Training: A Vital Aspect of HR Management

Training, Development and Education is the fourth key area of human resource management.

It is unfair to blame an under-performing employee if he/she has not been trained. Health workers need continuous training to keep them abreast of current trends in patient management. A properly trained and competent workforce is essentially to any successful healthcare system. Training, development and education is also an important motivational factor for employees.

Training is usually short-term and practical-oriented. It helps workers adapt to their present job needs e.g. customer care training, training workers to use new equipment. e.t.c

Training may include in-house seminars, lectures or conferences. Training could also be done outside the hospital e.g. short courses of 1 week, 3 months e.t.c. or even longer courses of 12 months, 24 months etc. Training could be “on-the-job” training or “off-the-job” training.

Development on the other hand, is more long term in approach. Its emphasis is on continuous learning and growth. Development is more broad –based and prepares employees for the future. It ensures rapid career growth. For example, management training for medical staff prepares employees for future management positions.

Education is training that is more specific to the employees’ chosen profession. It keeps employees informed of recent trends and practices. It prevents employees from being obsolete. For example, the treatment of malaria has evolved from the use of chloroquine monotheraphy to ACT combination therapy. Medical workers therefore cannot rely entirely on the knowledge received from school; there has to be continuous medical education.

Education, training and development must have a focus for it to be effective. Effective training must also be planned and budgeted for. It is necessary to develop a short, medium and long-term training schedule for employees. This must also include a financial plan that should be strictly adhered to. Unplanned and haphazard training could become counter-productive and ultimately expensive.

Lack of training means:

·        Your hospital cannot grow beyond its present level.

·        Your hospital cannot compete with others.

·        Your hospital cannot adapt to the constantly changing world of medical science.

·        Your hospital is not a learning Organization.

In training employees, it is imperative to reconcile the needs of the hospital with the needs of the individual. If the employee does not see the relevance of a particular training, then training will lead to wastage of hospital resources.

Performance appraisal helps in assessing employee performance and creates awareness of opportunities for training and development.

Finally, employees who require training exhibit certain signs and symptoms. It is important that they are identified promptly to prevent shoddy performance.

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