource and productivity factor by being trained in service.

When a well-planned training programme is properly implemented, both the institution and the employees benefit greatly. Training provides employees with the opportunity to do their jobs better as well as the opportunity to rise to higher positions. The institutional benefits of training can be summarised as increased productivity, increased morale and motivation, ensuring continuity and harmony in the institution, reduced supervision and work accidents.