Training and Development: Importance and Applications in HR Management

Designing a Training Program for Holiday Manor Hotels

QUESTION 1 –HIGHLANDER OIL COMPANYIt was a dark and dreary December day.  Mac sat alone in the boardroom staring out the window watching  the  fluffy  snowflakes  fall to  the  ground.   He  was waiting  for  his colleagues  to join  him.    Mac Allan, the CEO of the Highlander Oil Company (HOC) had called his executive team together for a meeting about the current budget crisis in the company.  The industry is in rough condition.  The price of oil is at an all-timelow. The American President elect has hinted that he will cancel the Keystone Pipeline project.   HOC is a prime  target for a takeover and has received an offer for a buy out  from Amrut,  an Indian Oil Company.  Mac is concerned about the current forecasted loss for the Company and does not know how to proceed.   HOC  is  a  local  medium  sized  Alberta  based  company.    Its  head  office  is  located  in  downtown Edmonton, just next door to the NorQuest College Main Campus.  HOC employees 100 full time employees and adjusts their workforce numbers up and down with additional contract workers whose work is entirely dependent on the projects they are involved in.  Employees work typically work throughout the province of Alberta and they occasionally work at locations throughout Canada.Joanie Walker, Director of HR, Tal Isker, Director of Finance, and Glen Livet, Director of Operations joined Mac Allen in the boardroom.  Mac explained the details about the projected budget loss at HOC.  Something had to be done.  They could either drastically cut expenditures for the remainder of the year or recommend that the company be sold to Amrut Oil Company.  Before making this decision, Mac has requested  information  from  each  of  his  senior  leaders.    Specifically,  Mac  asked  Joanie  to  justify  her planned expenditure for Training and Development at HOC for the year.  Youare  in the  role  of  Training  and  Development  Coordinator  at  HOC.   Joanie  has  asked you  to provide her with a report that demonstrates an understanding of the role of training and development in human resource management.  In other words, justify why it is necessary not to cut this expense from the budget  and  cut  spending  on  training  and  development  altogether.    She  has  assigned  a  due  date  of December 4, 2020 for this business report.  QUESTION 2–TRAINING Your colleague is about to attend a training program on how to use Google Suite. It has been more than 15 years since he graduated from college and has not attended any formal training since that time. He has expressed doubts that he will be able to learn anything duringtheupcomingtrainingand has no clue if he will even be able to make the best use of the new skills afterwards. Your colleague is aware that you have attended many training sessions in the past and has heard you make presentations in staff meetings about how the knowledge and skills you had acquired had positively impacted your performance at work.Your colleague urgently needs your advice before the training, which is scheduled for December 4, 2020.a)From the perspective of the learner, describe some of the things your colleague could do prior to the training program to increase his ability to learn during the training.b)From the trainer’s perspective, what are some of the individual and situational factors that the trainer could do so that your colleague’s training is successful?
QUESTION 3 -HOLIDAY MANOR HOTELSHoliday  Manor  Hotels  (HMH)  is  a  Canadian  hotel  chain  with  a  head  office  located  in Edmonton, Alberta.  The chain has hotels located in all the major cities and many of the towns throughout the country. There are approximately 100 hotel operations nationally.  The company employees  over  1500  full-time  employees  at  various  locations  across  Canada.    Unfortunately, due to a global pandemic, all of the hotel operations were suspended nationally in March 2020. It  is  nowJuly  2020  and  businesses  across  the  country  are  starting  to  open  up.    Most provinces have allowed some business operations to open up again but have issued some very strict requirements for opening.  Dal  Wallee, theVice  President  of  Hotel  Operations  is anxious to  get  the hotel  chain up and running again.  He has called a meeting with the HR team for help.  Kristoff Cringle, Director of Human Resources, Ester Bun-Knee, Manager of Training and Development and Beau Moore, Training and Development Coordinator have joined Dal in the head office boardroom.  Dal  has  explained  to  team  that  he  would  like  the  hotel  prepared  for  reopening.    He believes that the employees need training in order to support the re-opening plan. He asked the HR team to outline the design of a training program that incorporates various methods, strategies and resources in accordance with adult learning principles. Kristoff  called  you,  Beau  Moore, to  let  you  know  that  Ester  Bun-Knee had  fallen  ill  and was unable to help with Dal’s request.    Kristoff  heard  that  you  had  recently  completed  and Training  and Development  Course  from NorQuest  College  and  was  certain  you  could help  out.  He has asked you to prepare a report that details the steps you would take to meet Dal’s expectations and develop a training program.  He has also asked for your recommendations with supporting rationale for a training proposal for Dal.   He would like this information by December 4, 2020. QUESTION 4–HI-VALUE BROKERAGEJessica is a manager of Hi-Valuebrokerage firm in Alberta. The majority of employees have been working  from  home  since  the  COVID-19  pandemic  began.  Supervisors  implemented  frequent  online meetings  as  a  way  of  checking in  becausethey  felt  that  employees  were  not  working  as  hard  or  as efficiently. On the other hand, employees were struggling with managing home life while working regular hours. Jessica’s response to the problem was twofold. Supervisors were instructed to assess the situation with each employee and direct them to different supports offered within the firm. As HR manager, you have been asked to develop a work from home policy and design a training program that helps supervisors transfer the knowledge to the job. Although many online learning opportunities were provided to help all employees adjust to their new work environment, she is concerned that learning transfer at this time may not be effective given reports that supervisors were also distracted and overwhelmed with the new work situation. The training program was approved and will consist of online lectures and video presentations, followed  by  various  group  discussions  to  helpsupervisors  and  employees  learn  the  new  policy,  be motivated to implement it, and enhance their confidence in their ability to do so.Jessica needs your advice on  how  to  evaluate  the  training  program in  order  to  get  the  program  approved.  She  would  like  this information by December 4, 2020.a)Describe strategies that you might use before, during, and after training to facilitate the transfer of learning.b)Consider how you would evaluate the program using any ONE of the following models: Kirkpatrick’s model, COMA model, and the decision-based evaluation model. c)Identify the potential benefits of the training program and describe how they can be measured.