On the Job Training. doc
On-Job-Training (OJT) is probably the most common form of
training used by most employers for the new recruits. While
OJT is commonly practiced by most organisations, some
studies have suggested that it can be problematic. Describe the
system of OJT and discuss the possible drawbacks of OJT
techniques and suggest possible solutions to overcome the
drawbacks that you have identified.
Introduction
"If all I do is hear, I will forget
If I hear and see, I will remember
If I hear, see and do, I will understand".” (Confucius, 2005, April
17)
It’s proven and well tested! Experience is definitely the best
teacher. Every employee may have experienced some kinds of onthe-job training (OJT) in their careers. An employee probably
learns 80 to 90 percent of his/her job knowledge and skills through
OJT (Carnevale and Gainer, 1989).
On-the-job training has a general reputation of its effectiveness for
vocational work. Its expediency is a major reason for a company to
adopt it. However, many companies may only notice its benefits,
like few costs and can be implemented quickly, but neglect its
limitations.
On-The-Job Training
On-the-job training (OJT) is one of the paramount training
methods because it is planned, organized, and conducted at the
employee's workplace. It refers to a structured or non-structured
system of training that occurs in the workplace (Rothwell and
Kazanaz, 1994). OJT may also be called job instruction training.
1
Normally, this type of training is to transfer knowledge from a
skilled and experienced worker to a new-hire; in other words,
someone who knows how to do a task shows another how to
perform it. Trainees are learnt through training in an actual work
setting, to the processes, work tasks, tools and methods of a
specific job or group of jobs. So, it is especially appropriate for
developing proficiency skills unique to an employee’s job, which
are relatively easy to learn and require working with equipments or
facilities.
Different Manifestations of OJT
On-the-job training has evolved into a diversity of manifestations.
There are several general types of on-the-job training. Job rotation
is one manifestation of OJT. In job rotation, the employee is
assigned to different positions and possibly different departments
for pre-arranged periods of time. The combined evaluation of the
different work experiences determines the employee’s final job
assignment.
A second form of OJT is coaching. In coaching, the trainee must
already possess some level of skills and knowledge at a job. The
trainer acts as a coach to facilitate learning and guide learners
rather than instruct or train them (Sullivan, 1998).
Mentoring is very similar in that it calls for a higher level of initial
skill and job knowledge, as does coaching. The mentor is generally
a supervisor or manager rather than a co-worker. The intention of
mentoring is to support the employee, help orient them to the job
and work environment and “prepare the employee for increasing
responsibility” (DeSimone and Harris, p.145).
Job shadowing allows an employee to learn about and benefit from
brief stints of job training while the employee observes and
2
participates in the work of another employee. Job shadowing is an
excellent approach to the job training of employees who provide
back up for jobs such as payroll. Job shadowing is also perfect for
an employee with an interim assignment resulting from an
employee termination.
Job Instruction is also known as training through step by step.
Under this method, trainer explains the trainee the way of doing
the jobs, job knowledge and skills and allows him to do the job.
The trainer appraises the performance of the trainee, provides
feedback information and corrects the trainee.
Under the committee assignment, group of trainees are given and
asked to solve an actual organisational problem. The trainees solve
the problem jointly. It develops team work.
Apprenticeship is a formalised method of training curriculum
program that combines classroom education with on-the-job work
under close supervision. The training curriculum is planned in
advance and conducted in careful steps from day to day. Most trade
apprenticeship programs have duration of three to four years
before an apprentice is considered completely accomplished in that
trade or profession. This method is appropriate for training in
crafts, trades and technical areas, especially when proficiency in a
job is the result of a relatively long training or apprenticeship
period, e.g., job of a craftsman, a machinist, a printer, a tool maker,
a pattern designer, a mechanic, etc.
3
Structured vs. Unstructured OJT
As the history of OJT suggests, it is found in every workplace to
some degree of formality or informality. As soon as one employee
asks another, “do you know how to…” OJT is about to occur.
What most people think of however, when they think about OJT, is
the less structured job shadowing or “sit by Joe” type of training
(Rothwell and Kazanas 1994). According to Sisson, unstructured
or traditional OJT has four telling characteristics. It is focused on
the work- the trainer is primarily a worker and the work is the first
priority. Training is lower on the list of priorities and often no
allowance is made for the implicit slowdown of production that
must inevitably come with training.
The second characteristic is that the only structure for the training
is the work itself. The sequence of job tasks learned depends on
the flow of work in the area. Since the work provides the
structure, some tasks may get lost if they do not happen during any
of the training sequences.
The third characteristic is that job skill and experience are
generally the factors used to pick an employee to do training. Job
skill does not necessarily mean training skill and few OJT trainers
are given any types of materials or standards to use for training,
making it a random and haphazard affair at best, and ineffective
and non-productive at worst.
The fourth characteristic of unstructured OJT is that the instructor
chooses his or her own methods for teaching the skills inherent in
the job. Generally this is showing and telling. Some may do a lot
of telling and then leave the trainee to his or her own devices.
Some may do a lot of showing and never allow the trainee an
opportunity to practice the job skills.
Unstructured OJT is inconsistent, inefficient and ineffective.
Inconsistent, because it is determined by the individuality of the
4
trainer rather than influenced; inefficient because the process of
learning is disorderly since it is controlled by available work; and
ineffective because in the majority of situations, there is no way to
measure what the trainee has learned or how well they can
perform.
Structured training is differentiated from unstructured in a number
of ways. The obvious difference is the structure, manifested by
standardized training materials, OJT processes, selected and
trained trainers, and performance checklists. (Levine, 1995)
Other characteristics of structured training include consistency and
accountability. The training materials provide some of that as do
the performance checklists, based on clear objectives built into
them. Further consistency is provided by the fact that those doing
the training are specifically selected and trained trainers, who have
expressed an interest in training and completed training in one-onone training skills. Accountability is inherent in the system
because trainers and trainees follow checklists and initial or sign
for completed training- eliminating the excuse that the operator
was never shown how to perform a certain task or aspect of a job.
Accountability is also provided in the tracking and record system
that is part of structured OJT. This also helps meet ISO standards.
The formal documented processes detailing how OJT is structured,
implemented and tracked also add to accountability by delineating
areas of responsibility for training throughout the organization.
Components of Structured OJT
Although the different types of business, organizations and
organizational structure lend themselves to an almost infinite
variety of configurations of structured training, there do seem to be
some common elements among successful structured systems.
There is no one right way to do structured training but the
following components should be present in a structured system.
5
The significance of each may be different in different organizations
(Levine, 1996).
1. Management Support
2. Formal trainer support process
3. Checklists
4. OJT Training Materials
5. Train the Trainer Program
6. Tracking and Report generation
Management support is critical to the success of any OJT system.
Without management backing, in terms of budget as well as
priorities, the best OJT system is bound to fail, as other priorities
will take precedence.
The climate and priorities they establish will overshadow any other
priorities. “Training takes time; if supervisors do not allow enough
time for preparation and training, they will thwart any structured
OJT effort. If you cannot gain internal support from the
organization’s managers and supervisors, don’t waste time trying
to implement structured OJT” (Levine, 1995, p. 1).
The second component, support for trainers, is an important aspect
and also key to success. Supervisors cannot be the primary support
persons for trainers for a number of reasons. One reason is that the
supervisor's primary directive is to run production. They may or
may not know anything about training or the ability to be a support
person. Successful systems generally have on OJT coordinator, a
training manager, or some person outside the work area to provide
the support necessary for a trainer. This may include a dotted line
relationship to the training organization (Levine, 1995).
6
Checklists are also an important and necessary component in an
OJT system, along with OJT training materials. The checklists and
training materials are a means of gaining consistency in training
between shifts and also between trainers. If all trainers are using
consistent, standardized materials and checklists, the training will
have more consistency as well. Checklists are “the foundation of
any OJT system” (Levine, 1994, p.6). They list the tasks that need
to be trained as well as administrative information such as dates of
training, trainee and trainer names and employee numbers, and
certification dates. The checklists, whatever final format they may
use, are based on a thorough analysis of the job, and include
performance objectives for each task. The performance objectives
state the intent condition and level of performance. A lesson plan
should be developed to outline how the lesson will be taught and
what will be included (Chase, 1997). According to some experts,
the most important components of OJT are checklists with task
lists, performance objectives, references, and a training schedule
(Levine, 1996, Kelly, 1995, Rothwell and Kazanas, 1994).
Another document included by some training experts is the lesson
plan, a document intended to give direction in the training and
improve the trainer's ability to instruct the trainee (Broadwell,
1986).
To ensure that those doing the training are the best possible for the
job, a Train-the- Trainer program is also an important component
of a structured system. The Train-the- Trainer program must
include selection as well as training or the potential trainers. It is
not always the best worker that makes the best trainer. A desire to
train is as important to the success of a program as is an effective
train the trainer program. A consideration in designing or
outsourcing or purchasing off-the-shelf program of trainer training
is that OJT is, at its heart, a one-on-one system. Many trainertraining programs are designed more for classroom, group or
traditional stand-up training, which involve a different skill set
than one-on-one training. A Train-the-Trainer Workshop needs to
7
be highly process oriented, rather than lecture based, because the
trainers are learning new behaviors rather than just new
knowledge.
The last component is tracking and report generation. This is an
essential element for business reasons as well as for managing the
training function. Many businesses are investing time and money
in their training organizations for business reasons such as
customer requests or to fulfill ISO 9000 quality requirements. An
effective tracking and report generation also provides valuable
information to the stakeholders as well as providing a means of
accountability.
ON THE JOB TRAINING – ADVANTAGES
A sound OJT system in the organization introduces the following
advantages for different groups of people:
For employers:
Instructors (supervisors) and managers are able to utilize
available resources to train, qualify, and develop their
employees skills;
economic reasons for employers to improve the skills of
all their workers –more flexibility and improvements in
productivity.
For employees:
less “downtime” for employees as they do not have to travel,
the learning can be delivered around their shift if needed and
can be shown to be directly relevant to their job;
the training in the workplace enables trainees to learn an
occupational skill and earn a paycheck at the same time, and
8
offers the chance to improve their skills in an environment
with which they are familiar and feel secure;
For self-motivated employees this is a possibility to improve
their skills and to raise their opportunities for a higher
position.
ON THE JOB TRAINING –DRAWBACKS
Drawback 1: Incomplete Training.
Without a structured lesson guide, OJT trainers often forget to
cover important information. What is learned is likely to be based
on what happened that day rather than on what a new employee
needs to know to be safe and productive.
Solution: Here is where the importance of the OJT Training Plan
really becomes apparent. The training plans assists the employer
and on-the-job training (OJT) provider by outlining the specific
skill requirements for an occupation, the trainee’s skills gap for the
occupation, and the training necessary to obtain the necessary
skills for that job title. Developing a good training plan will help
to assure the OJT meet all requirements of the job.
Drawback 2: Inconsistent Training.
OJT often relies heavily on an experienced employee to provide
the instruction. Understandably, this can be based on what
that employee feels are the most important topics, but what is
important to one employee may not be important to another or,
more importantly, to the employer. The result can be that what
is learned may vary greatly, depending on who is assigned as
the trainer. If the trainer is too experienced, however, he or
9
she may forget to explain important steps or use technical
words that the trainee does not understand.
Solution: The issue of who will be doing the training should be
addressed during the employer orientation session. The employer
may have a clear idea about who will be doing the training, but it
may still be useful for OJT staff to discuss with the employer the
characteristics of a good instructor: the desire to teach; knowledge
of the subject(s) to be covered and skills required; the ability to get
along with others; and, perhaps most important, the ability to teach
the knowledge and skills to others. Teaching or coaching is a
specific skill in itself. If the trainer lacks the skills, knowledge,
and desire to train, the training is unlikely to be done to meet the
employer’s standard. If during the orientation the employer and
OJT staff are not comfortable about which employee might be best
suited to conduct the training on-the-job, OJT staff might help the
employer locate relatively inexpensive ways to identify the best
trainer among those potentially available to complete the training
in the OJT contract.
Drawback 3: Understanding the Underlying Principles.
The hands-on aspect of OJT may be appealing to the practical
learner, but often in training that occurs on-the-job the underlying
theories of operation are not covered in sufficient detail or
accuracy. Without this fundamental knowledge, trainees often
learn what to do, not why they are doing it. This can result in poor
decision making when things do not go exactly right.
Solution: The OJT staff can address this concern during the
employer orientation and work with the employer to identify any
key principles essential to understanding the job. Once this is
done, the training plan can be crafted to assure understanding of
these basic principles occurs. In some cases it may be practical or
10
necessary to supplement the OJT with classroom training if the job
entails comprehending extensive theoretical elements.
Drawback 4: Bad Habits.
The trainee observes and may adopt the trainer's habits and
attitudes about all aspects of the job including safety, quality,
customer service, and relationship with management. Poorly
selected trainers can have many unintended consequences. The
trainer may possess bad habits and pass these on to the trainee. A
new employee potentially has years to learn all the bad habits and
shortcuts themselves, without them being enshrined in the course
of their training! For example the telephone switchboard in one
large organisation was very complicated dealing with different
sites, hundreds of external telephone lines, over six thousand
internal telephones and many emergency procedures. The
department was a large one with forty telephone operators. B, M
and C usually trained new operators and they were very good at
doing so. L the telephone manager decided that G would train the
next few workers. G was constantly late, lazy, spent most of her
day on private telephone calls, was rude to callers, continually bent
the rules and was not a good worker at all. G duly trained the next
few operators. For years afterwards, anyone could pick out the
operators trained by G just by watching, and listening, to the way
that they worked.
Solution: Care must be given in the selection and preparation of
the individuals selected to conduct the training so as not to pass on
sloppy work habits or to unintentionally teach irrelevant or
inefficient work methods to the new worker.
11
Drawback 5: Time to Do the Training.
One major drawback of on-the-job-training can be finding the right
time for it. The person responsible for giving and evaluating the
training most often has to be sure that his or her other job
responsibilities are being met. Too often, the trainer may not be
given the time to spend with the new employee to teach them
properly, which could mean substandard on-the-job training will be
achieved and learning will not be accomplished at the level the
employer wishes and the trainee needs to succeed.
Solution: Providing sufficient time for the trainer to deliver the
contracted training is another issue that should be specifically
addressed in the employer orientation session. OJT staff can
emphasize the need for the employer to provide sufficient time for
the person or persons training the OJT participant, and can even
suggest that successfully completing the training become a part of
the trainers’ job performance measures, if it is not already in the
performance standards. Further, OJT staff should be monitoring
the progress of training early in the course of the contract period,
and should probe to determine whether the trainer is spending
sufficient time with the trainee, and giving sufficient attention to
the training process. If there are problems, the OJT monitoring
staff should work with the employer to assure any required
changes.
Drawback 6- Time to adjust.
The trainer must allow the trainee to get adjusted to the company
and to get to know people around the company. Some trainers
completely forgo that and make the trainee focus on the job at
hand.
12
Solution: A better strategy is to allow a trainee some time to
mingle with the other co-workers and get familiar with new
surroundings.
Drawback 7- Using customers as guinea pigs.
While some long-time or well-known customers might enjoy the
chance to help “break in the new guy” and would be happy to
be met or served by someone undergoing on the job training
most customers hate being used as training tools, and will
quickly get annoyed at being used as such, especially if the
new employee moves too slowly or makes too many mistakes.
Even new employees who are being passively trained via jobshadowing can be annoying to customers, who do not really
want some acne-pocked kid looking over their shoulder while
they conclude a five-figure deal with a long-time personal
associate.
Solutions: Companies having direct contact with clients must
avoid using on the job training
13
CONCLUSION
On-the-job training is of theoretical significance because it
represents a form of education that stands in sharp contrast to
schooling. Learning in school is divorced from practice. On-thejob training programs offer an array of formats for relating learning
to practice that may very well be useful in settings other than the
workplace. In probing teaching and learning when they are
embedded in work, we are challenged to broaden our conceptions
of the kind of social processes and activities that constitute
education.
Importantly, each on-the-job model has its own merits and
weaknesses but they all serve the same purpose of providing the
trainees with the opportunity to "practice and learn by doing".
14
training used by most employers for the new recruits. While
OJT is commonly practiced by most organisations, some
studies have suggested that it can be problematic. Describe the
system of OJT and discuss the possible drawbacks of OJT
techniques and suggest possible solutions to overcome the
drawbacks that you have identified.
Introduction
"If all I do is hear, I will forget
If I hear and see, I will remember
If I hear, see and do, I will understand".” (Confucius, 2005, April
17)
It’s proven and well tested! Experience is definitely the best
teacher. Every employee may have experienced some kinds of onthe-job training (OJT) in their careers. An employee probably
learns 80 to 90 percent of his/her job knowledge and skills through
OJT (Carnevale and Gainer, 1989).
On-the-job training has a general reputation of its effectiveness for
vocational work. Its expediency is a major reason for a company to
adopt it. However, many companies may only notice its benefits,
like few costs and can be implemented quickly, but neglect its
limitations.
On-The-Job Training
On-the-job training (OJT) is one of the paramount training
methods because it is planned, organized, and conducted at the
employee's workplace. It refers to a structured or non-structured
system of training that occurs in the workplace (Rothwell and
Kazanaz, 1994). OJT may also be called job instruction training.
1
Normally, this type of training is to transfer knowledge from a
skilled and experienced worker to a new-hire; in other words,
someone who knows how to do a task shows another how to
perform it. Trainees are learnt through training in an actual work
setting, to the processes, work tasks, tools and methods of a
specific job or group of jobs. So, it is especially appropriate for
developing proficiency skills unique to an employee’s job, which
are relatively easy to learn and require working with equipments or
facilities.
Different Manifestations of OJT
On-the-job training has evolved into a diversity of manifestations.
There are several general types of on-the-job training. Job rotation
is one manifestation of OJT. In job rotation, the employee is
assigned to different positions and possibly different departments
for pre-arranged periods of time. The combined evaluation of the
different work experiences determines the employee’s final job
assignment.
A second form of OJT is coaching. In coaching, the trainee must
already possess some level of skills and knowledge at a job. The
trainer acts as a coach to facilitate learning and guide learners
rather than instruct or train them (Sullivan, 1998).
Mentoring is very similar in that it calls for a higher level of initial
skill and job knowledge, as does coaching. The mentor is generally
a supervisor or manager rather than a co-worker. The intention of
mentoring is to support the employee, help orient them to the job
and work environment and “prepare the employee for increasing
responsibility” (DeSimone and Harris, p.145).
Job shadowing allows an employee to learn about and benefit from
brief stints of job training while the employee observes and
2
participates in the work of another employee. Job shadowing is an
excellent approach to the job training of employees who provide
back up for jobs such as payroll. Job shadowing is also perfect for
an employee with an interim assignment resulting from an
employee termination.
Job Instruction is also known as training through step by step.
Under this method, trainer explains the trainee the way of doing
the jobs, job knowledge and skills and allows him to do the job.
The trainer appraises the performance of the trainee, provides
feedback information and corrects the trainee.
Under the committee assignment, group of trainees are given and
asked to solve an actual organisational problem. The trainees solve
the problem jointly. It develops team work.
Apprenticeship is a formalised method of training curriculum
program that combines classroom education with on-the-job work
under close supervision. The training curriculum is planned in
advance and conducted in careful steps from day to day. Most trade
apprenticeship programs have duration of three to four years
before an apprentice is considered completely accomplished in that
trade or profession. This method is appropriate for training in
crafts, trades and technical areas, especially when proficiency in a
job is the result of a relatively long training or apprenticeship
period, e.g., job of a craftsman, a machinist, a printer, a tool maker,
a pattern designer, a mechanic, etc.
3
Structured vs. Unstructured OJT
As the history of OJT suggests, it is found in every workplace to
some degree of formality or informality. As soon as one employee
asks another, “do you know how to…” OJT is about to occur.
What most people think of however, when they think about OJT, is
the less structured job shadowing or “sit by Joe” type of training
(Rothwell and Kazanas 1994). According to Sisson, unstructured
or traditional OJT has four telling characteristics. It is focused on
the work- the trainer is primarily a worker and the work is the first
priority. Training is lower on the list of priorities and often no
allowance is made for the implicit slowdown of production that
must inevitably come with training.
The second characteristic is that the only structure for the training
is the work itself. The sequence of job tasks learned depends on
the flow of work in the area. Since the work provides the
structure, some tasks may get lost if they do not happen during any
of the training sequences.
The third characteristic is that job skill and experience are
generally the factors used to pick an employee to do training. Job
skill does not necessarily mean training skill and few OJT trainers
are given any types of materials or standards to use for training,
making it a random and haphazard affair at best, and ineffective
and non-productive at worst.
The fourth characteristic of unstructured OJT is that the instructor
chooses his or her own methods for teaching the skills inherent in
the job. Generally this is showing and telling. Some may do a lot
of telling and then leave the trainee to his or her own devices.
Some may do a lot of showing and never allow the trainee an
opportunity to practice the job skills.
Unstructured OJT is inconsistent, inefficient and ineffective.
Inconsistent, because it is determined by the individuality of the
4
trainer rather than influenced; inefficient because the process of
learning is disorderly since it is controlled by available work; and
ineffective because in the majority of situations, there is no way to
measure what the trainee has learned or how well they can
perform.
Structured training is differentiated from unstructured in a number
of ways. The obvious difference is the structure, manifested by
standardized training materials, OJT processes, selected and
trained trainers, and performance checklists. (Levine, 1995)
Other characteristics of structured training include consistency and
accountability. The training materials provide some of that as do
the performance checklists, based on clear objectives built into
them. Further consistency is provided by the fact that those doing
the training are specifically selected and trained trainers, who have
expressed an interest in training and completed training in one-onone training skills. Accountability is inherent in the system
because trainers and trainees follow checklists and initial or sign
for completed training- eliminating the excuse that the operator
was never shown how to perform a certain task or aspect of a job.
Accountability is also provided in the tracking and record system
that is part of structured OJT. This also helps meet ISO standards.
The formal documented processes detailing how OJT is structured,
implemented and tracked also add to accountability by delineating
areas of responsibility for training throughout the organization.
Components of Structured OJT
Although the different types of business, organizations and
organizational structure lend themselves to an almost infinite
variety of configurations of structured training, there do seem to be
some common elements among successful structured systems.
There is no one right way to do structured training but the
following components should be present in a structured system.
5
The significance of each may be different in different organizations
(Levine, 1996).
1. Management Support
2. Formal trainer support process
3. Checklists
4. OJT Training Materials
5. Train the Trainer Program
6. Tracking and Report generation
Management support is critical to the success of any OJT system.
Without management backing, in terms of budget as well as
priorities, the best OJT system is bound to fail, as other priorities
will take precedence.
The climate and priorities they establish will overshadow any other
priorities. “Training takes time; if supervisors do not allow enough
time for preparation and training, they will thwart any structured
OJT effort. If you cannot gain internal support from the
organization’s managers and supervisors, don’t waste time trying
to implement structured OJT” (Levine, 1995, p. 1).
The second component, support for trainers, is an important aspect
and also key to success. Supervisors cannot be the primary support
persons for trainers for a number of reasons. One reason is that the
supervisor's primary directive is to run production. They may or
may not know anything about training or the ability to be a support
person. Successful systems generally have on OJT coordinator, a
training manager, or some person outside the work area to provide
the support necessary for a trainer. This may include a dotted line
relationship to the training organization (Levine, 1995).
6
Checklists are also an important and necessary component in an
OJT system, along with OJT training materials. The checklists and
training materials are a means of gaining consistency in training
between shifts and also between trainers. If all trainers are using
consistent, standardized materials and checklists, the training will
have more consistency as well. Checklists are “the foundation of
any OJT system” (Levine, 1994, p.6). They list the tasks that need
to be trained as well as administrative information such as dates of
training, trainee and trainer names and employee numbers, and
certification dates. The checklists, whatever final format they may
use, are based on a thorough analysis of the job, and include
performance objectives for each task. The performance objectives
state the intent condition and level of performance. A lesson plan
should be developed to outline how the lesson will be taught and
what will be included (Chase, 1997). According to some experts,
the most important components of OJT are checklists with task
lists, performance objectives, references, and a training schedule
(Levine, 1996, Kelly, 1995, Rothwell and Kazanas, 1994).
Another document included by some training experts is the lesson
plan, a document intended to give direction in the training and
improve the trainer's ability to instruct the trainee (Broadwell,
1986).
To ensure that those doing the training are the best possible for the
job, a Train-the- Trainer program is also an important component
of a structured system. The Train-the- Trainer program must
include selection as well as training or the potential trainers. It is
not always the best worker that makes the best trainer. A desire to
train is as important to the success of a program as is an effective
train the trainer program. A consideration in designing or
outsourcing or purchasing off-the-shelf program of trainer training
is that OJT is, at its heart, a one-on-one system. Many trainertraining programs are designed more for classroom, group or
traditional stand-up training, which involve a different skill set
than one-on-one training. A Train-the-Trainer Workshop needs to
7
be highly process oriented, rather than lecture based, because the
trainers are learning new behaviors rather than just new
knowledge.
The last component is tracking and report generation. This is an
essential element for business reasons as well as for managing the
training function. Many businesses are investing time and money
in their training organizations for business reasons such as
customer requests or to fulfill ISO 9000 quality requirements. An
effective tracking and report generation also provides valuable
information to the stakeholders as well as providing a means of
accountability.
ON THE JOB TRAINING – ADVANTAGES
A sound OJT system in the organization introduces the following
advantages for different groups of people:
For employers:
Instructors (supervisors) and managers are able to utilize
available resources to train, qualify, and develop their
employees skills;
economic reasons for employers to improve the skills of
all their workers –more flexibility and improvements in
productivity.
For employees:
less “downtime” for employees as they do not have to travel,
the learning can be delivered around their shift if needed and
can be shown to be directly relevant to their job;
the training in the workplace enables trainees to learn an
occupational skill and earn a paycheck at the same time, and
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offers the chance to improve their skills in an environment
with which they are familiar and feel secure;
For self-motivated employees this is a possibility to improve
their skills and to raise their opportunities for a higher
position.
ON THE JOB TRAINING –DRAWBACKS
Drawback 1: Incomplete Training.
Without a structured lesson guide, OJT trainers often forget to
cover important information. What is learned is likely to be based
on what happened that day rather than on what a new employee
needs to know to be safe and productive.
Solution: Here is where the importance of the OJT Training Plan
really becomes apparent. The training plans assists the employer
and on-the-job training (OJT) provider by outlining the specific
skill requirements for an occupation, the trainee’s skills gap for the
occupation, and the training necessary to obtain the necessary
skills for that job title. Developing a good training plan will help
to assure the OJT meet all requirements of the job.
Drawback 2: Inconsistent Training.
OJT often relies heavily on an experienced employee to provide
the instruction. Understandably, this can be based on what
that employee feels are the most important topics, but what is
important to one employee may not be important to another or,
more importantly, to the employer. The result can be that what
is learned may vary greatly, depending on who is assigned as
the trainer. If the trainer is too experienced, however, he or
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she may forget to explain important steps or use technical
words that the trainee does not understand.
Solution: The issue of who will be doing the training should be
addressed during the employer orientation session. The employer
may have a clear idea about who will be doing the training, but it
may still be useful for OJT staff to discuss with the employer the
characteristics of a good instructor: the desire to teach; knowledge
of the subject(s) to be covered and skills required; the ability to get
along with others; and, perhaps most important, the ability to teach
the knowledge and skills to others. Teaching or coaching is a
specific skill in itself. If the trainer lacks the skills, knowledge,
and desire to train, the training is unlikely to be done to meet the
employer’s standard. If during the orientation the employer and
OJT staff are not comfortable about which employee might be best
suited to conduct the training on-the-job, OJT staff might help the
employer locate relatively inexpensive ways to identify the best
trainer among those potentially available to complete the training
in the OJT contract.
Drawback 3: Understanding the Underlying Principles.
The hands-on aspect of OJT may be appealing to the practical
learner, but often in training that occurs on-the-job the underlying
theories of operation are not covered in sufficient detail or
accuracy. Without this fundamental knowledge, trainees often
learn what to do, not why they are doing it. This can result in poor
decision making when things do not go exactly right.
Solution: The OJT staff can address this concern during the
employer orientation and work with the employer to identify any
key principles essential to understanding the job. Once this is
done, the training plan can be crafted to assure understanding of
these basic principles occurs. In some cases it may be practical or
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necessary to supplement the OJT with classroom training if the job
entails comprehending extensive theoretical elements.
Drawback 4: Bad Habits.
The trainee observes and may adopt the trainer's habits and
attitudes about all aspects of the job including safety, quality,
customer service, and relationship with management. Poorly
selected trainers can have many unintended consequences. The
trainer may possess bad habits and pass these on to the trainee. A
new employee potentially has years to learn all the bad habits and
shortcuts themselves, without them being enshrined in the course
of their training! For example the telephone switchboard in one
large organisation was very complicated dealing with different
sites, hundreds of external telephone lines, over six thousand
internal telephones and many emergency procedures. The
department was a large one with forty telephone operators. B, M
and C usually trained new operators and they were very good at
doing so. L the telephone manager decided that G would train the
next few workers. G was constantly late, lazy, spent most of her
day on private telephone calls, was rude to callers, continually bent
the rules and was not a good worker at all. G duly trained the next
few operators. For years afterwards, anyone could pick out the
operators trained by G just by watching, and listening, to the way
that they worked.
Solution: Care must be given in the selection and preparation of
the individuals selected to conduct the training so as not to pass on
sloppy work habits or to unintentionally teach irrelevant or
inefficient work methods to the new worker.
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Drawback 5: Time to Do the Training.
One major drawback of on-the-job-training can be finding the right
time for it. The person responsible for giving and evaluating the
training most often has to be sure that his or her other job
responsibilities are being met. Too often, the trainer may not be
given the time to spend with the new employee to teach them
properly, which could mean substandard on-the-job training will be
achieved and learning will not be accomplished at the level the
employer wishes and the trainee needs to succeed.
Solution: Providing sufficient time for the trainer to deliver the
contracted training is another issue that should be specifically
addressed in the employer orientation session. OJT staff can
emphasize the need for the employer to provide sufficient time for
the person or persons training the OJT participant, and can even
suggest that successfully completing the training become a part of
the trainers’ job performance measures, if it is not already in the
performance standards. Further, OJT staff should be monitoring
the progress of training early in the course of the contract period,
and should probe to determine whether the trainer is spending
sufficient time with the trainee, and giving sufficient attention to
the training process. If there are problems, the OJT monitoring
staff should work with the employer to assure any required
changes.
Drawback 6- Time to adjust.
The trainer must allow the trainee to get adjusted to the company
and to get to know people around the company. Some trainers
completely forgo that and make the trainee focus on the job at
hand.
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Solution: A better strategy is to allow a trainee some time to
mingle with the other co-workers and get familiar with new
surroundings.
Drawback 7- Using customers as guinea pigs.
While some long-time or well-known customers might enjoy the
chance to help “break in the new guy” and would be happy to
be met or served by someone undergoing on the job training
most customers hate being used as training tools, and will
quickly get annoyed at being used as such, especially if the
new employee moves too slowly or makes too many mistakes.
Even new employees who are being passively trained via jobshadowing can be annoying to customers, who do not really
want some acne-pocked kid looking over their shoulder while
they conclude a five-figure deal with a long-time personal
associate.
Solutions: Companies having direct contact with clients must
avoid using on the job training
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CONCLUSION
On-the-job training is of theoretical significance because it
represents a form of education that stands in sharp contrast to
schooling. Learning in school is divorced from practice. On-thejob training programs offer an array of formats for relating learning
to practice that may very well be useful in settings other than the
workplace. In probing teaching and learning when they are
embedded in work, we are challenged to broaden our conceptions
of the kind of social processes and activities that constitute
education.
Importantly, each on-the-job model has its own merits and
weaknesses but they all serve the same purpose of providing the
trainees with the opportunity to "practice and learn by doing".
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