Executive summary
The debate about where best to conduct training in the corporate world has dominated numerous platforms attracting the contribution of human resource professionals and trainers in different scales. Training of employees as a component of human resource development influences career development while positively contributing towards performance management. Through training, employees are mentored and equipped with the necessary skills that enable them to blend well with the job responsibilities they are assigned to, a factor that significantly leads to improved productivity. Therefore, this paper analyzes the different aspects of employee training by comparing and contrasting on-site training and off-site training besides giving various recommendations based on how effectively both methods are used under different organizational scenarios.
Introduction
In almost every organizational setting in the contemporary world, institutional efforts are made to enhance the effectiveness of the human resources in a bid to enhance performance while at the same augmenting productivity. It is in this respect that human resource development (HRD) measures are put in place to ensure the top management team is in control of all the employees and that the available team of workers is well-facilitated to handle their responsibilities in the best way possible. In a broad spectrum, human resource development refers to the framework(s) that are adopted by organization especially in the corporate world for helping the team of their workers develop their skills, knowledge and abilities (Snell, Bohlander & Morris, 2015). Through effective use of HRD mechanisms, organizations are placed in a position to boost their employee’s versatility, creativity and improve their personal and organizational efficiency. In the process of actualizing the dream to achieve organizational goals and achieve the HRD responsibilities, it is recommendable for management teams within an organization to organize, facilitate and implement training programs in the spirit of enhancing employee skills, abilities and knowledge (Noe et al., 2017). The underlying factor in the training process being that skilled and up-to-date employees are best placed to drive an organizational agenda. However, the ability to determine the best style of conducting the training is the major issues of discussion in the modern world corporate entities. The two major mechanisms of conducting training include; the off-site training and the on-site training styles.
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The on-site training strategy involves conducting the major phases of training within the official organizational premises while the off-site training is done away from the corporate headquarters. Proponents of on-site training spearhead their campaign which is anchored on various advantages of conducting employee training within the corporate facilities while those on the camp of off-site training anchor their reasoning on the various benefits that accrue when training is conducted away from the corporate headquarters. The most important aspect in the corporate world about training in its entirety is that various aspects have to be considered before making a decision on which method to use to conduct a particular training activity. Some of the considerable factors include; the desirable impact an organization is planning to have on its employees, the cost, the size of the training, the aspects of technology in the entire training endeavor, and the scheduling effects (Grott & Shay, 2019). It is imperative to note that in planning of any training session, a combination of the above factors determine whether the management team chooses off-site or on-site training method. The key to successful training lies in the ability of the trainer to balance the intended information with trainee engagement and interactivity. Owing to the fact that certain issues require varying but specific approaches, different scenarios may lead to the adoption of either method as far as the corporate world is concerned.
Organizations have numerous opportunities for employee development especially through offering training opportunities. Since the focus of human resource development is to develop the most superior and competitive workforce in their industry of specialization, various reliability and efficiency considerations should surpass the cost reflection in the process of determining the method to use (Collings, Wood & Szamosi, 2018). For instance, technology can be used to reach all the employees at a lower cost and with all the convenience a company requires. An in-depth analysis of the situation at hand as far as the background information is concerned, it evident that the US firm is operating a chain of branches. The number of employees is quite high and the branches are located in different parts across the US. Although the major training sessions are conducted in the headquarters at Chicago, it is quite difficult and costly to manage the training of all the 700 employees if they were to be trained in the company’s headquarters training center. Various technological platforms can be used to bring all the employees together in shared platforms that make it possible to avoid the costs associated with travelling, accommodation and time. Some of the most probable technologies that can be used to facilitate the training of all the 700 employees include the use of; Podcasts, training videos, Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) techniques, and teleconferencing technologies to reach all the employees at a go (Hawkridge, Newton & Hall, 2018). With the availability of the numerous technologies that can facilitated training whether on ‘on-site’ or ‘off-site’ basis, it is precisely evident that the modern world has accomplished a lot in matters to do with performance management, human resource development and organizational development.
In a broad spectrum, on-site training offers the advantage of cost-effectiveness while off-site training is expensive in nature. Considering that on-site training takes place within a firm’s facilities or offices, the costs of renting external facilities is eliminated making the entire cost of training lower as compared to the use off-site training strategy. However, in the off-site training method, technology can be used to effectively bring employees in common virtual room at a cost-effective fee while at the same time enhancing engagements and interaction between different factions of an organization (Noe et al., 2017). It depends with how an organization is determined to invest in the workforce considering its short-term and long-term goals. The most important factor is to ensure whichever the method of training is used, the outcome positively influences the employees’ skills and abilities while at the same time boosting their knowledge as a way of improving work efficiency and productivity in general (Butcher, Bailey & Burr, 2016). In most cases, on-site training effectively helps manage the costs while off-shore training leads to augmented costs.
On-site training is attributed to the convenience characteristic while offsite is attributed to a number of inconveniences especially when technology is not used. The convenience associated with on-site training chips in when an organization has fewer employees and enough training resources that disadvantage any endeavor to use outside facilities. Moreover, on-site training offers convenience in that top management team members can take place in the training activity and influence the trainees in various ways without necessarily using their important time and company resources to travel out of their official working environment ( Hanaysha, 2016 ). On the other hand, Offsite training method is associated with the creation of a more effective training environment where the trainees are able to learn and gain knowledge with minimal distractions from their daily experiences in their official working environments. The interaction levels between and among the trainees are normally high in off-site training method as compared to on-site training.
As organization invests in the training as a method of positively influencing the performance of employees while influencing the organizational development agenda, they endeavor to ensure that the undertaking is taken seriously. This includes participating in the process fully while interacting and engaging with the trainers for employees to gain maximum knowledge ( Mathew & Zacharias, 2016 ). The method by which the management team chooses influences aspects of concentration, determinations and the level of seriousness accorded to the training in its entirety. For instance, the off-site training method involves activities which are taken seriously by the participating trainees because it takes place in an environment that is different from their normal surroundings. Employees see it as an opportunity to improve and grow in their personal levels and also for the purpose of positively improving their productivity (Cascio, 2015). Comparing it to the on-site method, it is evident that employees who train within their corporate headquarters may not take the process as serious as those who train outside their corporate offices.
While in on-site training method companies save a lot of money in that very few expenses are incurred in transportation and storage of training materials and equipment, the off-site training setting is associated with numerous storage and transportation expenses which however translate in the creation of a more relaxing platform for trainees to gain knowledge and skills. Although the off-site training method is associated with numerous expenses, it provides an environment that leads to the thriving of team building, creativity and versatility of the trainees (Mozael, 2015). In addition, the employees are able to interact in a different surrounding where they are able to brainstorm as a team and customize their training experiences with minimal distractions.
Recommendations
As the business world incorporation of technology in human resource development takes root in the contemporary world, organizations have the responsibility to ensure that they embrace the most recent technologies in every undertaking. Employee training is an essential part of organizational development strategies because without a reflective system of employee training, workers and their respective institutions cannot prosper. It is recommendable for the top management in organizations to foster a culture of employee training with more emphasis on technological use. It is precisely imperative to admit that without the learning and nurturing of personal and professional skills and abilities, workers in almost all departments in an organization fail to grow. The failure to grow makes their professional capabilities stagnant limiting their productivity while affecting the organizational agenda in a negative manner (Hanaysha, 2016). It is therefore, recommendable for organizations to ensure they engage with their stakeholders in a broad scale so as to organize and facilitate both off-site and on-site training programs. As highlighted in the discussion above both off-site and on-site methods of training have advantages and disadvantages in different measures. Therefore, the choice of the approach to use depends on the specific details about the training adventure as well as the preferences of the top management and the trainer’s manual. The cost, the number of employees and the level of investment the company is engaging in determine whether to choose off-site or on-site training. For the case of the US firm with over 700 employees, Off-site training method is recommendable.
Conclusion
The secret behind successful training of employees lies in the ability to make the critical decision of selecting the approach to use for the activity while considering the needs of the targeted employees. It is imperative to ensure that the training imparts knowledge while balancing the information shared to the trainees with their engagement and interactivity. It is the responsibility of the trainers and the involved organization to choose the best method that suits the needs and that best delivers the target message. For instance, on matters employee orientation, on-site training method is the best while for matters to do with productivity and adoption of new technologies, off-site training is the best. In both approaches, the training offered makes employees to be more efficient, a factor that enhances organizational profitability in the long-term.
References
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