The modern business world is fast paced and as such firms need to keep innovating new products and services so as to keep up with the changing business landscape. One of the ways through which firms can keep abreast with the ever changing business environment is through training of staff. Firms must not only train staff to equip them with new skill and knowledge but must also train them in order to spearhead innovative growth within the companies.
Training of a firm’s staff does not occur in a vacuum. It is a proactive process with explicit goals and in this case, training for innovations. This means that the human resource training development managers have a direct role to play in facilitating their firms to embrace innovations that will bring about much desired change.
The human resource training development managers will attain this through developing programs that train employees on how to embrace and drive innovation. Furthermore, these managers need to focus on developing the employees to acquire innovative behavior.
The development of staff cognitive abilities is one such method through which training professionals helps staff to acquire innovativeness. Such firms accrue such benefits such as competitiveness, enhanced business strategies and customer satisfaction. Therefore, training professionals play a leading role in innovation and change for business success.
Professionals take the process of professional training and development as a continual process. This assertion is founded on the assumption that informal training occurs within the daily work flow. Professionals argue that the need for continued training and development is necessitated by many factors, among them technological changes in the work place, which require the acquisitions of new skills and knowledge’s (Armson 2008, p. 23; Poell et al 2006, p. 175).
While little (2010, p. 38) argues that it is important for employers to train employee’s competences, Emsley, Nevicky and Harrison (2006, p. 244) assert that it is important to train professionals with the aim of achieving a balance in both radical and non-radical innovation.
Moreover Bondarouk and Looise (2005, p. 162) assert that human resourced developers need to promote human-centered IT based innovations which will not replace human but support employee’s basic skills. In addition, training and development of professionals within a firm is creatively undertaken at individual levels since it is individuals who instigate successful innovations (Reilly 2010, p. 10).
In this regard, it becomes important for human resource developers to focus on developing the cognitive abilities of individual employees. Emsley, et al’s assertion on the development of employees cognitive abilities is informed by the fact that cognitive development is a prerequisite to the acquisition of innovative behavior (2006, p. 245).
Innovative behavior is necessary for the development of the right environment for innovation, which creates the necessary space for innovative creativity (Armson 2008, p. 20). Therefore, training professionals have to develop employee’s competent innovative behavior, which is vital for firm’s attainment of competitive edge in the global market (Little 2010, p. 39).
Human resource trainers and developer acknowledge that training does not occur in a vacuum. This implies that effective professional training has to be modeled along given training model for it to be effective. As Reilly (2010, p. 22) explains training of employees in the job place is necessitated by a number of reasons, and as such it is integrated within a firm’s employee development plans.
This implies that employee training and development is an ongoing process (Emsley et al. 2006, p. 262) and that many human resource trainers run the risk of making it a long arduous process. This need not be so. Training professionals need to be creative with their training programs.
Reilly (2010, p. 10) explains that firms which have attained successful training of employees to drive innovation have modeled their training programs creatively to avoid boredom. This is attained through breaking down training content into small digestible and interesting-to-deliver bits. Furthermore, successful professional in efforts to achieve creativity avoid making training programs too technical, meaning that they allow for spontaneity (Armson 2008, p. 20).
The implementation of creative employees training program means that firm’s must have the necessary resources at their disposal. As Armson (2008, p. 22) argues, firms must see training programs as some of the risk prone activities and as such provide the enough human, financial as well as infrastructural resources.
While the author above have not identified the role of formal and informal professional training programs, Poell et al. (2006, p. 176) asserts that formal training programs play very limited roles in development of quality employees to bring about innovative changes. The best training program designs are informal and are also delivered informally.
Bondarouk and Looise (2005, p. 162) asserts that the best approach for human resource developers is to adopt human-centered IT based innovations which will not replace human but support employee’s basic skills. Therefore the success of training programs depends on the approach adopted by human resource program developers.
Australian banks take the developed innovation in their training and development programs. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia is ranked number two in terms of size and also in providing financial services. In order to drive and develop for innovation the bank has identified two major resources that it need to attain this objective.
These are physical resources, within which training materials are included, and intangible resources, within which training of employees is included. One of the avenues through which the bank aims at providing its client with valued added services is through innovations. Innovations are attained through the banks intangible resources especially the human resources training (Commonwealth Bank of Australia n.d., p. 5, 9).
Similarly St. George Bank, in efforts to boost productivity, sees its development of human resource through outsourced training program. The Bank’s human resource development managers see the need to equip all employees with skills that will enable the bank have a competitive edge in the financial services sector. As such, St. George Bank outsources its services from Workplace Australia Group (DEEWR 2011, n.pag.).
There are similarities in the way the two banks approach training for innovation. Both Commonwealth Bank of Australia and St. George Bank model their training program with the innovation of new financial products and services in mind (Commonwealth Bank of Australia n.d., p. 9; DEEWR 2011., n.pag.).
As such the two banks see training their employees not only as the key the development of innovative products but also as a mean of establishing a competitive edged in the fast paced Australian banking sector. Furthermore, the two banks design their training programs with the aim of innovative products and services for customer satisfaction.
At St. George Bank, staff development programs are directly connected with business success as well as customer satisfaction (Liquid Learning Group 2007, p. 2). Similarly, Commonwealth Bank of Australia approach to training is attained through the innovation of better communication tools that engage that give its customer a satisfactory banking experience (Commonwealth Bank of Australia n.d., p. 14).
Moreover, the two banks approach training for innovativeness as part of the banks’ business strategies. While the Commonwealth Bank of Australia aims at training its employees to expand the bank’s physical border as well as products and services range, St. George Bank interrelate its training program with innovative leadership, business success and customer satisfaction (Liquid Learning Group 2007, P. 2; Commonwealth Bank of Australia n.d., p. 11, 12).
On the other hand there are differences in approach to training between the two banks. At St. George Bank, training is an ongoing formal process that is deeply integrated into the bank’s daily work flow. Furthermore, the bank prefers to outsource the training program from Workplace Australia Group (DEEWR 2011, n.pag.).
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has developed an inbuilt training program, and provides its own training materials which are part of the banks physical resources. As such, the bank is self reliant when it comes to training its employees. Regardless of the dissimilarities the two banks have successful training programs.
In summary, training professionals play a leading ole in preparing firms to embrace innovations and change. This is attained through tailor-made training programs which are aimed at addressing the particular firm needs. The two types of training methods, formal and inform have be found to work well in specific companies.
Informal training is spontaneous and has the capability of addressing needs as they arise, while formal training is structural and rigid. Furthermore, training professionals have different approaches through which they approach training of staff. For instance, at St. George Bank, training of employees is an ongoing process mostly reliant on outsource service, while at The Commonwealth Bank of Australia is an inbuilt capacity within the bank.
All these approached have one aim in common: to make the firm’s innovation and change complaint. It can therefore be concluded that training of staff within firms is only effective if it is done with the goal of helping individual employees acquire innovative behavior. Furthermore, informal training, which is spontaneous, creates more room for creativity, a condition that makes training innovative in itself.
Reference List
Armson, G. 2008, How innovative is your culture? Coaching for creativity in the workplace Training & Development, pp 20-22.
Bondarouk, T and Looise J 2005, HR contribution to IT innovation implementation: Results of Three Case Studies, Creativity and Innovation Management, vol. 14 No 2.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia n.d, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Harvard paper sample. Web.
DEEWR 2011, St. George Bank employees study for Certificate III in Financial Services. Web.
Emsley, D Nevicky, B and Harrison, G 2006, Effect of cognitive style and professional development on the initiation of radical and non-radical management accounting innovations Accounting and Finance, vol. 46, pp 243–264.
Little, Bob 2010, Competency capers, Training Journal, pp 38 – 39.
Liquid Learning Group 2007, Strengthening the linkages between leadership, culture and performance. 4th Annual Asia-Pacific Leadership & People Development Summit , pp 2.
Poell, R et al 2006, Roles of informal workplace trainers in different organizational contexts: Empirical evidence from Australian companies, Human Resource Development Quarterly, vol. 17, no. 2. Web.
Reilly, V 2010, Getting creative with technical training, Training & Development In Australia, pp 10 – 22.