The importance of Training and Development in Fashion industry of the UK.

Training can be defined as the imparting theoretical and practical knowledge provided to employees or a certain group of people working for the benefit of the company so that they can have updated knowledge and skills for using the method, tool, technology and technique that can be considered highly essential for the accomplishment of organizational goals and objectives with high accuracy, value, and precision (Akter, 2016). It is also considered highly significant for promoting the culture of innovation. Training is mainly essential for improving the performance, productivity, and quality of tasks of employees.

In today’s rapidly changing environment, it is becoming highly essential for all the companies to be highly focused on the provision of high quality of training sessions to their employees for quickly responding to the updated changes so that they can have higher numbers of satisfied and loyal employees and customers (Aneet & Amaandeep, 2018). All the companies of the different sectors and industries especially the fashion industry is needed to be focused on the development of effective training policies for motivating employees to utilize all their skills for the benefit of their company. The fashion industry of the UK is also rapidly changing and employees are needed to be trained for coping with the updated changes.

1.2 Aim of study

The main aim of conducting the present research study is the understanding of the significance of training and development opportunities provided to employees in the fashion industry of the UK. Training and development opportunities are considered highly significant for improving the satisfaction and loyalty of employees with their company so that they can utilize all of the best skills and capabilities of themselves for the benefit of the companies. In addition, the fashion industry of the UK has been rapidly growing and changing for which employees are also needed to groom and update their existing skills and knowledge to cope effectively with the updated trends.

1.3 Research Objectives

To identify the gap between industry requirement and already available skills in new employees at the fashion industry of the UK.
To understand the advantages of on-job training programs
To evaluate the development opportunities provided in the fashion industry by recognized brands.

1.4 Research Questions

Which kind of gap exist between industry requirement and already available skills in new employees at the fashion industry of the UK?
What are the advantages of on-job training programs?
Which kind of development opportunities are provided in the fashion industry by recognized brands?

1.5 Significance of study

With the passage of time, the industries of the globe are becoming more competitive and unstable which have raised the need of conducting multiple steps for reaching to the targeted profit level. For this purpose, it is highly recommended that companies should be focused on the performance of their employees by arranging several types of workshops, training sessions and development opportunities which would increase employee’s retention, satisfaction and loyalty with their company and they would utilize all their skills for the benefit of their company. The fashion industry of the UK is one of the most unique and rapidly changing industries in which the need for training was ignored from past years but now it has become highly essential to provide training to employees so that they can come up with more innovative and unique solutions and designs.

1.6 Outline of study

The introduction is the first chapter of study under discussion. It covers the background of research topic along the aim of study. Therefore, justification is provided behind the investigation of this topic. Apart from this, the research question and objectives of study are also provided in this particular chapter. It helps in providing main aspects of research investigation.
The second chapter of this research is based on the Literature review. It covers the discussion on secondary data related to research subject. The critical literature has been created to assess arguments among researchers based on research topic.
The third chapter of this research is known as a research methodology. The philosophy and approach of research investigation has been explained here. Other than that, the data collection technique is also explained here in order to justify the sources of acquiring primary and secondary data. In addition to this, the data analysis technique and research strategy are also explained here.
The fourth chapter of study under discussion is known as the Data Analysis. The primary data of this research has been explained here.
The fifth chapter of this research is recognized as the conclusion and recommendation. The research findings are summarized here along the suggestions provided to handle the research issue. In addition to this, the areas of future research are also provided here.

2.0 Literature Review

2.1 Training and development

In accordance with the investigation done by Papa, Dezi, Gregori, Mueller & Miglietta (2018) in this cut-throat business environment, Employee training is known as an essential job in the volatile, complex and uncertain configuration of business. Therefore, the development of employees is known as nerve gets the job done the necessity of accustomed and proper working of job which helps in maintaining the work nature, life of employees and hierarchical development as well. Training and Development is a technique that encourages individual just as measureable progressions in the suggestion, predominantly at the level of administration, it is less reflected with somatic capabilities and is more worried about information, qualities, perspectives and demeanor nevertheless explicit aptitudes. Consequently, employee development can be said as a constant technique however planning has express zones and targets. In this manner, each affiliation needs to think about the activity, centrality and great conditions of planning and its constructive outcome on progression for the improvement of the affiliation. Nature of work life is where the affiliation sees their commitment with respect to significance of definitive execution similarly as laborer capacities. Getting ready gathers beneficial progression in such various leveled points of view in perfect improvement of nature of work life of the delegates. These sorts of getting ready and improvement programs help in improving the laborer direct and attitude towards the action and besides raise their affirmation. As such, laborer getting ready and progression programs are critical edges which are ought to have been thought of and based on. In the light of Beer, Finnström, & Schrader (2016) the suitability of formal preparing for little and medium undertakings. They further expressed the prerequisite of formal preparing as for size, market, items, and hierarchical structures. The creators indicated the test of understanding separate hierarchical structures and suitable preparing intercessions and declared the need of downplaying the separate firms. Pham, Vo-Thanh, Shahbaz, Huynh & Usman (2020) focussed on the assessment of the most mainstream Human Resource T&D strategies and the methods accessible today. The essential information through polls was taken from various divisions and enterprises in Greece. According to the investigation, preparing techniques like Vestibule preparing/test systems and „mentorship’ are among the main goals. Electronic learning and hands on learning are acceptable options for chopping down the expenses. The creators expressed that the finish of T&D strategies relies upon numerous factors, for example, the nonappearance of certain necessary assets, mentors and members character, the continuous rivalry and the operational territory of an organization.

2.1.1 On-Job training

Employees are provided with training for improving and enhancing their skills, capabilities, and existing knowledge which have been related to the particular job position or project on which they would be working in the company. Training helps employees for the production of high quality of performance (Vasanthi & Basariyab, 2019). However, the learning of employees is considered never ending process of learning. Training is considered not only helpful for the employees but also for the company to retain highly expert and skilled employees in their company which is useful for saving the cost applied in the recruitment of new employees every time (Surbhi, 2015). Organizations can work on the provision of training opportunities to their employees periodically, systematically, and frequently.

When employees have been provided with training at their working hours through actual working scenarios is known as on job training which is considered to be the most cost effective method. On the job training is also considered learning while doing which is useful for the development of skills in the employees by providing them hand-on experiences (Akter, 2016). In this type of training method, the trainer also seems to be working in the same place with equipment where the trainee is performing the job. An experienced employee is considered to be the supervisor who is responsible for guiding the trainee employee to learn new skills and concepts (Aneet & Amaandeep, 2018). This type of training is considered highly beneficial for manufacturing industries like fashion and textile where senior employees help juniors to understand things more effectively.

However, employees are provided with parallel training by completing the task which is called unstructured training. The trainee employee also gets familiar with the working environment, the used tools, techniques, and methods at the workplace which can provide them an opportunity to perform more effectively in the supervision of trainers (Surbhi, 2015). While on the other hand, structured training is considered more organized training in which all the objectives and goals are preplanned and enough clear. There are several types of methods that have been utilized by the companies for on job training like coaching, mentoring, job rotation, apprenticeship, job instruction, understudy, and internship and committee assignments (Vasanthi & Basariyab, 2019).

2.1.2 Off-job training

Off job training can be referred to as the training which is offered to employees away from the workplace in which the working environment is duplicated and used as a place for providing training (Akter, 2016). This type of training is also considered vestibule training which is mostly offered to the newly hired employees who seem to have zero knowledge about the working environment and lacks the required skill set for the particular job position (Aneet & Amaandeep, 2018). In addition, it is also assumed that when a larger group of employees are needed to be provided with some training sessions, then the off job training method is considered a more useful option. There are several types of methods that can be utilized by the trainer based on the choice and the type of training needed to be provided to employees (Surbhi, 2015).

The most commonly used training options in the off job training method include classroom lectures, simulation exercises, vestibule training, case studies, audio and visuals aid, business games, role playing, and programmed instructions (Vasanthi & Basariyab, 2019). The off job training is offered to employees under the supervision of expert trainers for the transmission of expert and highly accurate knowledge to the employees. All these types of training sessions have been arranged systematically for which the planning of the training session have been performed from multiple numbers of weeks and it is usually arranged on the weekends or the late hours so that the working environment of employees and the regular schedules do not get disturbed because of these training sessions (Akter, 2016).

In addition, it is also assumed that these training sessions can be more useful for imparting new skills as compared to the full time training because it is possible for employees to watch the recorded presentations, videos and audios played in the offered training sessions in their leisure time and frequent numbers of time for understanding them more effectively (Aneet & Amaandeep, 2018). However, it is one of the most formal training forms which is not considered to be very cost friendly and can be considered indirectly related to the selected job position. In addition, it is also observed that this type of job training can lack the motivation level provided to employees. Moreover, this type of training session is mostly provided to employees outside the job position (Vasanthi & Basariyab, 2019).

2.2 The link between training sessions and employee performance

The already conducted literature indicated that employee training is mainly connected with the industries which have been based on the rapidly changing technology like fashion industries and information technology industries. In these industries, employees feel difficulty in the achievement of organizational goals and objectives by using the available skill set and knowledge without updating them (Adam, 2018). Hence, it is considered highly significant for the companies to offer several types of frequent and periodic training and development opportunities to their employees for boosting their existing skill set and knowledge to cope with the latest trends, challenges, techniques and solutions (Libânio & Amaral, 2017). However, the employees of fashion industries have been considered highly eager to attend multiple types of training sessions so that they can stay always updated with the new trends, techniques and methods used in the industry (Libânio & Amaral, 2017).

For this purpose, the companies should make a well designed and effectively conducted training programs that can lead to positive reactions from the trainees, change in the behavior on the job, improved performance and learning capabilities of employees (Adam, 2018). It has been conceived that these training sessions provide an effective change intervention in the performance of employees working in different industries of the globe (Akter, 2016). There are several numbers of factors which can be utilized for measuring the performance of employees like the accuracy, quality, quantity, standard, and efficiency of the tasks performed by the employees, eagerness of employees to work for the benefit of their company, involvement of employees in the organizational goals and objectives and rapid, effective and smart achievement of goals, etc. (Libânio & Amaral, 2017)

When employees have been provided with training session, it raises feelings of positive in employees that their company takes cares of them and allows them to improve their skills and knowledge to work for the benefit of the company instead of firing them and conducting recruitment (Aneet & Amaandeep, 2018). In addition, employees also gets more engaged, loyal and satisfied with their company and start utilizing all their skills and abilities for the rapid and effective accomplishment of organizational goals and objectives. In this way, the performance of employees is also improved through the provision of training and development opportunities (Vasanthi & Basariyab, 2019). The companies who have been highly focused on the retention of their expert and highly skilled experienced employees seem to have more satisfied and loyal customers which contribute to increasing revenues, profits and sales of the company directly or indirectly (Adam, 2018).

2.3 Skills of employees in Fashion industry

According to Yang, Song & Tong (2017) regardless of having more youthful workforce, the accessibility of skilled workforce is a gigantic test for Indian material industry. The current ability levels in material division are deficient for most extreme profitability and productivity. The ability lack is this division, hence, should be tended to by enlisting perfect individuals and preparing them further for consistent advancement of their expertise levels. The organizations additionally need to realize basic changes in their workplace to hold such ability in their associations. The need of great importance for the segment is to concentrate on constant expertise advancement as key for development and consider superior preparing for more noteworthy worker inclusion.

2.4 Latest requirement for employees in Fashion industry

According to the research conducted by Goworek, Oxborrow, Claxton, McLaren, Cooper & Hill (2018) training of employees as an stimulating operator for imaginative plans to improve advancement in an association. The creator had the option to learn the positive connection between representative preparing and association’s imaginative exercises. The creator, be that as it may, expressed that the connection among preparing and development systems is questionable as it works in mix with other human asset rehearses.

2.5 Development opportunities for employees in Fashion industry

In the light of Pal & Gander (2018) despite the fact that the Indian Textile industry is sufficiently able to continue its own assembling competence, however certain basic components should be tended to, one of them being need of advancement and human asset capacities. The worldwide market request is ceaselessly developing as the clients are searching for inventive items for their better execution and quality. Material items are getting increasingly practical and stylish in their allure on account of changing view of clients to secure esteemed included items. Nations like Japan, Korea and Taiwan have focussed on creating inventive items, be that as it may, Indian industry needs to basic changes to raise itself from essential items. The need of great importance is to build center around innovative work, inventive techniques and skilled HR.

3.0 Research Methodology

3.1 Philosophy of study

The source and knowledge development in research is dependent on the philosophy of study. It is a concept about how the data of research should be gathered, used and assessed. Therefore, the research philosophy shows the assumptions made by the researcher and these assumptions provide a base of the study. The four main kinds of research philosophies are; Pragmatism, interpretivism, positivism and realism. The kind of practical implications are considered when making decision about research philosophy. The pragmatism philosophy deals with the quantitative and qualitative, mixed or multiple method designs for the purpose of data collection. Other than that, the positivism philosophy is associated with the high structured studies for a larger sample size. The measurements are mostly quantitative in nature. In addition to this, the interpretivism philosophy deals with the smaller sample size and qualitative techniques for data collection and analysis. Lastly, the realism philosophy is associated based on the chosen methods that fit the matter of subject. It is comprised of qualitative as well as the qualitative data (Antwi & Hamza, 2015). The study under discussion is investigated on the basis of interpretivism philosophy because the researcher has investigated the subject by means of qualitative techniques. The interview has been conducted for the purpose of primary data collection and its analysis.

3.2 Research approach

The research approach is based on the procedure of extensive assumption for the purpose of detailed procedure of data collection, assessment and its interpretation. The two main types of approaches in research are; inductive and deductive. The foremost attributes of deductive approach are; Quantitative analysis, hypotheses creation and theory testing. On the other hand, the important attributes of inductive approach are; qualitative analysis, interview or case study technique for the purpose of primary data collection (Basias and Pollalis, 2018). In a nutshell, this particular research has been investigated on he attributes of inductive approach because the non-numeric way of data collection and its assessment has been adopted and incorporated here.

3.3 Research strategy

The research strategy is known as a technique for conducting the research. It is based on an overall plan of executing and planning a study. It tells about the suitable techniques of gathering and analyzing the study. Therefore, the research strategies are different for qualitative and quantitative studies. The main research strategies for quantitative study is “survey”, where researcher uses to collect primary data via different types of questionnaire (research instrument) Likert scale is one of the essential research instrument used in quantitative studies. Other than that, the case-study and interview are the main research strategies in qualitative research (Basias and Pollalis, 2018). The researcher of this study has adopted the interview technique as a strategy for current study. The interview will be conducted to the relevant respondents in order to gather primary data.

3.4 Data collection

The two main types of data collection are qualitative and quantitative. The nature is study is observed while choosing the techniques of data collection. Some studies are based on the qualitative research while other studies are based on the quantitative techniques. Other than this, there are various studies available in business context which are dependent on the mixed approach of data collection where quantitative as well as qualitative techniques are used by the researchers (Basias and Pollalis, 2018). The research under discussion has been undertaken by the help of primary as well as secondary data. The primary data has been gathered when interview session was conducted. The closed ended and the open-ended questions were formulated for the interview. The research questions and objectives of study were considered while formulating the questions for interview. Apart from this, the secondary data have also been collected for the current study. It was collected by the help of relevant journal articles based on research topic. Those articles were assessed and critically discussed to create a literature for the current study. The data collected from peer-reviewed journal articles also helped the researcher in assessing the collected data and to get authentic research findings.

3.5 Data analysis

The data analysis is a way to assessed the collected data. It helps in getting the summary of research findings. There are multiple ways available for analysis the data. All the ways are differentiated as per the quantitative and qualitative data. The quantitative data are assessed in a numeric way. Some researchers use the SPSS, AMOS and Microsoft excel to analyse the data in a quantitative manner. Other than that, the ethnographic content analysis is one of the most highlighted technique for the purpose of quantitative data analysis (Basias and Pollalis, 2018).

3.6 Ethical consideration

All ethical conducts of research considered while executing the current study. The autonomy and confidentiality and appropriate referencing were the essential ethical conducts of this study. The researcher provided freedom of speech to the respondents of study when conducting interview. Therefore, the collected primary data has been gathered without any forceful act. Other than that, the personal information of employees and companies have been secured to maintain the ethical policy of the research. Other than that, none of the information is copy pasted but the true referencing has been done to provide credibility of every information provided in the literature of current study.

4.0 Data Analysis (2500)

According to the findings of the conducted interview from the selected numbers of employees of the company it has been analyzed that the Human Resource (HR) Manager was asked a question “what is the significance of training and development opportunities offered to employees in Fashion Industry?” and HR manager answered that training and development opportunities which would be offered to employees have been one of the most important elements needed to be taken into consideration while working on the HR policies because it highly helps the company to increase their profits by increasing the satisfaction and retention of their employees.

While on the other hand, the fashion designer answered to the same question that training sessions and development opportunities can help employees to boost their existing skills and capabilities along with allows them to learn new ways, methods, techniques and solutions which can be utilized while working in the company that would be useful for the company and the employees as well because employees would be more loyal and satisfied about their job and the company would improve the quality and productivity of their employees that would be useful for increasing the profits and revenues along with the numbers of sales and customers.

However, the garments technologist answered to the same question in the way that provision of training sessions and development opportunities is a byway of benefiting both the company and the employees and can never be proved useless as it would must teach something new, innovative and unique to the participants which were not known by them before and can be useful for the benefit of the company. However, the content taught in the training session also plays a major role in it. In addition, the accounts manager also didn’t refuse the significance of training and development opportunities offered to the employees in the fashion industry because it highly contributed to the improved productivity and performance of employees which puts a direct impact on the increased sales, profits and revenues for the company.

According to the above done interpretation of the collected responses of employees of the selected company it has been analyzed that all the employees of different departments of Fashion Industry Company didn’t refuse the significance of training sessions and development opportunities offered to employees as it is always useful for the company and the employees directly or indirectly. In addition, Aneed and Amaandeep in 2018 also agreed to the above interpreted in the way that they started when employees are offered with training session and development opportunities it helps them to improve their existing capabilities and talent along with learning new methods which would be useful for improving the quality of tasks they have been working on in the company.

There was another question which was asked by the selected participants that “what you think that how the provision of training sessions helps companies to increase their profits, sales, revenues and numbers of customers in Fashion Industry?” and the HR manager of the company responded that when employees are provided with training session they start their learning process in which some existing knowledge and skills have been refreshed and some new skills and knowledge is gained which is utilized by employees for the achievement of the organizational goals. In this way, the company gets successful in increasing their sales, numbers of customers, and revenues.

While on the other hand, fashion designer answered to the same asked question that when employees have been offered with training sessions, then employees must do the learning of something new and it enhances employee satisfaction towards the company which motivates employees to utilize all their capabilities and skills for the benefit of their company and to achieve the targets and objectives of the company more effectively, rapidly and in good quality which helps the company to increase their numbers of customers, sales and revenues because all the services and products would be offered in good quality to end users.

Additionally, the accounts manager answered to the same question that the companies who have the highly loyal, satisfied and best talent in the company who utilize all their knowledge and skills for the benefit of their company can always help them to increase numbers of customers, sales and revenues and when they would be offered with more training opportunities and development methods then their engagement level with the objectives of the company would be boosted and they would not hesitate in reaching to the targets more quickly, in good quality and innovatively. However, the garments technologist hesitated to answer the present question and shifted to the other question.

From the above done interpretation of the collected answers of selected participants of the conducted interview, it has been analyzed that the companies who seem to be highly focused on increasing their numbers of customers, revenues, profits and sales of their products in Fashion Industry should be focused on the development of effective training and employees development policies as it can be highly useful for improving brand reputation and market share along with customers satisfaction. In the light of Pal & Gander (2018), it is also stated that fashion industry is one of the most quickly changing industry in which employees are needed always to be updated with new trends and techniques for increasing the numbers of customers, maintaining their loyalty with the brand and improving the revenues and sales which is possible by allowing employees to update their existing skills and knowledge by offering them multiple types of training and development opportunities.

For improving the quality of the conducted research study, there was another question formed in the conducted interview so that plenty of data can be collected and effective decision making can be done. Hence, the HR manager was asked “How frequently your company provides training sessions to your employees and do you provide training session only new coming employees or existing employees as well?” and the Human Resource Manager stated that there is no particular duration or time limit after which employees should be provided with training session instead whenever the company feels the need of the provision of any training session to their employees they arrange.

In addition, the time limit of the offered training session is also mainly dependent on the type of skills, capabilities, knowledge, and qualities which are needed to be learned by the employees. However, it is also not necessary that only the newly coming employees would be offered with training sessions in which they join the company but it is necessary for them while on the other hand, all the existing employees are also offered with separate training sessions based on their needs.

However, the same question was also asked by a fashion designer who stated that all the training sessions to them are offered whenever some new skills or capabilities are needed to be learned by them for working on a newly appointed project in which some innovative and unique methods would be used which were not known by the employees before. In addition, there is no particular time limit after which only employees can attend any workshop or training session or employees would be provided with the training. Moreover, I do not agree that their company only provides training and development opportunities to the newly recruited employees as they are considered necessary to attend those sessions before starting working officially but all the existing employees are also offered with training sessions because each project in fashion industry seems to be unique and different from each other for which some particular skills are needed to be available in the team members which can be taught to them through the training sessions.

In addition, the garments technologist was also asked the same formed interview question to which garments technologist answered that there is no particular time limit after which any employee can attend any training or the company would provide training session but whenever a team is formed for working on a particular goal and objective and their required skills sets are evaluated then a training session is offered to those particular employees based on the types of new skills which would be needed to be available in those team members. Furthermore, I have attended a training session when I joined the company initially but during my professional stay at the company, I have also attended several new training and development sessions to improve my knowledge and skills from experts.

However, the same question was also asked by the accounts manager when the interview was conducted and the accounts manager responded that all the employees of the company have been offered with training sessions based on their departments of Fashion industry like as an account manager I do not need a lot of training but the employees working in the particular fashion departments are needed more numbers of training and I believe that they have been offered whenever they are needed instead of staying focused on the time duration. Moreover, all the employees belonging to any departments have been offered with training sessions when they join the company officially and during their stay, they are also offered with multiple new types of training sessions.

From the above conducted interpretation, it has been assessed that all the employees working in the fashion company appointed on different positions agreed that their company always provides them frequent training sessions whenever they need updated skills and knowledge and all the employees who joins the company initially are provided with different sort of training sessions to enable them working in the company effectively. According to the research conducted by Goworek, Oxborrow, Claxton, McLaren, Cooper & Hill (2018) training of employees as a stimulating operator for imaginative plans to improve advancement in an association. Hence, the provision of the training session can highly contribute to increased employee engagement, loyalty, and satisfaction.

There was another question which was asked by all the participants of the conducted interview for the present reproach study which was “In what kind of ways your company provides training sessions to your employees?” and the HR manager of the selected company answered to the stated question that there are combination methods of computer based learning and traditional training sessions have been utilized by their company for offering training sessions to their employees. In some training sessions, classroom lectures and PowerPoint presentations have been utilized while on the other hand, based on the type of content of training session, audio and visual content is also utilized. In addition, some training sessions, the company have also arranged some remote training session in which experts were invited from other states and cities. Most of the training that has been offered to employees is on-job training.

While on the other hand, the fashion designer of the selected company answered to the same question asked in the interview that their company have been utilizing several types of training methods according to the needs, demands and convenience of their employees and the experts like sometimes company has arranged online remote training sessions in which employees were allowed to participate remotely and sometimes, the company has arranged traditional training sessions in which all the things were explained more practically in the face to face training. However, the type of training sessions which are offered to employees seem to be mostly on-job training sessions instead of off-job training sessions.

In addition, the garments technologist was also asked with the same type of question in which garments technologist stated that their company has been highly focused on the use of automation and information technology in all the aspects and elements of the tasks they have been working on. Hence, employees have been also offered with online training sessions in which all the concepts and knowledge were delivered remotely by the expert by staying at some other place. However, a proper feedback session was also conducted for answering all the queries and questions of the participants. Moreover, I cannot also say that the company does not conduct any kind of physical training session for employees but the type of training is mainly depended on the type of knowledge, skills, and capabilities which is needed to be delivered.

While on the other hand, the Accounts Manager answered to the same question that their company has been utilizing mixed methods of training sessions because it is highly dependent on the type of knowledge, skills, and techniques which are needed to be learned by the employees. Sometimes, employees are offered with online training sessions in which their computer systems, smartphones, etc. are allowed to be used, and sometimes they are needed to physically go somewhere and attend the training opportunity.

From the above conducted interpretation of the interview, it has been analyzed that the selected company of Fashion Industry have been utilizing several types of methods for providing training sessions to their employees like classroom lectures, PowerPoint presentations, online remote learning opportunities, on job training sessions, audio, and visual aids and physical traditional training methods. According to Yang, Song & Tong (2017), it has been analyzed that fashion industry companies are needed to be flexible in the selection of the type of training sessions which would be offered to their employees based on the content and the type of knowledge is needed to be delivered.

There was the last question which was asked by all the selected participants of the conducted interview like “What significant parameters are taken into consideration while the selection of trainer for the particular training session in Fashion Industry?” and the Resource Manager answered to the question in this way that the experience and education are the most two significant parameters which are taken into consideration while doing the selection of trainer for providing training and development session to employees. However, the skills of good communication cannot also be neglected because it also plays a major role in the training session.

While on the other hand, the fashion designer answered to the same question in some different way as fashion designer described some different characteristics which are needed to be present in the trainer and should be taken into consideration while doing selection of trainer for the particular training as a trainer should have plenty of practical knowledge and expert knowledge for answering all types of queries and questions asked by the participants. However, fashion designers also didn’t disagree that trainers should have good communication skills and a high amount of professional practical experience.

In addition, the same question was also asked by the garments technologist who answered that there are multiple numbers of personality traits and characteristics which are needed to be taken into consideration by the companies while doing selection of trainers like what is the education background, practical experience, does the trainer have expert knowledge and communication skills, etc. These characteristics are considered to be highly significant in the selection of trainer because the trainer is the responsible person who can make the organized training and development session to be successful or failure.

While on the other hand, the accounts manager also answered to the same asked question and stated that there are multiple numbers of parameters which are needed to be taken into consideration by the company in the selection of trainers. First of all, the trainer should have good background knowledge, practical experience, and expert knowledge so that he/she should be able to answer any kind of query rapidly and effectively. The trainer should also have updated knowledge and awareness about the latest trends and practices which are being used in the market place. There is also a major role played by the communication skills, intelligence, and innovation abilities of the trainer in the selection.

According to the above conducted assessment of the responses of respondents of the interview, it is evidenced that communication skills, education background, practical experience and familiarity with the latest technologies, techniques, and methods are the most significant elements that contribute to the selection of trainer for some training and development session offered to the employees. In the light of Beer, Finnström, & Schrader (2016), there is a major role played by the trainer in the success of any offered training and development session to employees for improving their existing knowledge and allowing them to learn about new methods, techniques, and solutions. Hence, multiple types of characteristics and parameters are needed to be taken into consideration in the selection of trainers.

5.0 Conclusion and Recommendation

5.1 Summarized Findings

According to the conducted analysis of all the collected data from several sources like qualitative and quantitative in which a primary source of interview and secondary sources was utilized, it is analyzed that there is a huge significance and a major role played by the offered training and development sessions to employees for increasing their satisfaction, loyalty, retention and engagement level with the company that directly puts a positive impact on the increased sales, revenues, profits and numbers of customers. In addition, it is also analyzed that, the fashion industry is one of the most emerging and rapidly changing industries in which all the employees are needed to keep updating their skills, capabilities, and knowledge for coping with the latest trends.

It has been also evidenced that the companies who use to offer training sessions to their employees can become more successful and for this purpose, companies should also select the trainers very carefully because they play a major role in the success or failure of any training session. Moreover, there can be several types of methods that can be utilized by the companies for offering training and development opportunities to their employees to stay updated with the latest trends and solutions of the fashion industry. In addition, it has been also assessed in the present research study that the success of any fashion company is mainly relying on their employees who are needed to be loyal and satisfied towards their company and for this purpose, the company should making multiple steps for their employees to increase their retention, engagement, and involvement in the organizational objectives and goals.

5.2 Recommendation

There are multiple types of recommendations which can be followed by the companies who have been aiming or already working in the fashion industry. Some of the main recommendations have been listed below with brief description.

The performance and working status of all the employees should be kept monitoring by the HR department for the identification of the need of training and development session because it can be hard to do identification of training need by depending on the qualifications and certifications of employees. For this purpose, a feedback report can be prepared by the team head about the employees.
Company should form a team for the new project by evaluating the need skill set and the available skill set in the existing employees and in case of missing skills in the available workforce, the employee should be provided with training session if possible so that cost can be saved and the project can be completed with more accuracy, precision and high quality.
Trainers are needed to be updated frequently based on the needed skills, parameters and characteristics.
Employees should be offered with on job and off job training session especially the managers because any kind of mistake or error in the technical field can be proved dangerous.
Employees should also be offered with behavorial and attitude based development training in which they should be taught how to work without getting stressed, under pressure and to stay motivated for the successful and effective completion of the objective, mission and target of the company with high accuracy, quality and precision.
Companies should form highly effective training and development strategies and policies for the employees in which a feedback and evaluation procedure should be conducted for monitoring the available skills and needed skills in their employees.
For making the offered training session to be more successful, the content and the type of training which is needed to be provided to employees should be selected based on the needed skills, capabilities and knowledge to be delivered into the employees.
For making the offered training session more successful, short training sessions should be offered or short breaks should be arranged for not stressing the participants and the trainers. However, the use of visual aids and practical work should also be utilized.
Companies should also introduce the use of information technology and motivate their employees to spend more time in using information technology in all their activities for getting competitive advantage and increased market share.

5.3 Implication of study

The findings of this study play vital role in removing barriers and hurdles faced by strategic leaders working in the Fashion industry of the UK when decisions about employee training and development. Moreover, the role of On-job employee training can be improved in different Fashion companies when managers pay attention on research outcomes. Moreover, this study is also useful enough for future researchers when collecting secondary data for their relevant study. In other words, the future researchers may review the literature of study in order to find other factors and variables to test for their own study. Apart from this, this study is useful enough is backing the theoretical background utilized in the study with respect to the research findings.

5.4 Areas for future studies

This selected topic can be evaluated and explored from several numbers of perspectives, origins and in different industries because it is one of the very broader topics like it is possible to understand the contribution of employee training in increasing their satisfaction and loyalty in the fashion industry, how training can help employees to cope with latest trends and changes in the fashion industry or what kind of training sessions have been used by the fashion industries of the whole globe. In addition, it is assumed that the conducted present research study would be highly useful for the organizations which have been operating in the fashion industry for improving satisfaction, retention, and loyalty of their employees through training and development opportunities which would put a strong positive direct impact on the sales, numbers of customers, revenues and profits of the company. However, the current conducted research study would also be useful for entrepreneurs aiming to step inside to the fashion industry, organizations, and employees to understand and implement of the significance of training policies, workshops and development opportunities.

5.5 Limitation of study

Some researchers face the barriers and hurdles during the research execution. These are known as the limitations for the study. It has been observed that the main limitations in quantitative studies are based on the sample size and time constraint. The researcher of this study has observed the limitation while collecting6 secondary data and the time constraint as well. The authentic and peer-reviewed articles were not available easily. Therefore, the researcher faced some difficulties in gathering secondary data. Other than that, the availability of time was also limited which was a barrier in fulfilling the research requirements.

5.6 Conclusion

According to the findings of the study, it has been observed that there is a huge significance of training and development practices followed by the Human Resource (HR) departments of the company of particular industries like the Fashion industry of the UK. With the passage of time, the fashion industry have been also improving and getting changed rapidly especially with the introduction of information technology (IT). Training and development opportunities are considered one of the most powerful tools used by the companies for motivating their employees to update their existing skills, knowledge, and capabilities by learning about new methods, techniques, and solutions that can be implemented by them for the benefit of their company.

In addition, it is also assumed that the provision of training sessions, workshops, and development opportunities to employees highly contributes to increased employee retention, satisfaction, loyalty, and engagement in the activities of the company. Hence, training is considered one of the largest investment area for the company to maximize its benefits. There are several types of ways that can be utilized for providing training and development opportunities to employees like computer based learning or traditional training sessions. Many companies in the fashion industry have been shifting from traditional training session to computer based training because of its cost effectiveness and highly effective results.

Computer based learning allows the listeners to stay at a remote location and the speaker can be from any country or place which allows the companies to invite the best talent to come and train their employees about new trends. It is considered a highly flexible solution followed by the companies for providing training sessions to get improved. However, there is also a major role played by the on-job and off-job training sessions that are offered to employees for developing and improving their skills and capabilities for increasing the revenues of the company.

In the present paper, all the data was collected from the combination of primary and secondary data sources in which an interview was conducted and secondary sources were used for doing the high quality of decision making about the significance of training and development opportunities offered to employees in the fashion industry of UK. All the data was collected by following research ethics which was analyzed, interpreted, and presented to do high quality of decision making based on the topic.

References

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References

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Appendix

Interview Questions

In your opinion what is the significance of training and development opportunities offered to employees in Fashion Industry?
What you think that how provision of training sessions helps companies to increase their profits, sales, revenues and numbers of customers in Fashion Industry?
How frequently your company provides training sessions to your employees and do you provide training session only new coming employees or existing employees as well?
In what kind of ways your company provides training sessions to your employees?
What significant parameters are taken into consideration while the selection of trainer for the particular training session in Fashion Industry?

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