Off the Job & on the Job Training

Introduction
Within the competitive world markets, today’s managers face greater challenges than ever before to maintain their position among the top economic powers. From a strategic prospective, employee training will become increasingly important during the 1990s because of the pressure to reduce costs and increase productivity. Many companies are finding that they can’t compete in the global market unless they boost productivity and invest in a better- trained and skilled workforce. Employee training is a key factor in improving levels of organization productivity. Therefore, it is important that the organization enable employees to upgrade their skills and knowledge to meet these changing conditions. This essay will focus the difference between on the job training and off the job training, lastly explaining which of the two is the most effective.
What is training?
According to Oatey (1971), “Training is any activity which deliberately attempts to improve a person’s skill at a task”. Training may also be defined as the systemic advancement of the knowledge, skills and attitudes required by an individual to perform adequately a given task or job. It includes not only the knowledge received but also the constant application of that knowledge to daily situations. Training means bringing about continuous improvement in the quality of a person’s work, because without that improvement no training has taken place.
On the job training
On-the-job training occurs in the workplace while an employee is carrying out his duties. Trainees learn by doing; they learn continuously and over a long period of time. According to Stephen (2009) the reason for on-the-job training this is to allow employees to practice skills, make mistakes and learn from their mistakes under the guidance of an experienced, competent superior.
Trainees are extensively influenced by their immediate superiors by on-the-job training methods. This is because superiors are usually directly...