Chapter 2 Strategic Training

-Business strategy :a plan that integrates the company's goals, policies, and actions.
-The strategy influences how the company uses: physical capital, financial capital, and human capital.
-the business strategy helps direct the companys activities to reach specific goals, goals :what the
company hopes to achieve in the medium- and long-term future.
-business strategy has a strong impact on the type and amount of training that occurs and whether
resources should be devoted to training.
-Strategy has a particularly strong influence on determining:
1-The amount of training devoted to current or future job skills.
2-The extent to which training is customized for the particular needs of an employee or is developed based
on the needs of a team, unit, or division.
3- Whether training is restricted to specific groups of employees or open to all employees.
4-Whether training is planned and systematically administered, provided only when problems occur, or
developed spontaneously as a reaction to what competitors are doing.
5-The importance placed on training compared to other human resource management practices such as
selection and compensation.
-Evolution of Training's Role ( from a program focus to a broader focus on learning and creating and
sharing knowledge)
-Learning: the acquisition of knowledge by individual employees or groups of employees who are willing to
apply that knowledge in their jobs in making decisions and accomplishing tasks for the company.
-Knowledge: what individuals or teams of employees know as well as company rules, processes, tools,
and routines. It is either tacit knowledge or explicit knowledge.
-Explicit knowledge: knowledge that can be formalized, codified, and communicated.
-Tacit knowledge: personal knowledge based on individual experience that is difficult to explain to
others.
-the types of tacit and explicit knowledge that are important to employees include: knowledge about the
company, knowledge about customers and knowledge about the companys business processes.
Employees need to understand the companys business, strategy and financial statements as well as how
the company is organized. Employees must know who the company customers are, what they need and
why they choose to business with the company. Employees must also have a general understanding of the
major business processes and a more detailed understanding of the business processes they are involved
in.
*movement from training as an event to learning.:
The emphasis on learning has several implications:
1-there is a recognition that to be effective, learning has to be related to helping employees performance
improve and the company achieve its business goals.
2-because problems cannot be predicted in advance, learning needs to occur on as-needed bases.
3- because tacit knowledge is difficult to acquire in training programs, companies need to support informal
learning.
4- learning had to be supported not only with physical and technical resources but also psychologically. the
company work environment, managers and peers need to support learning.
-Key capabilities needed to implement learning strategies:
1-Alignment of learning goals to the business goals. 2-Measurement of the overall business impact of the
learning function.
3-Movement of learning outside the company to include customers, vendors, and suppliers.
4-A focus on developing competencies for the most critical jobs.
5-Integration of learning with other human resource functions such as knowledge management,
performance support, and talent management.
6-Training delivery approaches that include classroom
as well as e-learning.
7-Design and delivery of leadership development courses.
*The Strategic Training and Development Process

1-identify the companys business strategy: three factors influence the companys business strategy:
1-the companys mission,vision and goals help to determine the strategy
-Mission: the company's reason for existing.
-Vision: the picture of the future that the company wants to achieve.
-Values: what the company stands for.
2- a SWOT analysis :an analysis of the company's operating environment to identify opportunities and
threats as well as an internal analysis of the company's strengths and weaknesses
3-The company has to consider its competition how will the company successfully compete
2-dentify strategic training and development initiatives that support the strategy
Strategic training and development initiatives: learning-related actions that a company should take to help
it achieve its business strategy. They provide the company with a road map to guide specific training and
development activities, they also show how the training function will help the company reach its goals.
-Strategic Training and Development Initiatives and Their Implications

-How might a company ensure that its training and development initiatives are linked to business strategy?
Questions to Ask to Develop Strategic Training and Development Initiatives

3-provide training and development activities linked to strategic training and development
initiatives
-these activities include developing initiatives rlated to use of new technology in training, increasing
access to training programs for certain groups of employees, reducing development time and developing
new or expanded course offerings.
4-Identify and collect metrics to show training success:
-Metrics are used to identify: 1-trainees' satisfaction with the training program.
2-whether the trainees' knowledge, skill, ability, or attitudes changed as a result of program participation.
3-whether the program resulted in business-related outcomes for the company.
-Balance scorecard: means of performance measurement that provides managers with a chance to look at
the overall company performance or the performance of departments or functions.
-It considers four perspectives: 1-customer (time, quality, performance, service, cost)
2-internal (processes that influence customer satisfaction)
3-innovation and learning(operating efficiency, employees satisfaction, continuous improvement)
4-financial (profitability, growth, shareholder value)
*organizational characteristics that influence training
1-roles of employees and managers:
-the managers in traditional work environments are expected to do the following:
1-manage individual perforamance 2- develop employees 3- plan and allocate resources
4- coordinate interdependent groups
5-manage group performance
6-montiotr the business environment 7-represent ones work unit.
-line managers spend more time managing individual performance and developing employees than
midlevel managers and executives do. Midlevel managers and executives most important roles are
planning and allocating resources, coordinating interdependent groups and managing group performance.
Executives also spend time monitioring rhe business environment
The Roles and Duties of Managers in Companies That Use High-Performance Work Practices

2-Top management support :The CEO plays a key role in determining the importance of training and
learning in the company. He is responsible for vision, being a sponsor governor, faculty, learner, and
marketing agent:
1- A clear direction for learning vision 2- encouragement, resources and commitment for strategic
learning. sponsor
3-taking an active role in governing learning, including reviewing goals and objectives governor
4-developing new learning programs for the company (subject-matter expert)
6-teaching programs or providing resources online(faculty)
7-serving as a role model for learning for the entire company (learner)
8-promoting the companys commitment to learning(marketing agent)
3-integration of business units: The degree to which a company's units or businesses are integrated
affects the kind of training that takes place.
4-Global presence: for companies with global operations, training is used to prepare employees for
temporary or long-term overseas assignments.
5-Business conditions: when unemployment is low and/or businesses are growing at a high rate and
need more employees, companies usually find it difficult to attract new employees, find employees with
the necessary skills and retain current employees. Training plays an important role in preparing employees
to be productive as well as motivating and retaining current employees.
-for companies in an unstable environment, training may be abandoned or become more short term.
6- Other Human resource management (HRM) practices : the management activities related to
investments, staffing performance management, training, and compensation and benefits.
a-Staffing strategy: the company's decisions regarding where to find employees, how to select them, and
the desired mix of employee skills and statuses.
b-Human resource planning :identification, analysis, forecasting, and planning of changes needed in the
human resource area to help the company meet changing business conditions.
-Implications of Staffing Strategy for Training

7-Extent of unionization: Unions' interest in training has resulted in joint union-management programs
designed to help employees prepare for new jobs.
8-Staff involvement in training and development: If managers are not involved in the training
process, training may be unrelated to business needs.
-If line managers are aware of what development activity can achieve, they will be more willing to become
involved in it.
-They will also become more involved in the training process if they are rewarded for participating.
-An emerging trend is that companies expect employees to initiate the training process.

Implications of Business Strategy for Training

Models of Organizing the Training Department

Centralized training - training and development programs, resources, and
professionals are primarily housed in one location and decisions about training
investment, programs, and delivery methods are made from that department.
It helps companies better integrate programs for developing leaders and managing
talent with training and learning during times of change.
Faculty model
Look a lot like the structure of a college.
Training staff are experts in the areas in which they train.
The training department's plans are easily determined by staff expertise.
The training function may not meet the needs of the organization.
Trainers may be unaware of business problems or unwilling to adapt
materials to fit a business need.
Customer model
Responsible for the training needs of one division or function of the company.
Training programs are developed more in line with the particular needs of a
business group.

 Trainers are expected to be aware of business needs and to update courses

and content to reflect them.
Involves considerable time, programs may vary greatly in effectiveness, and
design may be poor.
Matrix model
The trainer has the responsibility of being both a training expert and a
functional expert.
It helps ensure that training is linked to the needs of the business.
Trainer gains expertise in understanding a specific business function.
Trainers will have more time demands and conflicts because they report to
two managers.
The Corporate University Model

The business embedded (BE) model is characterized by five competencies

strategic direction, product design, structural versatility, product delivery, and
accountability for result.
It is customer-focused when compared to the traditional training department.
Comparison
between
a
Business-Embedded
Training
Organization
and a Traditional Training Department

Marketing the Training Function

Companies

sell

training services for the following reasons:

Some businesses are so good at a particular aspect of their operation that
other companies are asking for their expertise.
Other companies aim training at their own customers or dealers.
In some cases, the training department sells unused seats in training
programs or e-learning courses.
Outsourcing Training
Outsourcing the use of an outside company that takes complete responsibility
and control of some training or development activities or that takes over all or
most of a company's training including administration, design, delivery, and
development.
Why companies outsource training:
Cost savings.
Time savings that allow a company to focus on business strategy.
Improvements in compliance and accuracy in training mandated to comply
with federal, state, or local rules.
The lack of capability within the company to meet learning demands.

 The desire to access best training practices.

Two reasons companies do not outsource their training are:
The inability of outsourcing providers to meet company needs.
Companies' desire to maintain control over all aspects of training and
development, especially delivery and learning content.
Questions
to
Ask
When
Considering
Outsourcing