The use of employee training and development methods in Slovakia befora and during the Covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the entire world and in a relatively short time has grown global and has changed the behaviour of individuals and companies for more than three years now. We can observe its consequences in every sphere of life, including HRM and its components. The aim of the paper is to find out whether there were changes in the methods of training and development of employees in Slovak companies during the COVID-19 pandemic. The intention was to find out whether the number of employee training and development methods used changed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and if so, which ones were used less often during the pandemic than before the pandemic, and which ones, on the contrary, were used more often. The research was carried out using a questionnaire survey on a sample of 308 employees of Slovak companies. Statistical methods such as mean, median or mode, Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test and McNemar Test were used to analyse the answers. One of the main findings is the fact that among the interviewed employees there was a decrease in the used methods of training and development, especially in the use of workshops, coaching, mentoring and instructing. The only method that began to be used more often during the COVID-19 pandemic was e-learning.

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THE USE OF EMPLOYEE TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
METHODS IN SLOVAKIA BEFORE AND DURING THE COVID-19
PANDEMIC
Lukáš SMEREK
Department of Corporate Economics and Management, Faculty of Economics,
Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia
Received: 29. August 2022 Reviewed: 03. October 2022 Accepted: 15. October 2022
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the entire world and in a relatively
short time has grown global and has changed the behaviour of individuals and
companies for more than three years now. We can observe its consequences in every
sphere of life, including HRM and its components. The aim of the paper is to nd out
whether there were changes in the methods of training and development of employees
in Slovak companies during the COVID-19 pandemic. The intention was to nd out
whether the number of employee training and development methods used changed
during the COVID-19 pandemic, and if so, which ones were used less often during
the pandemic than before the pandemic, and which ones, on the contrary, were used
more often. The research was carried out using a questionnaire survey on a sample
of 308 employees of Slovak companies. Statistical methods such as mean, median
or mode, Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test and McNemar Test were used to analyse
the answers. One of the main ndings is the fact that among the interviewed employees
there was a decrease in the used methods of training and development, especially in
the use of workshops, coaching, mentoring and instructing. The only method that
began to be used more often during the COVID-19 pandemic was e-learning.
Keywords: human resource management; training and development; COVID-19; Slovak
employees
JEL Classication: 3 codes M12, M53, O15
Introduction
The COVID-19 pandemic has been indelibly written in the history of
mankind. Its greatest tragedy is that it claimed a large number of human lives. At
the same time, however, it paralyzed cities, businesses and cut people off from their
loved ones for many months. In order to protect the life and health of the most endangered
population, the governments of many countries have taken various, often unpopular,
measures. The most common concerns were caused by restrictions on the movement

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of people, the closure of public spaces and increased demands on personal hygiene.
Each country dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic in a different way, and companies had
to react accordingly. The measures affected the daily functioning of not only families
and individuals, but also had an impact on business processes, including human
resource management. Among the most common measures that did not require the
complete cancellation or stopping of established processes was the transfer of activities
to the online space. Although working in the online space is widespread and very
popular today, there are activities that require personal interference from employees.
In the eld of training and employee development, theoretically, all the most frequently
used methods could be implemented online. But the question is whether companies
perceive their added value even in the conditions of the online world, or whether they
approach online training and development cautiously. The immediate readiness and
technical equipment of companies or employees in their home environment is also an
important factor in the transfer of training and development activities to the online
space. We can therefore assume that companies are rather inclined to dampen training
and development activities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
RQ1: Were there any changes in the number of methods of training and
development of employees during the COVID-19 pandemic?
H1: The overall number of used training and development methods in
Slovakia decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Theoretical background
Human resource management is not static. On the contrary, over time, due
to the changing needs of the dominant generations on the labour market and as a
result of more and more opportunities for companies, HRM is changing, expanding
and becoming more complex. HRM includes work with employees in the company,
which carries the elements of both operational and strategic activities. Therefore, we
can consider the main goal of HRM to be the use of everything that employees know
and can do to achieve the company’s short-term and long-term goals. Individual-level
HRM processes are focused on individuals and are often highly personalized. Most
often, these are processes such as employee adaptation, evaluation of their performance
and potential, training and development, or career planning (Rahn, 2012).
Employee training and development are human resource management
activities used to ll gaps between current and expected performance. They represent
organized activities aimed at disseminating information or instructions to improve
the recipient’s performance or to assist in achieving a desired level of knowledge
or skill. They are part of knowledge management and knowledge transfer and play
a crucial role in human resources management (Poór et al., 2018). The training and
development of employees are strategic tools to increase the knowledge, abilities
and skills of employees for current and future work requirements. This increases
the competitiveness of the company in the global market because the knowledge,
abilities and skills of employees acquired through training and development are unique
and inimitable (Murtiningsih, 2020). Generally, companies are aware that the training
and development of their employees is important for business success (Kucharčíková et
al., 2018). Misiak-Kwit (2020) consider inaccessibility to the training and development
of employees as one of the barriers preventing companies from growing. Moreover,
compared to employees without further training, those who have engaged in
professional development have considerably lower risks of premature termination of

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their employment relationship (Becker, 2019). Employee engagement should not be
a one-time implementation, but should be part of the corporate culture and visible in
the daily work of all employees (Chanana, Sangeeta, 2021). Engaged employees are
always optimistic, keep good interpersonal rapport with each other, and also show
a high level of performance in the company (Jena et al., 2018). Providing appropriate
training and development opportunities and clear performance evaluation criteria
will also enable the workforce to work hard to achieve competitiveness in an ever-
changing business environment (Al-Kassem, 2021). Training and development are
signicantly and positively associated with the construct of employee job satisfaction
and that these relationships are highly signicant in businesses (Ohene Afriyie et al.,
2022). Employees could feel motivated to participate continuously in further training
in order to guarantee their prospects of receiving benets by improving their ability to
react to the consequences of technological change (e.g. automation or rationalization)
(Becker, Schömann 2015). It is a process of imparting basic skills, programmed
behaviour, so that individuals become aware of rules and procedures to help them
manage their own behaviour in the effective performance of their work. Although
the two terms are often used interchangeably, there are certain differences between
them, especially in the goals they pursue. Training is aimed at improving the skills
needed to achieve company goals, as it increases the effectiveness of individuals, groups
and the entire company. We understand corporate training as investing in employees
with the aim of achieving better performance. Its results are applied to the job where
the employee is currently working. So it mainly helps in performing current tasks.
The specic goals of training mainly include aligning the knowledge, abilities and
skills of employees with job requirements, developing employee skills and improving
their performance, eliminating undesirable employee behaviour and adjusting
the value orientation of employees to be in line with corporate values (Rodriguez,
Walters, 2017).
Although the concept of employee development can also be considered as
further training, it focuses on acquiring new abilities and skills for personal growth,
increasing qualications, acquiring knowledge, developing abilities and skills needed
in a different, usually more demanding and important job. Improving qualications
includes learning and acquiring new knowledge, skills, and abilities that an employee
needs to be able, or qualied to perform a different job (Šikýř, 2016). In the case of
retraining, there is the acquisition and mastering of completely new skills, knowledge
and abilities, which are not necessary for the performance of current work tasks, but for
the employees to increase their qualications in the given company, or also outside it,
or to be able to apply them in another job as well (PeopleHum, 2021). We understand
employee development as a preparation for performing higher qualied work or work
with higher responsibilities. It can also be seen as a broader concept. It can be considered
as the overall long-term growth of individuals for the purpose of fullling future tasks
and responsibilities, for the needs of their promotion and management of their career in
the company (Elnaga, Imran, 2013). It helps with professional orientation for the future,
shapes work skills, personal qualities and potential. Development activities should
signal to employees that the company is interested in employing them in the long run
(Hitka et al., 2021). Development goals primarily include helping employees to grow
and develop their potential in the company, promoting employees and planning their
careers, meeting the future demand for human resources, mainly from internal sources,
and reducing the time required for the training and adaptation of employees starting to
work in a newly created workplace or transferred to another job or employees promoted
in the company (Nassazi, 2013). Thus, training involves planning for preparing different

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learning techniques for the staff in order to increase their ability to reach the targeted
goal. While development is interested in understanding the mechanisms of things,
and future issues not only current process as a general, it seeks future demands and it
occurs over a longer period of time than training which is happening at the present time
and deals with every single staff responsibility (Anwar, Ghafoor, 2017).
Both training and development consist of prepared plans and ways to assist
the employee in terms of their current skills, behaviours and their way of acting in
the working environment (Nechirwan et al., 2021). However, systematic training and
the development of employees according to their individual needs began to appear
in management from the 1950s to 1970s (Stachová et al., 2020). The implementation
of training or development is the most important phase of the whole process. It
is important to realize that the quality of the entire training process directly affects
other personnel activities, and therefore it is very important that the company chooses
the most appropriate training method. The success of training programs depends on
the methods of training used by the company. When selecting from training methods,
the following factors must be considered as they highly contribute to the effectiveness
of training programs. Such factors include: objectives of training, cost of training, time
of training, location of training, frequency of training, suitability of training methods,
content of training, delivery style, capability of application, trainer’s capabilities and
employees willingness to learn and apply (Abdulraheem Sal, 2016). By applying
appropriate methods, inputs are transformed into outputs, which take the form of
increased performance, productivity and efciency of work, new roles in the company,
higher responsibility at work. Part of the implementation phase of employee training
and development programs is the key choice of an adequate form and method. The
rst of them is the form of training at the workplace, the so-called On-the-job (formal,
informal, informal, interpersonal education), and the other one outside the workplace
– off-the-job (institutionalized, lifelong education). Nowadays, the corporate sector
is increasingly using mobile technologies to train employees and develop their skills
and competences. This learning methodology is known as mobile learning (mlearning)
(Butler, A. et al., 2021). Currently, however, such methods are applied only in the most
advanced companies with strong material security or with a strong connection to
the IT sector. The most common methods used in Slovakia are usually the more
traditional ones. They are shown in Table 1.
Table 1 Methods of training and development of employees
On-the-job methods Off-the-job methods
Instructing Lecture
Coaching Seminar
Mentoring Case studies
Counselling Workshop
Assisting Brainstorming
Task assignment Simulations
Cross-training program Role playing
Work meetings Diagnostic-training program
Demonstrating E-learning

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Shadowing Self-Study
Consulting Development centre
Job rotation
Source: Koubek (2015)
On-the-job training is the basic means of providing effective and concentrated
training in most areas related to nance, administration practical management etc.
This type of training allows employees to learn and apply the lessons and respond
to situations in a good manner while performing their daily tasks (Anwar, Abdullah,
2021). On the other hand, off-the-job training is away from the working environment.
Employees get appropriate training similar to that provided at work, but in a different
environment. A special environment is arranged to facilitate maximum interaction
between trainers and trainees (Anwar, 2017). Employees are usually expected to
prefer general training, as opposed to on-the-job training, since the latter ones often
focus on rm-specic human capital. This type of training cannot be fully utilised in
other companies, and is rarely certied, and as such, is rarely acknowledged by other
employers (Becker, 2019). However, the COVID-19 pandemic means a great challenge
for business managers operating in various elds to consider the implementation of
new management methods and tools in this unstable and changing world. Dvouletý
(2021) claims that after the end of 2020 there may not have been a signicant drop in
business activities. On the contrary, his research indicates that activity has increased
and even increased to a level higher than in 2019. However, procedures and practices
in human resources management, including the management itself, are affected by
COVID-19 just like other activities in businesses (Tomčíková et al., 2021). Remote
working, creating virtual teams and knowledge management are some of the many
practices that most companies are adopting as a concept to keep companies running
smoothly (Carnevale, Hatak, 2020). The big change is the popularization of e-learning
as a training and development method and the growing supply of ready-made lectures,
courses and modules. Demand for e-learning is reported even by companies that have
never used it before (Mikołajczyk, 2021). Similarly, Ribbers and Waringa (2015) claim
that in a rapidly moving world, internet connection is an inevitable development
for every coach, mentor or instructor. Moreover, Rahmadi et al. (2021) claim that
the transfer of the mentioned methods to the online space is one of the solutions during
the COVID-19 pandemic. All other missing training and development methods can be
replaced by self-study, since employees do not receive enough support from companies.
Intrinsic motivation plays a key role in this.
RQ2: Which methods were used less frequently during the COVID-19
pandemic than before the pandemic?
H2a: Workshops were used less frequently during the COVID-19 pandemic
than before the pandemic.
H2b: Model situations were used less frequently during the COVID-19
pandemic than before the pandemic.
H2c: Role plays were used less frequently during the COVID-19 pandemic
than before the pandemic.
RQ3: Which methods were used more often during the COVID-19 pandemic
than before the pandemic?
H3a: E-learning was used more often during the COVID-19 pandemic than
before the pandemic.

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H3b: Self-education was used more Slovakia during the COVID-19 pandemic
than before the pandemic.
RQ4: Were there any methods whose frequency of use has not changed
during the COVID-19 pandemic?
H4a: The frequency of use of coaching has not changed during the COVID-19
pandemic.
H4b: The frequency of use of mentoring has not changed during the
COVID-19 pandemic
H4c: The frequency of use of instructing has not changed during the
COVID-19 pandemic
Material and methods
The aim of the paper is to nd out whether there were any changes in
the methods of training and development of employees in Slovak companies during
the COVID-19 pandemic. We collected data using a questionnaire.
In the questionnaire survey, we asked the respondents whether they were
trained or developed before and during the pandemic and, if so, what methods were
used. The respondents who took part in the survey were Slovak employees. In order
to be able to assess and compare the situation before the outbreak of the COVID-19
pandemic with the situation during the pandemic, we worked with respondents
who had worked for their company for at least two years. Employees with a shorter
employment relationship could not evaluate the changes in professional training
and development. The survey was attended by 308 compliant respondents who were
approached through social networks or by direct selection. The questionnaire survey
was carried out in the rst half of 2022. We evaluated the summarized numerical results
of the responses from the questionnaire survey using statistical methods such as mean,
median or mode, Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test and McNemar Test.
Results
In search of an answer to the first research question, we focused on
the number of methods by which employees were trained or developed. Due to anti-
pandemic measures and several lockdowns, we assumed that the number of used
methods had decreased. To verify this assumption, we present the descriptive statistics
of the number of methods in Table 2.
Table 2 Descriptive Statistics of the number of used methods
Before COVID-19 During COVID-19
Valid N 308 308
Missing N 0 0
Mean 2.86 1.42
Median 3 1
Mode 0 0
Std. Deviation 2.08 1.49
Minimum 0 0
Maximum 7 5

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Before
COVID-19 Frequency Percent Cumulative
Percent
No. of methods
0 86 27.92 27.92
1 4 1.30 29.22
2 26 8.44 37.66
3 47 15.26 52.92
4 66 21.43 74.35
5 55 17.86 92.21
6 22 7.14 99.35
7 2 0.65 100.00
Total 308 100.00
During
COVID-19 Frequency Percent Cumulative
Percent
No. of methods
0 133 43.18 43.18
1 35 11.36 54.55
2 61 19.81 74.35
3 46 14.94 89.29
4 24 7.79 97.08
5 9 2.92 100.00
Total 308 100.00
Source: own elaboration
As it can be seen at rst glance, our assumption has been conrmed. While
before the COVID-19 pandemic each employee encountered an average of 2.89
methods, during the pandemic the average value dropped to 1.42. It is also worth
mentioning the fact that before the pandemic, 27.92% of the surveyed employees had
no training or development at all, while during the pandemic it was up to 43.18% of
the surveyed ones. Moreover, while before the pandemic employees could encounter
a combination of 6 or 7 training methods (7.79% of respondents), during the pandemic
it was maximum 4 – 5 methods (10.71% of respondents). Subsequently, we tested
the number of used training and development methods with the Wilcoxon Signed
Ranks Test, which tests the null hypothesis that the medians of the methods before
and during the pandemics are equal against the alternative hypothesis that they
are different. We performed the testing at the level of signicance α = 0.05. The results
are shown in Table 3.
Table 3 Results of Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test
Ranks NMean Rank Sum of Ranks
During / Before
COVID-19
Negative Ranks 175a (56.82%) 115.40 20194.50
Positive Ranks 35b (11.36%) 56.01 1960.50
Ties 98c (31.82%)
Total 308

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ZAsymp. Sig. (2-tailed)
– 10.404 0.000
Source: own elaboration
a. N During COVID-19 < N Before COVID-19 b. N During COVID-19 > N Before COVID-19
c. N During COVID-19 = N Before COVID-19
As we can see from the results of the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test (Z =
– 10.404; Asymp. Sig < 0.05), during the COVID-19 pandemic there were changes in
the methods of training and development of employees. However, it is interesting to
note that the decrease in the number of used methods was witnessed by 56.82% of
respondents, while 31.82% of respondents did not change the number of implemented
methods. In 11.36% of cases, the number of training and development methods used
even increased. This points to the fact that some companies have taken advantage of
their reduced production capacity during the pandemic to invest in the training and
development of their employees. However, we conrm hypothesis H1 and claim that
the overall number of used training and development methods in Slovakia decreased
during the COVID-19 pandemic.
For an even deeper understanding of the changes, we were interested in what
changes occurred during the implementation of individual training and development
methods. For our analysis, we selected the 8 most frequently mentioned methods,
shown in Table 4. We determined the difference in their use by using the McNemar
Test, which tests the null hypothesis that the use of individual methods before and
during the pandemic was the same against the alternative hypothesis, that the use of
methods was different. We performed the testing at a signicance level of α = 0.05.
The results are shown in Table 4.
Table 4 Results of McNemar Test
Before / During NChi-Squarea Asymp. Sig.
Coaching 308 60.016 0.000
Mentoring 308 68.014 0.000
Instructing 308 80.012 0.000
Workshop 308 149.007 0.000
E-learning 308 8.108 0.004
Model situations 308 37.026 0.000
Role playing 308 25.037 0.000
Self-Study 308 16.598 0.000
None 308 24.322 0.000
Source: own elaboration a. Continuity Corrected
Looking at the results (Asymp. Sig < 0.05 in all cases), we reject all null
hypotheses and conclude that during the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a statistically
signicant change in the frequency of use of all training and development methods.
There was also a statistically signicant change in the number of respondents who
were not provided with any education. We can therefore unequivocally answer RQ1
that during the COVID-19 pandemic there was a change in the use of all training and
development methods in Slovakia.

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Table 5 Difference in the use of most frequently used methods
Before (%) Std. Dev. During (%) Std. Dev. Difference
(% points)
Coaching 36.04 0.48089 15.91 0.36636 – 20.13
Mentoring 35.71 0.47994 12.99 0.33671 – 22.72
Instructing 37.01 0.48363 10.39 0.30562 – 26.62
Workshop 64.29 0.47994 15.26 0.36018 – 49.03
E-learning 27.60 0.44773 37.66 0.48533 + 10.06
Model
situations 16.56 0.37231 3.90 0.19382 – 12.66
Role playing 10.39 0.30562 1.62 0.12658 – 8.77
Self-Study 58.77 0.49306 43.83 0.49699 – 14.94
None 27.92 0.44935 43.18 0.49614 + 15.26
Source: own elaboration
By comparing the use of individual methods before and during the
COVID-19 pandemic (Table 5), we can answer the second and third research question.
We recorded the largest decrease in the use of workshops (49.03% points), since before
the pandemic 64.29% of the surveyed employees took part in the workshops, compared
to only 15.26% during the pandemic. The fact that the workshops took place online
did not help either. Therefore, we can accept the hypothesis H2a. We also recorded a
signicant decline in the use of model situations (12.66% points), since they were used
by 16.56% of employees before the pandemic. During the pandemic, this proportion
decreased to 3.90%. Thus, we can also accept hypothesis H2b. To complete the testing
of hypotheses related to the second research question, we investigated whether there
was a decrease in the use of role plays. Based on the results, we accept hypothesis H2c,
as the use of role plays decreased by 8.77% points from 10.39% before the pandemic
to 1.62% in its course of development. During the pandemic, role plays were used the
least of all the methods taken. We do not consider these results surprising, because
these 3 methods probably require the most personal contact between the educator and
the educated employee.
On the contrary, the only method that began to be used more often during
the pandemic was e-learning (increase by 10.06% points). This was also to be expected
as the whole world has become forced to function online to a much larger extent.
However, it came as a slight surprise that there had not been an increase in employees
who had encountered self-study in the workplace, because, as we mentioned when
analysing the number of methods used, some companies used their own reduced
production capabilities during the pandemic to invest in the training and development
of their employees. On the contrary, we observed a decrease (of 14.94% points).
Therefore, we accept hypothesis H3a, but we have to reject hypothesis H3b.
With the last – fourth research question, we were interested in whether
there are training and development methods that remained statistically unaffected by
the COIVD-19 pandemic. Due to their current popularity and long-term character,
we assumed that coaching, mentoring and instructing could be the ones. However,
the results of the study show that the use of coaching decreased by 20.13% points,
mentoring by 22.72% points and instruction by 26.62% points, respectively. Therefore,
we reject hypotheses H4a, H4b and H4c and claim that there is no educational or
development method that was unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Conclusion and discussion
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the entire world in all its spheres.
The COVID-19 lockdowns have led a transformation in the way we run our schools,
interact with loved ones, teach and learn, do our work, do our shopping, travel, get
medical care, spend leisure time, engage in commerce, and conduct many of the
routine transactions of life (Sneader and Sternfels 2020). The working environment has
changed signicantly in almost all companies, and employees were often forced to stay
at home in order to protect their own health. Every area of management was facing
new challenges. It was the same in the case of HRM and its individual components.
In the recent years of the continuous development of individuals, the economy and
society, corporate training and development have become a common and necessary
part of the working life of employees. But the COVID-19 pandemic changed
everything. The goal of the paper was to nd out whether there were changes in
the methods of training and development of employees of Slovak companies during
the COVID-19 pandemic. We fullled this goal by searching for answers to the questions
whether the number of employee training and development methods used changed
during the COVID-19 pandemic, and if so, which of them were used less often during
the COVID-19 pandemic than before the pandemic, and which, on the contrary, were
used more often. We were also interested in whether there are any methods that have
not been affected by the pandemic at all. Based on our ndings on a sample of Slovak
employees, we can claim that there has clearly been a change in the number of training
and development methods used. Specically, we observed a decrease in their number.
All the most common methods were used less often, except for e-learning. This one
was the only one that recorded a boom. This contradicts the ndings of Mikołajczyk
(2021), who claims that “all forms connected to development have been transferred
to the Internet”. Based on our ndings, we claim that methods such as coaching,
mentoring or instructing in the Internet environment either lose their quality or are
not useful at all. So we will correct Mikołajczyk’s statement to: “The MAJORITY of
forms connected to development have been transferred to the Internet”. We recognize
that e-learning and internet connection have served many companies as a substitute for
the mentioned training and development activities, because ICT training and
development during COVID-19 has taken centre stage due to the demand (Seberini et
al., 2022). As claimed by Bondar et al. (2020), contemporary training and development
requires the development of new forms of learning based on the SMART approach,
which allows the development of the relevant skills, abilities, and competencies. We
agree with Hite and Mc Donald (2020), who think that a critical part of creating and
sustaining a learning culture is recognizing how differently employees have experienced
this crisis, and what they might need to return to work and be successful. Treating each
employee on an individual basis will be important because for some, this pandemic
has not been a career shock, but rather a minor distraction or an opportunity to spend
more time with their families. We consider this to be one of the main reasons why we
observe a decline in self-study among employees, although in many cases the space
was created for it. Another reason was identied by Mura et al. (2021), who found that
learning and professional development as a means of reward were mentioned only by
6.5% of the leaders. This suggests that in the event of a pandemic, they were primarily
concerned with other aspects of HRM. We therefore agree with Yawson (2020), who
claims that the uncertainty that is associated with post-COVID-19 future requires
strategic exibility, the ability to change strategies, and become more adaptable.

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Acknowledgement
This work was supported by project KEGA 012UCM-4/2022.
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Correspondence address:
doc. Mgr. Ing. Lukáš Smerek, PhD., Department of Corporate Economics and Ma-
nagement, Faculty of Economics, Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica, Tajovského
10, 975 90 Banská Bystrica, Slovakia. email: lukas.smerek@umb.sk
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0008-282X