Chapter 1 Homework Assignment

Describe the forces affecting the workplace and learning. How can training help companies deal with these forces? Forces--Globalization, need for leadership, increased value placed on intangible assets and human capital, focus on link to business strategy, attracting and retaining talent, customer service and quality emphasis, changing demographics and diversity of the work force, new technology, high-performance models of work systems, and economic changes. Raymond Noe says, "Competitiveness--a company's ability to maintain and gain market share in an industry. Training practices help companies grow the business and improve customer service by providing employees with the knowledge and skills they need to be successful. New Technology, rapid development of knowledge, globalization of business, and development of e-commerce--Training is necessary if companies are to participate in the global and electronic marketplaces by offering high-quality products and services."

What steps are included in the training design model? What step do you think is most important? Why? Raymond Noe says, "Step 1: Conduct a needs assessment to determine if training is needed. Step 2: Ensure that employees have the motivation and basic skills necessary to master training content. Step 3: Create a learning environment that has the features necessary for learning to occur. Step 4: Ensure that trainees apply the training content to their jobs. Step 5: Develop an evaluation plan. Step 6: Choose the training method based on the learning objectives and learning environment. Step 7: Evaluate the program and make changes in it or revisit any of the earlier steps in the process to improve the program so that learning, behavior, change, and the other learning objectives are obtained." I think that all the steps are equally important. Step 1, because if you don't need the training then don't put your employees through busy work. Step 2, because if you don't motivate the employees then they might get bored or wonder if they are even doing the training. Step 3, because if you are training on new software or technology you need to make sure that you have enough usable copies or equipment for each employee to effectively use during the training. Step 4, because if their not going to use the training then why waste time training it that could have been spent doing something more productive. Step 5, because you always need to evaluate things so you will be able to interact with the trainees to know what changes could be made to make the training better for next time. Step 6, because your method of training needs to relate to the trainees and the size of the group. Step 7, because if you made the evaluation plan and then don't use it that was a waste of time. The trainees will notice over time that you don't care about their opinions.

What are intangible assets? How do they relate to training and development? Intangible assets--Human capital, customer capital, social capital, intellectual capital. Raymond Noe said, "A study by the American Society for Training and Development of more than 500 publicly traded U.S.-based companies found that companies that invested the most in training and development had a shareholder return that was 86 percent higher than companies in the bottom half and 46 percent higher than the market average. Training and development has a direct influence on human and social capital because it affects education, work-related know-how and competence, and work relationships. Training and development can have an indirect influence on customer and social capital by helping employees better serve customers and by providing then with the knowledge needed to create patents and intellectual property."

Which of the training professionals' roles do you believe is most difficult to learn? Which is easiest? Most difficult--Professional Specialist. Easiest--Learning Strategist

How might technology influence the importance of training professionals' roles? Can technology reduce the importance of any of the roles? Can it result in additional roles? Technology could change the amount of actual work each role might have to do. I don't think that technology would change the important of the roles, because each role should have the ability to adapt to and over come the changes that newer technology brings. But over a long period of time the roles will be renamed so in affect old roles may be deleted as new roles are created.

Describe the training courses that you have taken. How have they helped you? Provide recommendations for improving the courses. Most of the training courses I have taken or taught have been military and/or computer related topics. Then of course all courses in school or college could be considered training courses. Most of them have either gave me a new source of knowledge or refreshed the skills I already knew but don't use on a daily basis. One major change I can think about is everyone who teach by writing everything in a PowerPoint and only read what is on the screen and don't add any additional information or examples of the information to their class. That normally makes the learning experience boring and not fun.

What are the implications of the aging work force? What strategies should companies consider from a training and development perspective to best utilize older employees and prepare for their retirement? Raymond Noe says, "As baby boomers begin to retire, the implications for the work force could be enormous." Strategies that could be used to help training and development include: 1: phone interviews to capture their experiences and share them with schools to create classes, and 2: identify experts and train them to conduct workshops or make presentations.

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