MANAGING HUMAN RESOURCES CHAPTER 7: TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
STUDY GUIDE | EXAM REVIEW QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 2026/2027
training - ANS ✔✔is often used casually to describe almost any effort initiated by an organization to
foster learning among its members. How-ever, many experts distinguish between training , which tends
to be more narrowly focused and oriented toward short-term performance concerns
From the broadest perspective, the goal of training is to contribute to the organization's overall goals.
Training programs should be developed with this in mind. Man-agers should keep a close eye on their
firm's goals and strategies and orient their training accordingly.
development - ANS ✔✔tends to be oriented more toward broadening an individual's skills for future
responsibilities.
biggest spenders on training - ANS ✔✔Technology, transportation, communications, and utilities
industries tend to spend the most on training.
training expenditure - ANS ✔✔51% employees
22% executives
27% managers/supervisors
To ensure that a firm's training and development investment has the maximum im-pact possible, a
strategic and systematic approach should be used that involves four phases: - ANS ✔✔(1) needs
assessment based on the firm's competitive objectives,
(2) program design,
(3) implementation, and
(4) evaluation.
see p. 294
Phase 1: Conducting Needs Assessment - ANS ✔✔
chief learning officer - ANS ✔✔A high-ranking manager directly responsible for fos-tering employee
learning and development within the firm
These people are top executives within their firms who are responsible for making certain that a
company's training is timely and focused on the firm's top strategic issues. However, regardless of who
does the needs assessment within an organization, it should be conducted systematically by utilizing the
three different types of analysis shown in Figure 7.3: organization analysis, task analysis, and person
analysis.
organization analysis - ANS ✔✔...of environment, strategies, and resources to determine where to
emphasize training.
The first step in a needs assessment is identifying the broad forces that can influence a firm's training
needs.
, Conducting an organization analysis also involves closely examining a firm's resources—technological,
financial, and human—available to meet the company's training objectives. HR personnel typically
collect data such as information on their companies' direct and indirect labor costs, quality of goods or
services, absenteeism, turnover, and number of accidents. The availability of potential replacements and
the time required to train them are other important factors in organization analysis.
task analysis - ANS ✔✔involves reviewing the job description and specifications to identify the activities
performed in a particular job and the KSAs needed to perform them. The first step in task analysis is to
list all the tasks or duties included in the job. The second step is to list the steps performed by the
employee to complete each task. The type of performance for each task (such as manipulation, speech,
and discrimination), along with the skills and knowledge necessary to do it, can then be identified.
competency assessment - ANS ✔✔focuses on the sets of skills and knowledge employees need to be
successful, particularly for decision-oriented and knowledge-intensive jobs. But competency assessment
goes beyond simply describing the traits an employee must have to successfully perform the work. It
also captures elements of how those traits should be used within an organization's context and culture.
person analysis - ANS ✔✔involves determining which employees require training and, equally important,
which do not. In this regard, conducting a person analysis is im-portant for several reasons. First, a
thorough analysis helps organizations avoid the mistake of sending all employees into training when
some do not need it. In addition, a person analysis helps managers determine what prospective trainees
are able to do when they enter training so that the programs can be designed to emphasize the areas in
which they are deficient.
for evaluation: performance appraisal information
phase 2: designing the training program - ANS ✔✔should focus on at least four related issues:
(1) the training's instructional objectives,
(2) "readiness" of trainees and their motivation,
(3) principles of learning, and
(4) characteristics of instructors.
instructional objectives - ANS ✔✔describe the skills or knowledge to be acquired and/or the attitudes to
be changed. One type of instruc-tional objective, the performance-centered objective, is widely used
because it lends it-self to an unbiased evaluation of the results.
readiness of trainees and their motivation - ANS ✔✔Trainee readiness refers to whether or not the
experience of trainees has made them receptive to the training they will receive. Prospective train-ees
should be screened to ensure that they have the background knowledge and the skills necessary to
absorb what will be presented to them. Recognizing the individual differences of trainees in terms of
their readiness is as important in organizational training as it is in any other teaching situation.
trainee motivation . The organization needs to help employees understand the link between the effort
they put into training and the payoff. Why is the training important? What will happen if it does not
occur? More-over, what is in it for the individual employee? By focusing on the trainees themselves,
managers can create a training environment that is conducive to learning.
STUDY GUIDE | EXAM REVIEW QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 2026/2027
training - ANS ✔✔is often used casually to describe almost any effort initiated by an organization to
foster learning among its members. How-ever, many experts distinguish between training , which tends
to be more narrowly focused and oriented toward short-term performance concerns
From the broadest perspective, the goal of training is to contribute to the organization's overall goals.
Training programs should be developed with this in mind. Man-agers should keep a close eye on their
firm's goals and strategies and orient their training accordingly.
development - ANS ✔✔tends to be oriented more toward broadening an individual's skills for future
responsibilities.
biggest spenders on training - ANS ✔✔Technology, transportation, communications, and utilities
industries tend to spend the most on training.
training expenditure - ANS ✔✔51% employees
22% executives
27% managers/supervisors
To ensure that a firm's training and development investment has the maximum im-pact possible, a
strategic and systematic approach should be used that involves four phases: - ANS ✔✔(1) needs
assessment based on the firm's competitive objectives,
(2) program design,
(3) implementation, and
(4) evaluation.
see p. 294
Phase 1: Conducting Needs Assessment - ANS ✔✔
chief learning officer - ANS ✔✔A high-ranking manager directly responsible for fos-tering employee
learning and development within the firm
These people are top executives within their firms who are responsible for making certain that a
company's training is timely and focused on the firm's top strategic issues. However, regardless of who
does the needs assessment within an organization, it should be conducted systematically by utilizing the
three different types of analysis shown in Figure 7.3: organization analysis, task analysis, and person
analysis.
organization analysis - ANS ✔✔...of environment, strategies, and resources to determine where to
emphasize training.
The first step in a needs assessment is identifying the broad forces that can influence a firm's training
needs.
, Conducting an organization analysis also involves closely examining a firm's resources—technological,
financial, and human—available to meet the company's training objectives. HR personnel typically
collect data such as information on their companies' direct and indirect labor costs, quality of goods or
services, absenteeism, turnover, and number of accidents. The availability of potential replacements and
the time required to train them are other important factors in organization analysis.
task analysis - ANS ✔✔involves reviewing the job description and specifications to identify the activities
performed in a particular job and the KSAs needed to perform them. The first step in task analysis is to
list all the tasks or duties included in the job. The second step is to list the steps performed by the
employee to complete each task. The type of performance for each task (such as manipulation, speech,
and discrimination), along with the skills and knowledge necessary to do it, can then be identified.
competency assessment - ANS ✔✔focuses on the sets of skills and knowledge employees need to be
successful, particularly for decision-oriented and knowledge-intensive jobs. But competency assessment
goes beyond simply describing the traits an employee must have to successfully perform the work. It
also captures elements of how those traits should be used within an organization's context and culture.
person analysis - ANS ✔✔involves determining which employees require training and, equally important,
which do not. In this regard, conducting a person analysis is im-portant for several reasons. First, a
thorough analysis helps organizations avoid the mistake of sending all employees into training when
some do not need it. In addition, a person analysis helps managers determine what prospective trainees
are able to do when they enter training so that the programs can be designed to emphasize the areas in
which they are deficient.
for evaluation: performance appraisal information
phase 2: designing the training program - ANS ✔✔should focus on at least four related issues:
(1) the training's instructional objectives,
(2) "readiness" of trainees and their motivation,
(3) principles of learning, and
(4) characteristics of instructors.
instructional objectives - ANS ✔✔describe the skills or knowledge to be acquired and/or the attitudes to
be changed. One type of instruc-tional objective, the performance-centered objective, is widely used
because it lends it-self to an unbiased evaluation of the results.
readiness of trainees and their motivation - ANS ✔✔Trainee readiness refers to whether or not the
experience of trainees has made them receptive to the training they will receive. Prospective train-ees
should be screened to ensure that they have the background knowledge and the skills necessary to
absorb what will be presented to them. Recognizing the individual differences of trainees in terms of
their readiness is as important in organizational training as it is in any other teaching situation.
trainee motivation . The organization needs to help employees understand the link between the effort
they put into training and the payoff. Why is the training important? What will happen if it does not
occur? More-over, what is in it for the individual employee? By focusing on the trainees themselves,
managers can create a training environment that is conducive to learning.
