Applying Training Concepts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Applying Training Concepts - Essay Example As the business environment has changed, so have the skill requirements. This necessitates identification of training needs analysis. The training strategy is essentially aligned with the business objectives but the situation that Wal-Mart now faces, is more of youth employment. The youth come with their own expectations of the job role and their career progression. Besides, as employee turnover in the retail sector is high, cross-training becomes essential. Now more than 20% of Wal-Mart employees have university degrees. To retain talent and to assure career progression, Wal-Mart needs to identify talent with good skills and potential. The training needs of such employees would differ from mainstream employees. Such employees are sent to the US for specialized training but in Asian countries and particularly in China, Wal-Mart identified that some of the best people could not communicate in English fluently enough to benefit from the training in the US (Trunick, 2006). As the situat ion has changed, organizations would have to reinvent themselves to retain talent. This requires identification of training needs. ... Besides, the employees or the associates, as they are known at Wal-Mart, must have different qualifications for different function areas such as on the sales floor, in logistics and in the back room. Training needs of each individual associate would differ based on the job role. The trainer is responsible to conduct the training needs analysis without which training may be rendered ineffective. TNA is conducted based upon the objectives of the organization and can be conducted at the organization, person or the task level. When all of these are integrated it provides an effective strategy (Leat & Lovell, 1997). The training needs should be best directed to match the organizational needs. In the retail sector organizational effectiveness results from customer satisfaction which in turn depends upon process improvement. Therefore, Wal-Mart would need to explore the organizational climate in addition to the skills resources available. At the task level, the training needs analysis would be based on the demands of the job role. The associate in that particular position would be able to reveal inherent difficulties that may not be readily apparent. At the individual or the person level also TNA would help improve performance and employee development and career progression. TNA is not merely meant to assist employees in their work but to achieve greater proficiency and satisfaction. A typical TNA, according to Chiu, Thompson, Mak and Lo (1999) would aim to answer four related questions: Source: Chiu, Thompson, Mak and Lo (1999) Therefore, to conduct TNA at the organization, person and task level requires gathering information. The first step therefore, at Wal-Mart should be to conduct an initial