Outbound Method in Training and Development

Outbound Method in Training and Development Background Human resource development in the context of an organization or company is formed in the policy of implementing employee development. Employee development practices are maintained to reduce idle capacity (in-efficiency of employees) so that it also has an impact on the efficiency of the company. Human resource development is an effort to improve the ability of employees to face various assignments (Mathis and Jackson 2002: 44). Increasingly fierce business competition requires companies to be able to develop their performance. Threats that come from changes in strategy in aspects of technology, competition, globalization, law, and various other dimensions will pose a threat to the company. Based on these reasons, companies need to rely on training and development to help employees develop new skills and gain new knowledge. One form of development as an embodiment in an effort to improve managerial competence or performance is through outbound training programs. Outbound training is a form or method of training in nature (outdoor) with an emphasis on developing skills in the field of organizational management and personal development that is simulated through games that can be directly felt by participants with the aim of increasing motivation and confidence (personal development), creative thinking (innovation), a sense of togetherness and mutual trust (trust) as well as refreshment and breaking bureaucratic rigidity. The implementation of outbound training requires employees to behave and adjust within a community. They must help each other to work together in solving the problems faced by not considering the position and rank of each other. Changes that occur in nature can be equated with changes that occur in the company. Employees who take part in this development program are expected to be more sensitive to changes that occur in the company's conditions and actively participate in efforts to shape the company. better work climate, so that it will bring employees to produce good performance for the company through the implementation of outbound training. Concept of Outbound Method Conceptually, the definition of outbound is an outdoor activity whose purpose is to relax and unwind, with a series of relatively light adventures or games. In addition to having an understanding, outbound has a nature in the current context in Indonesia. According to Susanta (Rahayu, A. H. 2017: 20) Outbound is a self-development method through a combination of a series of psychomotor, cognitive, and affectionate activities in a learning through experience approach. It can be emphasized from the two opinions above, that outbound is a method, in its implementation through outdoor activities involving physical activities that have an active learning process through learning by doing field experiences. The outbound method is used as a simulation of complex life made simple. Basically, all forms of activities in a complex organization or company need to find a simple way. Susanta (Rahayu, A. H. 2017: 21) revealed that the outbound method uses a method that provides a direct experience to the trainees, because the outbound method is through experience (Experiential learning). Participants can feel directly whether success or failure in carrying out tasks in their work, if there is success, participants immediately know what behavior makes them successful and if the work team fails in carrying out a task, participants know which behavior is the cause of the failure. The outbound method facilitates understanding of management concepts, because this method makes participants directly involved in cognitive (thoughts), affective (emotions), and psychomotor (physical motor movements). With these three advantages, this method is considered very effective. Implementation of Outbound Method The implementation of outbound training has the advantage that it is carried out in accordance with reality by observation. From the observation process, it is obtained development of abstract concepts and work patterns. The process of implementing outbound training takes a long time and requires support from the company. This is very important because real experience followed by the development of abstract concepts will produce a situation and work pattern. The implementation of Outbound training must be based on the planning process and information obtained about the condition of the participants either from interviews or data from companies or organizations that carry out activities. There are several types of implementation of outbound activities including: 1. Games A game is an exercise where participants or in this case employees engage in a contest with other participants (or a group of people) subject to a set of rules. Games usually include some type of payout. Most training games are now geared towards individual participants competing against themselves rather than against each other. This avoids the situation of winners and losers. 2. Simulation Simulations are examples of actual or imaginary situations. Simulations are generally used to train future operators where it would be impractical or too dangerous for employees to use real equipment or locations. Simulations are usually designed to be as realistic as possible so that employees can learn from their actions without worrying about having to repair or replace faulty equipment. Examples of simulations include flight simulators, driving simulators, and warfare simulators. 3. Brain Teaser Brain teasers are in a class of their own. They are not pure games or simulations but puzzles that either occupy the participant's mind or demonstrate a key point. Brain teasers generally have no rules, but trainers may design their own rules to suit individual training sessions. Certain brain teasers include exercises such as joining dots and are mostly perception exercises. 4. Role Play Role-playing is used in training to see how participants react in certain situations before and during a training session. Role-playing is very useful for giving participants the opportunity to practice how to relate to others according to a given scenario. Even if participants get it wrong, they can still learn something. 5. Case Study The definition of a case study is exactly what the name suggests. A case (usually from the participant's area of work) is studied by a group or by an individual. The in-depth study of the real thing or a simulated scenario is intended to illustrate certain results. When a group or individual has an answer to a particular problem or situation, it can be compared with what actually happened and the results that emerged from the event. The success of an outdoor outbound training activity is highly dependent on the order in which the activities are presented. The order of presentation of these activities is closely related to the physical readiness and emotional atmosphere of the participants and the emotional stimulation of the outbound training participants. If the sequence of outbound activities does not succeed in creating a happy atmosphere that continues to increase, then the training will be very boring and uninteresting. In addition, the arrangement of outbound activities must also be able to foster a feeling of increasing challenge. If the outbound training activity starts with an activity (exercise) that is very challenging and full of excitement, then in the next activity the quality of challenge and excitement decreases, then the outbound training is less successful. Here's an example of a good outbound activity sequence. 1) Joint prayer (asking for safety to the creator of the universe) 2) Stretching the muscles, starting with small runs, light gymnastics and cooling down. This exercise must be done carefully so that the muscles become flexible and no muscle spasms or injuries occur. 3) Ice-breaking / ice-breaking games. Ice-breaking activities in outbound activities aim to warm up the participants so that a sense of friendship is formed and a pleasant atmosphere (rapport) is formed. 4) Team building/team building. After the ice breaker is done, outbound games are carried out in the form of team building. 5) Contemplation/reflection, carried out to process the experience of the activities that have been carried out 6) Closure. There are many ways outbound training providers conduct their outbound activities. The methods commonly used in outbound training are: • Group games In an outbound training activity, there are many games that are done in groups, both fun games and middle games. Some outbound games that are usually done in groups include: Human ladder, Ring moving, Hunter my name, Pearl in a shell, Hollahop/webbing chain, all stand up, frantic ballon, train ballon, ball tossing, and others. • Group work In an outbound training activity, group work is usually done to simulate real life in simple games in outbound activities. Some outbound activities that simulate this activity include: human ladder, time boom, leaky pipe, smallest island, escsape from the island, smallest island, crocodille river, etc. • Individualized adventure Individual adventures need to be carried out in outbound training activities to provide new experiences to outbound participants, increase courage, make quick decisions and increase humanity. Games in individual adventures are common in high rope games and games. other outbound programs. Among them: flying fox, two line bridge, elvis bridge, solo camp, repeling, paragliding, airsoftgun, paint ball, etc. • Lectures (linkage between simulation activities and management principles) Lectures are usually conducted in outbound training activities at night. • Discussion In an outbound traning activity, discussion is needed to solve existing problems, so that the purpose/goal of the outbound training carried out can be achieved. Outbound Method Evaluation The evaluation system for learning activities in outbound management training for employee participants is carried out in two types, namely small scope and large scope. The small scope is after one game learning session in the form of a discussion between the facilitator and participants per team. The discussion contains participants' opinions regarding their understanding of each learning activity in the form of game simulations. While the large or overall scope is carried out in the final session at the end of a series of learning activities called reflection training. The form of evaluation of learning activities in the reflection training session carried out is almost the same as the form of evaluation in the small scope session, namely by discussing, but in large numbers, namely all participants. In large scope evaluations, the facilitator in charge is also called a trainer (Martharini. T. R, et al. 2014: 59). The purpose of evaluation in learning outbound management training given to employees not only refers to the results, but also to the process. The process in question is all aspects that appear in participants during learning activities in the observation data of each observer, participant and facilitator discussions, and evaluations that occur for themselves or their friends. Thus the whole series that occurs during the evaluation process can be concluded that the evaluation assessment used uses informal assessment. As in Rifa'i's explanation (Martharini. T. R, et al. 2014: 59-60) that this assessment is usually carried out in a more open way, such as assessment activities carried out through observation, inventory, participation, self- and peer evaluation and discussion. The word Outbound (in Indonesia) originally comes from the United Kingdom which is the name of a program, "Outward Bound School". Evaluation of outbound achievement can be observed from the principles of effective outbound scenarios: 1. If outbound aims to develop group cooperation, it means that the main result to be achieved is that participants gain experience that inspires them to increasingly be able to complete missions / challenges / tasks through effective cooperation. A suitable game description is a game that can only be successful if it is carried out by all group members in cooperation. 2. If outbound is intended as a problem-solving simulation, the main outcome is that participants gain experience that can inspire effective problem-solving. A suitable game description is one that requires analysis in its solution. The nature of the dynamics can be individual or group 3. If outbound aims to train mental resilience, it means that the main result to be achieved is the experience of participants who can solve challenges / problems in stressful conditions (mental). A suitable game description is a challenge / game that tests the courage / guts of the participants, especially mentally. 4. If outbound "only" aims to build intimacy/entertainment, it means that the main result to be achieved is that when completing the activity, participants are happy, and they get to know each other better. A suitable game description is one that is not too strenuous/risky, entertaining, and familiarizing. Example of Outbound Method Implementation HR development that is often and certainly carried out by companies is education and training. This form of coaching is routinely carried out by the company. This is because through education and training, the company is able to transfer what it wants. The company conducts training for new employees in order to introduce the company and the main competencies that must be possessed by new employees. Education and training can also be carried out as a medium for socializing new policies. or new work procedures. In fact, for certain companies, employee participation in training is one of the requirements for someone to be promoted or promoted. One form of outdoor outbound training is teamwork training. This activity is an attractive option for companies because this method is fun for training participants and participants will not be bored with the activities that are followed. Outbound activities in addition to providing an understanding of cooperation also provide experience regarding tenacity, mutual trust, tolerance, and are expected to have a positive influence on the implementation of work. So that outbound activities become a separate trend in the HR training process of the organization. Sometimes there is a misunderstanding in the community caused by the increasing number of organizers of activities or games on behalf of outbound activities. For example, at every community entertainment event or weekly event there is a flying fox or one of the outbound game tools, so people know and understand that outbound is just a game. Therefore, companies or event organizers that organize outbound must really understand the meaning of outbound so that they can provide the right understanding to the community. Here are some types of activities applied in outbound training according to Ancok (2003: 50): 1. Frantic Ballon Teaching Points: Understand the changes in the business environment to the organization's strategy, the changing business environment requires changes in strategy, develop strategic planning, implement the plan, and work in groups. Instructions: Each member is asked to blow up two fairly large balloons. All members will float the balloons into the sky by patting them from bottom to top. Participants were told that balloons would be added by the facility from time to time. The benchmark for success is how many balloons can be caught and not burst within 10 minutes. Teams were given approximately 10 minutes to create a strategic plan. After the first attempt, the team. are welcome to try again and are given 10 minutes to create a strategic plan. 2. Human Ladder Teaching Points: Trust, responsibility, surrendering to the group, and being an active participant. Instructions: Participants are in pairs facing each other and standing in a line. Each pair holds a piece of wood and stands in a row making steps. The height of the ladder can vary. Participants climb the rungs held by their partner. The partner who has passed can hand the stick to the participant who has finished climbing the ladder and prepares to climb the ladder. 3. Air Bridge Teaching Points: Creative thinking with a new paradigm, problem solving, work quality improvement (Total Quality Management), group cooperation in synergy, effective communication, and stress resilience. Instructions: Go to a location that is about 30 meters away from the star line by sliding the bridge they made. Half of the team must stand on the bridge (plank). Members standing on the board must not touch the ground, if a member on the board touches the ground, the team must return and start again. The rest of the group members standing on the ground are in charge of moving the benches / blocks and boards. All equipment (benches, blocks and boards) must be brought to the finish line. The speed of the crossing is measured with a stop- watch. Once a member is successfully crossed, the time is recorded and announced to the whole team. The team is challenged to make an even faster crossing. The challenge can be made up to three times. 4. Titanic (Sinking Ship) Teaching Points: Building togetherness, demonstrating that team success requires sacrifice from team members, the need for members to align with the group's goals, strategic problemsolving, creative thinking. Instructions: All team members are asked to stand on the cloth as if they are in a sinking ship. No part of the feet should stand outside the cloth. Once they have successfully stood on the cloth in a count of one to five, then they were asked to get out of the cloth. Next they are asked to reduce the size of the cloth on which they stand by folding the cloth. After that, they were asked to stand on the cloth again with the same requirements. The goal for the group is to be able to stand on a cloth that is as small as possible. 5. Leaking pipe/drum Teaching points: Synergy, cooperation/team work, sacrifice for the benefit of others Instructions: Participants must remove the ball inside the vessel by filling the vessel with water and closing all the holes so that the water pressure will remove the ball.