HRM Case Study

On

“Travails of a training manager”

 INDEX

Particulars Page no.

1. Introduction 2

2. Issues faced by the company 2

3. Analysis 3

4. Training Manager Job Duties 3

5. 9 Challenges Faced by the Training Manager 5

6. Issues faced by ASHWIN KUMAR 7

7. Solutions 7

8. Conclusion 9

9. References 9

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INTRODUCTION:

Training Manager:

Training and development managers and specialists conduct and supervise training and

development programs for employees. Increasingly, management recognizes that training
offers a way of developing skills, enhancing productivity and quality of work, and building
loyalty to the firm.

In order to identify and assess training needs within the firm, trainers may confer with
managers and supervisors or conduct surveys. They also periodically evaluate training
effectiveness. Transfer of training skills to the job is a particularly important skill of
employees who work in training. This paper will discuss the managers’ motivating styles and
the benefits to employees when managers become more autonomy supportive.

About Case:

Ashwin Kumar, who had recently joined System, as a training manager, was feeling uneasy
at the end of his first meeting with Pesu Shroff, the managing director of the company. The
products had an assured demand in the country, with smuggled goods from Taiwan and
Korea providing whatever little competition there was. The company had been operating in a
seller’s market for years and, as a result, most of its activities were production oriented rather
than market oriented. The company have to compete now in the marketplace and sell hard to
be able to secure orders since the times are changing. This is what the case was briefly
explains about.

Issues faced by the company:

 As a part of economic liberalisation strategy, the GOI has announced several policy
measures which made imports costlier.
 All imports has to be financed by exports, there were restrictions on margin money
and interest rate for working capital had shot up at one stock.
 Because of little export income in its account, system had no choice but to
discontinue import in SKD kits.

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ANALYSIS:

The training and development manager can promote learning opportunities for the whole

organization thus ensuring that the advancement continues.

Training is widely accepted as a method of improving employee morale, but this is only one
of the reasons for its growing importance. Other factors include the complexity of the work
environment, the rapid pace of organizational and technological change, and the growing
number of jobs in fields that constantly generate new knowledge.

In addition, advances in learning theory have provided insights into how adults learn, and
how you can organize training most effectively for your adult learner employees.

Workplaces have also become more knowledgeable about how to develop employee skills
more effectively in both external programs and using internal opportunities to help employees
continue to grow their skills.

Job Purpose - What does he do?

Develops and administers training programs for employees, assesses training and
development needs for organisations, helps individuals and groups develop skills and
knowledge, creates training manuals, presents in-person training sessions, monitors training
for effectiveness.

Manager’s Responsibilities:

It Includes:

 Identifying and assessing future and current training needs

 Drawing an overall or individualized training and development plan
 Deploying a wide variety of training methods

Training Manager Job Duties:

 Oversees training programmes that include web-based seminars, printed manuals,

group sessions, training videos, and more

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  Determines training needs and requirements for an organisation or group by meeting
with managers, talking with employees, or administering surveys
 Reviews existing training materials produced by third parties to determine
appropriateness and relevance
 Modifies or creates course materials and training manuals to meet specific training
needs
 Presents in-person and online training sessions or hires qualified personnel to do so
 Schedules training sessions, organizes information technology and other equipment,
and manages course enrolment
 Monitors training programmes and manuals to ensure that they are effective and up-
to-date and makes updates as necessary
 Works with managers to address learning issues, instruction problems, or new
educational needs regarding specific employees or departments
 Manages costs for all programmes, productions, and publications in order to report to
organisation executives regarding a return on investment
 Specialises in a particular industry and keeps current on the activities and needs of
that industry by attending regular meetings, conferences, and seminars
 Maintains understanding of new educational and training techniques and methods

Requirements:

 Proven work experience as a training manager

 Track record in designing and executing successful training programs
 Familiarity with traditional and modern training methods (mentoring, coaching, on-
the-job or in classroom training, e-learning, workshops, simulations etc)
 Excellent communication and leadership skills
 Ability to plan, multi-task and manage time effectively
 Strong report writing and record keeping ability
 Good computer and database skills
 BS degree in education, human resources or relevant field

Examples of Training Manager and his Department Activities:

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Trainers conduct orientation sessions and arrange on-the-job training for new employees.
They help rank-and-file workers maintain and improve their job skills, and possibly prepare
for jobs requiring greater skills or for promotions.

They help supervisors improve their interpersonal skills in order to deal effectively with
employees. They may set up individualized training plans to strengthen an employee's
existing skills or teach new ones.

Training specialists in some companies set up leadership or executive development programs

among employees in lower level positions. These programs are designed to develop potential
and current executives to replace those retiring.

9 Challenges Faced by the Training Manager:

Training today has become vital for an organization’s success. With increasing demand for
training, the entry of new age learners, and global expansion, the role of the training manager
is changing.

Modern training managers cannot focus only on imparting quality training; he must also

ensure that the training is engaging, effective and provided on time. All these aspects have to
be achieved with reduced costs. There are also several other challenges that confront a
training manager. Let’s look at those challenges and see how to handle them.
1. Inconsistent Training:
With organizations spread across different locations and with multiple trainers, there is no
guarantee that training delivered will be consistent. This is because trainers’ knowledge
levels, emphasis and teaching styles may not be the same. So there will be no consistency in
the training given. You can create standardized curriculums with the inputs and approval of
your trainers or subject matter experts.
2. Flexible and Mobile Workforce: 
The increasing size of flexible workforce, employees working in shifts, and employees
working on the field, is the next major challenge. By leveraging technology, you can deliver
flexible training courses, which can be taken at learners’ convenience. You can also keep
track of who has got trained and up to which level.
3. Reach Global Employees:
Another challenge that can arise with global expansion is because of the difference in the
primary language of all your employees. So courses in English will not be of great use to

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non-English speakers. For example, the content of compliance and safety courses may be
misunderstood and may lead to confusion. This issue can be solved by translating
content into the local languages of your employees.
4. Meeting Stipulated Timelines: 
The quicker the better! Trainings, especially on product knowledge, processes
and compliance should be completed as soon as possible. For example, a sales person can’t
wait to get trained for months to be able to sell a new product. The training should be
simultaneously launched with the product. You can get e-learning courses quickly developed
using the in-built features of the rapid authoring tools when compared to classroom training.
5. Appeal to New-Age Learners: 
New-generation employees like to do everything in their own way, even if it is a simple
training course. They want access to short trainings on their own devices and when they need
it the most. So you must think of developing single training programs, which run on multiple
devices such as iPads and smartphones.
6. Reducing Training Costs: 
Classroom sessions are no doubt very effective! But they incur huge costs, including the
travelling and accommodation charges of the trainer and other logistics. So e-learning is ideal
for today’s scenario. An e-learning course once developed can be used any number of times
and to train multiple participants. This reusing of a training program can help save on the
training costs to a great extent in the long term.

7. Training Updation:
The other big challenge is to provide the employees with up-to-date knowledge specially
when there are changes in the legislation, policies, and working processes. So make sure that
the courses are developed using user-friendly rapid authoring tools such as Articulate
Storyline, Adobe Captivate, or Lectora. They allow easy and quick updation of content.
8. Course Completion Rates: 
Course completion rates show you the real ROI. But then employees will show interest in
learning only those topics that benefit, motivate, ease their life and help them grow. E-
learning provides an opportunity to design engaging and inspiring e-learning courses using
sound instructional strategies. For example, let’s say you have to train the employees on how
to operate a product or an equipment. You can design a simulation-based environment,
providing a hands-on learning experience. Lot of other approaches such as scenarios, games,
and case studies can also be incorporated to make learning relevant and effective.

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9. Lack of In-house Expertise:
Then comes the challenge of acquiring in-house expertise to develop the training programs.
The task of developing quality and effective training courses within short intervals of time
may seem daunting. Therefore, let the experts handle it. You can think of outsourcing the
course development to an experienced e-learning partner who has skilled people, processes,
and the expertise of designing customized courses.
As the training demands change, there is a need for training managers to look at new
solutions.

Issues faced by ASHWIN KUMAR:

 Since there was no training earlier in the company and the belief was that “the Sales
man is born not Trained”, this clinched Kumar the most so he made a specific training
package for all level of employees based on his experience in the previous
organisation.
 Motivate the employees to attend the training program, Ashwin started with 10
salesmen but they found no interest in the training program and their attendance was
very less. Even the manager thought that the training was a big joke.
 Convince the employees to change their approach.

SOLUTIONS:

What Factors Motivate Employees?

The fundamental factor, which determines the fortune of a firm, is employee, because
if employees perform well and work efficiently, productivity will be considerably improved
and large quantities of profits will be made. The increasing number of managers has realized
the fact that employees are playing vital roles in development of a firm. Consequently,
appropriate measures are being taken to enhance the motivation of employees. Some people
believe that adequate salary is the most important thing that can motivate employees, while
more people hold the different view that other factors such as equal statue, achievable goals
and appreciation have more positive influences on enhancing motivation. An abundance of
evidence illustrates that job satisfaction, instead of salary, is the most significant thing in
motivating employees.

If I am a Manager How Would I Motivate my Employees?

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Motivation has much to do with desire and ambition, and if they are absent, motivation is
absent too. The topic of motivating employees is extremely important to managers and
supervisors. Motivation strengthens the ambition, increases initiative and gives direction,
courage, energy and the persistence to follow one’s goals. A motivated person takes action
and does whatever it needs to achieve his/her goals. Motivation becomes strong when you
have a vision, a clear mental image of what you want to achieve, and also a strong desire to
materialize it. In this situation motivation awakens and pushes you forward, towards taking
action and making the vision a reality. A great place to start learning about motivation is to
start understanding your own motivations.

How to motivate employees:

The key factor of success in today’s business is employee’s performance because, their
working quality designates business improvement. However, making workers motivated is
not easy for organization. Money does not only key, therefore, employees should have many
senses that encourages working hard. Consequently, we planned many motivation theories in
order to create those senses.

1. Making high job satisfaction starts with suitable working hours. Setting convenient
schedule shows that worker’s personal life is also important for employers. Consequently, it
gives opportunity to make relationship between employer and workers better.

2. According to the famous companies, organizing rewards like “Initiator worker” once in a
month is very effective. Because, individual recognition intensive tool to increase workers
moral and motivation and their performance.

How to Retain Employees?

 High turnover affects companies in several ways. First, when long-time employees leave,
they often take valuable institutional knowledge or intellectual assets with them. Seasoned
staff members serve as morale boosters for work teams and help new employees progress
more quickly. Having to replace these assets costs employers a lot in both time and money.
Second, high employee turnover often forces business owners to focus their own efforts on
staffing. Whether the employees being replaced are senior-level executives, middle managers
or entry-level staffers, business owners often bear the responsibility of recruiting,
interviewing and training new hires. And this is at a great cost--typically the equivalent of 30
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percent to 150 percent of the salary for the position. Furthermore, many business owners
mistakenly believe that the cost of replacing employees is merely the price of newspaper or
Website advertisements.

CONCLUSION:

Then what Ashwin do now?

 Since was new to System, he was not able to win the confidence of the employees in
that short span of time as he had a very little interaction with them.
 Ashwin must try have an informal communication with the employees to win their
confidence and try to understand the particular culture.
 He applied the bottom-up approach which was not taken seriously. So, now he should
apply top-down approach.
So a training program must involve these steps: By defining the objectives and strategies,
assessment of training needs, establishing training goals, devising the training programme,
implementation of the program and evaluation of results.

REFERENCES:

http://online.seu.edu/online-degrees/business/bachelor-science-organizational-leadership/training-
manager-career/#sthash.1ruC3yyC.dpuf

http://docslide.us/documents/travails-of-a-training-manager.html

https://www.thebalance.com/what-does-a-training-manager-director-or-specialist-do-1918553
https://www.scribd.com/presentation/259263734/Travails-of-a-Training-Manager#

http://www.studymode.com/essays/How-To-Retain-Employees-217792.html

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