Abstract
Fabrics Inc. is an organization that focuses primarily on enhancing a global image in marketing all across the world by enhancing its competitive advantage. In order to enhance competitive advantage and improve the overall organization performance, Fabrics Inc. tends to concentrate on improving the professionalism and the skills of employees through an effective training program. Furthermore, the organization tends to ensure that employees can adapt to the market trends, including technological advancements and changes in a business environment. Objectively, Fabrics co. Aims to enhance improved performance and qualification of employees and ensure that they can use the developing technology in the production process. In order to meet these goals, the company needs to start a training program where employees in need of the skills will be trained (Blanchard & Thacker., 2019). Additionally, content that conforms to the goals and objectives of the organization need to be developed. Lastly, Fabrics Inc. requires a coach to carry out the training program.
Meeting these goals and objectives requires Fabrics Inc. to deploy the following steps: 1) Identify the primary goals (improving the performance of all the employees, equipping employees with new skills, and acquiring technological skills for employees). 2) Developing training content (enabling employees to share their experiences by utilizing their abilities and skills, creating a strategic plan that aims at improving employee performance, equipping employees with technological skills and using these skills in a training session, focusing on employee motivation and development of self-training techniques and methods). 3) implementation phase, which involves; planning and developing schedules when training will take place, identifying the time and place where training will take place, hiring a trainee who will coach the employees on the required skills, developing of the courses that will be learned during the training, selecting a target group and designing control strategies for monitoring the training (Blanchard & Thacker., 2019). 4) evaluation phase (analyzing the employee feedback and whether there are any notable changes in employee performance after the training program). Therefore, positive results imply that the training session is helpful in the achievement of goals that are based on improving employee performance at Fabrics Inc. the analysis is based on the strategies that Fabric Inc. need to use to provide the supervisors with the necessary training on how to handle their juniors.
Training Program
This company operates in a highly competitive business environment. Therefore, for Fabrics inc to remain competitive in the market, it must deploy strategies that will improve its operations. This strategy is based on developing a training program that will equip the employees with self-training and new technological skills to improve their performance (Sandhu et al., 2017). Considerably, the best option is to enhance efficiency in using human resources in the production process; therefore, Fabric Inc. aims to improve human skills. In order to boost the development of the organization and improve in business, Fabric Inc. needs to develop a training program to ensure that they remain competitive in the market. In addition, Fabrics need to enhance the adaptation of their employees to the newly developing technical skills and professionalism.
Background
Fabrics have recently increased the number of employees from 40 to at least 200. However, some employees within the organization believe that the increase is advantageous because they will be able to develop in their careers. On the other hand, the owner believes that the group is growing too fast, and it was necessary to invite a specialist (consultant) to advise him on how to handle the group. The leader in this organization agreed that handling some of the supervisors was challenging. Also, it was hard to maintain employees who perform significant roles within the organization. Additionally, the owner had listened to various complaints from employees that they were being treated harshly by some of the supervisors. Ideally, it is thought that the problem might have resulted from the fact that the supervisors were promoted without training, thus engaging in conflicts with the employees. As a result, the leader feels that it is vital for the supervisors to undergo training because there had never been such cases before. It is, therefore, the responsibility of the leader to develop a training program that will help improve the relationship of supervisors with their juniors (Hur., 2018).
Need Analysis
After conducting several interviews with the owner and supervisors, the consultant realized that Fabrics Inc. has several needs to be considered to facilitate the organization’s smooth running without criticism. According to Blanchard and Thacker (2013), the performance of a training program is easier in a situation where the responsible parties realize the problem and the need to execute measures that can result in positive change. From the interview analysis, it is evident that Fabric company requires effective communication skills that will enhance cohesiveness among members of the organization (Van der Molen & Gramsbergen-Hoogland., 2018). There is a need to have a training session, although the supervisors have different opinions on how they should perform their duty. Some people sometimes believe that for workers to perform their duties effectively, supervisors have to be harsh and strict. However, others believe that handling employees with love and dignity makes them perform their tasks more efficiently with less supervision. Upon various evaluations from the interview, the consultant noted that Fabric company needed to make adjustments in the following areas; employee performance, solving conflicts, the importance of feedback, communication and listening skills, lack of motivation, and use of critical skills.
In addition, the interviewer analyzes the job performance skills of the supervisors by questioning them on their KSAs (Knowledge, skills, and attitudes). This involved analysis of the type of knowledge and skills the supervisors have and whether they can apply these skills in performing their duties. For instance, the interviewee questions the supervisors on how they handle individuals who fail to perform their duties on time. The supervisor responded that some opt to reassign the tasks to other employees who can perform them fast, whereas others focus on training the employees to improve. However, some choose to take full responsibility and complete the task. As recorded by Blanchard and Thacker (2013), one of the supervisors says that he cannot perform any training program and instead, he would assign the task to someone else or do it on his own.
In order to get more clarification about the company’s problems, the interviewer would have asked additional questions. Although the interview questions helped analyze the company’s problems, questioning how the organization uses deals with marketing strategies would be better and more effective (Hur., 2018). Ideally, gathering information on how the organization performs in the market would provide an overview of how the problems affect the marketing structure of the organization. For instance, the interviewer would have asked what supervisors do to ensure that marketing strategies are improved and what measures they put in place to ensure that subordinates who encounter challenges in reaching out to the target customer are helped. Therefore, gathering information about the company’s performance in the market is essential after identifying the problem of communication skills among the supervisors. In order to enhance efficiency in training, it would be necessary to acquire data on the impact of the lack of effective communication skills in the marketing structure. Last but not least, the interviewer needs to investigate the methods used to solve conflicts among the subordinates. This ensures inclusivity of many aspects that would help design a training session that enhances improvement in the organization.
Training Design
According to Blanchard and Thacker (2013), it is important to consider several constraints while developing a training program to make it effective and significant to an organization. This helps in taking the correct measures to curb company problems. For example, the designer needs to consider the time the training process would take and the cost of preparing and completing the task. Additionally, it is vital to recruiting skilled, willing, and experienced trainees. This implies that the trainer should be equal to the task by ensuring that he can equip the trainees with adequate skills and knowledge to enhance homogeneity and motivate them to learn.
Blanchard and Thacker (2013), the results from the interview show that the design phase should only involve conflict resolution objectives. This establishes a criterion through which Fabric Inc. handles the challenge. Additionally, the trainer should incorporate other areas of focus like employee performance, solving conflicts, the importance of feedback, communication and listening skills, lack of motivation, and the use of critical skills. Developing an objective based on employee motivation ensures that organizational performance is improved (Porter et al., 2003). Employee motivation requires the following objectives.
– Leaders within the organization will use forms of motivation to encourage employees to be more interested in their work. According to (Hur., 2018), using motivating skills like promotion, praising good performance, using intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and developing a good working environment encourages employees to perform their work effectively. Additionally, the coach should apply Abraham Maslows’ theory of motivation in training programs to encourage the employees to use their full potential.
– Trainees will also learn to identify employees who need adequate motivation. It is essential for staff members to know how to identify circumstances under which employees require motivation.
– Upon completion of the training, the supervisors will have developed alternative methods of motivating juniors who seem to be dissatisfied by listening to them and showing concern
– After the training, the trainee will be able to identify circumstances under which the use of negative and positive reinforcement is necessary. Positive reinforcement includes using rewards to motivate employees, while negative reinforcement entails using punishment to discourage bad behavior (Hur., 2018).
Critique of the Design
The proposed design has weak and strong tools that might affect the performance of Fabric Inc. one of the strong points is the analysis of objectives that highlight how people should act. The objectives are clear because they are arranged in different categories, which include organizational, reaction, and training transfer, thus making them effective. Clear strategies have been highlighted on how what the organization aims to achieve. Additionally, issues that need special attention have been highlighted, including assertiveness, feedback, respect, and the use of effective listening and communication skills (Mukhiddinova et al., 2021). Also, the proposed design entails clear strategies for the evaluation process that the company will undertake. However, the design fails to offer information on the strategies for dealing with problems that might arise during the training. The inclusion of these strategies would have made the design more effective because it would have taken care of the disruptions that might have impacted the process. Additionally, it was necessary to incorporate ways that the group would have used to handle trainees’ feedback. Feedback would have resulted in inclusivity which would then improve the interaction between the trainer and the trainee.
Development and Implementation
The function of the development and implementation phase is to ensure that everything takes place effectively and efficiently. While preparing for the training, Blanchard and Thacker (2013) propose that it is important to ensure that everything has been clearly outlined, including the trainer’s activities and equipment required. Additionally, this phase gives an account of the sitting arrangement depending on the space available. This phase emphasizes the guidelines and the use of objectives to enhance the effective training process. It is necessary to test all the equipment to approve their functionality before the onset of the training process (Sandhu et al., 2017). Additionally, a pilot program is necessary where a small sample of the trainees is selected to reach out with positive information about the planned training program.
Based on the set objectives, the development phase may include other sections. For example, an analysis on finding ways to enhance effective communication is an additional module. During the training process, the trainee might teach various communication skills and styles that the trainees should uphold in the workplace (Mukhiddinova et al., 2021). The development of the content of the program is another crucial step in the development and implementation of the training program. In this regard, the training program should include the following key elements: training basic skills of employees through sharing their experience to help them to use the full potential of their skills; focusing on the quality and strategies to improve the quality of employees’ performance; the acquaintance of employees with new technologies and use of those technologies in the course of training; focus on various techniques and methods of self-training along with the motivation of employees’ self-training.
Evaluation of Training
This phase determines areas that might require additional effort to achieve the desired goals and objectives. According to Blanchard and Thacker (2013), this phase requires a lot of concentration and focus because the weak areas should be clearly identified. From the analysis of the information gathered from Fabric Inc., the training process and the outcomes are the two evaluations performed. The trainer is the driving force in the “process” during the training. Additionally, this phase focuses on areas (topics) that were discussed during the training session and the time consumed. The importance of this process is that it helps identify hindrances that might impact the process, thus making it possible to make adjustments. Also, the questionnaire method gathers feedback on the employee perception and view about the training program. It is therefore easy to assess whether the trainees were happy about the session, how they felt, and what they think should be improved. Preventive measures can therefore be taken after obtaining trainees’ feedback, thus making necessary adjustments. This is advantageous to the trainees because they feel part of the plan and, therefore, motivated and involved. It also creates space for interaction between the trainer and the trainee. Information gathered from employee feedback should thus be used in identifying the weaknesses and making the necessary changes.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it is evident that Fabric Inc. needs to design a training program aimed at improving the skills of supervisors and junior employees, thus enabling them to perform their duties effectively: Fabrics should identify areas that need special attention. They should clearly state the objectives in the design phase to act as guiding principles in the development process. Primary objectives should be incorporated into the training program, but it is also important to focus on other features that might impact the firm’s operation. The implementation phase should address communication and employee performance to develop positive outcomes (Mukhiddinova et al., 2021). Proper evaluation strategies should be deployed to improve Fabrics’ performance.
References
Blanchard, P. N., & Thacker, J. W. (2019). Effective training: Systems, strategies, and practices (6th ed.). Chicago Business Press
Hur, Y. (2018). Testing Herzberg’s two-factor theory of motivation in the public sector: is it applicable to public managers?. Public Organization Review, 18(3), 329-343.
Mukhiddinova, D. M., Sodiqova, S. T., & Jurayeva, Z. S. (2021). Developing effective communication skills. Oriental renaissance: Innovative, educational, natural and social sciences, 1(5), 966-972.
Porter, L. W., Bigley, G. A., & Steers, R. M. (2003). Motivation and work behavior.
Sandhu, M. A., Iqbal, J., Ali, W., & Tufail, M. S. (2017). Effect of employee motivation on employee performance. Journal of Business and Social Review in Emerging Economies, 3(1), 85-100.
Van der Molen, H. T., & Gramsbergen-Hoogland, Y. H. (2018). Communication in organizations: Basic skills and conversation models. Routledge.
