Training and Development: Impact on Employee Performance at Coles

This research paper investigates the relationship between training and development and its impact on employee performance at Coles Supermarket, a leading Australian retailer. The study explores the significance of training practices, examines the impact on employee performance and productivity, and evaluates the training needs of Coles employees. It also analyzes the benefits of training in enhancing Coles' performance and productivity, providing recommendations for improving training and development practices to further enhance employee performance.

Topic: An investigation into the relationship between training and
development and its impact on improved performance of
employees in an organisation - a case study of Coles
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Executive Summary
Training has become an integral part of the organisation and is significant for the growth and
development of employees so that they can perform up to the standard. In the current dynamic
competitive market training has become an essential need and requirement for the organisation
(Nda and Fard, 2013). The study aims at investigating of training and development practices and
its implication on the employee performance in a selected company known as Coles. Coles
Supermarket is an Australia based supermarket, retailer as well as consumer service provider
company. This research study present of a literature review on the significant relationship
between training and development required for the development of employee’s performance and
productivity. The use of various peer-reviewed literature has been made in this assessment in
order to identify the relationship among both of the variables i.e. training and development and
improved employee performance in context of the company Coles Supermarket. Moreover, the
research paper also highlights the research gaps and limitations which occurred due to the non-
existence of empirical evidence in order to prove the research topic. Different authors present
their distinctive views and lack in some area the paper emphasis on that area and provide with
the need of further investigation on it. In the end summary of whole research paper is also made.
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Table of Contents
Executive Summary.....................................................................................................................................2
1. Introduction.............................................................................................................................................4
2. Project Objective.....................................................................................................................................5
3. Project Scope...........................................................................................................................................6
4. Literature Review....................................................................................................................................7
Research Gap.............................................................................................................................................11
5. Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................13
References.................................................................................................................................................14
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1. Introduction
The main purpose of research is to study the relationship between training and development and
its implication on employee performance. In order to survive in the turbulent business market,
the companies are facing stiff competition so as to gain competitive advantage. For attaining
such position in the market, the human resources play a vital role. However, there are various
other factors also which lead to the success and growth of company. Furthermore, the
organisations which are differentiating on the basis of human capital reflects of intangible
characteristics and features such as skills, knowledge, innovation and others which greatly
impact on improving the productivity of company. Those organisations who tend to adopt of
effective training and development program seems to achieve both of their long-term as well as
short-term goals. The purpose of this research paper is to present numerous literature on the
selected topic and provide evidence and support to investigate it. The literature presented help in
gaining in-depth knowledge and skills of subject area. Conclusion is also drawn at the end of this
research paper.
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2. Project Objective
The research paper aims to study and investigate the relationship among training and
development and its influence on enhanced performance of employees in a case scenario of
Coles Supermarket. The whole research paper is based on this theme only and the research
objectives which are targeted in this research paper are as follows:
 To study the significance of training and development practices.
 To examine the impact of training and development on improving employee’s
performance and organisational productivity.
 To evaluate the training need’s and requirement of employees at Coles Supermarket
 To determine the benefits of training and development in increasing Coles
performance and productivity.
 To provide with suitable recommendations for using of training and development
practices in order to increase the performance of Coles’ employees.
The above listed are the specific objective of a research paper which is aimed to be achieved in
this particular course (Nda and Fard, 2013).
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3. Project Scope
This research paper has been based on various directions and is carried out with present literature
on signifying the relationship of training and development and its impact on employee’s
performances. The project study emphasis on the rules, regulations, strategies followed by Coles
in order to train and develop its employee and also the market trend in Australia. The various
trends and dynamic business environment will be studied in order to know the relationship of
both the variables. The study is helpful for both long-term as well as short-term planning of
organisational aims and objectives as in every stage of organisation the human resource
management will be a major concern for the company. However, this research paper is limited to
the analysis of training and development to a specific business organisation of Australia i.e.
Coles Supermarket. One of the major scopes of this research study is it covers all the
applications of academic literature in order to fill the research gap and highlight the positive and
negative implications of training on improving employee’s performance.
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4. Literature Review
This research paper mainly emphasis and focuses on examining of existing literature which lay
to highlight the significant impact of training and development practices in context of improving
the employee’s performance. Starting from the concepts and definition of training and
development and its applicability in the organisation is discussed. At the end of this section, a
research gap is also been identified which provides with the lack area in existing literature.
Training and Development in Organisation
According to Brewster (2017), training is referred to as the systematic way that is being adopted
by the organisation in order to develop the individual employee for maximising their
performance and productivity. Training and development practices are considered to be a
significant tool and technique for the organisation in order to enhance the knowledge, skills, and
attitudes of existing as well as new employees towards the organisational aims and objectives.
Training is not limited to the organisational benefits but also helps in the personal growth and
development of the employees (Brewster, 2017). A trained and well-developed employee is a
strong asset to the company which will help in attracting the large customer base and ultimately
the profitability of the company. In addition to this, training is a need in today’s dynamic world
also where a lot of competition in between the organisations are taking place and especially in
the supermarket.
Employee training and Employee Productivity
The study of Ongori and Nzonzo (2011), believes that training is an integral part of the process
of enhancing the employee’s performance in the organisation. It is so because employees from
different background and culture come in the company which needs to be trained and explained
about the organisational culture and pattern so that they can perform up to the mark and
standards of company. The study shows that there is a direct relationship in both the variables
and is used by both existing employees as well as new employees in order to improve their
performance. The training provided to existing employees helps in embracing of their skills so
that company can gain a competitive advantage in front of its competitors and gain large market
share thereafter.
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Source: (By Author)
Training and Development Practices at Coles
In case of examining the significant relationship among both the variables, the study of company
Coles is assessed. As per Coles (2010), it is reflected that the company is investing a high
amount of budget on their training and development practices so that their employees can
perform effectively and efficiently in the organisation. For such purpose the company emphasis
on few techniques and tools which are such as time management, problem-solving approach,
phone techniques, teamwork, communication, and others. All of these approaches are the key
focus on training so that employees are motivated and their stress burden can be reduced. In face,
with any of the challenges and issues, the above factor has great importance and it is essential to
focus on these factors so as to lead in this dynamic market (Coles, 2010).
Training and Job Satisfaction
As prescribed by Sahinidis and Bouriss (2008), in the current era where there are a lot of
continuous changes in the business environment is happening and a high uncertainty exists the
company needs to deal with such complexity. Due to the varying customer’s demand and need,
there is a need for training employees as per the customers as well. Training is referred to as the
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Employee
ProductivityRevenue
Training

study which is designed to enhance the performance of employees in an effective and efficient
manner. There is a positive relationship in between the employee’s training and their satisfaction
level. Training helps in enhancing the required organisation skill of employee so that they can
work effectively and up to the organisational standard. The training and development practices
offered to the employees help in reducing the anxiety, frustration and stress level of employees
and help them in managing of their work and personal life (Sahinidis and Bouriss, 2008). It is
supported in maintaining an equitable balance in between personal and professional life so that
both of the lives support employees in effective functioning and ultimately, boost the morale of
employees. On the contrary, the large skill gap of employees in order to meet the organisational
requirements the larger will be the lack of satisfaction level. From the study by various, it is
revealed that the training is most commonly used tool and technique for increasing the job
satisfaction level.
Model of Training
Figure 1: Bramley’s individual model of training
Source: (Sahinidis and Bouris, 2008)
The above-stated model helps in presenting the relationship in between the training and
organisational performance. In addition to this, the above model reflects the individual training
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needs of the organisation should recognise that their employees are ineffective and requires
changes in their skills, attitudes, and behaviours. In case the proper training and development are
not provided to the employees than it may lead to a shortfall in their performance and
productivity. The model is proposed by Bramley and is aimed at improving individual
performing through training practices (Crook, et. al., 2011).
Another study conducted by Khan, et. al. (2011), believes that the human resource management
is the key and integral part of the organisation and is the reason behind the success of company.
It is one of the important resources of company so it becomes essential for the organisation to
invest a huge amount of funds on them. For example – Investing in the training and
development practices of employees results in increased performance and productivity and also
increase their morale to a greater extent. It is so because the performance is a key element behind
attaining of organisational goals and objectives and for increasing the performance it is must that
employee is well equipped and trained. It is very crucial for the organisation to design the
training practices very carefully and identify the employee’s need. For increasing the
performance of employees there are various types of training has been provided such as on the
job and off the job training depending on the type of requirement. On the job training is helpful
for the employees in getting their knowledge and job in much better and enhanced way. It is so
as the people learn faster when they experience things in real life (Gruman and Saks, 2011). A
theoretical framework is also shown below which support the argument of author.
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Figure 2: Theoretical Framework
Source: (Khan, et. al., 2011)
From the above figure, it is clearly evident that the training and development are directly related
to the organisational performance. Moreover, the training and development also comprise of
various elements such as delivery style, on the job training and training designs. Furthermore, it
is also observed that the training and development is an independent variable whereas,
organisational performance is a dependent variable. This statement is also argued by various
authors through framing of hypothesis and the result of all those states that both of the variables
have a significant relationship (Rummler and Brache, 2012).
From the study of Coles many times, the organisation embarks on the job enrichment and job
enlargement which is aimed to promote the employee and boost their morale. Coles invest huge
funds and resources in order to train the employees and derive benefits of it (GradAustralia,
2018). The training has several benefits such as it helps in retaining of the customers,
strengthening of team spirit, increase individual employee performance, reducing the recruitment
cost and many others. It is useful for the organisation as well as employees to build their
performance and productivity in short and long-term (Barzegar and Farjad, 2011). At Coles,
there are a variety of programs is been running which caters to different areas such as
commercial acumen, IT systems, retail practice and others. Most of the training is provided to the
employees at the time of induction program only by the experts who are using various training
tools and techniques to develop the employees as per the organisational requirements. The
training provides highlights and focuses on key areas only which are such as teamwork, phone
techniques, time management, communication skills, problem-solving skills and others
(GradAustralia, 2018).
Research Gap
The research gap analysed is based on the analysis of literature review and is an important tool in
knowing the literature gaps for both the readers as well as researchers. With the help of research
gap, the significance of the research is studied. The first research gap identified is that there is
very few information has been focused in regards to the training and development practices at
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Coles used for enhancing the employee’s performance. The second research gap identified is that
the project study revolves around the training and development practices as the only indicator to
increase the performance of employees. There are various other indicator and instruments which
is the reason behind the increased performance of employees. Hence, the above two research gap
identified seems that there is a requirement of investigating more on the proposed area. The other
major research gap identified is that a few of author has investigated about the training and
development practices at the company Coles.
Hence, the study of the overall literature review is very useful and helpful in getting an in-depth
knowledge and skills relating to the specific research topic.
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5. Conclusion
From the analysis of research study, it is examined that the training and development help in
increasing the performance of individuals. Both of these variables have a direct and positive
relationship. Moreover, the literature presented above is very helpful in knowing the significant
concepts and conventions. Furthermore, the study also highlights the significant of training and
development practices in improving the individual employee’s performance. From the study of
literature review, there are three research gaps is been identified. Overall, the study is very
significant in knowing the need for training and development for increasing performance of
organisational employees.
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References
 Barzegar, N. and Farjad, S., 2011. A Study on the Impact of on the job training
Courses on the Staff Performance (A Case Study). Procedia-Social and Behavioral
Sciences, 29, pp.1942-1949.
 Brewster, C., 2017. The integration of human resource management and corporate
strategy. In Policy and practice in European human resource management (pp. 22-35).
Routledge.
 Coles, 2010. The Time for Training. [Online] Coles Training. Available at:
http://www.colestraining.com/media/articles/the-time-for-training/ [Accessed: 15 April
2018]
 Crook, T.R., Todd, S.Y., Combs, J.G., Woehr, D.J. and Ketchen Jr, D.J., 2011. Does
human capital matter? A meta-analysis of the relationship between human capital and
firm performance. Journal of applied psychology, 96(3), p.443.
 GradAustralia, 2018. Training & Personal Development at Coles. [Online]
gradaustralia. Available at:
https://gradaustralia.com.au/graduate-employers/coles/reviews/training [Accessed: 15
April 2018]
 Gruman, J.A. and Saks, A.M., 2011. Performance management and employee
engagement. Human Resource Management Review, 21(2), pp.123-136.
 Khan, R.A.G., Khan, F.A. and Khan, M.A., 2011. Impact of training and
development on organizational performance. Global Journal of Management and
Business Research, 11(7).
 Nda, M.M. and Fard, R.Y., 2013. The impact of employee training and development
on employee productivity. Global Journal of Commerce and Management
Perspective, 2(6), pp.91-93.
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 Ongori, H. and Nzonzo, J.C., 2011. Training and development practices in an
organisation: an intervention to enhance organisational effectiveness. International
Journal of engineering and management sciences, 2(4), pp.187-198.
 Rummler, G.A. and Brache, A.P., 2012. Improving performance: How to manage the
white space on the organization chart. John Wiley & Sons.
 Sahinidis, A.G. and Bouris, J., 2008. Employee perceived training effectiveness
relationship to employee attitudes. Journal of European Industrial Training, 32(1),
pp.63-76.
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