Understanding Learning Theories and Styles

This assignment explores different learning theories and their application in educational settings. It examines the influence of theories like instrumental conditioning, cognitive psychology, and constructivism on learner development. The assignment also discusses various learning styles and how understanding them can enhance teaching strategies. It aims to provide a comprehensive overview of learning theories and their practical implications for educators.

HUMAN RESOURCE
DEVELOPMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
Covered in PPT.......................................................................................................................1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................1
2.1...........................................................................................................................................1
2.2...........................................................................................................................................2
2.3...........................................................................................................................................4
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................5
3.1...........................................................................................................................................5
3.2...........................................................................................................................................6
3.3...........................................................................................................................................8
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................9
4.1...........................................................................................................................................9
4.2.........................................................................................................................................10
4.3.........................................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
The globalisation in market has increased the needs and demands of customers which
compels the organisation to make themselves competitive in the market. To fulfil the demands of
customers and gaining competitive advantage it becomes necessary to make employees well
trained and skilled in their work. Modern technologies are being installed in organisations to
execute various complex tasks which needs workers to be enough trained in handling these
technologies. To increase knowledge about these techniques, companies should organise training
and development sessions. This helps the business firms to take advantage of skilled labour that
leads to efficient operations of company. Further it assist in making cost of operations less,
consequently the enterprise achieves economies of scale. All this functions are performed by
Human resource department of an entity.
HRD or human resource development refers to the same concept as mentioned above.
The development aspect of humans in a company is an important task to maintain the quality of
performance in employees. To understand the process more deeply, Hilton group of hotels is
selected established in UK. It operates a wide chain of hotels in various countries and has
become a leading company in hospitality industry. The report has discussed the difference
between learning styles that vary from individual to individual. In addition, report has focussed
on training methods that are adopted by cited hotel. Finally the report will demonstrate the
contribution of government in development of learnings for people to encourage them for
employment.
TASK 1
Covered in PPT
TASK 2
2.1
Training and development is the essential part of HRD where organisations attempt to
make improvement in their work. The training method adopted by companies should be based on
requirement of employees as per the areas where they lack. Therefore the type of training should
be decided after determining the quality of employees and which areas of functions are to be
improved by training. The Hilton group of hotels follow different types of training according to
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needs of workers at different levels (Kehoe and Wright, 2013). This is the reason because of
which mentioned hotel has been a successful brand in industry by maintaining a sound work
culture and with healthy relations between employer and employees. The training at mentioned
hotel can be organised at different levels in following manner:
Managerial level Customer service level Operational level
 Practical knowledge
based training to
improve basic to high
level of skills.
Managing and building
teams and increasing
efficiency in decision
making (Kraaijenbrink,
Spender and Groen,
2010).
 Arranging for
workshops that can
help in replacing
outdated knowledge of
workers with updated
one.
 Making employees
presentable before
customers.
 Enhancing their
personality and
communication skills.
 To make employees
efficient in resolving
issues of guests and
attending them
properly.
 At this level, line
managers are made
responsible to make
decisions related to
performance of lower
level employees and
monitor their work.
 To make arrangements
for giving proper
training that can satisfy
customers in best way
(Salvendy, 2012).
2.2
The different training methods adopted by companies have various benefits and
drawbacks as well. When the training is organised to expand the business or similar kind of
strategic decision, then training should be designed in the same way. This will help the quoted
business firm in achieving their objective in economical way. Likewise, if the operations of
company are not running in a cost effective way, then management has to make training
programme that is based on understanding importance of efficient utilisation of resources. The
right training programme conducted in appropriate way will definitely result in boosting the
performance of workers. Therefore deciding the type of training that should be imparted to
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employees is very crucial part for HR department (Duflo, 2012). The training methods that are
adopted by Hilton with their advantage and disadvantage is explained:
Methods of training Benefits Drawbacks
On the job method
Apprenticeship method This method is beneficial for
employer and employees as
well because workers can
improve their professional
behaviour and consequently
services delivered by hotel will
be more satisfying.
The method of training is quite
expensive (Markos and
Sridevi, 2010).
Job rotation This type of training is helpful
in enhancing knowledge of
employees in different areas as
they work in various
departments. The varied kinds
of tasks and responsibilities
which are distinct with each
other helps in making job
interesting.
This training method can make
employees irritate as frequent
changes in their department
will compel them to adjust
frequently as per the
environment. Moreover,
giving training each time for
new designation and
responsibility is time
consuming and costly.
Off-the-job
Vestibule training In this method, more
emphasis is exercised on
learning where mistakes can
be made (Swarbrookeand
Page, 2012). The approach is
based on learning through trial
and error method.
The method is quite costly as
trial and error method
increases the chances of
duplication in work.
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Conference The method is helpful as many
employees can be trained at a
time with optimum use of
available resources.
The number of employees
involved in this method are
large which can increase
difficulty for trainer to manage
them.
2.3
For arranging the training and development, it is necessary to understand the primary
objectives of organisation. The workshops designed in such a way, will help in achieving
maximum positive results (De Haas, 2010). The operations of Hilton hotel are spread in whole
world which needs a systematic plan that can make employees perfect in their work and maintain
the brand value of cited hotel. So, hotel use to adopt the changes that are occurring in business
environment. This makes the firm competitive in market with improved services in satisfying
the guests. This condition calls for designing the training methods according to present-day
requirements. For this, below highlighted procedure can be followed: Identifying needs: The aforesaid hotel at its first step use to identify the employees who
are in need of training (Ghai and Vivian, 2014). This need can be identified by comparing
the performance of workers according to current needs of market. Here, cited company
has made changes to match the present situation of market. So, firm makes an attempt to
replace the current knowledge of worker with the new one so that employees can be
made competitive. For this, different types of styles and learning method can be
implemented. Defining objectives of training: This is the necessary step as it is essential to make
workers accept the change and its need for organisation. If employees understand these
objectives of firm they will be more able to realize the importance of training for them
(Holick and et.al 2011). Besides this, they will take active participation in training
activities and learning process. Therefore, by clearly defining the importance of training
for employees, said business can build the strong base of learning process for workers. Decision of training method: As the manager of HR makes the identification of training
need at first stage, the collected information can be used to design training method. The
method of training is chosen by aforesaid company after analysing various factors like
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budget, learning styles of workers and current trends in market. Thus, the best method is
adopted to improve the capabilities of employees in doing different tasks.
 Implementation and evaluation: In the final step, training is conducted according to the
plan made (McGrath, 2012). The quoted hotel use to evaluate the training process as well
by taking tests and comparing the performance of employees with the previous
presentation. Thus, the increased potentiality and deficiencies can be recorded.
The above mentioned steps helps in developing a systematic order of training process so
that each individual can be made enough efficient in executing the functions of organisation. The
workers can have their overall development by training which results in increasing the quality of
service delivered to guests.
TASK 3
3.1
Training and development being carried out in every type of organization supports in
enhancement of skill along with knowledge level of employees (Chen, 2011). Further, evaluation
of training program in Hilton is must so that business can easily know whether the training
program developed was effective or not. Moreover, sometime it may be possible that
management of the business may not be capable enough of delivering training to the workforce
and due to this reason adoption of evaluation with the help of suitable method is must. It allows
organization in knowing the real areas where they lack in terms of delivering training and
through this improvement it is possible to work for human resource development. Different type
of evaluation criteria are being present which allows in knowing the effectiveness of training
event and it involves questionnaire, observation, feedback sheet etc. (Mitchell, Myles and
Marsden, 2013).
It highlights the key benefits obtained through training and what are the real areas which
require improvement. Observation sheet as one of the method is being adopted by Hilton for
evaluation purpose where employees are observed during training and it is identified whether
such program has benefited them in every possible manner or not. Apart from this, through this
technique it becomes easy to know motivation along with satisfaction level of staff members
towards training. Moreover, questionnaire is also one of the most commonly used methods
where experts and professionals who deliver training prepare questionnaire and employees are
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asked to fill the same. So, this allows in knowing the perception along with attitude of employees
towards training (Pritchard, 2013 ). In the present case questionnaire has been designed for
evaluation purpose of training event where 30 staff members working in Hilton hotel UK have
been asked to fill such questionnaire. Main reason behind evaluating the training program is that
through this management can know whether the cost allocated in training has been recovered or
not.
QUESTIONNAIRE
Name
Age
 25-30 years
 30-35 years
 35 and above
Does Hilton hotel carry out training program on continuous basis?
 Yes
 No
Training program enhances your skill along with knowledge level?
 Strongly agree
 Agree
 Neutral
 Disagree
 Strongly disagree
You prefer to take part in business affairs after attending training programs?
 Strongly agree
 Agree
 Neutral
 Disagree
 Strongly disagree
Does training allow you to take challenging tasks within the workplace?
 Yes
 No
Training has played major role in your career development?
 Strongly agree
 Agree
 Neutral
 Disagree
 Strongly disagree
3.2
Below shown is the information which has been obtained from 30 employees working in Hilton
hotel in order to know the effectiveness of training event being carried out within the workplace
(Klein and Mowrer, 2014).
6

Age No of
respondents
25-30 years 14
30-35 years 8
35 and above 8
Does Hilton hotel
carry out training
program on
continuous basis?
No of
respondents
Yes 22
No 8
Training program
enhances your skill
along with
knowledge level?
No of
respondents
Strongly agree 24
Agree 2
Neutral 2
Disagree 1
Strongly disagree 1
You prefer to take
part in business
affairs after
attending training
programs?
No of
respondents
7

Strongly agree 21
Agree 4
Neutral 2
Disagree 1
Strongly disagree 2
Does training
allow you to take
challenging tasks
within the
workplace?
No of
respondents
Yes 28
No 2
Training has
played major role
in your career
development?
No of
respon
dents
Strongly agree 22
Agree 3
Neutral 1
Disagree 3
Strongly disagree 1
With the help of evaluation it has been clearly found that training being carried out is
quite effective where staff members prefer to take part efficiently. Further, all the staff members
prefer to be integral part of the training event and this leads to development in the form of
knowledge and skills. All the employees replied that training event is favorable for them in every
possible manner (Nadiri and Tanova, 2010).
3.3
The evaluation method questionnaire used for evaluation purpose was quite effective
with the help of which true response of staff members working in Hilton hotel has been gained.
Further, it has been known whether the training events are actually benefitting employees within
the workplace or not. Moreover, without undertaking this method it is not at all possible to obtain
feedback of the staff members in relation with event. Different questions have been framed so as
to obtain relevant information from the staff members and the all the objectives linked with
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training events were accomplished. Further, with the help of response of staff members Hilton
hotel can easily make changes in its training event if required (Soon and Baines, 2012). On the
other hand, other type of evaluation method such as feedback form can also be beneficial as
through this real information can be obtained from the employees. Questionnaire and feedback
form method are almost same and in near future it is possible for Hilton to use this method for
evaluation purpose.
TASK 4
4.1
The UK government has taken various initiatives in the direction for developing the
education and learning system in country. The main objective of government by these initiatives
is to make the people of country efficient in doing their job. Government realised that training
and development should be made available for everyone whether he/she is an employee of public
sector firm or private sector firms (Lin, Chen and Chuang, 2011). The government started the
programmes that can give lifelong learning to the people which must be transferable at the
workplace. Under this concept of lifelong learning, the government launched various educational
and vocational training sessions. These activities helped in inducing the practical knowledge of
workers which made them efficient in handling all types of jobs at workplace. Apart from this,
the lifelong learning concept was given support by different organisations as well in the form of
finance. These training programmes helped companies to make them competitive in market.
Without complying with the legal formalities and its support, no company can establish their
work in market successfully. So, the UK government has made various laws and acts that have
come in support of weaker sections of society (Holick and et.al 2011). The development of
various organisations in country who can support the labour class have came into existence.
Further, the advancement in technologies is also taking place at faster pace. This forces the need
of well trained and skilled workers in companies that are involved in work of different service
industries. The training programmes arranged by government use to give knowledge to workers
without discriminating on the basis of their background and academic performances.
Government of UK has pioneered strict laws and regulations with the objective of enhancing
knowledge level of individuals present in the organisation. All these assistance provided by
government helps business firms in employing skilled employees in their companies. It also
helps them in decreasing their cost on training of workers as they are already well trained and
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skilled in their job (Chen, 2011). On other hand, this helps employees as well because it becomes
easier for them to get jobs in big companies. Many business organisations use to give placement
directly to the trainees who are currently taking training from government launched programmes.
4.2
Competency refers to the ability of a person to perform any work in an efficient manner
and aligned with the objectives of company. The UK government has launched the competency
movement so that fair competition between various firms can be maintained. In organisations,
the managers use to identify the competency of their employees so that they can make use of this
in improving the productivity of business enterprise (Pritchard, 2013). UK has abundant quantity
of skilled labours, but after the introduction of competency movement, the entities have started to
make real and strong strategies for the development of individuals. The global market has
become very competitive where survival of a firm depends on its competitive advantage. In this
condition, the origination of competency movement has come which makes the functioning of
companies smooth and fair. This has made the business organisations to realise the importance of
staff in their workplace for fulfilling the desired objectives of firm. Thus, the launch of
competency movement has benefited both public and private sectors equally.
The competency movement emphasises on skills and knowledge of employees that are
transferable at the workplace in solving the problems of company (Nadiri and Tanova, 2010).
The public sector organisation like Asda PLC has taken the advantage of most of the
opportunities that have been developed due to competency movement. This movement has made
organisations to make improvement in employee's skills so that they can improve their service
quality and management of work. Similarly, in case of Hilton group of hotels which is a private
sector company, has used this approach in developing employees productivity and they have
become potential in accomplishing their task in prompt manner. This has also helped in making
better relations with customers as they get satisfied with the services delivered by company.
Therefore, the said movement has helped various business enterprises in gaining competitive
position in market (Lin, Chen and Chuang, 2011). Moreover, it also give the opportunity to find
out the deficiencies in varied areas so that a solution can be found out to overcome the problems.
4.3
The initiative taken by government for development of individuals have helped the Hilton
hotels in improving the human resources. The different laws and rules that are enacted by
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government has made it mandatory for all companies to impart training and development
workshops at organisations to develop the skills of workers. This has made cited hotel to make
different plans so that training and development sessions can be arranged with regard to making
employees more potential ion their work (Salvendy, 2012). Sometimes due to lack of skills and
expertise workers are not able to lend their efforts in the organisational concerns and it leads to
decrease in performance of business in the market. Because of this reason, training initiatives
have been taken by government of UK where it is necessary for each kind of enterprise to
involve into various activities of training so that staff members may work with full motivation
level and in return productivity of the concern can be increased through this. In nutshell, the
initiatives taken by government has helped in contributing in the welfare of employees. In every
business entity, it is essential to appoint a separate trainer that can impart training and
development in professional way. The trainer is responsible to make overall development of
workers in terms of practical and theoretical knowledge (Markos and Sridevi, 2010).
The Hilton hotel takes into consideration that it can arrange the training and development
activities timely and on regular basis. In this situation, government of UK has also constructed
different training programmes which can make the improvement in learning curve of employees.
In nutshell, all the laws initiated for delivering training within the organisation are quite effective
and has allowed commercial enterprises in gaining competitive advantage. The main cause
behind every industry functioning in UK is training and development practices which are
renowned and efficient for every business. Apart from this, if training related acts are carried out
on continuous basis then it raises strength of the business organisation to deal with the state of
affairs existing in business environment (Swarbrooke and Page, 2012).
CONCLUSION
The above report has depicted the importance of human resource development in the
organisations. The role played by these humans or employees in a business concern is important
and valuable for employers. To make themselves competitive in market, firms use to arrange for
different training and development sessions for workers so that their working quality can be
improved. In present report, Hilton group of hotels is taken as a base to understand the various
perspectives of HRD. Besides this, the learning curve and its application at workplace has been
discussed. This has asserted that enterprises can apply the learning curves in their organisations
to monitors the progress of employee with respect to time. Moreover, different training methods
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like on the job and off the job that is applied by Hilton is also discussed. Finally the report
concludes that, UK government has taken various initiatives with the concept of lifelong learning
that has contributed workers in improving their efficiency. On other hand, companies have taken
advantage of government launched programmes by employing skilled staff at their workplace.
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Duflo, E., 2012. Women empowerment and economic development. Journal of Economic
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