Choose an organization that has a training need. See options below. Keep in mind you will be writing about this organization and it’s training program extensively so you must pick an organization that either (A) has been written about extensively in the news and literature or (B) you are personally familiar with.
A. Abstract– Follow APA guidelines
B. Problem Statement– In 2-5 sentences clearly explain the organizational problem and need for training.
C. Background Information-
– Including type of industry
– Brief history of the company
– Business model, organizational vision, mission, strategy, and objectives
– Description of the organizational culture if necessary
D. Executive Summary– Summary of the organizational training issue which is a more detailed discussion of the problem statement which should include:
– Discuss how the organization’s performance is impacted by the lack of the training and try to quantify this in dollar figures, stats, behaviors, etc.
– Discuss how it is affecting the customer, target market or members
– Who else is affected internally within the company down the line (other departments, other workers, etc.)
– Briefly describe how the training will address and solve this problem effectively
– Other relevant facts or sections as you see fit…this is your project!
Remember, when organizational problems exist, they cannot be solved until the root-cause has been identified. For purposes of this project, you will assume that the root cause of the problem is a lack of knowledge and skills that the employees need to have in order to perform their job.
At this point you will need to conduct a needs analysis to determine the current state of the problem and actual knowledge and skills they possess. You will then compare your results to the standards the organization has set in terms of what knowledge and skills the employee should have. The actual performance vs. the desired performance is part of what you are after in this phase. This difference between the actual performance and desired performance is called the “knowledge gap” and this is what you will be addressing with your training program. Hopefully, your training will bridge this gap between actual performance and desired performance, prepare the employees for the job, and produce positive results for the organization. This phase is perhaps the most critical aspect of a training intervention.
Now that you have uncovered and identified the knowledge gap, you can more effectively design and develop your training that will help the company. In this exercise you will discuss your training program in terms of the design and development.
Once again you have total freedom here; however be thorough. Your training plan will likely include both traditional and technology-based methods to form a blended learning approach, but that’s up to you. Most importantly, I want you to explain your rationale for your decisions regarding the training methods you decide to incorporate into your program. Your plan will need to cover the following two major sections:
1. Training Design:
– Very briefly re-state and described the knowledge gap you are addressing
– State in clear terms the training objectives: Be sure to research training objectives using the textbook or training articles so you do this properly. If training objectives are too long, too vague, or not specific, they will be ineffective in guiding the development of your curriculum.
– Discuss how the training program will address the organizational problem and improve performance.
Training Development:
– Create your training program in more detail. This may take the form of multiple lesson plans or a general lesson plan that summarizes the program. This is your call; it depends on how lengthy your training program is. If it is a complex and long program that would span several weeks of training, then I would not want you to develop every lesson plan in detail, but rather a general lesson plan that summarizes each major phase. If your program is relatively short consisting of one or two lesson plans, then feel free to design each one and include more details.
– Discuss how your material will be sequenced and put together; how it will progress and flow logically. Explain your rationale from research so that you are adding scholarly reasoning to your decisions and including research along the way.
– State how the program will be delivered: in-person, web, computer-based, simulation, on-the-job, small group, large group, supplemented with social media or not, etc. I want this program to reflect a modern approach to training.