Research Report: Impact of Learning and Development Initiatives in UAE

This research report examines the impact of learning and development (L&D) initiatives on mid-sized organizations in the UAE, focusing on the Synovate Research Company. The study investigates the significance of L&D, its effects on employee performance, and the role of human resource management (HRM) in implementing these initiatives. The introduction outlines the background, problem statement, research objectives, and questions, emphasizing the importance of L&D in enhancing competitiveness. The report explores various problems in training programs, such as improper implementation and lack of management awareness, while highlighting the importance of talent management. The research aims to determine how HRM can develop effective training initiatives and improve the performance of mid-sized organizations, ultimately contributing to the UAE's GDP. The report also addresses the challenges faced during the 2008 financial crisis and emphasizes the need for organizations to prioritize L&D to gain a competitive edge.

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By and large it looks fine Introduction and Literature review chapters; I have made few comments (pls.
see attached).
i) Introduction - the sequence should be : Background, Problem statement followed by questions,
Research aim and objectives.
Please make in this order.
ii) Literature review - When you are quoting references you need not show graphs; simply write
findings in your own words by quoting references; pls. remove bar graphs/charts in lit. review section.
I am also attaching two relevant papers useful for your study.

Table of Contents
Chapter-1........................................................................................................................................................2
Introduction-2000..........................................................................................................................................2
Research objective.....................................................................................................................................2
Aim of study..............................................................................................................................................3
Research questions.....................................................................................................................................3
Background and context of the study.........................................................................................................3
Statement of the research problem.............................................................................................................3
Chapter-2........................................................................................................................................................4
Literature review -4000..................................................................................................................................4
Chapter-3........................................................................................................................................................6
Research methodology-2500.........................................................................................................................6
Research design.........................................................................................................................................6
Research framework and methods.............................................................................................................6
Sample........................................................................................................................................................6
Participants.................................................................................................................................................6
Methods of data generation........................................................................................................................6
Analysis of data..........................................................................................................................................6
Variables....................................................................................................................................................6
Chapter-4-2500..............................................................................................................................................6
Data analysis..................................................................................................................................................6
Chapter-5-1000..............................................................................................................................................6
Conclusions and Recommendations..............................................................................................................6
References......................................................................................................................................................7

Chapter-1
Introduction-2000
In this present paper, we will discuss the research report on the topic “Impact of learning and
development initiatives in the mid-sized organizations in UAE”. The mid-sized organization in UAE has
financial constraints so the learning and development initiatives enable to develop the competitive
advantage to the companies. The research is conducted in the Synovate Research Company which is the
mid-sized organization which provides decision support services such as business information,
technology, onsite reporting, online communication delivery, and others. The company provides various
products such as business assessment report, field assessment report, and call verification report. The
research is conducted to determine the impact of learning and development initiatives in the mid-sized
organizations.
In the twenty one century, the government is the witness for the drastic operational, economic and
institutional change. The competitive advantage among the companies enables to stand put among the
competitors within the same industry. The mid-sized organizations of the Middle Eastern countries
believe that the introduction of new managerial models helps to improve the outcomes of the companies
within the specific period of time. The study enables to determine the impact of learning and development
initiatives on the overall performance of the company.
The developing and developed countries are suffered from the lack of effective training programs. It is
argued that the training programs are failed in the organizations due to the inappropriate designing of
training programs. It is mainly due to the lengthy and theoretical training programs and they are not
directed towards the achievement of training and development objectives. Binstead and Stuart et al.,
(1979) state that there are mainly three elements of the successful training programs, namely, content of
training program, processes and environment of the organization. Healy et al., 2001 states that the goal of
the training and development program is to improve the performance of the employees in order to provide
competitive advantage to the company. Mentz et al., 1997 states that the quality of delivering services is
improved through providing training and development to the employees. McCourt and Sola et al., 1999
states that the successful training program leads to achieve the desired changes in the organization. The
training and development programs leads to provide the advance knowledge to the employees and it
provides the specialization to perform the specific roles and responsibilities in a most efficient and
effective manner.
The training and development is one of the most important elements of the talent management system as
the mid-sized organizations contribute towards the development of the UAE through improving the
performance of the companies. There are various problems in the training and development program such
as improper implementation of training and development program, lack of processing’s, and lack of
management awareness. The human resource management of the company is responsible for determining
the strength, skills and knowledge of the employee in order to used them in a right direction. The human

resource which is also known as the personnel management that focused on the transaction process such
as salary package, employment benefits, fringe benefits and others. Tansley et al., 2011 states that the
meaning of talent management has changed from the 13th century and it became the ability to improve the
outstanding achievement in the cognitive and physical domain which is high level mental skills.
Collings and Mellahi et al., 2009 states the talent management enable to enhance the skills through
providing training and development which requires investment in employees that leads to improve the
employee capabilities to perform their roles and responsibilities in an effective manner. Kim and McLean
et al., 2012 states that the talent management is new in the field of human resource management as in the
early 1990s the topic has different meaning, features and values. The role of the employees initially were
looked as the retaining, development and hiring after that the talent management was looked as the
developing of present employees in the organization, job security and others. McLean et al., 2012 states
that the talent management should be reemphasized in order to develop the talent pool for the success of
talent management. The talent management comes under one umbrella then it include various functions
such as training and development, selection, staffing, successful planning and others in order to convert
the employees into high potential talent which leads to succeed towards the increment, promotion,
appraisal and others. Bersain et al., 2006 states that all the activities are included in the strategy in order
to gain talent management. It is believed by some people that the talent management is originated from
the western countries. Branine et al., 2011 states that the same values and belief are used by the western
countries. The same path is used by the mid-sized organizations in order to attract and retain the
employees in the organization. The participation must be done by the HR practitioners in recruitment
events in order to attract the high potential man power.
The mission of the dissertation report is to determine the impact of learning and development initiatives
in the mid-sized organization. I my own experience I have found that the training and development is one
of the most important factor which cannot be ignored by the companies in order to work in a most
efficient and effective manner. As the training and development programs enhance the skills and
knowledge in order to perform the roles and responsibilities in an appropriate manner which provides
specialization in work that leads to complete the work in a short period of time.
Research objective
The purpose of the research is to stimuli the mid-sized organizations to encourage the experimentation
and collaboration within the UAE and to reap the benefits which directly benefit the economy. The aim
of the research is to understand that how human resource department can develop the active training
and development initiatives. The dissertation intends to provide the insight that how the training and
development initiatives in the UAE enable to improve the performance of mid-sized organizations which
directly contributes towards the GDP of the country.
Following are the objectives of the research study:
1. To determine the impacts of learning and development initiatives in the organization.
2. To determine the impact of learning and development on the employee’s performance.

3. To determine the significance of learning and development initiatives.
4. To determine the role of human resource management implementing the initiatives.
Aim of study
The aim of the research is to determine the impact of learning and development initiatives on the mid –
sized organizations through conducting the research on the Synovate Research Company.
Research questions
Following are the research questions which are determined through conducting the research:
1. What is the impact of learning and development initiatives within the Synovate Research
Company?
2. What is the significance of learning and development initiatives?
3. What are the learning and development initiatives taken by the company?
4. What is the role of human resource management in implementing the learning and
development initiatives?
Background and context of the study
The mid-sized organization acts as a backbone of the economy in the UAE and it provides the innovation,
employment, exports and new business models and others. The improvement in the strategies of SME
does directly add value to the Dubai. According to the survey there are approximately 95% enterprises
which are account for SME. The study is mainly conducted to determine the impact of leaning and
development initiatives so that the results of research can be further used to improve the condition of mid-
sized organizations in the UAE. The government of UAE has also contributing towards the talent
management in the Middle Eastern countries. The fist university in the UAE was founded in the year
1976 which was establish to enhance the skills and knowledge of individual regardless of age in order to
contribute towards the development of the country. The Scholarships are also available today but the age
limit and certain conditions. The UAE government is also contributing toawds the development of the
country through providing job offers in various sectors. The government is also providing various
schemes for the disabled and retired people in order to support their families.
The main purpose of the training and development programs is to expand the knowledge of the
organization. There are mainly two types of training, namely, generative and adaptive learning. The
generative learning leads to explore the new strategic areas and it leads to develop the growth of the
company. The adaptive learning is the grasping changes which lead to adapt the new environmental
demands and opportunity.

Statement of the research problem
The research is mainly conducted to determine the impact of learning and development initiatives on the
performance of the Mid-sized organizations. The research is conducted on the Synovate Research
Company. The research problem statement of the research is;
“What is the impact of learning and development initiatives on the organizational performance
Synovate Research Company in UAE?”
The purpose of the research is to determine the training and development initiatives on the
overall performance of the mid-sized organizations. For example the foreign expertise has been
hired by the company in order to provide the effective training and development to the
employees through sharing and transferring the knowledge in order to provide competitive
advantage to the company. Harry et al., 2007 states that it is necessary to intervenes the training
and development initiatives in all sectors in order to provide the competitive advantage to the
company. However in the year 2008, at the time of financial crisis it was difficult for the
companies to provide training and development t programs as the economic pressure constraint
the expenditure of training and development. For example, at the time of financial crisis all the
companies lose their interest in training and development as the budgetary constraint, especially
by the mid-sized organizations. At that time many mid-sized organizations was restructured due
to the change in cost structure due to which the remaining employees are influenced and feel de-
motivated. They started feeling that SMEs are not secured sector due to which rate of turnover of
talent impacts on the corporate viability and it leads to the closure of various organizations. It is
necessary for the organizations to provide the training and development programs in order to
gain competitive advantage which helps to stand out among the competitors within the same
industry.

The human resource department must focus on the selection of talent through examining the
personalities of an individual by using the psychometric tests and linked with the training and
development programs. There are various obstacles which lead to fail the training and
development programs such as much theoretical designing of training and development program,
lack of training needs analysis and improper implementation of training and development
program. These issues must be seriously considered by the company in order to improve the
training and development program. However the initiatives are mainly come from the employees
who are willing to learn new skills and if the employees are not interested then the training and
development will not be worth. The training and development initiatives complement the
employees and lead to build the strong organizations with the skills and talent in order to create
success. The talent management helps to develop the competitive advantage through managing
the talent of different people in the organizations. The learning arise activities of training and
development mainly in the informal and formal initiatives
Chapter-2
Literature review -4000
The learning and development is strongly linked with the human resource management. The talent
management aims to manage the talent of different people in the organization in order to add value to
the organization. According to the CIPD et al., (2012) the superior talent of an individual leads to
threaten other individual which creates conflict among the people. The understanding of individual
talent is one of the important role of managers in order to manage the talent in a most efficient and
effective talent. The communication technique must be improved by the employees and the role plays
should be assigned to the employees in order to resolve the real problems. The Noe et al., 2005 states
that the employees should encourage in the action learning projects which results in improving the cost

efficiencies of the company. The aim of the training and development program is to improve the
productivity of an organization, career of employees and customer satisfaction.
The research is conducted on the public sector of Dubai in order to determine the impact of training and
development programs on the overall performance of the organization which shows that there is positive
impact of training and development on the overall performance of the company. According to the
research there are approximately 83.7% participants who have shown the improvement in the
performance after the conduction of training and development program in the organization. The research
shows that the training and development program is the main ingredient in the highly improved
performance of the companies. The results of the research are shown in the below figure:
Ineffective training
Powell and Snellman et al., 2004 states that continues study is done to improve the overall performance of
the company. The various studies show that the training and development programs provide the
opportunity to develop the feedback which leads to improve the performance of the employees within the
particular period of time. Wexley et al., 1984 conduct the study in order to determine the effectiveness of
training on the overall performance of the employees which shows that there is a link between the
organizational performance and effective training. The research shows that the adequate research is
required in order to determine the optimum solution for improving the performance of the company.
There are various reasons for ineffective training such as the new requirements of the business process are
not suitable with the skills; the potential contribution is not assessed by the organization and others. The
performance of the organization is gradually improved with the improvement in the efficiencies of
employees which is influenced by the training programs. Campbells study 1988 shows that the right
training and development program leads to improve the individual behavior within the organization.
Another indication of enhanced performance is that the employees take less time to accomplish the work.

Importance of training and development programs
Hall and Mirvis et al., 1995 states that the talent management is one of the main features of the human
resource management in the company. The initiatives of learning programs lead to improve the
knowledge of an individual. The following table shows the impact of training and development on the
career of an individual. The table shows that the improvement in the knowledge, skills and abilities in
the short term leads to change in the attitude of an individual towards the personal life and career.
Similarly in the long run improvement adaptability leads to develop and extending identity of an
individual.
Source: (Bratton & Gold 1999)
The training and development programs play an important role in satisfying the employees which leads
to succeed the organization. According to the CIPD et al., 2012 the informed judgment about the
attitude mix and skills is one of the significant reason of human resource planning. If the new talent is
hired in the organization then the training is provide to them in order to develop the competitive
advantage for the company and if the budget is constraint then still the company has made spending on

training expenditure as it enable to be more productive other expenditures. CIPD et al., 2012 states that
the performance management supports the management of talent in an organization in order to
contribute towards the succession of organization. The improvement in employee’s performance
direction contributes towards the development of the company. The talented employees in the
organization directly contribute towards the achievement of goals and objectives the company. It also
provides the sense of achievement which directly contributes towards the achievement of mission and
vision of the company. It also impacts on the employee engagement which directly improves the rate of
retention which improves the overall performance of the company. These factors act as a motivator for
the employees which directly improves the productivity of the company.
Global competencies
According to the Farndale et al., (2010) the global skills and competencies help to attract the global
talents in the organization which directly improve the sales volumes of the company. The global talent
has to be utilized in the business process in order to provide the competitive advantage to the company.
Heinne & O’Neill et al., 2004 states that the excellent performance of the employees leads to realize the
synergy among the specialist departments which provides the competitive advantage to the company.
Marquardt et al., 200 states that the role of human resource is effective in the TLD and TM in order to
develop the skills and talent at the global talent. Schuler et al., 2011 states that the human resource
directly contributes towards the development of the company in seizing the international strategic
opportunities. IHRM et al., 2010 state that the global market includes various challenges which need to
be managed by the company in order to compete in the international global market.
According to Story et al., 2007 the talented people in the organization are very essential for the high
performance. The total supply of the employees has shortage due to which the economic and social
problems. There are two fundamental objectives to extract the talent from the labor market, namely,
firstly the aim of the training is to transfer the knowledge and skills in order to provide the core
competencies and learning of new technologies implementation in order to accomplish the operational
goals. The efficient and effective labor is highly demanded in the market which provides the
competencies to achieve the business goals and objectives within the specific period of time.
According to the CIPD et al., 2012 the HRM includes appraising, tracking, managing, assessing, sorting
and others which enable to maximize the performance. TM and HRM can help to assess the
organizational efficiencies rather than the descriptive, theoretical, and perspective ways. The practice
and policies of talent management helps to understand the values, competencies and skills of the
existing and perspective employees. Storey et al., 2007 states that the strategic is the company helps to
assess the key managerial capabilities. The total span of knowledge leads to develop the major
challenges affect the performance of multinational companies. The season availability of labor leads to
create a major challenge for the companies to gather the talent for the organization in order to provide
the competitive advantage. The Entrepreneurs supports the development of job at the time of shortage
when the graduates enter into the market after completing their graduation. The talent management
supports the industry through managing the talent in order to provide competencies. According to the
HRM approach the high commitment requires huge investment on the training and development in

order to enhance the knowledge of employees in the organization. Secondly the organizations should
recruit talented employees in order to improve the organizational performance within the specific
period of time. Thirdly, the employees should retain the existing employees through providing the
employment benefits in order to motivate the employees to perform in an effective manner.
Kim and McLean et al., 2012 supports the argument of McLean et al., 2010 which states that the talent
management requires continues attention in order to generate wealth. Sparrow et al., 200 states that
the talent management provides benefits for continues development of the organization in order to
improve the output of the company. The official training and development program is necessary to
enhance the overall performance of the company. Briscoe et al., 2008 states that the training provided
to the employees in the organization leads to develop the cross cultural awareness, high performance,
and abilities of global management. It involves the development of international management skills
among the employees. Gregersen et al., 1998 states that the ethnocentrism is another challenge which
is faced by the companies but the cultural awareness among the individuals enables to develop the
competitive advantage through expanding the business operations in other geographical boundaries of
the country which helps to increase the sales volume of the company. Begley & Boyd et al., 2003 states
that the international standardization helps to improve the HR activities of the company. The local
strategies are necessary for recruiting the local talent through attending the norms in local context.
According to Tarique & Schuler et a., 2010 the outcome achieved from the local strategies leads to
improve the productivity through reducing the total cost by the standardized strategies which remains
the same generally regardless of the change in geographical region
Marquardt et al., 2004 states that the cross cultural training helps to learn the different organization
culture at different countries and the employees understand trough experiencing the exact culture
‘milieu’. The training and development programs helps to encourage the employees to tolerate the way
of thinking and ides of others and it helps to develop the cultural awareness. It helps to develop the
multiple desirable outcomes through understanding the different cultures of the organization.
McDonnell et al., 2010 states that the understanding of different cultures through training and
development should not be refrain by the organization as leads to develop the positive influence on the
reputation of organization. Kim and McLean et al., 2012 state that the shortage of skilled labor in the UK
leads to move other geographical areas but it creates additional challenges for the company.
According to the Ernst and Young survey which is done to determine the influence of training and
development on the 150 global executives which shows that the lot of efforts are done by the
companies in order to retain the and attract the global talent in an organization. McLean et al., 2010
states that the talent management is one of the significant element which helps to develop the
organization in a sustainable manner. The investment in the training and development program must be
applied carefully in order to provide the competitive advantage to the company.
Talent management in different sectors and country contexts
The training and learning development in industry and government is one of the major factor which
influence the labor supply of external in terms of multinational companies who are facing the problems
related to the motivation, recruitment, culture awareness and others in worldwide perspective. The

decision related to the training and development is major based on the issue of demand and supply
without considering the level of difficulty in managing the human resource in an organization. The
training and learning development in context of the global talent management comprises of reviewing
the performance of employees in order to achieve the mission and vision of the company within the
specific period of time. According to the CIP et al., 20102 the talented employees in the organization
should be ready to move from home country to host country in order to maintain the balance in the
talent pool of the company which provides the competitive advantage to the company otherwise it is
difficult for the company to manage its global talent pool in various countries such as Middle East,
central Europe, and India.
The Kim and McLean et al., 2012 observed in his study that the Osman-Gani et al., 2000 shows the U.S.
expatriates are mainly provide three days pre departure training in order to provide the relevant
knowledge whereas the developed countries such as Germany, Korea and Japan provides minimum of
one week training which shows that the developed countries have different expectation from the
training and the duration is also different. Odell & Spielman et al., 2009 states that the company can
integrate the global leadership development and succession plan in the strategies of the company in
order to develop the corporate system. The activities involvement varies according to the purpose and
objective of the company. Kim and McLean et al., 2012 states that the talented employees mainly comes
from the different cultural programs so they requires cultural training in order to develop the
competencies, knowledge and attitude which are required to overcome the challenges come in
achieving the tasks. According to the DeSimone et al., (2002) all the factors of training are influences the
global succession planning. Mclean et al., 2006 founded in his study that the lot of training programs is
required to develop the understanding of cross culture in order to develop the core competencies of
business. Holbeche et al., 2009 states that theoretical as well as physical training required for changing
in the attitude and skills of human resource in an organization.
The various organizations faces a lot of challenges after selecting the wrong candidate for the particular
roles an d responsibilities as they are select the candidate without preparing the agendas for the
interview and untrained recruiters take the interviews. The decision of the recruiters directly impacts on
the overall performance of the company. The human resource problems of the organization are
different based on the regions as in the Middle East region recruitment is mainly done by the close
search methods. CIPD et al., 2012 states that the right amount of information and adequate expenditure
of the company help to achieve the objective of training.
Meaning of Talent and Talent management
According to the Barlow et al., 2006 many companies are experienced in implementing the principles of
retaining, hiring and workers development. Lewis and Heckman et al., 2006 states that it is difficult to
describe the talent management as it is mainly alignment with the business strategy, reviewing of
succession plan and evaluation of the human resource planning of the company. Jackson & Schuler et
al., 1990 states that it enable to recruit the right people for the right job at the right time in order to add
value to the organization. Rothwell et al., 1994 states that the business should ensure that the leaders
are performing their jobs in a most efficient and effective manner. Pascal et al., 2004 states that the