How to deal with assignment and exam

HRD – Assignment task

You are a HR management team for a mid-sized service company. Your CEO asked you to design a complete training program (covering the full training cycle) for all levels of managers, from supervisors to vice-presidents. The purpose is to ensure that management staff are kept up to date with competencies within their own functional departments in an increasingly competitive landscape. Write out a comprehensive report with both broad outlines, as well as specific examples within 2 functional departments (e.g. customer service, sales etc.). You may choose an existing or hypothetical organization in the service sector.

Assignment task

Write a report:

• Importance of a comprehensive training programme
• Arguments for integrating training with business
• Outline of the complete training programme
• The Training Cycle
• Detailed training programme for 2 functional departments
• How to approach the task?
• What does the company do?
• You can either look at existing company or invent your own
• What is company’s strategy?
• Mission
• Goals
• Strategic objectives
• Competitive strategy
• How to approach the task?
• What are the skills, knowledge, attitudes needed to execute this strategy?
• Training needs analysis
• What is the skill gap?
• If you are analysing an existing organisation
• What is the best way to address the skill gap?
• Training/development design
• Short-term, long-term
• How to approach the task?
• What are the training objectives?
• 5 different outcomes
• What are the best training methods?
• Off the job
• On the job
• Outsourcing?
• What developmental activities should be undertook?
• Assessement
• Mentoring/coaching
• Career planning
• How to approach the task?
• What are the costs of these activities?
• How the effectiveness of each activity should be evaluated?
• Recommendations for the senior managers
• Important
• Incorporate the knowledge from the literature
• Course book
• Articles
• Referencing

Harvard style

Plagiarism

Important

A team project

3000 – 3500 words

About 15 – 18 pages

Basic tips

• Learn the basic materials Study guide / slides, Course book
• Incorporate some wider reading: This provides your raw materials and forms a vital part of exam success
• Readings assigned for each lecture should supply you with studies providing illustration to your question (examples)
• Practice applying this to exam questions and planning answers to the exam question
• Sample question
• Discuss how business strategy influences the type and amount of training in a company. In addressing this question you should draw on examples from your own organisation or one with which you are familiar.
• Understanding the question

Key words: discuss and how

• Perform an analysis
• Discuss – suggests that different kinds of influence/ different examples need to be presented
• Understanding the question

Performing analysis

1. What is strategy
2. How is strategy related to training? (training supports implementation of strategy)
3. Influence on type of training (content, method, provider)
4. Give examples of different strategies and their influences on type of training
5. Influence on amount of training (whether to train at all, how much training is required)
6. Give examples of different strategies and their influences on type of training
7. Understanding the question
8. Drawing conclusions
9. Is business strategy important for designing effective training?
10. The importance of this knowledge for top managers / HR managers?
11. Areas to focus on
12. Theories of learning and programme design (ch.4)
13. Training evaluation (ch.6)
14. Employee development (ch.9)
15. Transfer of knowledge (ch.4)
16. Training methods (ch.7,8)
17. Special issues (additional) (ch.11)

13 Pages

APA – 17 References