The Changing World of the Trainer (The Hr Series) - Softcover

Sloman, Martyn

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0750680539 ISBN 13: 9780750680530

Publisher: Routledge, 2007

Synopsis

The 'Changing World of the Trainer' considers how the human resource development professional should undertake his or her role in today's organization. It offers a new framework which reflects the business reality of the modern world. This practical work proceeds through a series of tools, checklists, questionnaires and instruments and presents an extensive series of illustrative case studies, drawn from organizations throughout the world.

The book argues that the problems that trainers face are fundamentally the same. Their objective is to put a process in place to ensure that employees are able to acquire the knowledge and skill required by the organization. The acquisition of individual and collective knowledge and skills is not the primary purpose of the organization - skills are a means to the end of profitability and service delivery. Hence training is a derived or secondary activity. In the world economy a global model of human resource development is emerging. In one form or another, organizations are seeking to develop what are known as high performance working practices. What the customer requires drives business processes: staff must be recruited, retained and motivated. Effective learning, training and development is now essential.

This does not mean the end of the traditional off-the-job training course. There are many occasions, and these are illustrated within the book, when a training course delivered by a subject-matter expert is an effective way of promoting the organization's objectives through individual learning. However, it is increasingly evident that the range of interventions undertaken by the trainer extends far beyond the design and delivery of the training course. There has been a huge increase in coaching and in ways of promoting group learning. Action learning is undergoing a resurgence. Generally there has been a growth of non-directive forms of intervention; a shift in emphasis from instruction to the facilitation of the learning process. Many practitioners are proceeding effectively to redefine their roles in a variety of different ways. However, it is now time to offer a formal expression of the new training and learning role.

Martyn Sloman is highly respected intermationally within the field of learning and development, with experience as a practitioner in the public, private and voluntary sectors.

* Outlines the challenges of implementing the emerging new role of the trainer.
* Highly practical and avoids jargon, written by a well-known author.
* Supported by international case studies and draws on the latest research in the field.

About this title

From the Back Cover

The Changing World of the Trainer: Emerging Good Practice is a product of an in-depth research project, supported by a steering group of practitioner experts drawn from 10 countries and includes a significant number of case studies from across the globe. The material has led the author to develop new perspectives on how trainers cope with cultural differences amongst learners and to conclude that a global model is developing and as a consequence the role of the trainer is changing.

In a service-led and knowledge-driven economy the acquisition of skills by the workforce is the key differentiator. It is this critical factor that determines profitability in the private sector, service-delivery in the public sector and the achievement of shared objectives in the voluntary sector. As a result a shift has taken place from training to learning, and the role of the trainer has become one of supporting, accelerating and directing learning interventions that meet organizational needs and are appropriate to the learner in context. This requires a new mindset and new skills from the trainer and the development of new partnerships across the organization.

This book is written for everyone who has responsibility for planning and delivering interventions to enhance the skills and knowledge of the workforce. Drawing on a wealth of experience, the author creates a vision of learning and development in which the benefits to individuals and organisations are evident.

About the Author

Martyn Sloman has responsibility for research into the role and contribution of learning and training in organisations, for e-learning and for the links between people management and technology. He leads the knowledge development team. He is an experienced author, lecturer and conference speaker around the globe. He spent his early career as an economist and business strategist and was awarded national and international prizes for his publication in system science. He taught at a Management College before joining the management consultancy arm of the accountants Deloitte Haskins and Sells. Shortly after big bang he moved to the City and became Head of Human Resource Development at NatWest Markets - leading the largest training and development team in the UK Securities industry. In 1995 he formed The Carlton Sloman Group, a human resource consultancy. From 1997-2000 he worked as Director of Management Education and Training for Ernst & Young, one of the largest business advisory firms in the world. Martyn is an Honorary Professor in the School of Management and Languages at Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh, an Honorary Teaching Fellow in the Department of Organizational Psychology, Birkbeck College, University of London and an Industrial Fellow at Kingston University. In February 2004 he was a Visiting Fellow of the University of Iowa Institute for International Business. He has lectured and presented to conferences and Colleges in twelve countries across four continents.

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0750680539
• ISBN 13: 9780750680530
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 300