on-the-job training

(noun)

Training that takes place in regular working situations using actual tools and equipment that trainees will use when fully trained.

Related Terms

Examples of on-the-job training in the following topics:

  • Training

    • On-the-job training takes place in a normal working situation, using the actual tools, equipment, documents or materials that trainees will use once they are fully trained.
    • On-the-job training has a general reputation as being most effective for vocational work.
    • Off-the-job training takes place away from normal work situations—implying that the employee does not count as a directly productive worker while such training takes place.
    • Off-the-job training has the advantage in that it allows people to get away from work and concentrate more thoroughly on the training itself.
    • A more recent development in job training is the On the Job Training Plan or OJT Plan.

  • Sales Training

    • Additionally (and perhaps unintentionally on the part of the company), the trained employee becomes more marketable in the event that he or she searches for another job—more and better skills will often lead to better or higher paying jobs.
    • How does one decide on a training system?
    • Organizational needs deal mostly with the skills the company is looking for, the labor force, etc. whereas the job needs focus on the skills that the company views as necessary for a specific position.
    • On-the-job training relies on the employee to recognize the skills and knowledge he or she will need as they perform their work, and then develop those skills on his or her own.
    • Once on site, training takes the shape of training at any other branch of the company.

  • Employee training

    • Additionally, the trained employee becomes more marketable in the event that he or she searches for another job—more and better skills will often lead to better or higher paying jobs (Kulik, 2004).
    • However, how does one decide on a training system?
    • Organizational needs deal mostly with the skills the company is looking for, the labor force, etc. whereas the job needs focus on the skills that the company views as necessary for a specific position.
    • On-the-job: a training method that relies on the employee to recognize the skills and knowledge he or she will need as they perform their work, and then develop those skills on his or her own.
    • Once on site, training takes the shape of training at any other branch of the company (see "Training methods" section).

  • Cross-Training and Job Sharing

    • Cross training involves workers being trained in tangent job functions, while job sharing involves two people working together on the same job.
    • Mary works on Monday and Tuesday, and Susan occupies the same position on Thursday and Friday.
    • This is when they update each other on the current status of the projects on which they collaborate.
    • Increases the employability of staff who have the opportunity to train in areas outside of their original responsibilities
    • Job sharing should not be confused with the more pejorative term featherbedding, which describes the deliberate retention of excess workers on a payroll.

  • How Job Satisfaction Influences Behavior

    • Job satisfaction can affect a person's level of commitment to the organization, absenteeism, and job turnover.
    • Satisfied employees, on the other hand, maintain a more positive and carefree perspective about work.
    • To determine if employees are actually satisfied with the work they do, organizations frequently conduct surveys to measure employees' level of job satisfaction and to identify areas—on-boarding, job training, employee incentive programs, etc.
    • One proven way to enhance job satisfaction is rewarding employees based on performance and positive behavior.
    • Social-information processing is predicated on the notion that people form ideas based on information drawn from their immediate environment, and the behavior of co-workers is a very salient component of an employee's environment.

  • Job Design

    • Maids International Inc., a company that provides cleaning services to households and businesses, utilizes job rotation so that maids cleaning the kitchen in one house would clean the bedroom in a different one.
    • The skill requirements of the jobs and the effort and cost of staffing decreases, and training times for simple, repetitive jobs tend to be shorter as well.
    • On the other hand, these jobs are boring and repetitive and can lead to absenteeism.
    • When workers move to different positions, they are cross-trained to perform different tasks, thereby increasing the flexibility of managers to assign employees to different parts of the organization when needed.
    • It is one of the most influential attempts to design jobs with increased motivational properties.

  • Impact of Public Policy on Unemployment

    • However, the types of policies differ depending on what type of unemployment they address.
    • Frictional unemployment is the period between jobs in which an employee is searching for or transitioning from one job to another.
    • These include offering advice and resources for job-seekers and providing clear and transparent information on available jobs and workers.
    • On the other hand, some frictional unemployment is a good thing - if every worker was offered, and accepted, the first job they encountered, the distribution of workers and jobs would be quite inefficient.
    • Public policy can respond to structural unemployment through programs like job training and education to equip workers with the skills firms demand.

  • Internal equity

    • Imagine that you have seen a job posted on the Internet.
    • Another question to be asked is, "Does one contribute to solutions for customers more than another?"
    • Skill refers to the experience, training, education, and ability required by the job.
    • Job evaluation is a process that takes the information gathered by the job analysis and places a value on the job.
    • Job evaluation is the process of systematically determining the relative worth of jobs based on a judgment of each job's value to the organization.

  • Alternative Philosophies

    • A typical approach might be to replace assembly lines with modular work; instead of an employee repeating the same step on each product, they perform several tasks on a single item.
    • This, in turn, can lead to similar levels of demotivation and job dissatisfaction at the expense of increased training levels and costs.
    • These positions may not fit the profile for rotation opportunities because of the costs involved to train the workers.
    • Finally, the utilization of job rotation may have the effect of reducing a workforce because of the cross-training involved.
    • Replacing assembly lines with modular work is one example of job enlargement.

  • Tactics for Improving Fit

    • The basis for improving fit between the employee and the job is striking a balance between job design and individual—crafting the job in such a way that it complements the employee's individual skills, aspirations, personality, and attributes.
    • This design becomes the foundation for the job description, which is a more exact picture of the job's nature and which comprises the following:
    • The first step in improving fit for a given job design is training.
    • Interviews: One-on-one, formal or informal interviews are also a useful tool in gathering data about the employee, allowing the supervisor to obtain more details than a survey provides.
    • Employees or the supervisor can fill these out, identifying what tasks are being done early, on-time, or later (they can also note quality and resource efficiency).