Because learning changes everything.

Chapter 2
Strategic Training

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No reproduction or further distribution permitted without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill, LLC.
 Objectives

1. Discuss how business strategy influences the type and amount of

training in a company
2. Describe the strategic training and development process
3. Discuss how a company’s staffing and human resource planning
strategies influence training
4. Explain the training needs created by concentration, internal growth,
external growth, and disinvestment business strategies
5. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of centralizing the training
function
6. Explain a corporate university and its benefits
7. Discuss the strengths of a business-embedded learning function
8. Discuss how to create a learning or training brand and why it is
important
9. Develop a marketing campaign for a training course or program

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 Training Can (And Should Be) Strategic

o Training can have both a direct an indirect impact on organizational

success
o Business strategy will shape the training function
o Strategy impacts what gets trained, who gets training, and how
much training is valued
o The role of training is evolving from an event to learning

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 The Learning Organization

o A learning organization is characterized as:

o a company with an enhanced capacity to learn, adapt, and change
o a culture where employees seek, share, and apply new knowledge
to improve performance
o an organization where training is a part of a larger system to
enhance human capital
o High performing companies are more than five times as likely to have
a strong learning culture

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 Learning & Human Capital Development

o Learning has to help employee performance and business success

o Unpredictability in the business environment will be the norm
o Companies need to support informal learning because tacit
knowledge is difficult to acquire in formal training
o Learning has to be supported with physical resources and
psychologically
o Managers need to understand employees to determine development
needs

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 Capabilities for Strategic Training

o Alignment of learning goals to business goals

o Measurement of the overall business impact of the learning function
o Movement of learning to include customers, vendors, and suppliers
o A focus on developing competencies for the most critical jobs
o Integration of learning knowledge management, performance support,
and talent management
o Delivery approaches that include classroom training and e-learning
o Design and delivery of leadership development courses

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 Strategic Training & Development Process

Strategic Metrics that

Training &
Business Training & Show the
ABC Long Description Developme
Strategy Developme Value of
nt Activities
nt Initiatives Training

Strategic Training & Development Process Long

Description

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 1. Identify Business Strategy

o Determine the company’s mission

o Establish goals
o Perform a SWOT—strengths, opportunities, weakness, and threats
o Determine strategic choice

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 2. Determine Strategic Initiatives

o Learning-related actions that a company should take to achieve its

business strategy
o A road map to guide specific training activities
o Avoid the disconnect between strategy and execution

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 Common Strategic Initiatives

Diversify the learning Expand who is Accelerate the pace

portfolio trained of learning

Provide development
Improve customer opportunities and Capture and share
service communicate with knowledge
employees

Ensure that the work

Align training with the environment
company’s direction supports learning
and transfer

Common Strategic Initiatives Long Description

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 Questions to Ask

o What is the vision and mission?

o What capabilities and competencies are critical for success?
o What types of training will best attract, develop, and retain
employees?
o Does the company have a plan for communicating the link between
training and business strategy to key constituents?
o Does senior management support training?
o Does the company provide training for individuals and teams?

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 3. Translate Initiatives into Activities

o The next step is to determine specific, concrete activities that align

with strategic initiatives
o Such activities will vary based on the initiatives that were developed

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 4. Identify Metrics & Evaluate

o The final step is to determine if training investments were successful

o Strategic training evaluation is not intended to evaluate the
effectiveness of an isolated program, but a set of training activities
o The business-related outcomes examined should be directly linked to
strategy and goals

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 Balanced Scorecard

Balanced Scorecard Long Description

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 Organizational Characteristics that Influence Training

Roles of Top
Integration of
Company Size Employees and Management
Business Units
Managers Support

Strategic Value
Global Business Other HRM of Jobs and
Presence Conditions Practices Employee
Uniqueness

Staff
Extent of Involvement in
Unionization Training and
Development

Organizational Characteristics that Influence Training

Long Description

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 Company Size

Smaller firms
o Most training in small firms is usually informal and on-the-job
o Training tends to focus on the knowledge and skills that employees
need for their current job not on developing skills needed for future
positions
o If any type of formal training and development is conducted, it is done
through trade associations, short courses, and courses provided by
the company’s owners and managers

Larger firms
o As firms grow in size, there is a greater need to provide more
formalized training and development to prepare current employees for
internal promotion opportunities and retain them

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 Roles of Employees & Managers

o Employees are now performing roles once reserved for management

o Given the prevalence of teams, employees require more cross-
training and interpersonal skills training
o Managers’ jobs are highly complex, requiring greater skill and training

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 Top Management Support

o Set a clear direction for learning

o Provide encouragement and resources
o Take an active role in governing learning
o Develop and teach new programs
o Serve as a role model
o Promote learning through different channels

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 Integration of Business Units

o Integration of business units affects the approach to training

o In a highly integrated business, employees need to understand all
parts of the company, and training must address those needs

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 Global Presence

o For companies with global operations, training is needed to prepare

employees for overseas assignments
o Companies must decide if training will be coordinated through a
central facility or through satellite locations

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 Business Conditions

o When unemployment is low, it’s difficult to find top talent

o In unstable environments, training may become short-term
o When there is growth, training will be in high demand
o When trying to revitalize and redirect, there are fewer incentives for
training
o When downsizing, training may focus on continued employability

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 Staffing Strategy & Training

Fortress (external, group focus)

o limited resources for training, recruit from the outside

Baseball team (external, individual focus)

o creativity needed, recruit from other companies or new graduates

Club (internal, group focus)

o highly regulated industries, develop own talent

Academy (internal, individual focus)

o specialized skills, focus heavily on developing employees

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 Strategic Value & Uniqueness

o Knowledge-based workers—heavy training

o Job-based employees—less training than knowledge workers
o Contract employees—limited training
o Alliance/partnerships—sharing expertise and team training

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 Extent of Unionization

o Presence of a union leads to joint union-management programs for

preparing employees for jobs
o Given that unions have a significant impact on HRM practices, they
must be involved in determining strategic training priorities
o Collaboration is key

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 Staff Involvement in Training

o Managers need to be involved so training links to business needs and

transfer can be supported
o Managers will be more involved if they are rewarded for doing so
o Employees now assume greater responsibility for planning their own
development

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 Training in Different Strategies

Concentration Strategy
o Skill currency and the development of the existing workforce

Internal Growth Strategy

o Creation of new jobs and tasks, innovation, and talent management

External Growth Strategy

o Integration, redundancy, and restructuring

Disinvestment Strategy
o Efficiency

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 Centralized Training

There are several advantages:

o Stronger alignment with strategy
o Common set of metrics or scorecards to evaluate training
o Streamlined processes
o Better integration of programs to develop leaders
o Easier to manage talent during times of change

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 Corporate University Model

Corporate University Model Long Description

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 Advantages of Corporate University Model

o Dissemination of best practices

o Alignment of training with business needs
o Integration of training initiatives
o Effective use of new technology and methods
o Clear vision and mission
o Evaluation of learning focused on employee and business results
o Partnership with academia

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 Business-Embedded Learning Function

o The learning function is centralized, but able to respond quickly to

client needs
o All persons involved in training communicate and share resources
o Trainers—who are responsible for developing training materials,
delivering instruction, and supporting trainees—work together to
ensure that learning occurs
o Trainers have specialized competencies and serve as internal
consultants

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 A Change Model Perspective

o Four change-related problems need to be addressed before the

implementation of any new training practice
o Resistance to change
o Loss of control
o Power imbalance (Employees must see that managers and other
employees in powerful positions support the change.)
o Task redefinition challenges (Organizational structures, such as
compensation and performance management systems, must
support the change.)

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 Marketing Training

o Despite its value, some individuals may not value training

o Training often needs to be marketed so key constituents embrace
learning
o Internal marketing involves making employees and managers excited
about training and learning

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 Internal Marketing Tactics

o Involve the target audience

o Demonstrate how training can solve business problems
o Show examples of previous successes
o Identify a champion who supports training
o Advertise through multiple channels
o Speak in terms employees understand

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 Reasons to Outsource Training

o Cost savings
o Time savings that allow a company to focus on business strategy
o Improvements in compliance with regulatory training
o Lack of internal capability to meet learning demands
o Desire to access best training practices

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 Be Strategic

Outsourcing may not necessarily be the solution

Be sure to consider
o the skill set in question
o resources and expertise
o desire for control
o the quality of the potential vendor
o the importance of training in the organization

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Because learning changes everything. ®

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No reproduction or further distribution permitted without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill, LLC.