Benefits and Compensation

How Do You Compare? Training and Development Survey Results Are In

Thanks to all 1,052 participants in the 2014 Training and Development Survey! Here are the detailed results:

HR’s Role

HR wears multiple hats when it comes to implementing training programs.

What Is HR’s Role?

Helps supervisors with training for employees as needed

86.9%

Decides what training is needed

86.2%

Evaluates training materials/options

83.5%
(59% in 2013)

Schedules training sessions

82.5%

Purchases the materials

80.1%
(47% in 2013)

Conducts the training

78.3%

Evaluates/hires trainers

72.2%

When asked who makes decisions about training, 85.2% (70% in 2013) of the participants in our survey indicated that it’s executive management. Human resources management is involved in making those decisions for 84.6%. In-house counsel is involved in the decision-making process for 25.1% and training/development staff is involved for 62.2% of survey participants. Supervisors and managers, however, are involved in the decision-making process for 83.8%.

Training Process

A separate training department is in place for 31.1% of respondents, and 25.6% have a designated supervisor who oversees training full-time. Full-time trainers are on staff for 29.5%.

One hour is the regularly preferred session length for employee training for 38.8% of survey participants and it is 2 hours for 19.3%. For 17.9% 4 hours is preferred and a half-hour is the session of choice for 17.1%. Ninety minutes is regularly scheduled by 15.8%, and all day training is preferred by 14.7%. Forty-five minutes is the norm for 11.9%, and training sessions of 15 minutes or less trails the pack at 7.5%.


Compensation offering a few too many challenges? Make headway on July 16, 2014, with an interactive webinar, Mastering Unusual Pay Situations: How to Establish Blended Salary Rates, Set Relocation Differentials, Avoid Pay Compression & More! Learn More


Training Topics

Mentoring Programs

Formal mentoring programs are available for employees at 27.4% of survey participants who answered this question in our survey, and they are available for supervisors at 19%. Manager level employees are included in formal mentoring programs at 17.6%.

Management Training

Leadership/management is the professional development topic covered most (82.6%) when training management team members, followed by dealing with problem employees at 76%. Following closely is ethics/integrity at 71.7% and communication/presentation at 69.4%. Coming in next is team building at 69.1%. Other professional training topics for management include:

  • Company mission and values—68.8%
  • Time management—56.3%
  • Job-related skills—55.7%

Our survey question regarding professional development for employees paints a different picture with job-related skills topping the list for 83.8%, followed by company mission and values at 73.3%. Next in line is ethics/integrity at 64.8% and communication/presentation at 58.6%. Other professional training topics for employees include:

  • Team building—54.6%
  • Time management—50.1%
  • Dealing/coping with problem employee—23.1%
  • Leadership/management—20.7%

Employee Training Required Trends

For 43% of those responding to this question in our survey, incoming employees with no college education require more on-the-job training than their counterparts of prior years. This employee group requires the same amount of training for 33.1% and less training for 2.3%. Incoming tech workers with no college require more training for 38.7%, the same amount of training for 37.8%, and less training than in the past for 2.7%.

College-educated, nontech workers require more training for 27.7%, the same level of training for 48.6%, and less training for 4.1%. College-educated tech workers require more training for 24.8%, the same amount of training for 48.1%, and less training for 7%.

Top Training Needs

The number one training need for the organizations represented by our survey participants is job skills (22.1%), followed closely by leadership/supervisory skills (20.5%). Compliance training comes in third at 12%, with safety training next at 6.5%.  Better training materials are needed by 5.9%, and more time for training is needed by 5.6%.

The number one complaint regarding training is that there isn’t enough time for training (27.5%), followed by there’s not enough training available (11.1%). Inadequate materials (10.6%) and a lack of cost-effective training (10.2%) are next, with the issue that training takes too much time away from the job (7.9%) rounding out the top five complaints.

Products and Services

Quality of the materials is very important for 80.5% and moderately important for 15%. Cost is  very important for 74% and moderately important for 19.7%. Adaptability to their needs is very important for 72% and moderately important for 20.7%. Ability to deploy on mobiles/tablets is not a consideration for 55.7% and is slightly important for 21%. The kind of equipment required is not a consideration for 8% and is slightly important for 19.8%.

The most recommended source/vendor for training is SHRM at 76.9%. Coming in second and third are BLR® (72.6%) and HR.BLR.com® (69.5%). Fourth and fifth are OSHA (64.2%) and the U.S. Department of Labor (56.7%).


Comp just refuses to be easy. Join us July 16 for an interactive webinar, Mastering Unusual Pay Situations: How to Establish Blended Salary Rates, Set Relocation Differentials, Avoid Pay Compression, & More! Earn 1.5 hours in Recertification Credit (HRCI and WorldatWork). Register Now or Find Out More


Participant Demographics

Organizations with up to 250 employees account for 55% of our survey participants, and 24.2% have 251 to 1,000 employees. Another 14.4% employ 1,001 to 5,000 individuals, and 6.5% of survey respondents work in organizations with more than 5,000 employees. Unions represent employees at 24.9% of our survey participant employers.
Privately owned, for-profit organizations are represented by 53.1% of survey participants and privately owned not-for-profits account for 20.9%. Public sector employers make up 22.6% and “other” represents 3.4%. Industries include:

  • Manufacturing—17.7%
  • Health care and social assistance—15%
  • Finance and insurance—9%
  • Educational services—7.2%
  • Public administration—6.9%
  • Professional, technical, and scientific services—5.7%
  • Retail trade—3.4% 

Our 1,052 survey participants are classified as Staff (18.8%), Supervisor (6.3%), Manager (55.6%), and VP or higher (19.3%).

Once again, thanks to all participants!

In tomorrow’s Advisor, we will providemore survey results, including training methods, training budgets, and training metrics, plus survey demographics.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *