Executive summary
Following a needs assessment report that showed a gap in the employees’ ability to use office equipment at the queen’s health organization, a training program has been developed to address this issue. The training program is specially designed for training adults and focuses on the identified needs to offer the best training for the employees. The characteristics of the employees, personal preferences and the specific training needs have been considered in the development of the training and program. The training will be conducted using both the on the job and off-job methods to ensure maximum benefits to the employees. The training will be performed for two weeks then followed by an assessment/evaluation of its effectiveness. The evaluation will focus on the; employees’ reaction to the training program, benefits to the individual employees and its overall good to the organization.
List of recommendations
After the training program has been implemented and evaluated the following actions should be taken depending on the findings.
- Development of another training program based on feedback received from the employees
- Continuous monitoring and follow-up activities to ensure the employees make effective use of the skills.
- Development of another training program based on character since the issue was not properly dealt with in this program.
- Orientation of future employees on efficient, safe and effective use of office equipment.
- Regular assessment programs to gauge employee performance.
Introduction
Following the recommendations in the needs assessment report, in which the manager of the queen’s health learning and development unit believes that the employees need to receive training and up-skilling in the use of office equipment. The need identified was found to be important as it impacted the overall functioning of the unit. The manager stated that if employees were trained in the efficient use of this equipment, resources and time could be utilized more efficiently. The following paper is a training program designed to meet the specific employee training needs that were raised in the needs assessment report. The training will be offered to specific employees with specific needs for efficient use of the office equipment.
Key issues identified
The needs investigations performed identified lack of skills among employees in the efficient use of office equipment and thus employ training will be the most efficient way of closing the gap.
Task Analysis results
In the task analysis (appendix 7) conducted to identify whether there was a need for training, it was found that some employees indicated that their knowledge and skills in regard to the use of office equipment were average, limited or poor. It was also found out that not all the equipment was utilized by every employee (refer to Appendix 11 &12), thus the training program will be designed for individual employees depending on the equipment used. It was also established that seven of the eight employees had no prior training in use of office equipment (refer to Appendix 13). The training and skills of the employees which are important for the development of this training and up-skilling program were also determined
Person Analysis results
The person analysis was performed to determine current individual performance, reasons for the performance, development & learning needs, performance gap, training characteristics and training readiness and the required post-training actions.
The data collected using the training and needs assessment (TNA) indicated that most of the employees were employed full time, and were aged between 26 and 40 years, most of them had been in their current positions for less than 5 years. 88% of them felt that they lacked adequate skills for effective use of the office equipment (refer to Appendix 13) The data also included their personal preferred styles of learning (Visual, auditory or tactile/kinesthetic) and whether they preferred working alone or in teams.(refer to Appendix 13) from the data collected most employees preferred the use of visual learning but since this is learning program about equipment use, all the three styles will be incorporated regardless of the employees’ preference. This will go a long way to ensure all the relevant information and practice sessions are offered to the learner. In addition it will be cost-effective since several employees will be pooled together to learn about an equipment rather than have training sessions for every employee and every piece of equipment. Thus the approach will be based on the equipment to be studied rather than the employee to learn. From the task analysis, the trainees’ performance gaps/training needs were clearly identified. Most of the employees had similar characteristics in terms of age, training needs and preferences. Only one novice learner was identified, aged above 60 with lack of competence in all areas of office equipment use. Thus, his case will be approached differently by he may need, more than one attempt in performing the task, may need contextualized learning, may need supervisor support and follow up, may also need extended training period.
Hierarchy of training needs
The training program has been designed to improve the efficiency of work through effectively using the office equipment including communication channels within the workplace. This will be achieved by imparting the skills required by different employees for: accurate telephone management, use of the telephone equipment and proper communication using the telephone; Effective safe and efficient use of office equipment which includes the photocopier, binder, laminator and shredder. “The training program was” developed to address the different areas of employees’ weakness identified in the person and task analysis activities. (Queensland Government 2009) The training was designed to present the employees with the necessary skills required for the correct use of office equipment.
General Objectives
At the organizational level the training program is intended to improve efficiency by equipping the employees with the proper skills required for proper use of office equipment.
The specific learning objectives include:
Learning and development session plan
The learning and development program will take five weeks; the first week will be for briefing, second and third week for training fourth and fifth weeks will be for assessment (Refer Appendix 2)
All the training sessions will be conducted using the “basic learning and development session plan (refer to appendix 4) but will be modified depending on the number of participants,” the specific learning activity and the preferred style of learning. (Goldstein 2002) All the sessions will be conducted in two weeks on different days to allow all the participants to take part effectively. The spreading of the activities across the week was done using minimal time of each day and thereby reducing the gap left by employees and supervisors participating in the training program. Employees 2 and 5 will be excluded from the training program as they were competent in all the areas to be addressed. Employee1 is the oldest and the weakest and thus will participate in all the sessions, the other employees will only take part in the areas they are not competent. The estimated time for each training session is 2 hours 45 minutes but this will vary depending on the number and type of equipment being addressed, number of participants and easiness of understanding by the participating employees. The session plans were designed to help improve the working relationships of the workers, so rather than focus on the specific employee characteristics, the plan focused on a “comprehensive training program that is all-inclusive, representing the interests of all the learners” and at the same time promoting corporation among them.(kirwan 1992) However, in the case of the first employee who is over sixty, the program will be extended by a week whereby in the second week the employee will be given an on job training by colleagues. The employees are supposed to learn about the efficient use of office equipment, thus the training program must entail all the three “learning methods; visual, auditory and Tactile.” (Noe 2008) The training sessions will include both on and off-the-job training.
The training sessions
The program will be offered in 5 different training sessions depending on the employee’s needs. The first training session (refer appendix 4) will be on accurate telephone management. The training session which will be conducted on the first day of the training week will be for employees 1 and 8 who were shown to be less competent inaccurate telephone management. The second session will be on safe, effective and efficient use of photocopier. This will involve only employee 1 and will be offered on the second day of the first training week. The third training session to be offered on the third day will focus on effective, safe and efficient use of the laminator. I will involve participants 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8. The fourth training session will be on the effective, safe and efficient use of the fax machine. This will be offered on the third day and will involve employees 1, 4, 6, 7, and 8. The fifth and final session for that week will be on effective, safe and efficient use of the shredder. This will involve employees 1, 3 and 4. The details of the training sessions can be found in appendix 4. This will be a training session for the first week and will be an off-the-job training. An on-the-job training will follow the same structure and will be offered in the second week of the training.
On the job training
In the the job training the employees will receive training “from experienced co-workers” who will mainly be employees 2 and 5 who are competent in all the areas of the office equipment use. (Wisner 2005). The on the job training will offer the best training opportunity as the employee will be required to choose the preferred style of learning and it will be directed to an individual rather than a group. The learning will be spaced to ensure that the employees retain the learning activities for longer. Part learning will be employed in which all the learning needs of the employees will be compared and those who had learning needs in similar pieces of equipment were put together. Thus different types of equipment will be taught separately except when similar employees required training in the more than one piece of equipment (refer appendix 4). The employees will be given study manuals, a brief talk followed by a demonstration of how to effectively use the particular equipment in question, this will be done by the coaches. The learning contract provides the details for the demonstration and (refer appendix 4) will be used as a guide to measuring the on-the-job training outcomes for the employees’ efficient use of office equipment. After the demonstration the employees will be required to perform the tasks on their own, this will be used to assess or measure on-the-job training.
Off the job training
This training will mainly be performed at a predetermined venue away from the employee’s place of work. The facilitator will use a “number of teaching aids” to assist the employee understand better (Tovay 2004). This training will mainly focus on the theoretical basis of the functionality of the office equipment. “The teaching aids will include handouts, operations manuals and powerpoint presentations.”(Blanchard 2007). This training will mainly follow the learning and development session plan (refer Appendix 5). To measure learning at this stage a brief test will be given to the employees, this will include identification and description of the equipment. There will also be a direct question answer session “followed by brainstorming in case of any difficulties.” (Sheryl 2005).
Overall Training program schedule
The training program will be conducted and evaluated in five weeks. The week prior to the training will mainly be used for briefing and facilitator familiarization. The first week will mainly consist of off-the-job training which will be done for 2 hours 45 minutes a day. Each day for different training task, this will ensure minimal use of time to enable the employees continue with their normal duty. Week two will mainly be an on-the-job training week but off-the-job training will be continued for employee one who requires follow up. Week 3 to week five will be the evaluation period; whereby data will be collected to “determine the effectiveness of the training program.” (Queensland health strategic plan 2007).
Evaluation of the effectiveness of the training program
The process of evaluating the teaching outcomes will begin immediately after the program is rolled out. The coaches will give instant tests and exercise to gauge the employees’ “understanding of the different concepts.” (Noe, 2009). The overall evaluation which includes feedback will be done between the third and fifth weeks of the program. “Data will be generally collected to determine the effectiveness of the training program.” (Lusine, 2007). The evaluation of the training program offered will use “the Kirkpatrick’s four stage model to determine and explain the reaction of the employees in regard to the training.” (Ithiopasgul, 2009). Thus the reactions will be measured using survey whereby the workers will be provided “with questionnaires to state how felt about the training program.” (Trent 2008) The questionnaire (refer appendix 1) will address all the areas of the training program. This will be a focus on the employees’ perceptions to determine the usefulness of the training program. The second aspect to be determined by the evaluation will be learning, whereby the knowledge gained by the employees will be measured. The basic question to be asked at this stage will be “did the Queensland Health organization workers effectively learn how to use the office equipment?” (Werner, 2005). The learning “objectives for each training session” will be measured at this stage (Saks, 2007). Difficulties may be observed because measuring will have to be done by observing the employees work with the equipments and there are equipments that are seldom used, such as; the shredder, laminator and binder. This can however be corrected by creating artificial situations to help measure learning, this could be done by creating circumstances that will necessitate the use of this equipments. The third factor to be evaluated will be behavior change. In making and answering phone calls, an individual’s character is very important as it determines the kind of message sent to the person at the other end. Thus in addition to determining the correct use of the telephone, employees 1 and 8 will be assessed to determine behavior change in answering and making calls on the phone. Finally the training will be evaluated against the overall impact on the performance of the organization. This will be the most important part of the evaluation as it is prone to errors since there could be many different aspects affecting an organization’s performance apart from the efficient, correct and safe use of the office equipment. In this part the following questions will be answered; is the organization more efficient, more profitable? Or better able to carry out its operations as a result of the training program?
Conclusion
An analysis of the training needs at the queen’s health organization reveals that there is need for staff training in office equipment. As the result of the needs assessment, a training program has been developed to impart the affected employees with skills for efficient handling of office equipment and assess the learning outcomes.
Reference list
Blanchard, P., and Thacker, J. (2007) Effective Training: Systems, Strategies and Practices. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Goldstein, I. L., and Ford, J. (2002) Training in Organizations: Needs assessment, Development & evaluation (4th ed.). Belmont California: Wadsworth.
Itthiopassagul, P. and Patterson, B. (2009) Training and development assessment, 2009; 17, 3: ABI/INFORM Global, p. 175-181
Kirwan, B. (1992) A guide to Task Analysis. Britain: Taylor and Francis Ltd.
Lusine, H. Alfons, G. Oude, L. Jack, GA. & Olaf, VK. (2007) Employee performance mesurement: An international journal, vol, 12, p.304-315
Noe, R. A. (2008) Employee Training and Development. New York: McGraw-Hill
Noe, R, A., & Winkler, C. (2009) Employee Training & Development for Australia and New Zealand. NSW: McGraw Hill.
Queensland Government. (2009) Queensland Health: Health, Care, and People [online]
Queensland Health Strategic Plan. (2007) Queensland Health Strategic Plan 2007 –12. Brisbane: Queensland Government. [Online]
Saks, A. M., & Account, R. R. (2007) Managing Performance through Training and Development (4th ed.). Toronto, Canada: Thomson Nelson.
Sheryl, AL., & Hewitt, MS. (2005) Staff recruitment retention, training and strategies. New York, Brookes Publishing Company.
Trent, J R. (2008) End-to-end lean management: A guide to complete improvement. Florida, Jurors Publishing.
Tovey, M. D., & Lawlor, D. R. (2004) Training in Australia: design, delivery, evaluation, management (2nd ed.). NSW: Pearson Education Australia.
Werner, J., & De Simone, R. (2005) Human Resource Development (4th ed.). South- Western College Publishers.
Wisner, JD. and Keong-Leong, K T. (2005) Principles of Needs assessment: A balanced approach. Ohio, Thomson South-Western
Appendix
Questionnaire
Employee reaction to the training program
- Did the training offered address your needs for skills?
- If not what do you think should have been changed or done better?
- Are you now able to make safe, correct and efficient use of the office equipment addressed by the training?
- If not what other methods do you think could be used to help you make better use of the said equipments.
- Has the training increased the overall efficiency of the organization?
- Or do you think the training was a complete waste of money.
Program schedule
Learning Contract
Training Activity:
Trainer:
Session plans
1st SESSION PLAN COVERSHEET
Training Session Title: Accurate Telephone management
Learning Objectives:
By the end of the training program employees’ 1 and 8 will be able to accurately and competently communicate using the telephone systems
Number of Participants: 2 (employees 1 and 8)
Session Duration: 2 hours 45 minutes
Out of the ordinary costs: There will be a need to make photocopies of the telephone operations manual and hiring of an extra telephone machine for demonstration purposes.
Resources:
Facilitator:
A copy of Telephone operation manual, Telephone equipment, writing materials
Participants:
A copy of Telephone operation manual, Telephone equipment, writing materials
Facilitator actions before the training session:
Make copies of the telephone operations manual, get a telephone machine set up the training room and summon the employees 1 and 8
Actions after the session:
Facilitator: clear the training room and ensure all the materials and equipment used are returned to where they were sourced.
Participants: Keep the notes and telephone user manuals for future reference. Get back to their work stations
Records management:
Record trainees’ results: Monitor the employee’s use of the Telephone equipment and record the results for a period of one week.
Advise HR/supervisors: Advice the supervisor on the appropriate actions to be taken should the employee fail to improve on telephone management
Session Plan designed by: ______________________________________ Date: ___________
2nd SESSION PLAN COVERSHEET
Training Session Title: effective, safe and efficient use of the Photocopier- Printing’ photocopying, scanning and faxing
Learning Objectives: By the end of the learning activity, employees will have the ability to correctly utilize the various functions of the photocopier, including its printing, photocopying, scanning and faxing facilities.
Number of Participants: 1 (employee1)
Session Duration: 2hours 45 minutes
Out of the ordinary costs: training room setup, photocopies of the photocopier operations manual
Resources:
Facilitator:
Copy of photocopier operations, photocopier
Participant:
Writing materials, photocopier operations manual, photocopier
Facilitator actions before the training session:
Arrange room setup, make copies of the photocopier operations manual, and get a photocopier.
Actions after the session:
Facilitator: Facilitator: clear the training room and ensure all the materials and equipment used are returned to where they were sourced.
Participant: keep the writing materials for future reference and get back to the work station
Records management:
Record trainees’ results: monitor the employee’s use of the photocopier and make appropriate recommendations
Advise HR/supervisors: advice the supervisor on the appropriate actions to be taken in regard to the employee’s performance after the assessment period.
Session Plan designed by: ______________________________________ Date: ___________
3rd SESSION PLAN COVERSHEET
Training Session Title: Effective, safe and efficient use of the Laminator and Binder
Learning Objectives: By the end of the learning activity the employees will be highly knowledgeable and in the use and the safety requirements of the binder and laminator
Number of Participants: 6 (employees 1, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8)
Session Duration: 2 hours 45 minutes.
Out of the ordinary costs: Photocopies of operations manuals for the binder and laminating machine, Equipments, stationary and sample materials for demonstration.
Resources:
Facilitator:
Handouts of operations manual, equipment, teaching aids
Participants:
Writing materials, equipment, hand outs.
Facilitator actions before the training session:
Arrange room setup, make copies of the operations manuals, collect the equipments, teaching aids and summon the employees
Actions after the session:
Facilitator: clear the training room, return the equipments used.
Participants:
Keep the notes and copies of the operations manual for quick reference,
Records management:
Record trainees’ results: Monitor the employees’ use of the binder and laminator; record the results for further action.
Advise HR/supervisors: Advice the supervisor on appropriate action for different employees regarding their performance.
Session Plan designed by: ______________________________________ Date: ___________
4th SESSION PLAN COVERSHEET
Training Session Title: Effective, safe and efficient use of the Fax machine.
Learning Objectives: by the end of the training program, employees will be highly knowledgeable in the use and safety requirements of the fax machine.
Number of Participants: 5 (Employees 1, 4, 6, 7, and 8)
Session Duration: 2hours 45 minutes
Out of the ordinary costs: None
Resources:
Facilitator:
Copies of operations manual, equipment and teaching aids
Participants:
Writing materials, equipment and copies of the operations manual
Facilitator actions before the training session:
Arrange room setup, make copies of the operations manual for the fax machine, summon the employees.
Actions after the session:
Facilitator: Clear the learning room and return the equipment used for teaching.
Participants: Keep the notes and operations manual for quick reference.
Records management:
Record trainees’ results: Monitor and record the employees use of the fax machine.
Advise HR/supervisors: Advice the supervisor on appropriate action to be taken in regard to the employee’s performance.
Session Plan designed by: ______________________________________ Date: ___________
5th SESSION PLAN COVERSHEET
Training Session Title: Effective, safe and efficient use of the shredder
Learning Objectives: By the end of the learning activity, employees will be highly knowledgeable in the use and safety requirements of the shredder.
Number of Participants: 3 (employees 1, 3 and 4)
Session Duration: 2 hours 45 minutes
Out of the ordinary costs: none
Resources:
Facilitator:
Operations manual for the shredder, teaching aids and a shredder
Participants:
Writing materials, shredder, and copies of the operations manual
Facilitator actions before the training session:
Arrange room set up, make copies of the operations manual and summon the employees
Actions after the session:
Facilitator: clear the teaching room; return the materials and equipments used in the learning exercise.
Participants: Keep the notes and copies of the operations manual for future reference.
Records management:
Record trainees’ results:
Advise HR/supervisors:
Session Plan designed by: ______________________________________ Date: ___________
Learning and Development Training Session Plan
Facilitator:
Learning objectives: For trainees to learn and be competent in how to operate office equipment effectively to aid them in their day to day activities and make them more efficient in their work.
Task Analysis Summary
Person Analysis Summary
EMPLOYEE 1
EMPLOYEE 2
EMPLOYEE 3
EMPLOYEE 1
EMPLOYEE 4
EMPLOYEE 5
EMPLOYEE 6
EMPLOYEE 7
EMPLOYEE 8
Person Analysis Matrix
*Employees 2 and 5 have stated they feel competent in the use of all of the office equipment.
Hierarchy of Training Needs
Hierarchy of Objectives
Frequency Table
Uses of each piece of equipment by Employees (8)
EMPLOYEE 1
EMPLOYEE 2
EMPLOYEE 3
EMPLOYEE 4
EMPLOYEE 5
EMPLOYEE 6
EMPLOYEE 7
EMPLOYEE 8