Developement Of A New Employee Training

Needs Assessment

Organizational Analysis

Solid Waste Co. strives to be the largest and most respected national hauler of commercial and residential refuse. One of the major goals of the company is higher brand recognition and company loyalty as well as a positive public image. This is important because it builds the company’s reputation with its customers as well as its investors. With that being said, the company is highly concerned about the safety of its drivers. They care about drivers being able to go home to their families as well as the public’s perception of the company as being conscientious of its surroundings and the people they service. This ultimately leads to the need for safe driving training and training to create employee buy-in that empowers the employees in ways that promote high company loyalty and job satisfaction.

Person Analysis

Performance deficiencies for drivers often result from meeting minimum requirements of the job and being only marginally successful. This is an issue of motivation, as well as knowledge. Drivers have the abilities and skills necessary to be the professional drivers that Solid Waste Co. so desires. The training addresses the motivation to become better drivers by providing employee buy-in as well as the knowledge of the rules and laws that need to be followed to ensure the safest performance possible. This training is more necessary for some drivers than it is for others, due to differences in levels of skills and abilities. However it is still hard to get driver buy-in without the training that is held in a corporate university style setting. So, in the end, it is best to have all new employees, not just drivers go through the company culture and safety training so that its understood what is required of the drivers, company expectations of safety and that employees are a valuable asset to Solid Waste Co.

Task Analysis

The most important tasks that would be addressed in this training are the safest driving practices that have been identified through government agencies as well as professional drivers from a multitude of organizations. They would be given real life scenarios that range from typical daily non-emergency situations to highly unusual, extremely dangerous scenarios. The drivers would also be given the chance to drive and operate the vehicle in a controlled environment that would provide hands on practice. The knowledge of how to perform these tasks would benefit the company by creating operational efficiencies and reducing costs from insurance claims as well as increased customer support for positive name recognition. Other important knowledge skill sets that would be needed are: pride in their company and services, understanding of efficient routing techniques, and differences in vehicles that they might be operating.

Manager and Peer Support

As with any expansion, project, or future purchases, upper level management must be involved in making these important decisions and must support the decision as to where and how the company is looking to grow. This same concept holds true with the implementation of any training process or program. Understanding this concept is a major determinant of how successful a training program will be in an organization. Getting all levels of management on board and excited about the training material, process, and benefits will only increase the overall return on the investment.

To start out with, employees and managers at all levels of Solid Waste Co. partook in an assortment of areas of the training program and development. First, to ensure the training program would be adequate and the necessary skills and information provided, we spoke with employees at Solid Waste Co. who encompassed a wide array of levels and positions. The participation of subject matter experts (SMEs) in a hefty portion of the development allowed for the obtainment of insightful and beneficial information that outsiders would have not otherwise known. SMEs provided specific information on what areas or skills need extensive training, what may or may not be the best way to deliver the training to ensure the most effective transfer, and what would be the most efficient and effective way to evaluate the training.

Obtaining management and peer perceptions and using this input to develop the training is an effective way to ensure buy-in and support from all levels, but why stop there? Having a positive climate of transfer plays a large role in how the trainees learn, retain, and perceive the training and thus ultimately the transfer of information. Peer and manger support is a valuable commodity when it comes to the effectiveness of training and transfer. Solid Waste Co. matches this belief and will have managers from certain departments participate in the implementation of certain parts of the training; such as the hands-on-learning and the on-the-job training portions.

Peer support is another way to enhance the transfer of training by offering a support network among the trainees and/or co-workers. Solid Waste Co. offers this type of support as well. During training, support groups will be developed which includes 5-8 trainees and 1-2 current employees. These support groups will meet face-to-face during the first and second week and will resume communication via email or face-to-face as needed upon completion of training. These support groups will discuss their progress in using the learned capabilities and share successful experiences in using the training content.

To ensure the trainees will utilize the skills, knowledge, and attributes learned in training once they are on their own, supervisors and co-workers will lead these trainees through encouragement, goal setting and reinforcement of learned skills. Mangers will also provide a positive climate for transfer of training by providing task cues, feedback consequences, lack of punishment, extrinsic reinforcement consequences and intrinsic reinforcement consequences. Also, supervisors and managers have arranged for weekly meetings for the first month for performance evaluations and to answer questions. After the first month, the training will then continue on the normal performance evaluation schedule as recognized by Solid Waste Co.

Learning Theories

To support trainee learning it is necessary to offer opportunities to practice and to receive feedback. Trainees will learn through observation, interaction, independent learning through CBL, practice and on-the-job experiences. At the completion of the program, trainees