Training to Gain a Competitive Advantage

1. Training to Gain a Competitive Advantage

2. Training to gain a competitive advantage: Majority of companies are starting to recognize the important role that training plays in: • Improving productivity • Quality • competitiveness

3. Why do companies believe that investment in training can help them gain a competitive advantage?

4. Training can: • Increase employees’ knowledge of foreign competitors and cultures, which is critical for success in foreign markets, • Help ensure that employees have the basic skills to work with new technology. • Help employees understand how to work effectively in teams to contribute to product and service quality.

5. Ensure that the company’s culture emphasizes innovation, creativity and learning. • Ensure employment security by providing new ways for employees to contribute to the company when their jobs change, their interests change, or their skills become obsolete.

6. Designing Effective Training Systems: One of the key characteristics of training systems that contribute to competitiveness is that they are designed according to the instructional design process. Instructional design process refers to a systematic approach for developing training programs. Next page presents the six steps of this process, which emphasizes that effective training practices involve more than just choosing the most popular and colorful training method.

7. Designing Effective Training Systems: • Conducting needs assessment • Organizational analysis • Person analysis • Task analysis • Ensuring employees readiness for training • Attitudes and motivation • Basic skills • Creating a learning environment • Identification of learning objectives and training outcomes • Meaningful material • Practice • Feedback • Observation of others • Administrating and coordinating program • Ensuring transfer of training • self-management strategies • Peer and manager support • Selecting training methods • Presentational methods • Hands-on methods • Group methods • Evaluating training programs • Identification of training outcomes and evaluation design • Cost-benefit analysis

8. Designing Effective Training Systems: Step 1: Is to conduct a needs assessment, which is necessary to determine if training is needed.

9. step 2: Involves ensuring that employees have the motivation and basic skills to master training content.

10. Step 3: Involves ensuring that the training session (or the learning environment) has the factors necessary for learning to occur.

11. Step 4: Involves ensuring that trainees apply the content of training to their jobs. This involves Support from managers and peers for the use of training content on-the-job as well as getting the employee to understand how to take personal responsibility for skill improvement.

12. Step 5: Involves choosing a training method. As we shall see in this chapter, a variety of training methods are available ranging from traditional on-the-job training to use of new technologies such as the Internet. The key is to choose a training method that will provide the appropriate learning environment to achieve the training objectives.

13. Step 6: Involves evaluation-that is, determining whether training achieved the desired learning Outcomes and/or financial objectives.

14. Designing Effective Training Systems: The first step in this process, needs assessment, refers to The process used to determine if training is necessary. Figure 1 shows the causes and outcomes resulting from needs assessment. As we see, there are many different “pressure points” that suggest that training is necessary. These Pressure points include performance problems, new technology, internal or external customer requests for training, job redesign, new legislation, changes in customer preferences, new products or employees’ lack of basic skills. Note that these pressure points do not guarantee that training is the correct solution.

15. Figure 1 The Needs Assessment Process • Designing Effective Training Systems: • Reasons or “pressure points” What is the context Outcomes • Legislation • Lack of basic skills • Poor performance • New technology • Customer requests • New products • Higher performance • standards • New jobs • What trainees need to learn • Who receives training • Type of training • Frequency of training • Buy-versus-build training decision • Training versus other HR options such as selection or job redesign Organization analysis In what do they need training Task analysis Person analysis Who needs training?

16. Designing Effective Training Systems: Needs assessment typically involves organizational analysis, person analysis, and task analysis.

17. Organizational analysis involves considering the context in which training will occur. That is, organizational analysis involves determining the appropriateness of training, given the company’s business strategy, its resources available for training, and support by managers and peers for training activities.

18. Person analysis helps to identify who needs training. Person analysis involves (1) determining whether performance deficiencies result from a lack of knowledge, skill, or ability (a training issue) or from a motivational or work- design problem, (2) identifying who needs training, and (3) determining employees’ readiness for training.

19. Task analysis includes identifying the important tasks and knowledge, skill, and behaviors that need to be emphasized in training for employees to complete their tasks.

20. Designing Effective Training Systems: In practice, organizational analysis, person analysis, and task analysis are usually not conducted in any specific order. However, because organizational analysis is concerned with identifying whether training fits with the company’s strategic objectives and whether the company wants to devote time and money to training, it is usually conducted first.

21. Person analysis and task analysis are Often conducted at the same time because it is often difficult to determine whether performance deficiencies are a training problem without understanding the task and the work environment.

22. What outcomes result from a needs assessment? As shown in 1, the needs assessment process results in information related to who needs training and what trainees need to learn, including the tasks in which they need to be trained plus knowledge, skill behavior, or other job requirements. Needs assessment helps to determine whether the company will purchase training from a vendor or consultant or else develop training using internal resources.

23. Organizational Analysis: Managers need to consider three factors before choosing training as the solution to any pressure point: the company’s strategic direction, the training resources available, and support of managers and peers for training activities.

24. Support of Managers and Peers: Various studies have found that peer and manager support for training is critical. The key factors to success are a positive attitude among peers and managers about participation in training activities; managers’ and peers’ willingness to provide information to trainees about how they can more effectively use knowledge, skills, or behaviors learned in training on the job; and the availability of opportunities for the trainees to use training content in their job. If peers’ and managers’ attitudes and behaviors are not supportive, employees are not likely to apply training content to their jobs.

25. Company Strategy: The importance of business strategy for a company to gain a competitive advantage, is obvious. The plan or goal that the company chooses to achieve Strategic objectives has a major impact on whether Resources (money, trainers’ time, program development) should be devoted to addressing a training pressure point.

26. Table 1 we describes four business strategies-concentration, internal growth, external growth, and disinvestment. Each strategy differs based on the goal of the business.

27. A concentration strategy focuses on increasing market share, reducing costs, or creating and maintaining A market niche for products and services.

28. Company Strategy: Southwest Airlines has a concentration strategy. It focuses on providing short-haul, low-fare, high-frequency air transportation. It utilizes one type of aircraft (the Boeing 737), has no reserved seating, and serves no meals. This has enabled Southwest to keep costs low and revenues high.

29. An internal growth strategy focuses on new market and product development, innovation, and joint ventures. For example, the merger between two auto companies, Daimler-Benz and Chrysler, created one company with strengths in the U.S. and international markets.

30. An external growth strategy emphasizes acquiring vendors and suppliers or buying business that allows the company to expand into new markets. For example, General Electric, a manufacturer of lighting products and jet engines, acquired the National Broadcast Corporation (NBC), a television and communications company.

31. A disinvestment strategy emphasizes liquidation and divestiture of businesses. For example, General Mills sold its restaurant businesses including Red Lobster.

32. Company Strategy: Preliminary research suggests a link Between business strategy and amount and type of training. As shown in Table 1, training issues vary greatly from one strategy to another.

33. For example, divesting companies need to train employees in job-search skills and focus on cross-training remaining employees who may find themselves in jobs with expanding responsibilities. Companies focusing on a market niche (a concentration strategy), need to emphasize skill currency and development of their existing work force.

34. It is important to identify the prevailing Business strategy to ensure that the company is allocating enough of its budget to training activities, that employees are receiving training on relevant topics, and that employees are receiving the right amount of training.

35. Company Strategy: A good example of how a training function can contribute to business strategy is evident in the changes made by SunU, the training and development organization of Sun Microsystems, a manufacturer of computer workstations and workstation software. SunU realigned its training philosophy and the types of training conducted to be more linked to the strategy of Sun Microsystems. Sun Microsystems was in a constantly evolving business due to new technologies, products, and product markets (an internal growth strategy). SunU found that its customers wanted training services that could be developed quickly, could train many people, and would not involve classroom training. Because of the internal growth strategy, Sun Microsystems was also interested in maintaining and improving the knowledge and competence of its current work force.

36. Acquisition and Preparation of Human Resources: Table 1 Implications of Business Strategy for Training

37. Company Strategy: As a result of the need to better align the training function with the needs generated by the business strategy, SunU took several steps. First, SunU developed a new approach to determining the knowledge and skills that the employees needed to meet business goals. SunU identified several basic competencies (such as customer relations). A team of trainers at SunU constantly reviews these competencies and discusses them with key senior managers. For example, in the customer service competency, vice presidents and directors of sales and marketing are interviewed to identify training needs. As a result of this process SunU learned more about the business needs and was able to develop relevant training. To help deliver training quickly to a large number of trainees without relying on the classroom, SunU developed videoconferencing programs that allow training to be delivered simultaneously to several sites without requiring trainees to travel to a central location.

38. Company Strategy: To help maintain and improve the knowledge and abilities of its employees, SunU developed a desktop library that enables all employees to access CD-ROMs containing up-to-date information on technologies and products as well as profiles on customers and competitors.

39. Training Resources: It is necessary to identify whether the company has the budget, time, and expertise for training. For example, if the company is installing computer-based manufacturing equipment in one of its plants, it has three possible strategies for dealing with the need to have computer- literate employees.

40. First, the company can decide that given its staff expertise and budget, it can use internal consultants to train all affected employees.

41. Second, the company may decide that it is more cost- effective to identify employees who are computer- literate by using tests and work samples. Employees who fail the test or perform below standards on the work Sample can be reassigned to other jobs. Choosing this strategy suggests that the company has decided to devote resources to selection and placement rather than training.

42. Training Resources: Third, because it lacks time or expertise, the company may decide to purchase training from a consultant. Many companies identify vendors and consultants who can provide training services by using requests for proposals.

43. A request for proposal (RFP) is a document that outlines for potential vendors and consultants the type of service the Company is seeking, the type and number of references needed, the number of employees who need to be trained, funding for the project, the follow-up process used to determine level of satisfaction and service, expected date of completion of the project, and the date When proposals must be received by the company. The request for proposal may be mailed to potential consultants and vendors or posted on the company’s Web site.

44. Training Resources: The request for proposal is valuable because it provides a standard set of criteria against which all consultants will be evaluated. The RFP also helps eliminate the need to evaluate outside vendors who cannot provide the needed services.

45. Usually the RFP helps to identify several vendors who meet the criteria. The next step is to choose the preferred provider. Table 2 provides examples of questions to ask vendors. When using a consultant or other outside vendor to provide Training services, it is also important to consider the extent to which the training program will be customized based on the company’s needs or whether the consultant is going to provide training services based on a generic framework that it applies to many different organizations.

46. Table 2 Questions to Ask Vendors and Consultants • Training Resources: How much and what type of experience does your company have in designing and delivering training? What are the qualifications and experiences of your staff? Can you provide demonstrations or examples of training programs you have developed? Would you provide references of clients for whom you worked? What evidence do you have that your programs work?

47. Training Resources: How long should you expect it would take a vendor Or consultant to develop a training program? The Answer is “It depends”. Some consultants estimate That development time ranges from 10 to 20 hours for each hour of instruction. Highly technical content requiring more frequent meeting with subject matter experts can add an additional 50 percent more time.

48. Training Resources: For training programs using new technology (such as a CD-ROM) development time can range from 300 to 1,000 hours per hour of program time depending on how much animation, graphics video, and audio are included, how much new content needs to be developed, the number of practice exercises and type of feedback to be provided to trainees, and the amount of “branches” to different instructional sequences.

49. Person Analysis: Person analysis helps the manager identify whether training is appropriate and which employees need training. In certain situations, such as the introduction of a new technology or service, all employees may need training. However, when managers, customers, or employees identify a problem (usually as a result of a performance deficiency), it is often unclear whether training is the solution. A major pressure point for training is poor or substandard performance-that is, there is a gap between employees’ current performance and their expected performance.

50. Person Analysis: Poor performance is indicated by customer complaints, low performance ratings, or on-the-job incidents such as accidents and unsafe behavior. Another potential indicator of the need for training is if the job changes such that current performance levels need to be improved or employees must be able to complete new tasks. Figure 2 shows the factors that influence employees’ performance and learning. These factors include perform characteristics, input, output, consequences, and feedback.