After reading the information in from this module, you should have learned the foundational
elements associated with training and development. In summation—training is an HR
activity that happens when new human capital is onboarded into the organization or
when a current employee is moved into a position with greater responsibility and
authority. Development is an HR activity that is a continuous process of improvement.
Development should be happening if a company implements a new process that
changes the way a job is completed or if an employee is struggling to meet his or her
established goals.
THE ASSESSMENT: In this assessment, you will be given some situations from various
companies and you will have to analyze the situation to come to some kind of
conclusion about what you have just read. In each scenario (situation) listed below, you
will have to first identify whether the situation has prompted a training need or a
development need. Once you establish the situation as a training or development need,
you will then need to identify the best method to use in this situation. You should refer
back to the course materials to identify the methods.
NOTE: Please keep in mind it is possible for more than one method to apply to a
situation, but you should be focused on identifying the best option. When you
make your choice, please be sure to provide an explanation based on your
understanding of each method. Again—in every situation listed, you will need to
list whether this situation is a training or development activity. Then you will need
to discuss the best method to support the situation, making sure you explain
your response.
1. Percy Lugaen is the Vice President of Human Resources for Jackel Enterprises. He
has just been informed that the company has decided to expand the business into new
markets. Currently, the company does business in Illinois. The expansion will take the
company into Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Iowa. Jackel Enterprises is a retail
manufacturer of outerwear for men, women, and children. Traditionally, the company
only manufactures the items and sells them to retail outlets. The company expansion
will take it into these markets and create new retail outlets for Jackel Enterprises to sell
its merchandise directly. Creating a retail branch of the company means it will need
human capital to manage the stores and sell the merchandise. Using your knowledge
of the course material in this unit, what will the Vice President of Human Resources
need to do for Jackel Enterprises?
2. Heather Bellagan is a successful hair salon business owner who has been able to
expand her business from one small 1,000 sq. ft. facility to five 2,000-plus sq. ft.
facilities. In expanding her business, Heather has partnered with several community
and career colleges who educate and license new cosmetologists. Heather has been in
business for 10 years and has a number of employees who have been with her since
she opened her first door to the public, including the managers of the locations where she is not regularly working. Business for Heather has been so great that she is looking
for eight new cosmetologists. She went to the community college and posted an ad and
got a huge response. She began the process of interviewing new cosmetologists. In
the interviews, she asks the applicants to cut and style a wig to identify their own
signature way of styling hair. One young lady took the wig and added additional hair
extensions and implemented a technique called an invisible part. Heather asked this
young lady about her technique and was told this is something new that has been
created and is currently being taught in cosmetology school. Heather further learned
this young lady has been doing hair for five years and is actually in school getting her
license to become a salon manager. Heather decides to offer her a job and help her
understand the intricacies of being a salon owner/manager. As part of the deal, Heather
asked this young lady to bring this technique to all of her salons and demonstrate it to
her current stylists. Heather not only hired this young lady, she made offers of
employment to seven other students who were weeks away from getting their license.
These seven individuals have not had previous experience with customers outside of
the classroom, but Heather is not worried because of how many seasoned staff
members she has in her business. She will pair the new stylists with one of her
seasoned staff members for the first six months of their employment. Using your
knowledge of the course material in this unit, what is going on in Heather's business?
3. Johnny Jackson is the warehouse manager for a small, family-owned produce
company. Johnny has a couple of direct reports who supervise specific functions for him
throughout the warehouse. Johnny manages the production supervisor, the shipping
and receiving supervisor, the quality control/auditing supervisor, as well as the customer
service supervisor. All of these positions are intricate to the organization’s success,
especially since the company has been experiencing a boost in business activity. In a
recent meeting with the owners of the company, Johnny discussed his areas of
responsibility and what he wanted to do to support the business moving into its growth
stage. One of the points he talked about dealt with the absence of his supervisors. He
had a supervisor who recently took time off under the Family and Medical Leave Act
(FMLA) and was gone for four months. During this same period, he had another
supervisor who was on vacation during two of the weeks the former supervisor was out
on FMLA. Finally, another one of his supervisors had decided to give notice and leave
the company, which meant there would be a void that Johnny needed to fill. In his
discussion with the owners, Johnny talked about the fluctuations in business and
created a chart illustrating how the changes in business aligned with the various events
happening with his supervisors. His conclusion was that his supervisors were too
focused on their direct responsibilities and did not understand how their departments’
work was connected with other aspects of the business. Johnny also knew that he had
to come up with a solution that would not require a huge amount of company resources
to implement. He wanted to change this thought process and ensure the business did
not have any decline in productivity when there is something going on with his
supervisors. Using your knowledge of the course material in this unit, what can Johnny
do in response to this situation?
4. Tina Lathon is the Director of Human Resources for PamPei, a major department
store chain in the United States. It is July and Mrs. Lathon and her team are already
getting ready for the holiday season. Christmas is a big deal for most retailers, and
PamPei is no exception, doing about 60% of their annual revenue during the six weeks
between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. To support this temporary volume in
business, Mrs. Lathon and her team have developed an HR strategy which includes the
hiring of about 5,000 temporary employees companywide. Because of the high volume
of employees and the amount of time most of them will work for PamPei, Mrs. Lathon
has to develop a strategy that is going to provide these individuals with the necessary
information to make PamPei successful, while simultaneously considering the costs
associated with bringing these individuals temporarily into the organization. Using your
knowledge of the course material in this unit, what should Mrs. Lathon do in response to
this situation?
5. Grendian is a lumber company with 14 offices across the United States. There are
about 10 to 15 different managers at each of their offices who deal with various aspects
of the company’s business. As a company, it is very concerned with creating
consistency within the organization and ensuring that each of its managers are pushing
the concept of teamwork, as well as ensuring that everyone in the company fully
understands that what they do impacts not only their performance but the company’s
performance and level of service provided to their customers as well. To ensure that
the message of teamwork and consistency is understood correctly, Grendian brings all
of its managers together annually to discuss, share ideas, and learn how to deal with
each other directly and indirectly. Using your knowledge of the course material in this
unit, what is going on at Grendian in this situation?
6. Larry Hoi is a Human Resource Consultant. As a consultant, Larry works with a
number of companies—both small and large. Larry is currently working with a new
company and has been contracted to look at various aspects of its current HR
processes and assess how they can be improved. Larry has noticed a number of
issues, but one that concerns him involves the process used to onboard cashiers and
customer service representatives for this client. The company has the employees
review a series of self-help videos and answer some worksheets. If the employees
score high enough, they are then paired with a more seasoned employee to learn their
new role while on the job. This process stands out because one of the company’s goals
is to minimize employee turnover. Using your knowledge of the course material in this
unit, what is going on in this situation? What should be happening to properly support
this situation? HINT: You should be identifying two methods in this situation and
explaining how each applies to this situation.