Strategic Training

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1. Discuss how business strategy influences
the type and amount of training in a
company.
2. Explain how the role of training has
changed.
3. Describe how changes in work roles
influence training.
4. Discuss how a company’s staffing and
human resource planning strategies
influence training.
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5. Explain the training needs created by
concentration, internal growth, external growth,
and disinvestment business strategies.
6. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of
organizing the training function according to the
faculty, customer, matrix, and corporate
university models.
7. Discuss the characteristics of the virtual training
organization and how it can contribute to the
company’s business strategy.

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 Tires Plus’s business strategy affects the time and
money invested in training.
 Training helps employees learn job skills and helps
the company retain and motivate employees.
 Training is strategic for:
 Business goals related to human resources, and
 Productivity, customer service, and innovation
 Employees are aware that training is essential to
their future marketability.

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 A plan that integrates the company’s goals,
policies, and actions.
 The strategy influences how the company uses:
 physical capital (plants, technology, and
equipment)
 financialcapital (assets and cash reserves)
 human capital (employees)
 The business strategy helps direct the
company’s activities to reach specific goals.

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 Where to compete?
 In what markets will we compete?
 How to compete?
 On what outcome or differentiating characteristic
will we compete?
 Cost? Quality? Reliability? Delivery?
Innovativeness?
 With what will we compete?
 What resources will allow us to beat the
competition?
 How will we acquire, develop, and deploy those
resources to compete?
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 The amount of training devoted to
current or future job skills.
 The extent to which training is
customized for the particular needs of
an employee or developed based on
the needs of a team, unit, or division.
 Whether training is restricted to
specific groups of employees or open
to all employees.
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 Whether training is:
 planned and systematically administered,
or
 provided only when problems occur, or
 spontaneously as a reaction to what
competitors are doing
 The importance placed on training
compared to other human resource
management practices such as selection
and compensation.
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 Managing Alignment
 Clarify team goals and company goals.
 Help employees manage their objectives.
 Scan organization environment for useful
information for the team.
 Encouraging Continuous Learning
 Help team identify training needs.
 Help team become effective at on-the-job
training.
 Create environment that encourages learning.

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 Coordinating Activities
 Ensure that team is meeting internal and
external customer needs.
 Ensure that team meets its quantity and
quality objectives.
 Help team resolve problems with other teams.
 Ensure uniformity in interpretation of policies
and procedures.
 Facilitating Decision-Making Process
 Facilitate team decision making.
 Help team use effective decision-making
processes.

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 Creating and Maintaining Trust
 Ensure that each team member is responsible
for his or her work load and customers.
 Treat all team members with respect.
 Listen and respond honestly to team ideas.

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Integration of Business Units

Global Presence

Business Conditions

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 The type of training and resources devoted to
training are influenced by the strategy adopted
for two HRM practices:
 Staffing
 Human Resource Planning

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 Two aspects of a company’s staffing strategy
influence training:
 The criteria used to make promotion and assignment
decisions (assignment flow)
 The places where the company prefers to obtain
human resources to fill open positions (supply flow)

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 HR planning allows the company to anticipate
the movement of human resources in the
company.
 HR plans can help identify where employees
with certain types of skills are needed in the
company.
 Training can be used to prepare employees for:
 increased responsibilities in their current job,
 promotions, lateral moves, transfers, and
 downward job opportunities that are predicted
by the human resource plan.
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Focus on Teaching Skills and
Knowledge

Link Training to Business

Needs

Use Training to Create and

Share Knowledge

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Strategy Emphasis How Achieved Key Issues Training Implications

Concentration Increase market Improve quality Skill currency Team building
share Improve Development of Cross-training
Reduce operating productivity existing work Specialized programs
costs Customize force Interpersonal skill
Create market products training
niche On-the-job training
Internal Growth Market Add distribution Create new jobs Support high-quality
development channels Create new product value
Product Expand global tasks Cultural training
development markets Innovation Conflict negotiation
Innovation Create new skills
Joint ventures products Manager training in
Joint ownership feedback and
communication
Technical competence
in jobs
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Strategy Emphasis How Achieved Key Issues Training Implications

External Horizontal Acquire firms for Integration Determining capabilities
Growth integration new market access Redundancy of acquired employees
(Acquisition) Vertical integration Acquire firms to Restructuring Integrating training
Concentric supply or buy systems
diversification products Team building
Acquire any firm

Disinvestment Retrenchment Reduce costs Efficiency Motivation

Turnaround Reduce assets Goal setting
Divestiture Generate revenue Stress management
Liquidation Redefine goals Time management
Sell off all assets Leadership training
Outplacement
assistance
Job-search skills
training
Faculty Model
Customer Model

Matrix Model

Corporate University
Model
Virtual Model

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D ir e c t o r o f T r a in in g

S a fe ty Q u a lit y T e c h n o lo g y L e a d e r s h ip S a le s
T r a in in g T r a in in g and D e v e lo p m e n t T r a in in g
C o m p u te r
S y s te m s

Training Specialty Areas

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D ir e c t o r o f T r a in in g

I n fo r m a t io n M a r k e t in g P r o d u c t io n F in a n c e
S y s te m s and
O p e r a t io n s

Business Functions
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D ir e c t o r o f T r a in in g

Training S a le s Q u a lit y T e c h n o lo g y S a fe ty
Specialty T r a in in g T r a in in g and T r a in in g
Areas C o m p u te r
S y s te m s

Production
Marketin
and
g
Operations

Business Functions
Historical Training Leadership Development Programs Training
Problems Advantages
Excess Costs Dissemination of
Best Practices
Poor Delivery and
Focus Product Operations Sales and Human
Development Marketing Resources

Inconsistent Use of Align Training with

Common Training Business Needs
Practices
Integrate Training
Best Training Initiatives
Practices Not
Effectively Utilize
Shared
New Training
Training Not Methods and
Integrated or Technology
Coordinated New Employee Programs
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 Virtual training organizations operate
according to three principles:
 Employees (not the company) have
primary responsibility for learning
 The most effective learning takes place on
the job, not in the classroom
 For training to translate into improved job
performance, the manager-employee
relationship (not employee-trainer
relationship) is critical.

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 A virtual training organization is customer
focused
 Takes more responsibility for learning and
evaluating training effectiveness
 Provides customized training solutions based
on customer needs
 Determines when and how to deliver training
based on customer needs
 Leverages resources from many areas
 Involves line managers in direction and content

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