When performing a training analysis, it is best to ensure that the performance training improvement initiative ties in with the organization's vision, mission, and values. As to the organization’s mission statement which was concise and precise, stating the firm’s reasons for existing which specified how the customers are served, the company’s goal and what the company does. The training needs of the Sales Force for both in the short and long term must be surrounding the mission of the organization.
In deciding where training is needed, one need to identify the pressure point that suggest if training is necessary. (Noe, 2007), stated that the pressure point/ trigger include performance problems, new technology, internal and external customer requests for training, job design, new legislation, change customer preferences, new products, or employees’ lack of basic skills. The pressure points that were highlighted in the case, that needs training or to be worked on includes, training in communication skills (in terms of public speaking), in using computerized technological devices during presentations, inter-personal skill and also skills on how to persuade customers in purchasing products of the company.
In the long run ALI must ensure that salespersons awareness of available products available on the market is increased. Salespersons need to have a wide knowledge of all the products offered by ALI as well as competitors, in order to provide some level of comparison. This will justify the reason for choosing the product of ALI and will help to persuade customers and increase the number of close calls. This long term training need may be met by introducing a new training method to the organization, such as lectures.
Mapping the current system of training within Alpha Life Insurance Co. Ltd.
The Human Resource, Training Personnel and the department managers at Alpha Insurance Company Limited indicated that the majority of its training for new sales associates was done by on the job training, where these sales associates will become familiar with designated roles in a more practical fashion as these sales representatives develop the necessary skills which will enable them to conduct their job in an effective and efficient manner. The duration of training usually covers a three months training period.
Based on the training records of the company, it indicates that the trainers had limited exposure (or knowledge) to a training design process or a instructional system design phenomena. Therefore the appropriateness of this type of training mechanism that the company used may be questionable, considering the fact these trainers were not exposed to any training design process or any instructional system design and if any training program at all. In order to implement an effective training program, the training program must be in alignment with the business strategic goals and objectives.
Trainers did not measure if learning was transferred among new hires and if so to limited extent. The trainers should have ensured that during the training exercise trainees were given an interactive session where they would be required to do a Power Point presentation. In order for the trainers to carryout effective evaluation and determine if the trainees have improve their skills and knowledge from the training program, a performance appraisal of the trainees should be done in relation to their knowledge and skill. The company perhaps would have operated with a greater degree of efficiency considering the fact that such evaluation mechanism was imposed.
The trainers did not execute a proper needs assessment to see who needed training. If they did needs analysis probably they would have realized that the poor delivery of the power point presentation of the salespersons did not persuade the prospective clients to purchase their product. This was a major concern for the organization as it decreased the expected cash flow.
According to some revealing data which indicate that the turnover rate is approximately ten percent (10%) annually, as employees are not satisfied and may tend to migrate to the United States or to be employed by a competitor. Trainees were discouraged as training programs were not developed in line to meet the business goals. Instead, the training was developed by the trainers based on their intuitive on what they think should be taught in training.
Training Methods
A training method is the way in which organizations design the process of transferring learning to employees. There are various methods that can be used by an organization in order to train its staff. These methods includes lecture, audio visual instruction, on-the- job training, business games, role play, and simulation, among others (Noe 2007).
The current method used by the organization is on-the-job-training. This method was used by Alpha Life Insurance Co. Ltd, to train newly hired employees. The form of on-the job training used was self-direct learning, since the onus was on the trainee to ensure that learning is transferred. However in the case of Alpha Life Insurance Co. Ltd, there was no evaluation process, hence managers could not tell if learning was actually transferred. The unstructured format of the on-the-job training method used by the organization can be made accountable for the inability of learning to be transferred to employees. There was know instructional design for trainers to follow, hence it may lead to the poorly trained employees. Employees will also receive different types of training from different managers or peers, because they will train according to what they see as necessary, since there is no set design to follow.
The consultancy firm’s report did not instruct Alpha Life Insurance Co. Ltd to change its method of training. It basically presents the need for the method to be restructured and be carried out in a structured way. This recommendation is a very good one since the method can be more effective if it was carried out in a structured way, so as to facilitate feedback and ensure that learning is actually taking place. The consultancy firm, however needed to indicate how ALI. Co. Ltd should go about restructuring its training method in order to make it more effective.
Recommendation of Cost Effective and Business Training methods
In consensus with the recommendation of Kingston Training Consultant Ltd, the recommendation is for ALT to continue using on-the-job training, but improve it so that it’s more effective. Read and kleiner (1996) stated that on-the-job training method is also very cost effective since the employee is actual being productive during training. The aim of this type of training is to meet the exact training needs of the organization. Apart from just training new hires this method can also be used to upgrade experienced employee’s skills when new technology is introduced (Noe 2007).
In order to improve the on-the-job-training method used by ALI. Co. Ltd, the organization must first develop a policy statement that describes the purpose of the on-the-job-training (OJT) and emphasizes the level of support for it. Secondly a clear specification of who is accountable for conducting OJT should be made. This information must be included in the job description of the person(s) responsible, in order to evaluate their ability to perform the training duty. Thirdly ALI should set a benchmark for its OJT by reviewing the practices and cost savings of other companies in similar industry. Managers and peers conducting the training must be trained in order to be aware and understand the principles guiding the OJT, and the different steps that should be followed. The fifth thing to consider in improving the organizations OJT is to ensure the availability of lesson plans, checklists, procedure manuals, training manuals, learning contracts, and progress report forms for use by employees who conduct OJT. Finally the development of an evaluation process must be done. Evaluation must not only be done after the training is conducted, it should be an ongoing process throughout the training program. An evaluation of employees’ levels of basic skills (reading, computation, and writing) should also be done before OJT.
Since all the salespersons are required to undergo some level of training, lecture may be another important training method the organization should consider. This method is one of the least expensive, least time-consuming ways to present a large amount of information efficiently in an organized manner (Noe 2007).
Data for the In-house trainer to be use in Designing Training
Training practices at Alpha Life Insurance Company Limited (ALI) was that the new sales associates would be trained by using On-the-job training (OJT). On the job training (OJT) according to (Noe, 2007) refers to new or inexperienced employees learning through observing peers or managers performing the job and trying to imitate their behaviour. In other words, OJT is basically having new employees learn about the job while performing it.
Although this training practice will enable the employees to develop the basic skills needed. There were a lot of problems that were developed in using on-the-job training. Despite the fact that all new employees were trained using OJT, little evaluation of learning was done and the trainers who conducted the training had little knowledge on the competencies needed and how it should be conducted in the training program. Other problems that arose, included employees not being able to convince (persuade) customers to purchase products that the company offers. Sales persons had problems using Power Point in their presentations. They had poor language skills and social etiquette, and there was also little feedback from supervisors which prohibited the employees from knowing areas in which they needed to improve.
The training practices chosen by Alpha Life Insurance Company Limited (ALI) were not as effective as they had hoped, so based on the data they need a new training program. Dessler (2004) stated that there are five steps in designing training programs. These include: the needs analysis, which identifies the specific job performance skills needed, assess the prospective trainees’ skills and develop specific, measurable knowledge and performance objectives based on any deficiencies. The skills that sales persons were lacking include presentation skills, because as stated in the case most of them did not have the knowledge on how to use the Power Point. Customer Service skills is another issue because they were unable to convince the customers to buy their product which leads to the next issue of not knowing your products and services. This is the reason why they were unable to sell their product as they did not know what the product was about. The final issue is lack of self-presentation one on one and social setting. Sales persons need to be train in order to develop social etiquette. With training, employees will master these skills as it will develop and better these skills as the training goes on.
The second step is instructional design which is where the managers/ supervisors decide on compile, and produce the training program content, including workbooks, exercises, and activities. Basically after the types of skills needed are identified, then training programs will be produced by the supervisors that will aid in developing and bettering the employees’ skills. As identified in the case, ALI was using OJT which is on the job training to training their employees. This is an effective training tool as it helps employees understand the operations of the job as they perform the tasks. However, when the company used this method the supervisors did not provide any form of feed back to the employees. Giving feedback is important as the employees will have an idea as to the areas in which they did not perform that well in and improve on them by the next training. If the supervisors had given the employees feedbacks then the company might not have been having so many complaints from the customers.
The third step is the validation step which is where the employees take everything they learned from the training program by presenting it to a small representative audience. In the case it was stated that employees had problems with how to use the power point as they did not have the knowledge of that aspect of their job. However with the right training the employees will know what they need to know about Power points so that the next time they have to present what they learn they will not have any problems. Also in this step, the trainers will have an idea as to how many people grasp the concept of the training and if there behaviours have changed during the training process.
The fourth and final step is the evaluation step in which management assess the program’s success and failures. This means that the manager will evaluate if the training methods used were effective and if the employees’ behaviour have changed and whether or not the customer complaints have stopped. This is the end of the process and also where the supervisors/ managers will see if the program has helped their employees by developing their skills and improving their weaknesses.
After the evaluation of the program, the manager/supervisor can measure the outcome of the training by using four categories of training outcomes. According to Tennant, C., Boonkrong, M. and Roberts, P. (2002), the Kirkpatrick model is a widely accepted model, which can be used for evaluating the effectiveness of training.
It is mainly concerned with measuring the change in skill levels achieved as a result of the training. There are four main elements within the model: Reaction, this basically deals with the reaction of the employees to the training program. ALI should ask their employees what they thought about the program and if it helped them in any way. This will help the company to decide whether or not they should continue with the program or try an alternative route.
The second element is Learning, this test the employees to determine if they learned the principles, skills and facts they were supposed to learn. This would help ALI as if the employees did not learn anything during the training then they should not continue with the program which might have helped them a lot than the previous program they had before. The third element is Behaviour; ALI should ask their employees if their behaviour on the job has changed because of the training program. This means that some of the employees might have been disgruntled toward the customers before the implementation of the new program so managers would want to know if the program changed the way they behaved on the job with the customers.
The final element is Results, which will help one to understand whether or not the customers have stopped complaining about the employees’ lack of skills. This is where the managers, supervisors and employees would see if the program really worked and it had developed and better their skills.
In concluding, once ALI follow this training process, it will result in making their employees a lot more confident in their work, they will be knowledgeable about their job and the products that they are selling and it will also help them in approaching the customers the way they are suppose to and also how to talk to them. The training methods ALI were using was not effective enough; however, the on-the-job training method would have made their jobs easier if they have gotten the feedbacks they deserved. Overall, once ALI implement this training program, it will help them grow, develop and become profitable than they were before.
Training Needs
The fact that employees are leaving the organization to join competitors may imply that they may not be comfortable or satisfied with their duties. The training must aim at developing the salespersons’ confidence in expressing themselves. A major training need is for employees to be trained on how to persuade potential customers to choose the products of ALI. Their awareness of the products offered by the company, and that of competitors must be developed in order to make comparison and strengthen their persuasive approach. According to findings from the customers, the language skills of salespersons also need to be developed. Apart from the training of salespersons the managers/individuals conducting the training must also receive training on how to go about doing so. The training need in the greatest demand is training or retraining employees on how to conduct proper PowerPoint presentation. The organization should ensure that employees are inclined with new technologies and understand how to use them.
Non- Training Needs
The problem of the type and effectiveness of the training method used is a non training need that must be taken into consideration by Alpha Life Insurance Co Ltd. Another non-training need arose because of the requirement of salespersons to be moving back and fort from the office in order to conduct administrative task. This was taking away from the amount of time they had to close calls. ALI may consider the restructuring the job so that salesperson will have more time to close calls.
Recommendation of Training Method Proposed
As a trainer or a manager, one of the responsibilities they have is to choose the most cost effective and efficient training method. The first step in identifying what training method they will choose is to identify the type of learning outcome they want the training program to influence. The next step to consider is the degree to which the method facilitates learning and transfer of training, the costs related to development and the use of the method and its effectiveness. For learning to take place the trainees must understand the objectives of the training program, the content of the training should be meaningful and trainees should be given the opportunity to apply what was learnt and then given feedback. Transfer of training refers to the extent to which training will be used on the job. In other words the closer the training content and the environment prepares the trainee for use of learning outcomes on the job, that is, the greater the possibility that transfer will occur. Implementing an effective and efficient training program can be costly and there are two costs to take into consideration. Development cost which relates to the design of the training program which includes the cost of purchasing or creating the program. The other type of cost is Administrative. These costs are related to consultants, instructors, and materials.
On the job training refers to the new or inexperienced employees learning through observing peers or managers performing the job and trying to imitate their behaviour. OJT is very useful for training new employees, improving the skills of experienced employees’ especially when new technology is being introduced. This method is appropriate as it will allow the employees of ALI to become technology savvy which plays an important role in their field of work.
The duration of the training program will be a period of three months, where the first month will be highly supervised and the remaining months will be with less supervision. ALI will have to budget for this three month training program which will also depend on the resources that will be used. The two costs to take into consideration as mentioned above are developmental and administrative. Developmental cost relates to the design of the training program which includes the cost of purchasing or creating the program. In the case of ALI the cost will be moderate because they have some aspect of technology within the company; however they need to further improve the way they train the user to use it effectively. The administrative costs are related to consultants, instructors, and materials. The level of this cost will depend greatly on the option through which ALI chooses for training, whether it is someone inside the firm with the appropriate level of expertise or they go external to hire someone to conduct the training program. The best method to use is to stay internal and coach the trainers to improve their training technique, which will have a moderate cost because the managers/ trainers would have the training duties detailed in their job description. The only extra cost that will be incurred is the expense of hiring a consultant to train him or her.
When doing lectures ALI will have to acquire enough material such as projectors in order to enhance the learning process by using audio visual methods. The lectures will have durations of six weeks. During the first four weeks trainees will learn how to use the technology and also to develop their awareness of the products that ALI offers and those of their competitors. After this is completed the employees will be given the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learnt in the lectures by operating the technological devices in the presence of the trainers and in a social setting where other persons pretending to be customers, this will take place in the remaining two weeks of time.
Bibliography
Dessler G., (2004). Human Resource Management, 10th edition. Prentice Hall.
LaBonte, J. T. (2003). “Building a new performance vision for results”. Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 35 No.1, pp. 33-37.
Noe, A. R., (2007). Employee Training and Development, 3rd edition. McGraw Hill Irwin, Boston.
Read, W. C., & Kleiner, H.B. (1996). “Which training methods are effective?” Management Development Review, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 24-29.
Staughton, R. (2005). “Operational performance gaps in business relationships”. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 25 No. 4, pp. 320-332.
Tennant, C., Boonkrong, M. & Roberts, P. (2002). “The design of a training programme measurement model”. Journal of European Industrial Training, Vol. 26 No. 5, pp. 230-240.
Table of Content
LaBonte, J. T. (2003). Wrote an article titled, “Building a new performance vision for results”
Noe, A. R., (2007). Employee Training and Development gave examples of the instructional system design
Read, W. C., & Kleiner, H.B. (1996), article titled, “Which training methods are effective?” showed the effectiveness of the different training methods and how to calculate its cost efficiency.
Training according to Dessler (2004) refers to the methods used to give new or present employees the skills they need to perform a job.
Tennant, C., Boonkrong, M. & Roberts, P. (2002). “The design of a training programme measurement model, Is an article that also describes how an organization should go about evaluating the effectiveness of training.
