objectives

3. Setting Objectives

• Linking Organization Strategy with Training
• Advantages of Objectives
• The Writing of objectives
• Five steps of writing objectives:
• Objective should contain the following five elements:
• The final written objective will contain three components:
• A well written objective:

Strategic goal setting

Training objective and organizational objectives have a lot in common-they are both results oriented, performance based planning tools. The use of objectives tells employees and their managers what is to be learned, and helps them evaluate how performance will be changed as a result of the course. The writing of objectives enables us to answer the critical question, “What should the trainee be able to do at the end of the training program?”

Linking organizational strategy with training:-

The process of determining what is to be learned can start at the top or from the bottom of the organization.

Top Down:

          From the top, executives determine organizational strategy. Strategy is both a purpose and a plan. The goals of the organization are established and resources allocated to meet those goals. Managers then use the overall corporate strategy to derive departmental or functional goals. Then, individual jobs or job holders are assigned their goals. These individual goals are often negotiated, in some form of management by objectives exercise.

          For example, Sprint uses the LINK performance management system for linking business objectives, employee development plans, performance evaluation, and training courses. The LINK system operates in a cascading format, starting with executive announcements of business plans at the start of the cycle. Four to six key objectives are identified for each employee that aligns with the accomplishment of the business objectives. Then, each employee prepares an individual development plan for the accomplishment of the objectives. Training goals must align with these development plans, and progress is checked by two annual performance reviews.

          Sometimes business strategy is determined by environmental threats or changes that require repositioning of the business, and subsequent retraining for employees.

Bottom Up:

          Conversely, training objectives can start with someone in the organization having a concern about employee performance or a unit’s production of specific performance weaknesses or opportunities for improving effectiveness. With these data in hand, the human resource developer can state specifically the behaviors that are to change. The most effective way to do this is through the preparation of objectives.

          An objective is a statement of what participants are expected to be able to do after a training program. Put another way, an objective is the expected outcome of training. The instructional objective describes the skills or knowledge to be acquired and transferred to the job.

          The emphasis in training is no performance, or behavior on the job. Learning can be described as the process of acquiring new skills, knowledge, and attitudes, while performance is the use of these new skills, knowledge and attitudes. The establishment of learning objectives focuses on performance on the job. This performance should be observable and measurable.

Advantages of Objectives:-

As trainers and developers work with programs, they discover that there is a strong case to be made for knowing exactly what a course promises to achieve. There are seven reasons for this:

1.    Trainees need to have a clear understanding of what is expected of them. Objectives allow them to focus their energies on achieving these goals, rather than to waste energy on irrelevant tasks or trying to figure out what is required of them. Several studies have demonstrated that, if instructors use objectives, students can be more efficient learners. The clarity of the goal and the specific feedback toward its achievement is critical to training. Someone once said that baseball would die if it weren’t for its emphasis on performance statistics. Such statistics suggest clear goals for future achievement.

2.    Trainees can be assessed prior to instruction to determine if they have mastered nay of the objectives. Depending on the results, students can either omit certain section of a course or undertake other training to master the prerequisites.

3.    The selection of content, teaching modes and evaluation method is simplified by objectives. Trainers will concentrate on methods that produce results, rather than using favorite or trendy training techniques.

4.    Objectives communicate to supervisors, professional groups, assessors, and others what the trainee is expected to have learned by the end of the training program. Instructors who teach preceding and subsequent units of training also need this information.

5.    Management and the training supervisors know exactly what is expected of trainees and can reinforce the new skills learned in the job situation.

6.    Accountability for training results may make managers more likely to approve a course that specifies improvements to be achieved. This communicates to employees that raining means business and that it is an integral part of the planning of the organization.

7.    A precise, objective and measurable statement of learning objectives enables evaluators to gauge the quantitative benefits of a program. 

The Writing of Objectives:-

The writing of objectives is a skill that can be learned. Skill in writing objectives does not mean that trainers can make lists of behavior verbs such as “recognize” and “evaluate”. The real skill is the ability to rework needs analysis data into performance outcomes.

The five steps of writing objectives:

 1.    List the goals of the instruction. An example would be: the student will be able to describe the domains of learning.

 2.    These goals should then be translated into observable or measurable items.

The example: The student will be able to define objectives, discuss five advantages and three limitations of objectives, list the domains of learning, and give an example of an objective within each domain.

 3.    The degree of detail must be considered. This will vary with the level of learning within various contexts or institutions and with the learner. We might take one of the above objectives and state: The student will be able to list the domains of learning with 90% accuracy.

 4.    The circumstances or conditions of evaluation must be stated. Will the student list the domains alone, or with an open book, within 15 minutes, and so on? The objective should include this information. 

 5.    The next step would be to take the list of objectives and have them reviewed by other instructors and former and current trainees. The goal is to assess whether the objectives are measurable, clear, comprehensive, and achievable, and whether they adequately reflect course content. Adult learners, in particular, should be widely consulted on the earning objectives. This is practical and feasible in training situation, less so in educational institutions where goals are predetermined.

Objectives should contain the following five elements:-

 1.    Who is to perform the desired behavior? Students and participants are the easiest to identify. In a training situation, where employees are not necessarily students in a classroom, more accurate descriptors might be

·       “all first-level supervisors,”

·       “anyone conducting selection interviews,” or

·       “all employees with more than one month of experience.”

the trainer is not the  “who, “although it is tempting for some trainees to write, for example, that the trainer will present five hours of information on communication. The goal of the instructor is to maximize the efficiency with which all students achieve the specified objectives, not just present the information.

 2.    What is the actual behavior to be employed to demonstrate mastery of the training content or objective? Words like “type,” “run” and “calculate” can be measured easily. Other mental activities such as comprehension and analysis can also be described in measurable ways.

 3.    And 4. Where and when is the behavior to be demonstrated and evaluated?  These could include “during  a 60 minutes typing test,” “on the ski hill with icy conditions,” “when presented with a diagram,” or “when asked to design a training session.” The tools, equipment, information and other source materials for training should be specified.

 5.    What is the standard by which the behavior will be judged? Is the trainee expected to type 60words per minute, with less than three errors? Can he student list five out of six categories?

The final written objective will contain three components:

 1.    Performance:

What the trainee will be able to do after the session.

 2.    Condition:

The tools, time and so on under which the trainee is expected to perform.

 3.    Criterion:

The level of acceptable performance.

A well written objective would read as follows:

The sales representative (who) will be able to make 10 calls a day to new customers in the territory assigned (what, where, when) and will be able to generate three (30%) sales worth at least $500 from these calls (how, or the criterion).

          The first attempt at writing objectives will be difficult. However, after some experience, a generalization of these planning skills will occur. Managers will start thinking in terms of management by objectives and performance appraisals using measurable results. People negotiating assignments and other work will evaluate the contract or objective in terms of its measurability.

          Representative workers should be involved in the development of the learning objectives. A team consisting of the trainer, trainees, and their supervisors would be ideal. At some point, the objectives should be reviewed with and approved by the executives of the organization and the supervisors of the trainees. Nadler cites a case in which a sales training programs, based on a needs analysis of sales representatives, was rejected by senior management because management were secretly planning fundamental organizational changes.

In summary, a learning objective contains an observable action, with a measurable criterion outlining conditions of performance.