Chapter 11 Training and DevelopmentEH12July

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11

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES

After reading this chapter readers will:

?be able to provide a definition of training and development

?understand the range of underpinning institutional and cultural factors that impact training and

development

?displaya comparative understanding of training and development

?be aware of the drivers for continued education within organisations and how these differacross different

country/regional groupings

?be able to integrate the themes contained within the chapter in order to articulate the implications and

challenges for internationally operating organisations.

INTRODUCTION

Increasingly tangible assets such as land, building, raw materials, and machinery may no longer be seen to offer sustainable competitive advantage, (Perez and Ordonez de Pablos, 2003). In line with the resource-based view theory it might be argued that the success of modern organizations is determined by intangible assets such as human capital (Rashid, 2013) and thustraining and development remains as a key issue for management within organisations and for human resource management professionals in particular. Given the vast amount that has been written about training, learning and development and the variety of terms that are used, this chapter starts with some definitions. After the definitions the chapter deals with contextual factors in order to support an understanding of comparative training and development. The reader is challenged to consider the implication of these contextual factors as they make decisions around the location of new enterprises or factories. Having considered both VET and typical attainment levels post education, the chapter then moves on to consider the training and development investment that occurs within the workplace. Cranet data is

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used to illustrate the relative amount of time devoted by organisations and also the typical level of investment found in different contexts.

According to Armstrong (1999) training is the planned and systematic modification of behaviour through learning events, programmes and instruction which enable individuals to achieve the levels of knowledge, skill and competence required to carry out their work effectively, whereas development is the g rowth or realisation of a person?s ability and potential through the provision of learning and educational experiences. Dowling and Welch (2004) suggest that whereas training aims to improve employees? current work skills and behaviour, development may be differentiated as being aimed at increasing ability in relation to some future position or role.

Although these definitions take an individual perspective, the OECD acknowledges human capital as a major factor driving economic growth, both in the world?s most advanced economies and those experiencing rapid development. We will discuss this point further in the section on educational attainment. Tregaskis and Heraty (2011) report how the level of interest in training and development has spawned a growing literature on …organisational learning? and …human capital?. The terminological shift has seen a broadening of the agenda, which now extends well beyond the conventional territory of training interventions, and its integration with the business plan, to take in many aspects of work and corporate organisation (Reid, Barrington and Brown, 2004). Such discussions are usually linked to those around high-performance work systems or high-performance practices for non-managerial employees (e.g. Appelbaum, Bailey, Berg and Kalleberg, 2000) andAshton and Felstead, 2001). At the same time there is a growing emphasis upon management development, much of which now occurs in the context of organisations that are international and wish to develop an international management cadre (e.g. Woodall, 2005, Mabey & Ramirez, 2004, 2011). See chapter 16 for more coverage on management development and the development of expatriates.

What tends to be lacking from many commentaries is the contextual background necessary to appreciatethe different manifestations of training and development in different environments. Contextual factors such as typical levels of educational attainment across the population of a nation and the influence of the statein shaping the vocational educational system provide important background to a comparative understanding of training and development. These contextual factors are particularly important for an understanding of the challenges facing organisations as they strive to operate, recruit, rotate and performance managestaff internationally. At a macro level, a key contextual factorcurrently isthe state of the global economyas the recent global financial crisis of 2008 has changed things, not least employment prospects, particularly amongst those with lower education levels (European Commission figures, 2009).

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TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT IN CONTEXT

De Cieri & Dowling, 1999; Harzing & Ruysseveldt, 1995; Schuler, Budhwar & Florkowski, 2001 are amongst the aauthors who have sought to identify the factors, external and internal to the firm, which shape HRM policies and practices include We need to reconsider a number of the earlier factors outlined earlier in the book in particular the role of institutions is key. The discussion in Chapter 2 ondiffering national contexts, institutional theory and varieties of capitalism is an important place to revisit, as well as more micro-level factors of the firm such as the nature of ownership (Jackson & Schuler, 1995).The discussion in Chapters 3 and 4 on culture, and the tools of cultural analysis, in terms of understanding how firms in different contexts might approach training and development is also of particular relevance.

Figure 11.1

Figure 11.1indicates that there are pre-existing factors or conditions that influence the type and nature of training and development practices in the workplace. These conditions include: -culture

-ownership structures

-the role of the state and political and other forces (varieties of capitalism) which in turn shape: o the levels of workforce achievement, particularly literacy and numeracy which emerge as a result of the compulsory schooling system

o educational and labour market norms

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o the national system of vocational educational training which sits …on top? of the compulsory schooling system and which reflect the economic, political and cultural

institutional forces at play within a country.

We will deal first with t the first two of these before dealing in more detail with those factors that relate to the role of the state.

Several authors have provided general evidence of a cultural influence on training policy at the national levelTregaskis (1997) compared training practices in organizations in the United Kingdom and France, highlighting the fact that in the UK training was less regulated and there was a greater emphasis on organizational learning. This study demonstrated how national level factors impact investment in organizational training and found that the national effect was greater than the effect of formalized HRM strategy. A further step was taken by Aycan (2005), who proposed a theoretical framework linking national level values to key HRM practices. Based on the assumption that training designs (as well as other HRM practices) are impacted by managerial beliefs about human nature and organizational versus individual needs Peretz and Rosenblatt (2011) examined the link between a society?s cultural and investment in training., They find evidence to support three hypotheses that firms in countries which embrace low power distance, high future orientation and high uncertainty avoidance tend to invest more in training than firms in countries that embrace high power distance (where energy is devoted to maintaining power gaps); low future orientation (as training is a future oriented activity); low uncertainty avoidance (as training arguably acts as a means of reducing uncertainty) Peretz and Rosenblatt, 2011.

The question of ownership is likewise a key determining factor in terms of shaping training and development strategy, along with organisational size and sector, withPeretz and Rozenblatt (2011) confirming earlier work that larger organisations (as well as high tech organisations) tend to invest more in training. Earlier commentators such as Rosenzweig and Nohria, (1994) have considered the influence of parent MNCs upon local subsidiaries, with training provision being one of these areas. As Mabey and Ramirez (2011) suggest, it has become a tendency of MNC subsidiaries to adopt parent or …best-practice? norms particularly in the macro-HRD practices like training needs analysis, management development delivery and evaluation procedures, while allowing for the details of the delivery of local training to be determined by t he subsidiary, as highlighted by Tregaskis, Heraty & Morley, (2001). In the later section on company based training and development we will say more about sector specific drivers of training and training needs analysis.

THE ROLE OF THE STATE NATIONAL SYSTEMS: VARIETIES OF CAPITALISM (VoC), EDUCATIONAND INITIAL VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING (VET)

Chapter 2 has introduced the reader to institutional theory as it is relevant to an understanding of

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comparative HRM. It considered the role of the state and the related issue of the role and strength of the unions as well as the role of ownership patterns. All of these play a role in understanding training and development and we shall begin by considering typical attainment levels before moving on to describe how national systems and varieties of capitalism shape initial forms of vocational education and training (VET). A range of studies have a bearing, such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which is a triennial international survey to evaluate education systems worldwide that tests the skills and knowledge of over 0.5 million 15-year-old students (i.e. young people just entering the labout market). The most recent PISA results are from the assessment in 2012. Other useful sources of comparison come from the Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (ALLS) and Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC).

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The rationale behind such monitoring and the more recent updates including Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (ALLS) and Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) is the belief that literacy skills (and basic cognitive skills more generally) are conceived as an important determinant of the life chances of individuals and of social and economic well-being at the level of nations. Education therefore matters. An OECD report (2012) suggests that, “It is what people know and what they do with what they know has a major impact on their

life chances. The median hourly wage of workers who can make complex inferences and

evaluate subtle truth claims or arguments in written texts is more than 60% higher than for

workers who can, at best, read relatively short texts to locate a single piece of information.

Those with low literacy skills are also more than twice as likely to be unemployed”.

Recent OECD data reveals howsome countries have made significant progress in improving skills proficiency. The Survey of Adult Skills results show how effective certain countries have been in developing literacy skills through successive generations. The gains made in some countries illustrate the pace of progress that is achievable. For example, Korea is among the three lowest-performing countries when comparing the skills proficiency of 55-65 year-olds; however, when comparing proficiency among 16-24 year-olds, Korea ranks second only to Japan. Similarly, older Finns perform at around the average among the countries taking part in the Survey of Adult Skills while younger Finns are, together with young adults from Japan, Korea and the Netherlands, today?s top performers. On the other hand in England/Northern Ireland (UK) and the United States, improvements between younger and older generations are barely apparent. Young people in these countries are entering a much more demanding labour market, yet they are not much better prepared than those who are

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retiring. England/Northern Ireland (UK) is among the three highest-performing countries in literacy when compared to 55-65 year-olds; but England/Northern Ireland (UK) is among the bottom three countries when comparing literacy proficiency among 16-24 year-olds. In numeracy, the United States of America performs around the average when comparing the proficiency of 55-65 year-olds, but is lowest in numeracy among all participating countries when comparing proficiency among 16-24 year-olds. This is not necessarily because performance has declined in England/Northern Ireland (UK) or the United States, but because it has risen so much faster in so many other countries across successive generations (OECD, 2013)

Developing countries generally have lower rates of adult literacy, and are striving to achieve universal primary education in order to redress this situation. In many countries, low literacy undermines the competitiveness of cheap labour costs and a youthful population. In September 2000, 189 countries signed the United Nations Millennium Declaration [A/RES/55/2], committing themselves to eradicating extreme poverty in all its forms by 2015. One of the Millennium Development Goals was to ensure universal primary education by 2015. In 2014 the United Nations Report on Millennium Development Goals reports that the school enrolment rate in primary education in developing regions increased from 83% to 90% between 2000 and 2012, but most of the gains were achieved by 2007, after which progress stagnated. These recent reportsalso indicate a worrying concern about young people, 15-29 years of age, across the 34 OECD countries, plus Brazil, Russia, Argentina, China, India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.There is a clear increase in young people who are neither in employment nor in education or training – the so-called “NEET” population – which spiked to nearly 16% across the participating countries in 2010 after several years of decline. This increase reflects the impact of the global recession upon young people and highlights the importance of vocational education and training programmes and opportunities for non-formal education and training OECD (2012).

Other trends from the data (OECD 2012) suggest thatif current tertiary attainment rates among 25-34 year-olds are maintained, the proportion of adults in Ireland, Japan and Korea who have a tertiary education will grow to more than that of other OECD countries, while the proportion in Austria, Brazil and Germany (among others) will fall further behind other OECD countries. Despite notable strides, some countries remain far below the OECD average in terms of upper secondary attainment. For example, in Brazil, China, Mexico, Portugal, and Turkey at leasthalf of all 25-34 year-olds –sometimes far more – lack an upper secondary education.

Growth in the higher education (HE) market

Education can, of course, continue beyond the normal school-leaving age on programmes that are not vocational in strict terms, being more theoretical or academic in emphasis. According to Hall and Soskice (2001) the proportion of those aged 25–34 who in the late 1990s held a university degree was

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estimated by the OECD to be in the range of 10% to 17% for 15 nations. The exceptional nations were Austria and Italy, with outstandingly low proportions, and the USA, with a notably high proportion of 26%. In relation American teenagers, Cascio, Clark and Gordon in2008 found them to be performing relatively poorly on international assessments of achievement compared to teenagers from other high-income countries. However, it seemed that the picture was reversed as the teenagers matured and bytheir late twenties, Americans compared very favourably to those in other locations. Cascio et al (2008) suggested this could be attributed to the fact that USA led in terms of participation in higher education. However more recent data from OECD (2012) reveals that the United States has now slipped behind many other countries in college completion and that "educational mobility" is declining, with fewer young Americans getting more education than their parents and with the USA college graduation rates ranking 19th out of 28 countries studied by the OECD.

The last 15 yearshavecertainly seenHE continue togrow into a global business with the number of foreign tertiary students enrolled in OECD countries doubling since 2000, equalling an average annual increase of 7.2%. In 2010, more than 4.1 million tertiary students were enrolled outside their country of citizenship. Luxembourg Australia, the United Kingdom, Austria, Switzerland and New Zealand have, in descending order, the highest percentages of international students among their tertiary enrolments. In absolute terms, the largest numbers of foreign students are from China, India and Korea with Asian students representing 52% of foreign students enrolled worldwide (OECD, 2012). With so many students studying outside their own countries there are billions of pounds, euros and dollars generated from tuition, living expenses, branch campuses, franchises and much else. The number of students in higher education has increased substantially in developing countries in Asia and Latin America. China, in particular, saw the total number of students in higher education increase from 3.6 million in 1900 to 30 million in 2006 –the highest total in the world. Many developing countries are also promoting higher education as part of a strategy to achieve long-term sustainable economic growth. Malaysia and Tunisia are world leaders in education investment, as they invest a substantial share of their wealth (around 8% of GDP) in education. However, OECD data from 2012 suggests that there is not a level playing field in terms of accessing higher education. Indeed on average across the countries surveyed, young people from families with low levels of education are less than half as likely to be in higher education, compared to the proportion of such families in the population. Meanwhile, a young person with at least one parent who has attained a higher education degree is almost twice as likely to be in higher education, compared to the proportion of these families in the population.

Vocational Education and Training (VET)

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What then, of education beyond school that does not result in a degree – the matter of intermediate skills? In the EU,evidence from the Centre for Research into Education and Lifelong Learning (2005) suggests that vocational training helps to boost the well-known earnings pay-off which accrues to people who have finished upper secondary education over those who left school early. Across the 24 EU countries studied, there is universally an earnings gain, which persists throughout working life, for those who complete upper secondary education over those who do not. The countries where this earnings differential is highest include Austria, Germany, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Netherlands and Luxembourg where over 50% of the upper secondary students follow a vocational programme(OECD 2012).Given the possible benefits of VET, the form and extentof its provision has received particular attention (e.g. Crouch et al, 1999). As chapter 4 illustrates links have been made between varieties of capitalism and nature and reach of VET.

According to Nilsson (2010) there is no one accepted definition of vocational education and training (VET) with a particular difficulty being around how to distinguish between general and vocational education and another being due to the multidimensional nature of VET, in that it can be organized in different ways to include more or less government support and differing levels of time spent it college / company

According to Hall & Soskice (2001) a dichotomy exists between national systems in which extensive provision of VET is coordinated by national governments or other social actors to provide a broad skill base, and those in which VET is more limited in its reach, and less coordinated, with greater polarisation in achievement. The co-ordinated market economies (CMEs: see chapter 2) tend to have higher coverage of vocational educational training programme (VET) and a longer term view (Hall and Soskice, 2001). At the other extreme, liberal market economies (LMEs: see chapter 2) are likely to have a shorter term focus. Broadly speaking, extensive and coordinated provision of VET is characteristic of the nations of northern continental Europe whereas VET is more limited and less coordinated in the Anglo-Saxon nations. Although the level of coordination of VET in Japan is questionable, it tends to be grouped together with the continental European nations in such analyses, because it is often suggested that initial training, though grounded within organisations, is particularly sophisticated and broad-based. Historically commentators have informed us (Esteves-Abe, Iversen, and Soskice, 2001) that the type and reach of initial VET has varied by location within Europe. So for example we know that training in Germany has been described by Thelen (2007) as the …jewel in the crown of Germany?s political economy?. Here the system is referred to as …dual? and has combined school-based learning with practical firm-based training (with primacy traditionally given to the latter). The plant-based component is strongly ……collectivist?? insofar as employers train not narrowly and for their own needs, but broadly and to standards that are set nationally by committees composed of representatives of business and workers. Switzerland and Austria have traditionally followed a

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similar approach, but with figures not quite equaling the 30% of cohort which has been reported in Germany (Esteves-Abe, Iversen, and Soskice, 2001). Elsewhere provision has typically been less work-place based and with more emphasis on technical colleges, for example in Denmark, Finland and Norway, where enrolment rates are even higher than those reported in Germany. Italy, Japan and France have tended to favour company based approaches –more like an apprenticeship system - whereas in the liberal market economies of UK, Australia and particularly the USAprovision and uptake has been variable and weak (Esteves-Abe, Iversen, and Soskice, 2001).

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Goergen, Brewster and Wood (2009) have built upon the earlier dichotomous view of Hall and Soskice (2001) and its refinement by Amable (2003) in order to provide an overview of the likely characteristics of training provision in 5 …types? of capitalist environme nts. These are summarised in Table 11.1 below.

Table 11.1 Likely impact of type of economy upon company training and development Source: Goergen et al, 2009)

Continental/Rhineland economies (France, Germany, Austria, Belgium) Highly standardised educational system, early selection into vocational training

Training systems vocationally oriented, with state involvement

Firms left to concentrate on …top up? firm specific training Training spend low, jobs well protected and low staff turnover

Unions and employer associations bargain on industry lines and have collaborative training schemes

Industry level wage setting (q. high level) encourages individuals to acquire job specific skills, poaching less of an issue

Possible gap in general cross-functional skills for managerial and senior admin roles than in a LMEs

Social democratic co-ordinated market economies (Sweden, Finland) Vocational training less effective, due to weakening industry links and increased theoretical focus

Firms likely to have to provide more industry relevant skills

More emphasis (and investment) on training within organisations than in continental/Rhineland economies

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Gaps in vocational training mean individuals more likely to take more responsibility for own skill development

Liberal market economies (USA, UK, Ireland) Variations in quality and nature of school education and a large pool of poorly skilled job-seekers

Low security of tenure

May not equate with low training bills due low entry requirements/high staff turnover contributing to high induction costs

Good general university system provides pool of managerial potentials (may lessen training requirements in senior admin and management)

Job seekers incentivised to acquire such skills and increase their employability and likelihood of being retained Fierce competition in high-tech industries and in certain low value added areas of service sector

S European (Mediterranean) economies (Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece) Education and training provision mixed due to weaknesses in both higher education and vocational systems Declining role of state in promoting skills means firms may have to make greater use of external training providers

Skill gaps likely at both senior and junior levels

Educat ion system …lags? having adapted to needs of a low technology industry where low proportion of workforce has secondary education

Transitional economies (Central and Eastern Europe) Tradition of autocratic management, seen in high levels of managerial autonomy

Increasing liberalisation coupled with short-termist approach

Pressure to converge with LME paradigm, but mitigated by desire for incremental change and continuity (from managerial population)

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Declining job security will discourage investment in

people

Mis-match between training needs and provision, due to

gaps in training infrastructure

Does it matter if VET systems differ in this way? Hall and Soskice (2001) would say that it does. They argue that the extensive and coordinated provision of high-quality VET facilitates certain production and product market strategies, in particular encouraging a focus on continuous improvement and incremental innovation in product strategies and production processes. They contrast this situation with that where VET is limited and weakly coordinated, and where post-compulsory education and training is principally a matter of college and university education resulting in degrees. In these circumstances, evident in the Anglo-Saxon (LME) world, Hall and Soskice (2001) argue that radical innovation in products and processes is encouraged. They suggest that this provides a partial explanation for the strength of Anglo-Saxon nations in sectors characterised by rapid change in fundamental technologies, such as IT, and the strength of continental Europe and Japan where gradual innovation within companies themselves is critical, as in mechanical engineering.

More recent data suggests that far from converging,VET remains highly diversified across Europe and beyond with VET qualifications often being difficult to understand and not easily recognisable in other countries. Even within a specific country,, it might be difficult to progress to further or higher education after completing VETstudies as VET programmes are not sufficiently open or the knowledge, skills and competences people acquired clearly understood.Cedefop (2010).

Table 11.1Enrolment trends of students in vocational upper secondary education, 2000-2008 (*)

vocational education and training as share of students enrolled in upper secondary education and training.

221 Source: Cedefop (2010) calculations based on Eurostat, UOE data collection on education systems, date of extraction 18.8.2010.

NB: UK and France are not included as their data are not fully comparable over time.

What about the future of VET?

Cedefop (2010) highlights the fact that the financial crisis has raised questions about VET and its viability and acknowledges that h igh quality VET that keeps pace with technological and organisational change is not cheap.At the same time, they emphasize its importance and suggest strategies for its future direction which include learning outcome based approaches. Within the EU there appears to be energy to maintain and improve on VET provision. They cite examples of recent developments to highlight its adaptability and responsiveness to market conditions. For an example of a move to more flexible approaches to VET we can take Germany, where government and regions agreed in 2008 that universities should acknowledge equivalent vocational qualifications for academicstudy courses. As a result, higher education entrance will be possible for vocationally-qualified persons after successful final VET examinations and three-years on-the-job experience. Similarly recent developments in Italy mean that apprenticeship contracts can be valid untilthe apprentice is 30 years old and can lead to higher level qualifications, including PhDs, allowing enterprises to benefit from research by PhD students/apprentices.

Cedefop, 2010.

NEW BOX

TITLE: A new impetus for VET in Europe

Europe by 2020 should contribute to both excellenceand equity in EU lifelong learning systems and thereby to the Europe 2020 objectives of smart and inclusive growth, with:

? Initial (I)VET as an attractive learning option with high relevance to labour market needs

and pathways to higher education;

? easily accessible continuing VET for people in different life situations simplifying skills

development andcareer changes;

? fl exible systems based on recognition of learning outcomes, including diplomas, and

supportingindividual learning pathways;

? adequate support for those at a disadvantage;

? Cross-border mobility as an integral part of VETpractices.

Source: European Commission, 2010.

END BOX

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QUESTIONS

?What is VET?

?What implications might the difference in initial training provision between the USA and

Germany have for the organisation of work and the character of relationships between managers and non-managerial employees?

?What are the institutional features required to support extensive initial VET and what are the

challenges to it being sustained for the long term.

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CONTINUING TRAINING – THE ROLE OF THE EMPLOYER

Here we discuss broader company training than that which might be defined as VET. In the context of organisational funded employee training and development the emphasis is upon a systematic approachto learning and development to improve individual, team, and organizational effectiveness (Goldstein & Ford 2002). In addition to the acquisition of skills and knowledge Armstrong (2009) suggests that training can act as a pathway for learning and thatlearning and development is an important factor in creating a sense of progression and purpose that leads to organizational commitment. Thus we might expect that organisations will invest in training not only in the hope of it improving performance, but also because of the links to organizational commitment.

So what are the returns to an organisation for their investment in training?

There are various theoretical perspectivesinsupportof the idea of training being a driver of improved firm performance (see discussion by Barba Aragon and Sanz Valle 2013). The approach most used in empirical research on training isthe universalistic perspective. Thisholds that some human resource practices arealways better than others because they always have a positive impact on performance, andtherefore all organizations should adopt these best practices (Delery and Doty 1996). Oneofthese best practices is training and, in particular, formal training (Russell, Terborg andPowers 1985; Bartel 1994).The resource-based view of the firm also provides support for the idea that training hasa positive effect on firm performance. According to this perspective, the main sources ofcompetitive advantage for the firm are its intangible resources (Barney 1991). Among

these, human resources, in particular human knowledge, skills and attitudes, arehighlighted (Wright, McMahan and McWilliams 1994; Kamoche 1996; Mueller 1996; Barney and Wright 1998). Although all practices of personnel management are involved inthe development of these resources, training is considered the main activity in gettingqualified, flexible and well-prepared employees (Bartel 1994; MacDuffie and Kochan 1995; Bae and Lawler 2000).More recent studies have focused more upon on the knowledge perspective, with organizational knowledgebeing seen as a key to competitive advantage ( Kim, 1993, Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995).

How to organisations decide what training to deliver?

Some training is mandatory in certain contexts for example health and safety or ethical training. Other training is about ensuring social norms (e.g. Jones, King, Nelson, Geller andBowes-Sperry, 2013 on diversity training and Jones, William, Nilsson and Thorat, 2007 on social inclusion in financial

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service India). Some areas of work, for example health care (Carlisle, Bhanugopan and Fish, 2012 for example) construction and sales (Singh,Manrai and Manrai 2015) receive more consideration in the literature, possibly because these are areas where it is easier to define a common curriculum.

NEW BOX Construction Industry Example

Contributed by Interserve PLC a nd the Khansaheb Training Centre, Dubai

Interserve is one of the world's foremost support services and construction companies. Their vision is to redefine the future for people and places. They are headquartered in the UK and listed in the FTSE 250 index with gross revenues of ￡3.3 billion and a workforce of circa 80,000 people worldwide. The organisation is committed to its sustainability agenda having made commitments to: build jobs for local people; support supply chain; improve nutrition and well-being and positively impact local communities. Interserve has been particularly successful in the Middle East where its associates and subsidiary companies play a key role in supporting growth across a range of sectors including oil and gas, hospitality and leisure, retail and transport and infrastructure.

The construction industry is one with particular concerns over industry standards and safety. To support their growing business in the region and in line with their sustainability agenda Interserve?s associate opened the Khansaheb Training Centre in Dubai in March 2014 to provide its own in-house trades school. Health and safety is a critical component of the training, which includes demonstrations, practical tutorials with mentorship and ongoing peer review on how to get the job done, the safe way. The Khansaheb Training Centre provides a full trades training curriculum that is based on the Construction Industry Training Board CITB framework and adapted to the needs of the business in the UAE. The Centre trains 160 employees per month, on a 12 day structured curriculum for each trade. The curriculum covers key site skills, such as masonry, block-laying, plastering, tiling and paving, steel fixing, carpentry and supervisory skills The approach allows trainees to be sorted into gangs or teams consisting of; one chargehand; six skilled workers and four labourers who can then be trained as a team. In addition there is a structured training course for front line Supervisors (both foremen and engineers) who supervise the chargehands and gangs. The emphasis throughout is upon delivering improvements in performance, particularly with regards to; Health and Safety, Productivity, Quality and of course team work. As well as noticing a steady increase in quality, and health and safety performance, managers have seen a dramatic increase in employee engagement.

END CASE STUDY BOX

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In the majority of sectors training needs analysis is the methodology which according to a …best practice approach? is deployed by organisations to determine what training needs to be delivered. A basic training needs analysis examines the current state of performance and defines the desire state of performance, with the gap between states characterizing needs (Rossett, 1995). Models of training needs analysis present a systematic series of actions. Typically there are seven steps in this process although more simplified 5 step processes have been provided (for example Price, Lee and Kozman, 2010). According to Wright and Geroy (1992) in a seven step approach the stages would include: reference to culture and organisational philosophy; be proactive; have a method to distinguish between gaps which may be correctable via training and those which may not; allow for various organizational actors to participate; be based on observable skills; consider the use of varied use of sample techniques and data analysis; have cost-benefit analysis. Ferreira & Abbad (2013) present a critique of training needs analysis literature that spans over ten countries andreveals that the majority of such research is being conducted in England, followed by the USand that there is little agreement on how to measure training needs. They conclude that most of the current TNA models and methods are reactive and do not pay enough attention to contextual factors.

Training methods

Thanks in partto the availability of cheaper and faster waysto send and receive information using the Internet, human resource management interventionsand training efforts in particular are takingplace at a global level (Cascio & Aguinis 2008).Technology-delivered instruction (TDI)continues to become increasingly popular in industry (Paradise 2007), although researchershave been slow to study factors that facilitate or limit its effectiveness (Brown 2001, Welshet al. 2003). Approaches include Web-based training and instruction on single workstations, PDAs and MP3 players, as well as embedded just-in time training in work-related software (Aguinis et al.2009). Such approaches transfer a degree of control to the learner and although this may appeal to the learner, a recent meta-analysis by Kraiger & Jerden (2007) indicated that high learner control hasonly marginally beneficial effects on learning outcomes. Technology based approaches lend themselves more to certain sectors that others See Malmskold, Ortengren and Svensson, (2012) for an account of workplace e-learning for automotive assembly operators describing how virtual training can serve as an effective alternative to traditional on the job training.

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Irrespective of delivery method there have been studies to investigate the return on investment firms achieve as a result of their training investment. Tan and Batra (1995) present a comparative study across Indonesia, Columbia, Malaysia, Mexico and Taiwan and they report that training had a positive and significant effect in all five countries. Although there has been an increase in the empirical studies on the relationbetween training and performance over the last two decades (see Aguinis and Kraiger, 2009; Bartel 1994;Huselid 1995; Percival, Cozzarin and Formaneck, 2013; Barba Aragon and Sanz Valle, 2013)the evidence is not always supportive of a link between training and performance (Black and Lynch 1996; Krueger and Rouse 1998; Schonewille2001; Aragon, Barba and Sanz 2003). Some of the technical difficulties include establishing causal linkages, or the fact that practitioners struggle to find reasonable performance measures of the impact of training upon specific populations within an organisation. By selecting firms who introduced training during a 3 year window, Bartel, (1994) estimated the impact of formal training programme on productivity and found it to be a 6% increase in productivity per annum. Bartel (2000) describes other approaches to gauge the impact (Black and Lynch, 1996 and Holzer, 1993) and highlights some of the challenges in seeking to establish the causal impact of training investment due to the fact that increases in productivity could be due to other exogenous factors.Despite the presumed positive effect of training on all levels of organizational outcomesindividual and team, organizational and social (Aguinis and Kraiger 2009), training is oftencriticized for being too expensive, not transferred to the workplace, or for being implementedonly to reward and retain certain employees (Kraiger, McLinden and Casper 2004).

How do organisations seek to calculate or measure the costs and benefits of the training they provide? The Kirkpatrick Model (Kirkpatrick 1994) is a common concept used to assess the effects of training and utilises the four levels of: reaction, learning, behaviour and results. In practice the first of the four levels (learner reaction) is the one where the majority of firms apply their efforts as this is easily achievable (Sutton and Stevenson, 2005). Nilsson (2010) points to the inherent difficulties in measuring effects of training, coupled with the fact that it is often seen in relation to the wider areas of motivation and commitment. According to Eurostat data, the situation in Europe is one whereby 56% of companies do not evaluate training effects (Gruber, Mandl, and Oberholzner 2009). Where studies do exist of its impact they tend not to include cost benefit analysis, due to the difficult of securing this data (Bartel,

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1994). One of the reasons for these difficulties is often cited as being the paucity of evaluation practices within organisations. As a result very few firms are able to establish clearly the impact of their training provision and where approaches are in place these often go no further than the level of self-administered questionnaires (Alliger et al. 1997; Kraiger et al. 2004).

The costs of training

What of the extent of companies? commitment of financial resources to continuing training? There is wide variation in the amount of money companies invest in training around the world. In companies in Bulgaria, the United States of America, Sweden and Greece, spending on employee training has been reported as being between 4% and 6% of their pay bill; compared to firms in Cyprus; Iceland and Slovakia where the figure is closer to 1% (Coget, 2011).

In terms of investment in training France is an interesting example as in France the training effort is particularly evenly spread across employees of all grades (Cranet, 2004). Uniquely in the advanced industrialised world, the number of days of training experienced by non-managerial employees in France is almost as great as that experienced by managerial employees. This egalitarianism in training provision contrasts even with the situation in the Nordic countries. Much, but not all, of this French exceptionality is explained by law. French statute compels French employers of more than 10 employees to devote 1.5% of their pay bill to continuing training. However, it seems clear that training provision by French employers typically exceeds this statutory requirement. Some part of expenditures beyond the statutory minimum may be nurtured by the procedural requirements applying to those organisations subject to the terms of a collective agreement; the vast bulk in the French case (see Chapter 2). Such organisations must formally consider training requirements several times each year, in conjunction with works councils where appropriate, and establish an annual training plan. This both heightens awareness of training issues and eases their consideration.

Figure 11.2 Comparative distribution of average training days for different categories of employees acrosssix countries