Introduction to the Training Design Plan
Training is a very important part of every organisation. Training provides an opportunity to the people of the organisation to expand their skills and knowledge base. There are a lot of benefits that arise with the incorporation of training in organisations. Training should be used to overcome the weaknesses that are derived by the company, and the employees should be given proper training to address those weaknesses (Frost, 2016). The necessary training should be given to the employees so that they can improve upon their present knowledge and bring changes within themselves. Training also helps in the improvement of performance among the people of the organisation (Latif, Jan & Shaheen, 2013). The employees who are already competent in their work would also need to be a part of the training program as it will help them to broaden their knowledge base and perform much better. This report will focus on the training of the employees of People Credit Union whose needs have been identified in the need analysis. The need analysis has derived that there are often dissatisfied customers who are a result of the poor performance of the customer service team. There have been various complaints regarding customer service, and the present training and development plan of the organisation is not concrete for proper renewal. The training plan will consist of the training objective which will highly the aims of the whole plan which will be the focus of the organisation. The report will then contain the methods of training which will be mentioned in the training and development plan which will help the employees to practically get used to the situation that they would be exposed to. Moreover, the report will also contain the time requirement which will specify the time required for completing the training, followed by the resources and materials that are needed for the training including the room and food set up.
The objectives of the need analysis training and development plan are as follows:
- To get an understanding of the work that customer service employees need to do.
- To expand the knowledge that the employees already have.
- To train new employees about the importance of customer service.
- To relive the employees from the stress that they are facing in their everyday life.
- To teach the way that customers should be treated in the organisation
The objectives that have been mentioned above would help the employees of People’s Credit Union to change the way that they function. The lesson of proper customer service should be given to the employees since customers are the most important part of the organisation. Customer satisfaction should be the priority of the people of the organisation and for this proper training is very important (Hill & Alexander, 2017). The complaints that have arisen in the organisation regarding the neglect of the customers have been highlighted deeply by the organisation since they value their customers to a great extent. The need for the training has arisen due to the visible lack in proper training methods of the employees on the treatment of the customers who are a part of the organisation. The objectives that have been mentioned above focuses on the training of the employees regarding customer service and also focuses on the relieving of the stress of the employees which is also one of the causes of lack of proper performance.
Objectives of the Training and Development Plan
Extreme stress is given to the employees of almost every organisation to perform better, which sometimes has an adverse effect and stress could stop the employees from performing better in the proper way. Therefore organisations would have to arrange for training programs which would help the employees to overcome the stress that they feel in their daily lives and motivate them to work better. Training and development programs are also a way of employee retention, as extreme pressure and stress on the employees could force them to leave the organisation, especially if they are unhappy and not satisfied with their performance. Therefore, it is mandatory for the organisation to ensure that the employees see a chance for development and growth in their performance so that they can satisfy the customers with their performance and no chance for disappointment is present in their performance. The need for training would be present in every organisation. Therefore, they would have to realise the correct time for initiating the training plan (Durand & Theureau, 2016).
The training and development plan that is being designed is done to focus on the need for proper training regarding customer service in People’s Credit Union where the customers have lodged several complaints due to the poor performance and attention of the employees towards the customers. This incident has given rise to several reasons such as stress and lack of proper training which might have caused it. However, it is upon the organisation to address this issue quickly so that no further escalation of the issue is seen which have led it to develop a training and development plan to eradicate the issue at the present level. The objectives of the training have been mentioned in the earlier section which has made it clear that the organisation’s main focus is on the proper training of customer service and satisfaction for the employees. The objectives have been laid out very clearly for the trainer to understand the area of focus during the training. The training plan identifies certain methods which would be extremely helpful in the training process. There are three methods which have been identified such as induction method, simulation method and lectures and conferences. These three methods would help the employees get both practical and theoretical knowledge to address the objectives of the plan. The time designated for the training is one month with three hours of training each day. The employees would be divided into groups which would be easier for the organisation to accommodate in the room and for the trainer to train effectively. The materials required for the training are also listed which should be provided properly by the organisation so that there is no hindrance during the training process. The logistics and materials are one of the most important parts without which the training would not progress.
The training that has been initiated would require the incorporation and the collaboration of different kinds of methods for it to be successful. When different methods are combined in the training process, then they provide a wider chance for the employees to receive better results from the training since the methods will be combined with both practical and theoretical knowledge. Both kinds of methods would help the employees to improve their skills and also sharpen their knowledge about their job role. In the current scenario, the training is being conducted due to the several complaints that have been received from the customers regarding the lack of proper customer service in People’s Credit Union. Further research has proved that the lack of a proper training plan is one of the reasons for the low level of performance of the employees. This is because the employees with high level of skills are not being made a part of training which put them behind on their skills and knowledge, not giving them a chance to upgrade themselves according to the new scenarios and trends. The new employees are also being not given proper training, and they are also not made familiar with the organisation. Hence they remain in confusion regarding their job roles and the culture of the organisation and the customers that are a part of the organisation.
The Need for Training in Organizations
Therefore, there is different method through which training can be given to the employees of the organisation which will help them to address the issues of the customers in the right manner. The methods are as follows:
- Induction method – This is the first method of training that should be followed by the management of the organisation. The induction method should be a mandatory part of every training since it helps the new employees to become accustomed to the organisation and the process that the organisation follows (Salau, Falola & Akinbode, 2014). The induction would help the new employees to know about their job role and the culture of the organisation and the way that the customers are treated in the organisation. Induction training is also used for the existent employees of the organisation so that they can understand the new changes that have been made in the organisation so that they can incorporate the changes in their work process as well.
- Simulation method –Simulation method is used when a real-life scenario is designed by the trainer and the employees are rounded together to respond to the real-life scenario. The real-life scenarios could be a challenge that has been earlier faced by an employee and the customer (Aggarwal & Thakur, 2013). Different employees will address this situation in their way, and the responses would then be evaluated to understand the correct way to address the problem in real life. Simulation methods are one of the most commonly used training techniques since it helps to get a glimpse of the real-life situation and prepare the employees into responding to the challenge in the right way. Simulation method included the enactment of an incident which has occurred before or role-playing where a situation is given to the employees where they play different roles and solve the issue that is presented to them (Baile & Blatner, 2014). In this scenario one of the employees could act as the customer service officer and another employee would be the customer who has a grievance. The manner in which the customer service officer solves the grievance of the customer would be assessed in training.
- Conferences and lectures –Conferences and lectures are also a part of the training plan. Guest lecturers such as renowned businessmen and the people in the higher management can be brought in the company who would be able to help the employees understand the importance of training and also the need of training in solving their problems. Lecturers would address the problem that is present in the organisation and address it in their way (Martin, Kolomitro & Lam, 2014). They can give their views on the way that the employees should treat their employees and ensure complete satisfaction towards their service. Conferences are held when a group of employees along with the trainer or the lecturer would sit together to discuss their views on the topic of importance. Every person shares their views and others would discuss it and extract the important ones so that it could be used in their operations.
The training that would be conducted should have a fixed time frame which would ensure the completion of the training. First of all, it is mandatory that the normal day to day operations are continued along with the training. There should not be a hamper in the daily operations of the organisation since it would do more damage than good in their relationship with the customers. Secondly, the employees should be divided into different groups since it is not possible to train all the employees together, every day. Dividing into groups will also ensure that all the employees can attend every training session without missing out on any since there could be many reasons due to which an employee can miss days of training if there is training every day. Employees could be sick or have urgent work due to which they might not be able to attend a training session each day. The groups should have fixed and different days of training. The complete training should be finished in one month including all the groups. There could be four groups of training, where each group would receive five sessions per month for 3 hours. Out of the three hours, the first two and a half hours would be training and the rest one hour would be a discussion session about the learnings of the training for the day. This will also help the trainer to understand if the employees can grasp everything that is being taught in the sessions. At the end of the month there could be a combined session of all the groups so that the employees would be able to interact with each other and share their knowledge about the things that they have learnt in the training session. This would incur communication among themselves and help them to learn better.
The different materials and logistics required for the training are as follows:
- Selection of trainer – Selecting the right trainer is very important for the organisation. This is because selecting the right trainer would be beneficial for the company (McDonald, 2004). The trainer should be such who would be able to efficiently align the objectives of the training with their own and find innovative ways to address the problems faced by the organisation in the right manner.
- Setting up the room –The area of the room has to be big enough so that it can accommodate people between the range of 20-30 and the trainer (Hull et al., 2013). The division of employees into groups would not require a room size to be very vase which will make it easier for the trainer to train. The room should also hold the necessary equipment that is needed for the training. Water should be made available in the room.
- Setting up the equipment –The different equipment needed for the training are as follows: – 1. LCD and a projector which would help the trainer to show any video or other visual notes during the training process. 2. Tables and chairs to seat the people present in the room. 3. A cupboard to contain all the important training materials which should also have a lock with the key being kept with the trainer so that none of the important material is stolen or lost from the room. 4. Charts which display graphs and diagrams regarding customer service which would give the employees a theoretical knowledge of the problem.
Even though other materials are needed for training which could be identified in due course, these are the few important ones who should compulsorily be available in the training room.
Conclusion
Hence it can be said that proper training and development is very necessary for the proper functioning of the organisation. The issue faced by People’s Credit Union will be solved if proper training and development plans are followed so that the employees can expose themselves to the highest quality of skills and knowledge which would help them to do their job better. In the plan that has been proposed above, the objectives focus on helping the employees to work better and more efficiently so that there are no further questions from the customers regarding their satisfaction of the services provided by the employees of the organisation. The methods of induction, simulation and lectures that have been mentioned in the report helps the employees to get a better understanding of the issue at hand and find effective and innovative ways to solve the issue through the approaches of different employees towards a challenge. Training should be made mandatory for every organisation for better services towards the customers.
References
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