This report will look at identifying and implement learning and development needs for an automotive service workshop. It will look at developing a learning and development plan, elaborating a strategy to encourage staff to self evaluate performance, assessing performance, providing feedback and managing follow up.
It will use Richard Parser’s Automotive Service Team workshop as a case study to help understand the problems of managing people learning needs and performance implementing. Background Richard Parker has been in business for three years, in Preston, Melbourne. Richard employs eight full-time and two part-time staff. Four of the full-timers work in the workshop and two in in the back office and two in the front office dealing with customers. Richard has noticed that the front office staff and their customer service are not up to the expected level. For example customers don’t get the service that they require or the product they order.
Richard complains of staff not showing up for work at the right time and so on. Richard has also faced some issues with the local council over solid and liquid waste disposal. The back end office staff often confronts the mechanics when they order spare parts for the services to be carried out. The back office staff always complain of issues with suppliers. Suppliers complain of the ambiguous ordering process of the back staff. Richard finds some irregularity in his teams in terms of application of skills and knowledge. He believes that it is the right time for him to take the right actions to turn the business into the right direction.
That’s why he decides to identify and implement learning and development needs for is staff. Report AAA . Recommended learning method is a Training Needs Analysis (TAN) Richard could identify his team learning needs using a systematic approach and going through four steps of analysis: 1. Analysis of the competencies that each employee must have to improve the business flow. 2. Analysis of the organization requirements to focus where is the learning and development need located. 3. Task analysis to establish what individuals and teams must learn in order to satisfy the required learning and development need. . Team analysis to determine which employee needs a learning program. To conduct this analysis Richard will need to: now his company situation, ; identify required competencies of his team, ; involve employees in decision making, survey, discuss and analyses actual data, prepare specific employee development plans, implement the plans. Before to designing the training program, it will be very important that Richard conduct a SOOT analysis, to identify his team Strengths and Weakness points; and his business Opportunities and Threats.
To fill the gap between the Job requirements and current abilities of his employees, Richard has to conduct a training needs analysis, making sure that it’s targeted to a specific need and satisfies training acquirement. The training needs will be the result of collecting information on the skills, knowledge and attitude required to perform a Job task, identifying the training need and performance gap. When designing the learning needs analysis, Richards aim is to: ; assess the current situation. Define the problem (what gaps exist? ). Determine if there is a need for training/learning. Determine what is driving this need for training/learning. ; evaluate existing training. Assess the possible learning solutions. Ascertain information about logistical considerations/constraint. The Training Needs Analysis will provide the following benefits: ; A clear indication of what needs to be included in a training program. ; Helps in developing learning outcomes (by identifying precisely what needs to be learnt). ; Clarifies areas for assessment. O Provides guidance on development, delivery, presentation methods and media to be used. Provides knowledge of the target audience, training gaps and proposed content. ; Will allow specific Assessment to ascertain its success. AAA. Learning and Development Plan. Name: Paul smith Date: 25. 02. 2014 Job position: Front office, customer service. Learning improvements goals Dealing with customers Communication with the staff Being at work on time Learning outcomes Delivering effective customer service Team working Effective internal communication Respect of workplace rules and workflow Strategies / steps or actions Analysis of training needs: interview to identify performance needs. Identification of appropriate learning methods: consulting of guest speaker. ; Employee self-Assessment of performance: simulated work experience. ;Owner feedback: on-the-Job coaching or mentoring. Follow up: simulated work experience. Behavior/expectations/support ; Elaborate a learning plan targeted, collaboratively developed, agreed to and implemented. ; Owner identifying and approving resources and time lines required for learning activities. ; Employee proclivity to fill in the performance gaps.
Owner providing coaching and mentoring Helpance. Owner providing encouragement and positive feedback to the employee. Data/ resources Survey to be subordinated during informal interview. ; Guest speaker identifying appropriate learning methods. Timeline ; 1 week for analysis ; 1 week for simulating work experience, feedback and follow up. AAA. Employee self-assessment. SELF ASSESSMENT Employee details Name: PAUL SMITH position: FRONT OFFICE work area: CUSTOMER SERVICE contact no. : 555 555 555 1. Sees your current level of skill/knowledge relating to the skills/knowledge provided: I know how to take orders from clients, how to answer to phone calls, how to record appointments on the agenda. 2. Think about the requirements of your Job in relation to the skill areas and note the major task/knowledge requirements of your position: I need to improve my approach to the Clients, delivering effective customer service. I need to learn how to use suppliers database, to improve communication tit back office staff. I need to learn more about mechanical components, to improve communication with staff.
I need to respect more workplace rules and workflow. 3. Where you can identify that your skills/knowledge are less than those required for your position, tick the box Training Required: a) Dealing with customers b) Communication with the staff c) Being at work on time 4. Where training is required, decide how soon your training should occur: a) the next 2 weeks b) In the next 2 weeks c) Immediately AAA. Feedback mechanisms. In Richard needs to collect feedback on performance of team members from relevant resources and compare with established team learning needs.
Feedback on performance may include: ; Formal/informal performance appraisals. Obtaining feedback from clients. Obtaining feedback from supervisors and colleagues. Personal, reflective behavior strategies. ; Routine organizational methods for monitoring service delivery. Richard may use some formal systems in comparing established team learning needs, such as measurement systems (including planning), individual and team performance and reward systems, resource allocation systems. Richard should use also some informal yester in comparing established team learning needs, including meeting formats and conflict resolution protocols.
AS. Development program Goals. Richard has to identify and develop program goals and objectives in order to establish clear training goals, learning objectives, and long-term objectives based on the outcomes that his employees wish to achieve. The goals and objectives indicate what the participants will learn and achieve as a result of their learning. To be effective, training must be specifically structured to meet stated outcomes and must be based on: ; Clear and measurable goals. Clear and learner focused objectives. Long-term objectives, to establish a pattern for future Assessment.
Richard should provide to his employees a document that specifies in a structured format how they should perform a Job or work role (competency standard). AAA. Appropriate Learning Methods. Learning delivery methods appropriate to the learning goals may include: ; Conference and seminar attendance ; Formal course participation ; Induction Involvement in professional networks On-the-Job coaching or mentoring Presentations/demonstrations ; Problem-solving Work experience It is important to give the right consideration to participants expect and their earning style.
Some learning methods might be not effective because: ; Lack of practical information (too much theory or background and not enough “how-to” approaches or action steps). ;Material too elementary and/or out of date, no “state of the art”. ; Not enough group interaction (too much lecturing). O Lecture notes and visuals not sequenced with course coverage. Sometimes boring. Disorganized – skipping from topic to topic with no sense of direction. ; Poor visuals. To provide an effective training program, the trainer should: ; Assess in advance the relative importance of each segment of the learning program. Spend more time on the most vital segments. Determine priorities for the elements of the session in advance. An effective trainer should avoid spending too much time on relatively lightweight portions of the learning program and being sidetracked by too many questions. AAA. Workplace opportunities. Informal session for customer service for front office staff. ;Refresh training in the main workshop. Rear house session with supplier sell manager. AAA. Assess and record outcomes of recommended training.
Assessment in training is about measuring learners to see if they have reached the stated objectives of the course. To assess and record outcomes and performance of individuals and teams you need to evaluate their knowledge and their skills. 1 . Knowledge: what learners gained as a result of training. These assessments test the recall of facts, comprehension skills, analysis skills, synthesis skills and Assessment skills. 2. Practical skills: the application of knowledge to a given situation. Knowledge and Practical skills include four main types of assessment: 1 .
Real work: Takes place whilst the learner is performing real work, on- the-job. 2. Simulated work: Usually performed off-the-job, possibly in a training room or mock up work site. 3. Written: Used to demonstrate in written form what they know, either on paper or on computer. 4. Oral: When learners speak about what they know. One of the key challenges with assessment is to be able to assess the learning back in the workplace, “on the Job”, and it is possible to check it through the Performance Review Programs, which include observations on the Job.
It is also fundamental to record assessment, keeping “training records” through a recording system that enables easy identification of what training each staff member has completed and when. Depending on the size of the organization, this could be a simple matrix or it ay be done through the use of software commonly known as a “Learning Management System” (ALMS). AY. Adjusting the learning program. After monitoring and evaluating if the training course met the aims and objectives for which it was developed, it is important to adjust the learning program, if it is not u to expected dimension.
Based on both assessment and Assessment, it might be needed to make or recommend changes for future training to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of learning. Changes can be made on different sides: TIME: Recommending a review of time to address the time to provide a more impressive treatment of the subject or selecting in lecture notes. CONTENT: Reviewing or re-writing the content of a presentation, for example to ensure emphasis on the practical application of the material. DELIVERY: Focusing learning material on fact and accepted knowledge not on opinion or on a particular style of management.
Proposing to the learners generally and officially accepted management techniques and policies. FORMAT: Including a glossary of terms and an annotated bibliography to the notes. Organizing the content of the learning notes, making frequent use of headings and sub-headings and bullet points. Reviewing formatting and printing to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of learning. Providing copies of the learning material in advance so that those involved with changes can be appraised of the current presentations. AI. Documenting and maintaining records and reports of competency gained.
Many methods can be employed to document and maintain records: ; Training Assessment form template Course participants to complete and to hand form to trainer after completion ; Assessment by course Director/Supervisor/Owner Owner/Supervisor to complete either with, or after discussion with the participant. Owner/Supervisor to complete either with, or after discussion with the participant 1 . Have you seen the desired changes to the participant’s skills or knowledge? Yes 2. How will you test that the participant has gained from this course? Simulating work experience. . If the participant did not make the gains necessary, what can be done to address this? He can be trained again trough an on-the-Job coaching or mentoring and he could attend a formal course about customer service, internal communication and mechanical components. 4. From discussions with the participant, are you both attested that attendance at the training plan was worthwhile? Yes 5. Other comments? Elaborating a training need analysis was a effective way to improve my staff knowledge and skills and to implement and develop an effective team work.
Supervisor: Richard Parker Date: 25. 02. 2014 Conclusion/Summary This report has looked at identifying and implement learning and development needs for an automotive service workshop. Developing a learning and development plan, elaborating a strategy to encourage staff to self evaluate performance, assessing performance, providing feedback and managing follow up. The process of monitoring, evaluating, implementing and developing people performance is essential to the success of any business.
