Developing A Training Program

Abstract

Throughout the United States, private and public-sector companies are facing the problem of a workforce severely lacking in basic workplace skills: More than 40 percent of the U.S. workforce and more than 50 percent of high school graduates do not have the basic skills to do their job.

What makes these statistics even more disturbing is that employee skills are becoming increasingly important in the face of globalization, technological change, trade liberalization, deregulation and other external pressures on organizations today. For many organizations, one solution to the problem of a grossly unprepared workforce is to utilize workplace education programs. These programs are used to develop employees that are proving to be instrumental in turning skills in to profit. (Bloom and Lafleur)

Objectives

1. The first objective of this paper is to explain in detail the components of an effective orientation program.

2. The second objective of this paper is to explain why remedial skill training programs are important in today's business environment.

3. The third objective of this paper is to explain why organizations need performance management and coaching/mentoring systems.

Outline

I. Introduction

II. The details of an effective employee orientation program.

A. An effective employee orientation program has clearly defined objectives. Provide critical information and resources in a timely manner to help make the new employee independently productive as soon as possible. This phase of the orientation should include organization-wide information such as:

1. The organization's mission, vision, values, goals, and customer service perspective

2. Ethics

3. Performance-improvement policies

4. Basic safety policies

5. General personnel policies such as hours of work, holidays, vacation, insurance, and other benefits

6. Overview of the orientation and competency assessment process.

B. The program should be assessed for proper content and delivery, as well as how successful the orientation program is. Creating a baseline will give information about what has to be accomplished and will allow an educator to evaluate the success of the efforts. Use focus group research, qualitative research, quantitative data, and a direct review of all existing processes and procedures.

C. Everyone in the organization has a role in an effective orientation program.

1. The supervisor has the most important role in that he or she helps to guide the employee in providing information and specific training for their position.

2. Coworkers help to give the newcomer information about the workplace, which helps to socialize the employee into the organization.

3. The HRD staff has a pivotal role in the newcomer orientation in that they conduct and oversee the training. HRD has an additional role to maintain, update, and monitor the educational activities and mechanisms throughout the organization. It is helpful to implement organization-wide policies, procedures and templates.

4. The new employee should be the leader of his or her own training in that they should take an active role in learning everything they can about the company.

D. There are many problems common to employee orientation programs that should be avoided. Many new hires question their decision to change companies by the end of the first day. Their anxieties are fueled by mistakes that companies often make during that first day new employee orientation program. These common mistakes include:

1. Overwhelming the new hire with facts, figures, names and faces packed into one eight hour day

2. Showing boring orientation videos

3. Providing lengthy front-of-the-room lectures; and

4. Failing to prepare for the new hire; providing no phone, no e-mail, no computer, and no work. (Heathfield, N.D)

E. The importance of remedial basic skill training programs in today's business environment appear in an organization under Workplace Education Programs (WEPs)

WEPs are programs that develop employees' workplace basic skills so that they can perform their jobs better. WEPs are usually, but not always, delivered in the workplace itself. WEPs may target workplace basic skills exclusively (e.g., the ability to read and apply documents, the ability to use numbers, English as a Second Language), or may incorporate technical and job-specific training within a broader training framework. Both approaches have proven successful in the past. (About.com, N.D.)

F. The main goals of remedial skill training programs are to bridge the gaps between the skill requirements of the job and the skill set of the potential employees. Although the impact of basic skills training on profits varies according to the value and shortage of a given skill or group of skills, employers overwhelmingly report increased profits and other bottom line benefits when their employees gain basic skills that enable them to work more effectively. (Bloom and Lafleur)

G. Basic skill training programs are used to enhance and develop the basic competency skills of reading, writing, and computation. It also produces a variety of indirect economic benefits, such as improved quality of work, better team performance, improved capacity to cope with change in the workplace and improved capacity to use new technology. (Bloom and Lafleur)

H. The design