Strategy 2019: Analyzing Training & Development in Top Companies

This report analyzes the training and development strategies employed by the top five companies as ranked by Training Magazine in 2018. It examines the key features of their training initiatives, including investment in training, inclusivity of employees, diverse training methods, and the use of both internal and external trainers. The analysis relates these strategies to human resource management principles, focusing on the alignment of training with organizational and individual needs, management support, and knowledge enhancement. Recommendations are provided for improving training programs within a financial institution, emphasizing increased investment, strategic program development, and continuous evaluation to ensure sustainable enterprise growth.

Running head: TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT 1
Training and development
Students’ name
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Training and development
Executive summary
Training and development is an important aspect in any organization that is successful in some
organizations and less successful in others. The success of the organization in training the
employees is affected by the strategies employed and the level of involvement of the employees
which leads to a positive or negative attitude towards the training. This document, therefore,
analyses the strategies that are employed by the top five organizations in training and
development as ranked by the training magazine ranks 2018. The analysis involves their
strategies and the uniformity in the actions and organization of the training which are informed
by the statistics contained in the article. Also, the document checks the strategies employed and
how they are in line with the strategies employed in the training and development as taught in the
human resource management class. The level of alignment is used to describe the success of the
organizations. Ultimately recommendations are made on how one can improve the training and
development programs for an existing financial institution to ensure the training is adequate for a
sustainable enterprise before concluding.

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Training and development
Main features of the top five companies
Training and development is a crucial undertaking for any organization. The process
helps organizations to execute tasks directly and assist in meeting the goals of the organization in
a more stable fashion (DeCenzo, Robbins, & Verhulst, 2015). Many organizations have therefore
invested in training and development for them to address specific issues in the organization
including the need to introduce a new concept, induct employees, change strategies and upgrade
systems (Lussier & Hendon, 2013). In the training and development process, many strategies are
employed by independent organizations to achieve the target objective. For successful
companies, there is the realization of the importance of training and development in promoting
the wellbeing of the organization which in turn contributes to a profitable organization. Based on
the evaluation of the top five companies as stated in the training magazine rank in 2018 several
features are outstanding for all the organizations. The features have contributed successfully to
the position of the organizations making them a top priority for the employees.
The first feature is the value of the training and investment in the training procedures.
Organizations that need to have a successful training program should be ready to incur the cost
of training and provide all the necessary facilities for the training. For instance, according to the
training magazine ranks of 2018, a significant amount was spent on the training by the 125
companies. The mean value of the amount paid on training by the successful companies was
found to be $8.7 billion in the United States and $13.5 billion worldwide. The amount is
significant since the companies also need to make profits and meet the other costs of production.
Investment of a large amount of revenue in the training and development program means that the
organization understands the value of training and is willing to invest in the skills of its

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employees which is a positive contribution to the training efforts (Heron, Kessler, & Dopson,
2015). The administration needs to provide the necessary resources to facilitate a training and
development program. All the organization ranked understands the importance of investing in
the training and development which is indicated by the high mean value of the amount spent on
training by all the organizations.
Additionally, the successful organizations engaged in the training of all employees
regardless of the nature of their contracts. Training was conducted among all the employees
including, permanent employees, contract employees, casuals, and the franchisees. The training
program for any organization should be all-inclusive, and no member should be left out. Though
the training may seem not relevant to the employee on contract the training need to be included
for them since their work also contributes to the reputation of the organization (Stanford, 2016).
The training was also done using different avenues and strategies including online training as
well as lectures in a classroom. The number of courses offered at the school was high, and most
of the trainers offered visual instructions. The number of employees trained online was also
significant. Different training strategies appeal to different people. Identification of the best
approach to use in training that will reach too many clients is a challenge at times, and therefore
the different methods need to be used complementarily (Organisation for Economic Co-
operation and Development, 2013).
Consequently, the training process involved the use of both the local and the external
trainers. According to the magazine the ratio of full-time to part-time trainers was 126:319 the
implication is that more external trainers were utilized, unlike the local trainers. The part-time
trainers bring new developments and technology to the organization which is a value added to
the current employees while the local trainers help in emphasizing on the training needs and

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responding to any issues emerging from the training (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). The
local trainers employed in a fulltime basis also get to have an understanding of the level of
technological investment done in the organization and therefore can direct strategies that will be
achievable with the organization's resources, thus, reducing the cost of training (McLean &
Yang, 2014).
Other strategies that were employed by the successful organization s included the tuition
reimbursement program where the employees were encouraged to take the courses and later the
cost of their education was refunded upon completion. The program is useful in the identification
of potential employees and inviting them to participate in programs related to the organization
and later absorbing the new skills into the organization (Lim, Mathis, & Jackson, 2016). Tuition
reimbursement serves as a motivational factor for the employees to gain new knowledge in the
organization and apply to in the development. Some of the areas where tuition reimbursement
was applicable include knowledge on the use of new technology equipment. The average amount
spent on tuition reimbursement for the successful organizations was also significant at $215,815
The method of identification of the training needs for the successful organization was
based on the individual goals as well as organizational goals. The identification of training needs
was all inclusive since individuals and teams presented their concerns and the areas they feel like
training is needed. The needs identified were combined with the needs of the organization to
create an effective method of training that will ensure all members are willing and ready to
participate. According to Bondarouk (2013) employees are willing and ready to participate in a
training that is intended to address their problems. When an employee raises a concern about an
area that needs to be trained the employee will be ready to attend any training that links to a
solution to the concern (Boxall & Purcell, 2015). In this regard, the identification of training

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needs to include both individual needs as well as the needs of the organization which can only be
determined through the inclusion of the employee's concerns during the identification of training
needs and designing the training.
Alignment
A training and development program needs to start with the identification of training
needs which should be an all-inclusive program (Pashchuk, 2016). The main aim should be to
identify the concerns of individuals and groups within the organization and be able to formulate
training that will address the needs of the workforce. Training informed by the needs of the
organization and individual needs are easier to manage and control employees are ever willing to
attend training that will address their challenges and inform them of better strategies to avoid the
obstacles they face during their work (Information Resources Management Association, 2012).
The training offered by the successful organization are all-inclusive and are in line the training
from the employees and formulating the strategies that will help meet the needs of the
organization making the training relevant.
A training and development program also need to have the support of management. It is
the duty of the human resource management department and the other managers to plan and
budget for the training program (Rosario, 2016)s. In this regard, the organization will be in a
position to provide all the resources needed for the training for the event to be successful. Lack
of management support in any undertaking leads to a go slow in its development, and most of the
employees will not be dedicated to participating (Stone, 2017). The top-ranked institutions have
also shown a substantial level of appreciation of the training by the administration in different
perspectives. For instance, the amount of money invested in training and development is high
enough to prove that there is management support in the issue. Some institutions have employed

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trainers on a full time basis which means that they will be available to conduct the subsequent
training at any time. The administration proves support for the training programs which is a
positive score towards the development of a successful training program.
A good training program should also be all-inclusive. Every employee should be
involved in the training to ensure that they understand the important concepts taught during the
training. Involvement of only a small group in training will lead to an imbalance in the
organization while other employees might feel neglected (Sistare, Shiplett, & Buss, 2015). The
cumulative effect is that the employees who are not subjected to the training will end up losing
their morale in the organization and a negative reflection in the productivity. The successful
organizations in the magazine have aligned their training to this objective by ensuring that the
process of developing the employees training program is all-inclusive and all employees air their
training needs to effect in the planning. Also, the training is conducted across all job groups and
all employees in real time. Though some employees such as the contract workers and the casual
engage with the organization for a short period, they are also included in the training to boost
their knowledge and ensure that their work is reputable. Employees who understand that there
will be a high level of involvement in development activities when joining an organization they
will be willing to come back and offer their services (Robert N Lussier, recruiting job candidates,
2013). Their level of motivation is therefore high which can be reflected in productivity.
The training and development program aimed to increase the knowledge and skills in the
organization. There are however other training such as the induction training for employees that
are aimed at informing the employees about the organization's culture and other important
aspects that will help fit the employee into the organization (Aguinis, 2014). Training, therefore,
can be conducted by an internal or external trainer who will help in the achievement of both

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goals. The successful organization's strategies are in line with this concept in many ways, for
instance, they foster training reimbursement programs that enable the employees to gain
knowledge from the external sources which are an important concept in knowledge addition.
Moreover, the training is offered by a vast number of foreign trainers who help in bringing new
knowledge to the organization. Also, some local trainers are employed on a permanent basis to
train the employees. The stable trainers have an understanding of the organization and its goals
as well as a culture which makes them significant in impacting the knowledge to the new and
existing employees (Information Resources Management, 2012).
Recommendations
There should need to revise the investments made in the training and development
programs. The amount invested need to be increased and more resources channeled towards the
employee training since they act as an asset to the organization and help in the achievement of
the organizational goals (Reed, 2017). The investments made should be done in sound programs
which will be based on an understanding of the employee’s needs that will be informed by a
careful organization of the training needs based on the concerns of all the employees.
There is a need to have a program for evaluation of the training to find out the success of
training in different sectors. The shortcomings found in training should be used to inform the
training content for the next exercise to ensure that the employees achieve uniformity of
knowledge ( Oregon department of correction, 2013). Training that is informed by the evaluation
results will address the concern of the employees and encourage them to be in line and
supportive to the training. A follow up should be made about the effectiveness of the training and
in case some content was not clear to most of the employees, it should be made part of the next
training.

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Technology should also be applied in training. There should be the purchase of training
material that will be used by the employees of referral to ensure that they have the concepts at
their fingertips during their execution of duties. Though more frequent training is encouraged the
content need to be comprehensive and should touch all departments in the organization (Robert
N Lussier, matching employees and jobs job analysis and design, 2012). Training in one
department only could lead to a contrary notion by the members of the other departments making
them feel neglected and less motivated to perform their duties. Training should be seen as an
asset to the organization which is intended to improve productivity and increases the profitability
of the enterprise.
Conclusion
Overall training and development are important undertakings for any organization.
Successful training needs to meet the needs of the organization as well as the individual needs of
the employee, and therefore the content in training need to be informed by the employees. The
training process needs to be all inclusive and should also have the support of management for it
to be successful. Organizations that understand the importance of training and development
dedicate their resources to the activity in a bid to enhance the quality of their workforce. Once
implemented, however, the training and development program needs to undergo a constant
evaluation to see if it is meeting the intended goals and adjustments made for inclusion in the
subsequent training. All employees need to be trained, and the trainers can come either from
within the organization or be hired externally to provide new knowledge. Training, therefore,
serves to improve performance and increase productivity which in turn reflects on the profits
hence it is an important asset to any organization.

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