Learning and Development at Red Telecom

This report discusses the proposed learning and development strategic plan to be used in identifying the skills and performance of the focus group. It discusses the objective, workgroup profile, the problem statement, the needed competencies, the learning and development proposal evaluation and the initial action plan.

1Learning and development at Red Telecom
Running head: LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT AT RED TELECOM
Learning and development at Red Telecom
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2Learning and development at Red Telecom
Executive summary
This report discusses the proposed learning and development strategic plan to be used in
identifying the skills and performance of the focus group. It discusses the objective, workgroup
profile, the problem statement, the needed competencies, the learning and development proposal
evaluation and the initial action plan.

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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
First: Proposal objective..................................................................................................................4
Second: Workgroup profile.............................................................................................................4
Third: Problem statement................................................................................................................5
Fourth: Needed competencies..........................................................................................................5
 Description and analysis of needed knowledge, skills and competencies………….................5
 Analysis and appropriateness of current L&D policy……………….......................................6
 Overview of proposed learning and development strategy…………………...........................6
Fifth: Proposal details: Key learning and development interventions.............................................6
 Description of individual intervention………….......................................................................6
 Benefits and outcomes………………………………...............................................................7
 Design considerations…………………………………............................................................8
 Implementation factors……………………………..................................................................8
 Validation of learning………………………………................................................................9
 Obstacles and challenges………………………………...........................................................9
Sixths: Learning and development proposal evaluation................................................................10
 Initial action plan (Brief)…………………….............................................................................10
Conclusions....................................................................................................................................10
Appendix: Action plan...................................................................................................................11
References......................................................................................................................................12

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Introduction
The theoretical perspective of the learning organization continues to analyze the behavior
change and the patterns of interaction within the organizations. The organizational learning
assists in the alignment of the individuals and group collective experiences. The powerful
participation of the organizational members occurs through a diversity of modes and levels. It
involves sharing ideas, experiences and knowledge (Belle, 2016).
This research introduces a proposal of creating an action plan of learning and
development of the team leaders of customer resolution department at Red Telecom. It is a
multinational organization that provides mobile and fixed line services. The company newly
established inclusive strategy 2020 (RISE) concentrates on managing the diversity of customers
at the workplace. The launch of this strategy resulted in diverse reactions among the staff
members. Some of the team leaders concern for this strategy as it might lead to low performance.
The following sections discuss the proposal objective, workgroup profile, the problem
statement, the needed competencies, the learning and development proposal evaluation and the
initial action plan.
First: Proposal objective
This proposal aims at designing a learning and development program for the customer
resolution department team leaders. The initial action plan is to be implemented within one year
in accordance with the aims of the RISE program.
Second: Workgroup profile
Red's customer resolution department structure is based on teams. They include 8-15
customer service employees who report directly to the team leader. 70% of the frontline

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employees are females, 42% are from a culturally and linguistically diverse background, about
2% have a disability, and 3% openly identified as LBGTIQ. Each team leader reports to the
operations manager and the general manager. Teams include part-time employees, where 80% of
them are females but among the team leaders, there is only one female.
Third: Problem statement
The ability of Red to implement a strategic learning and development action plan in order
to achieve the aims of Red’s inclusive strategy 2020 (EISE). The staff is feeling stressed, lacks
the guidance and assistance of the team leaders and frustrated because of the restructuring
process that affected their job, relation with customers and colleagues and overseas counterparts.
Fourth: Needed competencies
 Description and analysis of needed knowledge, skills and competencies
Some of the team members raised complains that they need information and guidance
from their team leaders in certain cases where the clients abuse them. They lack the support of
their team leaders who could not fulfil the long-term goals and they suspect their ability to
comply with the long-term performance goals. Although the new environment is more enabling
for better monitoring and encouraging for faster resolution of conflicts, the team members
complained that the increased electronic surveillance and extensive call monitoring negatively
affect their performance. Moreover, it hinders their ability to advance and become team leaders.
The best team members in dealing with the customer complaints were under-evaluated and the
faster response team members are those who are appreciated. The female team members suffer
from the imbalance among the departments and the negative attitude of some team leaders. Some
of the team members had bad experiences due to the stress of the unhealthy workstations, when
they complained to their team leaders, they did not get a satisfactory response. They also suffer

6Learning and development at Red Telecom
from short or missed breaks and employees with disability did not disclose the issue for their fear
of discrimination. The team leaders are not prepared to deal with people with disabilities and
cannot identify their needs. They also concerned that hiring people with disability could lower
the performance.
 Analysis and appropriateness of current L&D policy/approach.
The description of the employees and leadership learning and development reveal that
Red lacks the appropriate training and development and they are in high need for a learning and
development programs to enhance their performance and level of satisfaction.
 Overview of proposed learning and development strategy
There are two major aspects of organizational formal learning; confidence building and
contextualizing. Confidence develops of interaction over time, it is created from the feeling of
empowerment. The increased group participation increases the possibility of building
confidence. The context refers to the organization's ability to initiate dialogue, learning and
development and knowledge creation (Belle, 2016).
Fifth: Proposal details: Key learning and development interventions
 Description of individual intervention
The formal learning is done through offering financial, technical or group support that
represent powerful tools for stimulating organizational learning. These aids involve books,
computers, software, internet and financial aids that support the employees' daily work. Van
Woerkom et al. (2002), as cited in Schürmann & Beausaert (2016), developed a model that
describes the factors of reflective work behavior through self-reflection in relation to the job,

7Learning and development at Red Telecom
learning from mistakes, asking for feedback, vision sharing, knowledge sharing,
experimentation, group thinking and awareness of employability skills.
The informal learning is a form of tacit learning that engages individuals and groups. It
can take place in the workplace or outside it. Schulz & Roßnagel, 2010, as cited in Richardson &
Kirkwood (2017), argue that informal learning is the on-the-job learning. Also, it depends on the
organizational context. An informal relationship takes place between the learner and the trainers.
Leadership is an important facilitator for the informal learning when they are capable to serve as
facilitators or role models.
 Benefits and outcomes
Action learning (AL) was invented by Revans (1998), as cited in Belet (2016), it is
applied to enhance the leadership skills, including their ability to solve problems, create
collaborative team, create reflective atmosphere, maintain good relationships among team
members, listen carefully to individuals, enhance the individual and team creativity, promote for
emotional intelligence engage the team members in the organizational strategy development and
empowering them. The action learning is very suitable for the Red customer resolution
department. It enhances the learning capabilities of individuals (leadership) and groups in the
short-term. Also, it is beneficial for team building and learning and it benefits the organization as
a whole in the medium to long-term (Baron, 2016).
A substantial body of research indicates that leadership training across different
organizations has a positive impact. Training increases the perception, attitude, and behaviour of
the employees towards their leader (Searby & Armstrong, 2016).

8Learning and development at Red Telecom
Training is likely to improve the relationship between Red's employees and their team
leaders in the customer resolution department. According to Yukl (2009), as cited in Hasson et
al. (2016), the training programs that consist of theory and practice are likely to enhance the
leadership behavior, improve the employees learning at both the individual and group levels.
 Design considerations
The HRD is responsible for expanding the learning paradigm in terms of learning
dimensions, contribution and practice. It has to be involved in the strategic planning process.
Researchers linked the creation of competitive learning strategy with the strategy-making
process. This process is likely to be adapted to the internal environment (Moon, Ruona, &
Valentine, 2017).
Red needs the appropriate guidance to embed the strategic learning capability in it. The
learning strategy should be aligned with the strategic aims of improving diversity climate,
increasing the proportion of women's team leader roles and increasing the proportion of the
individuals with disability among the staff members and to identify and support the high talent
staff of any background.
 Implementation factors
Learning is a collective system that results in knowledge exchange between individuals,
subgroups and the organization as a whole. The implementation factors start with developing the
group values towards learning or the organizational learning culture. Then the facilitators of
learning that refers to the set of processes that enables learning to occur should be identified (Gil
& Mataveli, 2017). Accordingly, Red has to create the difficult learning climate and the shared
individual work perception of the work setting among the team members should be promoted.

9Learning and development at Red Telecom
There should be no discrimination against women or employees with disability. Training
programs should be offered to the team leaders to develop their capabilities with this regard. The
workstations should be enhanced to lower the stress levels, leaders should act as facilitators that
support the team members. This development program should take place in the short-run. Time,
location, money and equipment should be delivered, high-quality coaching should lead the
learning process regardless of the required expenses because the stress level in the customer
resolution department is very high.
 Validation of learning
The impact of learning and development on the leaders and group performance could be
measured with regard to work-based and career-based learning. According to Cole (2016), the
learning measurements that could be used are performing job-related tasks, effective and clear
communication, staff management rather than leader isolation, the ability to deal with tactical
challenges and engage in strategic changes. The employee satisfaction survey could also be used
in Red to measure their satisfaction level after getting the required learning. It is beneficial to
judge if more development is needed.
 Obstacles and challenges
The major challenges that could face Red in managing effective learning and
development are represented in the motivation to learn. It is obvious that the team leaders in the
customer resolution department are not supportive, lack the high performance skills required to
meet the long-term goals and discriminate among the team members. Their ability to develop
their capabilities is crucial that requires developing and promoting for learning culture within the
organization before starting the learning and development activities (Baron, 2016). Another
challenge is represented in the cost of equipment, travel, coaching, material, and the lost

10Learning and development at Red Telecom
employees' time. Managing the training cost requires special handling through cost-effective
learning methods, webinars and online training (Boon-itt, 2016).
Sixths: Learning and development proposal evaluation
According to Kolb's model, the learning process involves four stages in response to the
situational demands. The learning cycle begins with the concrete experience of the learner, then
it goes through the reflective observation, then abstracting conceptualization and finally,
practicing what has been learned to create a new learning experience (Center, 2011)
 Initial action plan (Brief)
Based on the implementation of RISE and to achieve the general manager’s aims in
learning and development of the customer resolution department, an action plan is developed
according to the 70:20:10 methodology. The required plan starts with the 10- formal, for its
importance in leveraging the team leaders skills, then they will be able to -transfer their
knowledge through the 70- experiential and will be able to communicate within the 20- social
(Arets, 2017; Blackman, et al. 2016).
Conclusions
The description of the employees and leadership learning and development reveal that
Red lacks the appropriate training and development and are in high need for a learning and
development programs to enhance their performance and level of satisfaction.
The action learning is very suitable for the Red customer resolution department. Training
is likely to improve the relationship between Red's employees and their team leaders in the
customer resolution department. Red needs the appropriate guidance to embed the strategic
learning capability in it and the learning strategy should be aligned with the strategic aims.

11Learning and development at Red Telecom
Appendix: Action plan
Plan Duration Actual
Start
ACTIVITY Month
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
10 – Formal:
The learning and development through
the formal channels that represent the
off-the-job learning and development
introduced to the leaders or groups. It is
recommended that Red provide this
type of training to the team leaders to
support their knowledge based on the
training needs analyses (TNA)
conducted by the HR.
1-9
70 – Experiential:
To conduct on the job learning, where
the team leader coaches and facilitated
the day-to-day tasks and give the
advice in challenging situations and
transfers his knowledge to the team
members.
7-12
Third: 20 – Social:
The effective communication and
objective feedback are to be used in
mentoring. The societal context is
important to take place to lower the
stress level and encourage the
employees to ask for guidance and
feedback
7-12

12Learning and development at Red Telecom
Running head: LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT AT RED TELECOM
References
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13Learning and development at Red Telecom
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