Training objective is one of the most important parts of training program. While some people think of training objective as a waste of valuable time. The counterargument here is that resources are always limited and the training objectives actually lead the design of training. It provides the clear guidelines and develops the training program in less time because objectives focus specifically on needs. It helps in adhering to a plan. Training objectives tell the trainee that what is expected out of him at the end of the training program. Training objectives are of great significance from a number of stakeholder perspectives,
1. Trainer
2. Trainee
3. Designer
4. Evaluator
Trainer – The training objective is also beneficial to trainer because it helps the trainer to measure the progress of trainees and make the required adjustments. Also, trainer comes in a position to establish a relationship between objectives and particular segments of training.
Trainee – The training objective is beneficial to the trainee because it helps in reducing the anxiety of the trainee up to some extent. Not knowing anything or going to a place which is unknown creates anxiety that can negatively affect learning. Therefore, it is important to keep the participants aware of the happenings, rather than keeping it surprise.
Secondly, it helps in increase in concentration, which is the crucial factor to make the training successful. The objectives create an image of the training program in trainee’s mind that actually helps in gaining attention. Thirdly, if the goal is set to be challenging and motivating, then the likelihood of achieving those goals is much higher than the situation in which no goal is set. Therefore, training objectives helps in increasing the probability that the participants will be successful in training
Designer – The training objective is beneficial to the training designer because if the designer is aware what is to be achieved in the end then he’ll buy the training package according to that only. The training designer would then look for the training methods, training equipments, and training content accordingly to achieve those objectives. Furthermore, planning always helps in dealing effectively in an unexpected situation. Consider an example; the objective of one training program is to deal effectively with customers to increase the sales. Since the objective is known, the designer will design a training program that will include ways to improve the interpersonal skills, such as verbal and non verbal language, dealing in unexpected situation i.e. when there is a defect in a product or when a customer is angry.
Therefore, without any guidance, the training may not be designed appropriately.
Evaluator – It becomes easy for the training evaluator to measure the progress of the trainees because the objectives define the expected performance of trainees. Training objective is an important to tool to judge the performance of participants.
P.W.Wiljoy
