Training and Development's Role in Human Resource Management - A Business Report

Highlander Oil Company - Current Situation

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?

About Highlander Oil Company

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 me