Training Program Design

A key tactic for raising job performance is an employee training program. Through an evaluation of both individual and organizational needs, it seeks to discover skills, knowledge, and ability gaps (Duguay & Korbut, 2002). The main goal is to close these gaps by giving the employees of a company specialized training. In a freshly founded company, this paper describes a training program for newly employed salespeople. The training will be given as a two-day short course with 20 participants. It is intended for people who are just entering the workforce and have no sales experience or training. A Training Needs Analysis (TNA) is employed in assessing the training needs of an organization. TNA is primarily based on the gap between the skills, knowledge and attitudes of a company’s workers and the same aspects as expected from an organizational perspective (Denby, 2010). The various approaches used in TNA include:

Interviewing employees and supervisors to give their views about the nature of their work and possible current problems they might be facing.

Carrying out performance appraisals to identify potential weaknesses among the employees.

Using consultants to study and observe the behaviors and attitudes of employees in executing their duties and responsibilities.

Analyzing secondary data from the workplace to find out critical issues concerning employee performance.

Use of external assessment centers to review the human resource of the company and deliver a report with appropriate recommendations.

An upcoming company has recruited additional personnel to join its sales team. The analysis of the needs for training are largely based on the organization’s current state and the anticipated future. As a starting business, it does not have the capacity to hire a highly experienced sales force. The firm is targeting new entrants into the job market because they are more affordable than the experienced ones. Therefore, the target employees are fresh graduates with only theoretical knowledge in marketing which they have learnt in college. A salesmanship task is not a demanding job and minimal skills are required for one to carry out the task effectively. The training program is focused on improving the selling skills as well as motivate the sales team to embrace continuous improvement (Bowman & Wilson, 2008). The program covers the essentials of salesmanship, motivational training, and mixing them with personality and common sense. The firm wants a vibrant sales force that can boost its sales volume to increase competitiveness in the industry. The training needs include:

To improve the knowledge of employees on salesmanship. The program intends to familiarize recruits about principles, facts, procedures and skills that are relevant to help them understand what is expected of them in executing job responsibilities and duties.

To streamline employees’ attitudes towards the selling profession by making them customer-oriented as well as improve their commitment and loyalty to the organization. They need to know about company policies and managerial behavior.

To prepare employees adapt appropriately to future internal and external changes in the marketplace and help them make necessary decisions in favor of the sustainability of the company.

The use of consultants to study work is be the most appropriate approach to use in this program. It is easy for consultants to understand the nature of responsibilities for the new employees and advise the firm accordingly. Furthermore, the organization is new in the industry hence they don’t have as much knowledge about the industry as the consultants who have several years of experience. More informed clarifications can easily be made in this technique than in other approaches. The approach is also time saving as much work is done by the consultants who are experienced in such matters and can therefore complete the tasks involved as quickly as possible.

Training Objectives

The objectives of the training include increasing sales, enhancing personal achievement of career goals to grow and excel in the marketplace as discussed below.

Sales are the center of focus to the business. The training program is wrapped up with motivational talks to address the profession of selling. The survival of a business depends on sales as efficiency and effectiveness of the selling process in attracts and increases the market share of the firm. Through efficient selling, the company intends to add value to their customer and create mutual benefits with them.

Career achievements can be a great source of motivation to work towards organizational goals and become the person that an employee may wish to be (Baraldi & Cifalinò, 2015). To be the best salesperson, one must achieve and accomplish both individual and organizational goals. It entails sticking to the mission to achieve goals through focused actions, the right attitude, and a balanced and centered mind frame.

The training also intends to encourage the new employees to move outside their comfort zones and embrace creativity, reach their potential by improvising new skills to improve their talents and think like entrepreneurs. The program is focused on enriching the salespeople just as much as it is meant to empower the organization boost its sales. The training is meant to make its sales team outperform competitors in the use of common sense, excellent sales abilities, exceptional services, and wisdom in making decisions.

The program intends to add value to the professionalism of the sales people by offering them a training which will spearhead personal skills and improve job performance. The training is tailored to the organization, the team, specific needs of salesmanship and the marketplace. It entails reviewing the sales environment to develop result-based approaches that incorporate the best sales training and professional development.

Key Training Method

A face-to-face training method will be employed for the two consecutive days. It will entail instructors lecturing students about the contents of the training and making clarifications where necessary. However, group discussions will also be encouraged especially where demonstrations are involved.

Agenda of Activities

The following tables show the planned schedule for the training. Topics of discussion are shown alongside their respective start and end times as well as the corresponding duration for each topic.

Day 1

The first day is predominantly about orientating employees to the organization.

Topic

Start Time

End Time

Duration

Introduction

8:00 AM

8:30 AM

30 min

Welcome Video

8:30 AM

8:45 AM

15 min

Completion of forms on Personal details

8:45 AM

9:05 AM

20 min

Management Welcome & mission

9:05 AM

9:20 AM

15 min

Payroll

9:20 AM

9:35 AM

15 min

BREAK

9:35 AM

9:50 AM

15 min

Working hours and time consciousness

9:50 AM

10:05 AM

15 min

Employees’ Union

10:05 AM

10:25 AM

20 min

Police Briefing

10:25 AM

10:40 AM

15 min

Workplace complaints

10:40 AM

10:55 AM

15 min

Hierarchy of authority

10:55 AM

11:15 AM

20 min

ID Badges

11:15 AM

11:55 AM

40 min

LUNCH

11:55 AM

12:25 PM

30min

Employee responsibility & conduct

12:25 PM

12:55 PM

30 min

Security information

12:55 PM

1:10 PM

15 min

Benefits

1:10 PM

2: 10 PM

1 hr

BREAK (P&R form completion)

2:10 PM

2:30 PM

20 min

Computer orientation

2:30 PM

4:00 PM

1 hr 30 min

Career development

2:30 PM

4:00 PM

1 hr 30 min



Day 2

The second day focuses on familiarizing trainees about the market, the selling profession and strategies.

Topic

Start Time

End Time

Duration

Marketing and selling profession

8:00 AM

8:20 AM

20 min

Current state of the industry

8:20 AM

8:50 AM

30 min

Company’s target market

8:50 AM

9:20 AM

30 min

Current state of the organization in the marketplace

9:20 AM

9:50 AM

30 min

BREAK

9:50 AM

10:05 AM

15 min

Selling demo video

10:05 AM

10:20 AM

15 min

Interacting with clients

10:20 AM

10:40 AM

20 min

Business etiquette

10:40 AM

10:55 AM

15 min

Marketing Essentials

10:55 AM

11:10 AM

15 min

Price Negotiation

11:10 AM

11:30 AM

20 min

Clear communications and their impacts

11:30 AM

12:00 NOON

30min

LUNCH

12:00 NOON

12:30 PM

30 min

Problem solving and decision making

12:30 PM

1:00 PM

30 min

Ethical codes of conduct in selling

1:00 PM

1:40 PM

40 min

Sales Management and planning

1:40 PM

2:10 PM

30 min

BREAK

2:10 PM

2:30 PM

20 min

Client Interaction skits

2:30 PM

3:30 PM

1 hour

Trainers’ review of the training session

3:30 PM

4:00 PM

30 min









Training Cost

Item

Description

Quantity

Cost rate

Total

Course Development

Fees paid to the structural designers of the program

3

$200

$600

Consultation fee

Expenses incurred in consulting about

1

$1000

$1000

Instructor fees

Fees paid to trainers

4

$500

$2000

Instructional manuals

Cost of buying instructional manuals

10

$10

$100

Travel

Travel expenses by the trainers and coordinators.

6

$200

$1200

Content development

Fees paid to the developers of the training content

3

$350

$1050

Certificates

Cost of printing certificates for the trainees

20

$10

$200

Accommodation

Lodging expenses for instructors

4

$200

$800

Office rental

Rental cost of the space for training

2

$250

$500











Overhead Costs

Postage

$120

Phone and internet charges

$200

Equipment rental

$80

Annual advanced conference

$300

Efficacy research

$400

Grand Total Cost = $8550



Strategies for Training Design

The program focuses on familiarizing the employees about the company before introducing the key subject matter of discussion. The first day of training is tailored to outline how the employees are expected to relate within the organization as well as draw a direct relation between employees and the company to foster their commitment and loyalty. The first day ends with a few introductory elements about the job. The second day is fully designed to cover all critical issues that concern business and selling in particular. The design is in line with all forms of training whereby the easiest and basic things to remember come before progressing to harder and complex ideas (NaYoonHee & AhnByungkyoo, 2008). Practice has also been included in the schedule to allow employees demonstrate some elements after learning them and trainers to comment about the performance of every individuals. The program has several trainers to ensure they cover as much content as possible.































References

Baraldi, S., & Cifalinò, A. (2015). Delivering training strategies: the balanced scorecard at work. International Journal Of Training And Development, 19(3), 179-198. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ijtd.12055

Bowman, J., & Wilson, J. (2008). Different roles, different perspectives: perceptions about the purpose of training needs analysis. Industrial And Commercial Training, 40(1), 38-41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/00197850810841639

Denby, S. (2010). The importance of training needs analysis. Industrial And Commercial Training, 42(3), 147-150. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/00197851011038132

Duguay, S., & Korbut, K. (2002). Designing a training program which delivers results quickly!. Industrial And Commercial Training, 34(6), 223-228. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/00197850210442458

NaYoonHee, & AhnByungkyoo. (2008). Designing and Implementing an In-service Teacher Training Program for English Teachers. English Language Teaching, 20(4), 131-160. http://dx.doi.org/10.17936/pkelt.2008.20.4.006