Training and developing HR in Hospitality Trade

Training and Development is a planned effort to facilitate employee learning of job related behaviour, to improve employee performance. Experts sometimes distinguish between the term "Training",denoting efforts to increase employee skills on present jobs and the term "Development" referring to efforts oriented, relevant to future jobs.

In practice, though the distinction is often blurred [mainly because upgrading skills, in present jobs, usually improves performance in future jobs]. Accordingly we adopt the increasingly common practice of using both terms,interchangeably, said G. Wasanthkumar A. Perera, Affiliate Member, Institute of Personnel Management [SL] and founder of the Entrepreneur of the Year-96, award winning "Hotel and Catering School", The Academy of Hotel and Catering Operations in Seeduwa..

Training efforts generally encompass three main phases.The Assessment Phase, involves identifying training needs, setting training objectives and developing criteria against which to evaluate the results of the training program.

Within the assessment phase training requirements are determined by conducting a needs analysis. A needs analysis is an assessment of an organisation's training needs that is developed by considering overall organisatioal requirements, tasks [identified through job analysis] associated with jobs for which, training is needed and the degree to which individuals are able to perform those tasks effectively. This phase, as well as the other two phases typically involves human resource professionals and managers and outside consultants are sometimes brought in to help with various aspects.

The second phase of training The Training Design and Implementation Phase, involves determining training methods, developing training materials and actually conducting the training.

Within this phase there are a number of training methods that can be used, which fall into three main categories.

"Information Presentation Methods", entail teaching facts, skills attitudes, or concepts without expecting trainees to put what they are learning into practice during the training.