Running head: TRAINING PROGRAM PLAN 1

Training Program Plan

Ame Anargyros

AET570

February 20, 2017

Dr. Charity Jennings

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Training Program Plan

Creating a program on concrete finishing practices within Metro Concrete allows each

employee an opportunity to learn the skills to do their job better and more efficiently. The

intended program will give an overview of techniques available with each end result. It will also

allow individuals to learn where they may or may not be doing the process ineffectively.

The program's focus will involve the entire company from upper management to entry

level staff. The program will consist of weekly training course on Mondays. The first training

would be introduced to the entire company with additional courses following.

Intended Audience
The intended audience is any concrete company that employs finishers. The intended

audience would consist of the entire organization to include existing staff and new hires. Each

manager would encourage all employees to attend the trainings. The training focus would

provide staff with new strategies, team development, and effective communication. It would also

help implement them in the way that works best for the company.

Each training is to allow staff to look for new ways to improve retention and track results.

The proposed outcome for the program is for individuals to learn new ways to finish concrete

and implement them in the way that works best for the individual. They will expect to see

improvement in staff moral, overall communication, and staff's ability to implement new tactics

in a work setting.

Program Goals and Objectives

The training program will provide workshops on how to implement effective finishing

practices in the field.

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Objectives for the Training Program

Exercise critical thinking to advance innovative and well-founded viewpoints related

to the staff importance

Gain social skills within the company

Knowledge of others work processes

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Needs Analysis

To determine the need for training it is necessary to conduct a needs analysis within the

organization. There are at least four techniques used in the process of this analysis, they are

Questionnaires

Group sessions

Interviews

Observation

Our effort to allow anonymity led us to begin analysis with a questionnaire.

Questionnaires were sent out by interdepartmental mail. Each department manager was asked to

require their staff to complete them. These questionnaires were informal to help ensure honest

responses among the participants. The questions were each designed to identify stressors in

employees work conditions. Each employee was asked to describe how they manage their time

when at work. Based on the answers collected through the questionnaires, workers had not

recognized training as a concern, however, identified stressors that directly relate to lack of

training. This has lead the organization to conclude that lack of training is an issue affecting

employees, but the employees do not recognize this as the cause.

Group sessions with coordinated amongst employee groups. In these sessions, we

identified the first verbal indicator of need. Employees were frequently concerned about not

having enough been trained to do all that was required of their jobs. This is found to cause

performance issues throughout the organization.

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Individual interviews were conducted both by phone with representatives enlisted to

collect data from each department within the organization. These interviews were open-ended

and allowed participants to openly share their concerns. Training options were discussed in detail

and many participants expressed interest in learning more. Participants admitted to knowing the

importance of training but, did not knowing with whom to discuss how or where to get it.

Finally, management was asked to observe employees within their departments. The

observations started with the employees that indicated they had a need for additional training,

then moved on to other employees including managers and supervisors. These observations were

somewhat informal, and work activities were identified. Employees often found it difficult to

focus on finishing one task at a time because of lack of a complete knowledge of all required

steps.

Lack of training of all the required skills is having an adverse impact on employees

morale. Stress levels as well as the organizations productivity levels are lower than that of their

competitors. Introducing a training program will help improve employee morale by increasing

base level of concrete application knowledge raising productivity while simultaneously lowering

stress levels and making happier workers. Many employees have expressed interest in

participating in a training course.

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Budget
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Support Staff

To best support our training efforts, we will proceed as we would an adult learning program,

the program will be conducted online in a classroom style environment on the campus of the

corporation. the course will be primarily online, it is necessary to employ the staff that best

brings support to the learners. To succeed, both internal and external staffing resources are

needed. Positions for these staffing resources will be filled from within where possible and an

outside training company will be utilized for the rest. The considerations for required staff have

been budgeted and include, internal resources, external resources, additional needs, resource

gaps, and staff performance evaluations.

The program directors will be available throughout the entire program development.

They will be assigned once when the training curriculum is identified and will be active in the

decision-making and evaluations. There is one (1) program director to ensure that the appropriate

course is aligned with the participants and the organizations needs. Support staff includes

technical support for setting up the course as well as for the participants. Technical support is

used throughout the course. Once the training has been scheduled, trainers from an outside

training company are present for the duration of the course to provide assistance to the learner

where necessary; answer questions, redirect distractions, etc.

In an effort to cut costs, the organization will be looking internally to fill most of the

internal training staffing needs. The external consultants hired are experts in training. They
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provide valuable insight into new strategies, techniques, and common issues. The technical

assistance is provided through the ABC software organization. Other resources needed is 24/7

technical support for program participants. To ensure the success of the trainings, the first set of

courses will be carefully monitored to assess the need for additional resources. If needed, the

organization will contact the ABC Company to add in which ever area is required. To help this

potential issues, we will develop a FAQ page will be available to all participants both past and

future.

Performance evaluations will be throughout the training program. These will be conducted

by the support staff and the program directors to ensure that the program efforts are on scope and

employees are motivated. Once each training program is completed an exit evaluation will be

conducted by support staff hired to evaluate progress and effectiveness of new knowledge.

Stakeholders
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Stakeholder Goal Tactics for Building Support

Use training materials to be

Encourage coworker
more knowledgeable at work
Learners involvement, share success
and be a more productive and
through social media.
self-satisfied employee
Encourage new learning,

potential for growth of Discuss possibilities, present

Trainers
employee morale and work easy uses of knowledge.

efficiency.
Management should engage

Happier, more skilled, more employees in continued

Management
self-reliant employees. education and employment

opportunities.
Progress reports distributed

More productive employees, through emails and

Directors
higher profits. evaluations. Continued proof

of benefits from training.

Show the possibilities of a

happier employee base. More

Shareholders Higher profits
work gets done and with

fewer mistakes.
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Communication

The Concrete Finishing Training Program will provide many benefits for the participants,

organization, and shareholders. This course is the beginning of a series of courses being

developed for the organization based on employee needs and continual learning. Finishing skills

will allow employees to not only be more productive, and better able to handle their workload,

but also allow them to feel more confident and eager to take more courses to improve their skill

set.

Benefits of Online Instruction

One of the most beneficial aspect of the program is that it is available online. Employees

can often become distracted when having to leave work for training at alternate facilities. The

online environment allows employees to login to a computer within a controlled environment

under the supervision of a training professional. They do not have to travel or worry about taking

too much time for training. They can work online at their own pace and ask questions when

necessary. Once an employee becomes familiar with the online environment, they may become

more motivated to attend more online trainings.

Instruction will be varied. Examples will be included so participants can relate the

material to real world situations. Relatable examples are a great way to keep people engaged,

especially when it is directly related to their work lives. Instruction will also include a number of
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different elements; including text and video to reach participants with different learning styles.

Workbook exercises are also provided along with text material to provide opportunities that will

help participants discuss strategies in a safe environment.

Feedback will be a significant part of instruction as well. Feedback supports participants

learning experiences. Lessons are broken up into manageable chunks that are in a workable

order. The sequential chunks are more manageable for understanding and building on previous

knowledge for employees than other methods.

Promotional Materials

The purpose of this communication plan is to reach the target audience of foremen and

employees and encourage them to participate in the newly available training course. The

communication plan will

Inform potential participants of the concrete finishing training program

Encourage employee participation.

Notify employees that the organization cares about their concerns.
Encourage employees to implement strategies learned in training, and reinforce positive

behaviors learned in training.

In addition to the primary ideals of the communication plan, it will also

Develop enthusiasm for the training program

Avoid resistance to the program
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Address employee concerns.

Marketing

Using a mix of traditional and electronic methods the organization will advertise the

program. Flyers and notices will be posted in lobbies and break areas where employees can

regularly see them. Flyers will be posted at least a month prior to the first set of courses. This

will allow time for employees to become familiar with the course and plan to take it by reserving

their place in one of the classes. Flyers and notices will be available on the organization website.

To increase awareness and interest in the program it will be posted to interorganizational mail

daily for the weeks leading up to training. Awareness is important. Employees that are unaware

of a program will not have an opportunity to join. The emails will be first sent to the employees

that identified finishing issues in the needs analysis. They will, most likely, be the first ones to

sign up. These employees will also be recruited to spread the news of the program to others

through word-of-mouth and be advocates. Word-of-mouth is the most successful form of

advertising and will be used to better the program to start. Although it is not anticipated that

employees will be too motivated to attend any training We do assume that if someone else

discusses interest in it the interest will grow, as will it when others have attended trainings that

are successful. The program will be mentioned in company meetings, management will further

support sign up, with a focus on the programs benefits. Management support is an important

factor. Managers have a personal relationship with their employees and can have a positive

impact on their choices. They can encourage their employees to take the course and promote its

benefits. Ultimately it makes the course more credible. Employees that are encouraged by a
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manager or supervisor know the course will get them noticed for following instruction and an

interest in learning trade secrets. An impression that has value. After the first set of courses,

employees that have had positive experiences with the course will help encourage others to

participate also through word-of-mouth.

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Evaluation

Evaluation is essential to any training program. Evaluation determines if a training

program is providing value to the organization and its employees. The individuals responsible for

overseeing program evaluation include the trainers, support staff, and the learners.

The trainer will use assessments to determine if the material was learned. Based on simple, short

answer tests that will be given to check understanding during the course instruction. Because the

course is a work at your pace program and trainers are available throughout the course, everyone

will pass and certificates will be awarded at the end of class each Monday. Students are

encouraged to fill out evaluation forms at the end of each class giving their reaction to the

effectiveness of instruction, trainer, and material. The support staff will then gather evaluation

materials and information for the directors review. The evaluation forms will also be used to

make changes to following instruction based on participant comments. Participants of the first

course will also be interviewed after completing the course, the support staff will determine if

any change has taken place for the benefit of the learner and company. Ideally, the participants

will immediately implement finishing practices into their work lives. If not, they will again be

interviewed and asked why. These interviews will encourage truthful answers. The assessment

information will again be gathered and presented to the program director. The director will then

weigh the program benefits and relevancy to the employees and the organization. They will also

discuss any changes to be made to the program to ensure material relevancy, enhanced learning,

and other changes to better reach participants.

Evaluation will focus on operational efficiency. The support staff will reach out to
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management to assess if concrete finishing strategies help increase efficiency. Managers will

compare the efficiency from before the course and after course completion using observations.

Learners will ultimately implement the application changes presented to them and reap the

benefits. Speaking with management can be an indicator of the course contents retention.

Managers will be contacted by support within two weeks of course completion.

Instructor performance and participant satisfaction will be measured and reviewed using

the evaluation sheets and interviews. Reaction sheets will be available to participants after

completing the course. Interviews will be conducted approximately one month after course

completion.

Employee retention is also a measurable consideration. A significant benefit of implementing

finishing training is that employees are happier when they can effectively to a good job in a

shorter period. Satisfied employees mean less turnover.