Training human resources according to the ISO 9001 Standard requirements – Part 2
Training Human Resources – Evaluating the Training
Training is a big expense. Expenses for the tutor, the employees’ working hours, even the coffee that employees are drinking during the training… Training expenses are not trough right after the training is over. When an employee makes a fatal mistake in front of your customer, it’s because he didn’t pay attention during the training – that is an expense. And it costs! When you set trainings for your employees you expect to get the return on the investment. After the training, the employees are supposed to do the job better, more efficiently and with fewer mistakes.
Now, you may think that every time an employee missed something or didn’t understand something during the training, he would raise the hand and ask, but you are wrong. An employee would prefer the lack of knowledge more than his colleagues or boss to think he or she are stupid or cannot understand. It is very different from high school or university. The employee is afraid for his spot and if someone would notice that he does not understand he would feel some risks. “I will understand it later!” Later means on account of work and that means nonconformities in front of your customers. This is the exact point where you must get your employees and evaluate the training. You must evaluate the tutor as well. He can be a very nice person, well dressed and has beautiful presentations but eventually no one understands a word of what he is saying. You must evaluate the topics of the training. The employees understood all, the tutor is professional but the information is not relevant what so ever. The training would not contribute to the product’s quality. You will never get your money back. Thus, training must be evaluated. You must evaluate its effectiveness. You must verify the following:
- Evaluate the relevancy of the training to your product. This is why the training must be planned by professionals who have experience in realizing the product. This is exactly where their added value is at use.
- Evaluate the employees. Check if they assimilate the training. You may check it by an exam at the end of the training, process or productivity analysis in a defined period or any way you choose. It is always recommended to examine the surface than to gather information from the employees. See for yourself what is going on.
- Evaluate the tutor. Does he really know what he is talking or that he just wastes your time and money?
- Evaluate whether the training is updated. In our modern world changes occur any day any hour. What was right a year ago could be totally wrong today. Perhaps the organization is providing a whole new set of products but the trainings are referring to the old products.
The ISO 9001 Standard requires documenting the training evaluation. The documentation must prove that the training was effective for the product’s quality (this is a quality management system). The documentation may be: Employees questionnaires, production analysis, measuring constant improvement, evidence for less nonconformity – anything to prove that the training achieved its purpose. We refer you to a convenient solution for documenting the trainings and the evaluation. The solution holds against the ISO 9001:2008 Standard requirements: QualityManualTemplates.com.
Other Documentation Requirements for Human Resources
The organization must document the employee’s suitability to the job. The organization must prove that the employee is capable of performing the work. Evidence can occur as:
- Records of education – where the function is a welder – you must present his education as a welder
- Records of certification for the job – according to the certification process (internal or external)
- Records of trainings (internal or external) according to a prior definition (the training plan)
- Medical examination (according to requirements – like in the food industry for example)
Usually it is in the responsibility of the human resources department, but these are the ISO 9001 requirements.
Training Human Resources – Summary
- Training, without any doubts, is what determines the quality of your products
- The employees are the ones who realize the products. The products and services supplied to customers are more complex. You must combine the two together: the human resources and the knowledge.
- You must initiate the trainings and provide them to your employees.
- Training may be expressed in many ways.
- You must create for any function in your organization (which is related to the product, of course) a training plan: a training that would assist your employees and provide them with tools and knowledge for their everyday work.
- The training plan must cover the organization’s objectives. Help your employees achieve the objectives that you set!
- There are many way that you can conduct training.
- When you set trainings for your employees you expect to get the return on the investment. Thus, training must be evaluated. You must evaluate its effectiveness.
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