Project: Designing a Training Program for HR Managers

This project involves designing a training program for newly hired human resource managers in a retail organization. The program aims to equip managers with skills in performance management, employee relations, and employee benefits. The project begins with a needs assessment, confirming the design brief through a questionnaire that explores program aims, learner information, and support needs. It then analyzes program benchmarks based on a unit of competency, identifying program outcomes and contextualizing assessment requirements. The project further considers the dimensions of competence, examining task skills, management skills, and contingency management skills. Finally, it outlines the design of the learning program, specifying delivery modes, assessment approaches, learning materials, and venue/equipment considerations. The project emphasizes a face-to-face, blended learning approach with practical tasks and role-plays for assessment, utilizing a combination of purchased and customized materials. Copyright implications are addressed, and the overall design aims to provide effective training for HR managers.

The case study:
The scenario requires that a particular firm is struggling to manage its employees and
hence wants to hire a group of human resource managers for its organization. It has hired four
human resource managers for four outlets and now will be designing a training program for
them. They will be training their employees to conduct performance management, employee
relations and manage employee benefits. The organization is involved in the retail sector.
Case study
Confirm the design brief
Confirm the design brief by completing the questionnaire below:
Program aims and benchmarks
1 Why is this program
needed? What does it
aim to achieve?
The given program is conducted to train the hired human
resource managers on the various skills that are required
to manage the people at work.
2 What benchmarks
match the program
aim?
Performance Management
Learner information
3 Who are the target
learners and what are
their key characteristics?
The target learners are the new recruits.

These candidates have 3 years of experience in the given
field. They are graduates and have adequate
communicative skills.
4 Training needs:
What existing skills and
knowledge do the
learners have (relevant to
the benchmark)
The existing employees consist of graduates with certain
experience in the field.
They have the following skills:
 Good communication skills (Cascio, 2018).
 Adequate knowledge about the given industry.
 Good presentation skills
5 Learning needs:
How do learners prefer to
learn?
The learners prefer to learn through presentations and
real life examples.
Only when the training is combined with real world
examples, then the trainers remain interested in the
learning process.
6 Support needs:
What support might they
need to successfully
complete the program?
They might need financial support. As the training
program extends to a month, the need to be provided
certain incentive or money to support the training program

(Marchington et al., 2016).
They may also require certain resources like laptops,
notepads and stationery to take down important notes.
Other parameters
What other expectations, parameters or constraints should I consider when designing—e.g.
● Deadlines
● Expected program schedule or time frames
● Learning or assessment materials already
purchased or developed?
● Expected number of learners per group
● Expected delivery mode
● Budget
● Availability of technology, equipment or other
resources
● Other?
 Deadlines- The period for the given training program is roughly 20 days and
3-4 days have been left as a buffer period. Hence, it should be kept to the
designated period only and the given period must not be exceeded.
 Expected learners- There will be eight learners in the given program, hence
the trainer should make sure that he gives adequate attention to all the workers
in order to ensure that each of them become successful human resource
managers (Sparrow, Brewster & Chung, 2016).
 Budget- The budget of the program must also be taken into consideration, as
the budget comprises of an important aspect of the business. If large costs are
incurred towards the training, the organizational resources may suffer.
 Technology- The technology that is available with the organization needs to
be considered in order to provide the training. If any additional resources are
required then the organization needs to arrange for it.

Case study
Analyse program benchmarks
Resources needed
Unit of competency upon which you are learning program will be based. This will be the same
unit of competency used for the previous activity.
Make sure you have a copy of:
1. The unit of competency
2. The assessment requirements for the unit.
Refer to the learner guide for examples and assistance.
Instructions
Part 1—analyse the unit and its assessment requirements
Analyse the unit and its assessment requirements. Refer to examples in the learner guide.
1. Identify the program outcomes, based on information given in the unit of competence.
Transfer these program outcomes to page 1 of the learning program plan (see page Error:
Reference source not found)
2. Build a picture of competence:
● contextualise the unit—consider how the unit is performed in the workplace/s of the
target learner/s
● Analyse and contextualise the assessment requirements for the unit
To note your findings, overwrite the unit:
● Overwrite the unit as shown in the learner guide

ANALYZE THE UNIT AND
ASSESSMENT REQUIREMENTS
Identify the program outcomes based on Unit of competency
The units of competencies are performance management of the employees, benefits
provided to the employees and relationship among the different employees in a respective
company. The different appraisal systems are 360-degree appraisal system along with
management by objective method (Albrecht et al., 2015). The outcomes of the program were that
it helped in analysing the different biased and unbiased opinions of the employees and employer
in the organization. The employee relationships and benefits are related to the appraisal system
as this helps in reducing biased opinions of different individuals in organization. This kind of
system helps in understanding consequences that has to be faced by employees in organization.
Furthermore, the different system of appraisals helped in improving the relationship
among the different employees in the organization. Lastly, performance appraisal system helped
in providing different benefits to the employees as per their calibre. The benefits provided to the
employees are other factor that is required for understanding the performance of employees and
their ratings along with the ratings of the employer. The 360-degree appraisal system is essential
in nature as this will reducing the biasness in the approaches made by the different managers in
the organization.
Utilization of unit of competency in actual workplace
The performance management system helped the employees and employer in the
respective company to provide unbiased opinion in different matters (Campion, Campion &

Campion, 2015). This helped the employees to perform their tasks with interest and it provided
them motivation as well. The unit of competency related to providing benefits to the employees
is another essential factor that is related to employee benefits. The performance management is
essential in nature in organization as this helps in understanding difficulties faced by employees
in the task along with the issues faced due to the leadership of the managers.
The relationships among the employer and employees are essential and the unit of
competency is helpful in maintaining positive kind of relationship with different employees in an
effective manner. Proper effectiveness is required in the measurement of performance of
employees in such a manner that this will help in providing motivation to the individuals to
perform their tasks in an effectual manner (Hammerly, Harmon & Schwaitzberg 2014). The
benefits are provided to employees in such a manner that this helps the organization and
employees to perform in an effective manner.
Analyse the assessment requirements for the unit
The performance appraisal management is essential in nature in different organizations
and this is required for understanding the differences in the performances. The employees are
provided feedback that is required after the commencement of the appraisal system. Similarly,
the relationship among the employees can be improved and it is required in nature as this helps
in improving the relationships in an effectual manner (Claxton et al., 2015). The different
benefits to the employees are provided in such a manner that is required to understand the issues
faced by employees. The different requirements are essential in nature, as this will help the entire
organization in improving the relationships among different individuals in the organization.

Part 2—consider the dimensions of competence
Complete your picture of competence—consider the dimensions of competence. To do this,
answer the questions on the next page.

Consider the dimensions of competence
Discuss how the units covered in your learning program will be applied in the learners’ workplace/s.
With this in mind, consider the implications of the dimensions of competence on the design of your
learning program. In the table below, the ‘task’ refers to the work function covered in the unit.
Dimension Questions to consider:
In the workplace… Your thoughts
Task skills What organisational
procedures might cover how
the task should be performed
in the workplace?
There are various guidelines and
policies present in the organization
available, which describe the
various methods in which the
human resource may be managed
in the organization.
Task
management
skills
● How efficiently or
quickly must the task be
performed?
● What other tasks must
learners complete and manage
in conjunction with the task?
● What deadlines exist
for completing this task?
The performance management
must be performed within a span of
one month
If the human resource wants to
manage the performance of the
employees and manage employee
relations, they need to understand
the requirements of the employees
and understand the skills (Reiche et
al., 2016).

The deadline is 2 months
Contingency
management
skills
● What challenges will
commonly arise when
performing the task?
The challenges that might arise
during performance management
are :
Biased views
Genuine problem with the
employee
Job/Role
environment
skills
● What workplace
procedures must be followed
when performing the tasks?
● Who must learners
work with or report to when
performing the task?
No worker`s sentiments must be
hurt.
The task needs to be performed
keeping in mind the skills of the
employees, and judgment must be
strictly made o professional basis.
The learners must report to the
human resource manager and
senior manager.
Also, consider transfer skills…

What is the range of ways learners may need to perform the tasks being trained?
E.g. If training how to bake a cake, what different types of cakes will they need to
bake? What different types of techniques might they need to use?
The employees may be required to make use of the following skills:
 Communicating skills
 Performance management of team as a whole
 Performance management of employees
 Performance management of the external staff
 Redressal of staff
 Redressal of senior management
 Collaboration of the senior as well as junior staff.

Case study
Design the learning program
Instructions
Design the ‘shape’ of your learning program by completing the table below.
Refer to the learner guide for examples and assistance.
Delivery mode
Options to consider Delivery mode selected and rationale
● Face-to-face
● Self-paced (distance) mode
● On-line learning
● On-the-job learning
● Blended learning
(combination of options above)
A face-to-face learning program may be
developed for the given learner.
This is because a face-to-face learning program
may be beneficial for the user, as it will help
them to create their various concepts.
Assessment approach
Options to consider Option/s selected and rationale
● When and where should
learners be assessed:
– during training
The learners of the given training program will
be assessed during the training procedure as well
as after. Initially, they will be given a scenario

– after training, in the
workplace
– A bit of both?
● How should learners be
assessed:
– Practical assessment:
role play or ‘on the job’
_ Verbal or written questions
– Third party report
– Log book
– Project or practical task
– Portfolio
– Other?
whereby they will be assessed on their own skills
and later on after the training programs, their
skills will be assessed.
The learners will be assessed with the help of a :
Practical task
Role play