Advantages and disadvantages of different methods of training in businesses

For an person to become a chef at "Fortuna" (the restaurant), these would be the main skills would need: learn how to clean the kitchen, learn how to cook all the 150 meals on the menu, take care of any customer complaints and work with a group of 4 other chefs. Here the manager wants the new chef to be flexible, as he will have to do a variety of jobs, the employee will have to achieve this skill of multi-skilling through the different types of training mentioned below.

When the chef is going to be taught how to clean it will be done through induction. He will be called into the restaurant and will be taught by another member of staff how to clean the kitchen and all its utensils. It is very important that he is taught how to clean on the job, so he knows how much mess he will be dealing with and the best techniques. If he was to learn how to clean off site, then he would have to listen to someone talk or read a book, so he will miss out on the practice.

To learn how to cook the 150 meals that are served at the restaurant the chef will have to undergo a mixture of on the job and off the job training. At the restaurant the head chef will teach him how to use the different utensils and how to make the actual dishes, which gives the new chef some experience, and also means that he will be producing something so the restaurant will also benefit. However it is unlikely that he will be able to go into a lot of detail, so he will be taken off site where he will learn more about the different types of food, such as what to do if it is too spicy, and other details that he won't have time to be taught at the restaurant.

It is also likely that one day the chef will have to be retrained and his skills upgraded. This is because over time technology changes, and the restaurant might start using a new type of cooker, or they might invent some new recipes, which he will have to learn how to make. Also if the chef wants to get promoted he will have to undergo retraining to learn new skills - for example he will have to learn managerial skills if he wants to become head chef.

If he were to learn how to deal with customers, then it would be best if he was made a waiter for a day at the restaurant, so he can interact face to face with real customers. Also it would be beneficial if he underwent off the job training at a customer care training course so he could further develop his skills, and learn things that he wasn't able to learn while talking to customers - such as how to talk and what facial expression you should use with different types of customers.

Lastly the best way to learn how to work with a group of people is to get familiar with them on site in the working environment. If the new chef was induced into kitchen then he will have first hand experience of what the working environment will be like with the head chef shouting orders, and the other 4 chefs he will have to work with rushing around communicating with each other. Also his teamwork skills would be further improved if he went on a team skills building course so he will learn what to do if one of the members of the group is being difficult etc.

Overall, we can see that is best to get a mixture of training methods as each one has its own purpose and benefits. As the restaurant is more of hands on place compared to a lawyers firm, more on the job training will be required rather than off the job training.