Strategic Human Resource Management Sample Paper

Imagine that you are a member of the HR department of a small retail company and upper management has asked you to create a new employee customer service training class for all new employees. 

Needs assesment of the company

            The process of determining the prevailing conditions and comparing them with the preferred conditions often requires an assessment of the internal business environment. An assessment enables the HR department and the upper management to determine issues that challenge the capacity of a business and the long-term business environment. First and foremost, it influences the understanding that upper management has on the working of the HR department (Cascio, 2015). This informs how the upper management would reorganize management and operations of the retail company. In retail, the turnover rate is often higher because of the marketing potential that each employee has to bring into the system before they are considered active and sustainable in the workforce. A needs assessment is essential in underscoring the general impact that the employees are having in the business and whether there are critical challenges that are inflicting any deficiencies on the company. The third aspect involves the establishment of the price needs of employees (Herzberg, 2003). Employees often do not communicate directly when there are controversial issues that may lead to their jobs being jeopardized. This critical position is often left to a union or the better judgment of the HR manager who has to read the signs. However, in the case of a significant establishment of a needs assessment process, it becomes possible to establish the needs of the employees and effectively address them, especially for the small retail company (Hess, 2012).

            A needs assessment process is essential in underscoring the general position of training necessities. A training program has to take into account significant elements of training, such as the content the employees need, the various measures of professional assessment and impact adaptation to future planning, as well as customer service necessities in the system (Mockaitis, Zander, & Cieri, 2018). Being able to adapt these elements to the long-term needs of the company ensures that the company is able to undertake a training exercise that is more effective for the employees in the long-run. The final part involves the process of determining insufficiencies in organizational performance. Organizational performance may be negatively affected even if the individual employees are performing well. To this extent, it is possible to conclude that the five reasons provided are essential in convincing upper management to be able to conduct the necessary research on employee processes (Cascio, 2015).

Customer service training implementation plan

The influential position of customer service in a retail company cannot be overemphasized. This is because the employees of the organization are always at the center-stage of the process and are the most critical in ensuring the customer is always satisfied and all feedback is provided to management to be able to effectively respond to the needs of the client (Herzberg, 2003).  In this training implementation plan, the process of determining needs, evaluating skills, selection a delivery method, and evaluating the training, is essential in ensuring that the employees are well trained in the customer needs of the trainees.

Training Topic	Details
Customer needs identification	The needs of the consumer are at the center of the operations of the retail outlet. Understanding their needs enables management to carefully focus the attention of the employees and ensuring that they are able to meet the needs properly. Furthermore, the underlying position of the consumers helps the HR department to better assess the kind of employee who will help them achieve these goals (Cascio, 2015). Identifying consumer needs also helps in strengthening the position of the company in meeting the demands of all customers with the right training to the employees.
Evaluation of skills of employees	The skills of the employees need to meet the needs of the clients. It is the retail company that is in business to meet the needs of the consumer. To this extent, the consumer is King, because they guarantee the survival of the business. The training should therefore evaluate the skills of employees such as their speaking and listening skills, their communication skills, their processing skills, and their understanding of company operations (Mockaitis, Zander, & Cieri, 2018). These elements are essential in ensuring that the sales team and the progressive HR management is able to determine the right employees to undertake the assignment.
Selection of training method	Presentation is the simplest means of presentation of a manual to participants. It helps every participant of the training to adapt to the needs of the training and to assess their own understanding against that of the company. The process of creating a balance offers the opportunity to strengthen the capacity for long-term positioning of the data. This is essential in underscoring the general capacity of different participants to also answer and respond to questions that offer significant clarity in the long-term (Hess, 2012). Presentations also test the communication, listening, and processing abilities of employees of the company.
Evaluation of training	The training should be evaluated through three methods. These include the post-ante evaluation, the mid-level evaluation, and the ex-post evaluation. The post-ante evaluation works on understanding the needs of the consumer and the training level that the employees require. The second stage requires assessing the employees as to whether they are progressing well or there are any parts of the training that need to be re-evaluated and redesigned (Cascio, 2015). Finally, the ex-post stage involves using different data collection tools to determine whether they have completed their training well and if they are aware of their role in enhancing the needs of the consumers in the long-term.

 

Reasons for Presentation

            Presentation is a critical training method because it provides information to the trainee and leaves them to make the necessary steps to be more proactive in determining the various methods through which they can easily integrate the lessons in their work. First and foremost, training offers an opportunity for engagement and self-reflection (Herzberg, 2003). When contrasted with a case study which provides data on a case and leaves the trainee to compare the case to their real-life situation, the presentation provides a theoretical basis for action. This theoretical basis for action is considered invaluable because it has the necessary potential in generating long-term understanding of the various issues that different players are seeking responses for. Secondly, it also generates an interest on the part of the employees to be able to ask questions in order to clarify the company’s position and the position of the employees with regards to consumer needs (Mockaitis, Zander, & Cieri, 2018). The feedback loop it provides a direct relationship between the training and the experiences of employees and enables the trainer and the organization to also strengthen their position by influencing how different members of the customer service team are expected to balance their wishes and the company’s operational frameworks. Finally, there is a general position of the presentation method in the process that defines the needs and ensures that each part of the company understands and works towards fulfilling these needs (Mockaitis, Zander, & Cieri, 2018). The presentation method is therefore a direct approach that does not use scenarios to try and predict issues that can be communicated directly. In fact, this is also essential because being used directly influences the position of the different players in influencing the capacity of the training to be successful.

Motivating employees to attend the training

            Employees are often required to attend training. This is because the training offers management the opportunity to provide a stronger statement and promote a more progressive capacity of the training to meet the needs of the consumer. Nevertheless, some of these employees sometimes do not demonstrate interest in attending the training. In the event that this scenario arises, there are at least two ways through which training can be promoted for the different employees (Hess, 2012). These include provision of incentives and conveyance of the importance of training. First and foremost, it is essential that the company offers all trainees the information about the importance of the training. This provides them with the opportunity to learn first hand why missing the training will affect their bottom line and reduce their competitiveness within the company (Herzberg, 2003). The thought of reducing their competitiveness creates a stronger and more influential reality that essentially creates a more interested figure which encourages them to attend the training. The second element is the incentives. Training is not just a process for improving operations. It is also a means of strengthening the capacity of the different employees to connect with the organization and grow their own networks. It also creates a strong organizational culture. This reality implies that management needs to make significant steps that influence the various employees to be able to strengthen their roles within the customer service team. To this extent, incentives such as certificates, promises of promotions, and positive performance appraisal are all elements that strengthen the employees’ desire to work hard at impressing both the players and the different categories of job groups within the organization (Herzberg, 2003). These two elements are significant in determining the nature and influence of the training as it seeks to engage the different employees.

Survey for training feedback

            A survey is essential in determining the capacity of the different employees to underscore the impact of the training and understand how the different aspects of the training have been instrumental. The survey below is a critical example of the process aimed at determining this value.

Training evaluation

Dear participant, we appreciate your full participation in this Training and for making it a success. So as to help us plan for a better participant friendly Training in the future, we would wish that you express your sincerest opinions on the following questions.

1.     Rate the facilitation on a scale of 1-3. ( 1- POOR 2- GOOD  3-EXCELLENT)

2.     Did you find the Topics beneficial?

If NO, give your reason(s)………………………………………………………………………………………

3.     How do you find the reception of the Venue? ( 1- POOR 2- GOOD  3-EXCELLENT)

4.     What do you need added and removed from the Training and Facilitation?

5.     At the beginning of this Training, you were asked to list down your expectations. Now that the Training has come to its end, have your expectations been met?

6.     Has this two day training been of benefit to you? 

7.     What challenges have you faced:

a)     Trying to access the venue of the training, to and from

b)    During the training

8.     Would you allow the organizers of the Training to come and evaluate your progress any time soon? 

9.     Would you recommend your friend for such a training when opportunity arises?

 

 

References

Cascio, W. F. (2015). Human Resource Management, Psychology ofEarly Industrial Psychology. Retrieved December 31`, 2019, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/social-sciences/occupational-psychology

Herzberg, F. (2003). One More Time: How Do You Motivate Employees? Harvard Business Review, 81(1), 87-96.

Hess, V. (2012). Using Evidence to Motivate Hospital Employees. Retrieved from Hospital and Health Networks Magazine: https://www.hhnmag.com/articles/5567-using-evidence-to-motivate-hospital-employees

Mockaitis, A. I., Zander, L., & Cieri, H. (2018). The benefits of global teams for international organizations: HR implications. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 29(14), 2137-2158.