25 Feb See below for a short summary of the TNA.

Discussion Board 4

You’ve been working closely with employees and senior leadership at SLUHE and have completed your Training Needs Assessment to better understand how to design the training for the new inventory system.  

See below for a short summary of the TNA.

You’ll need to work closely with Opie, the VP of Operations to set objectives and design training for all impacted employees.  Opie seems excited.  He tells you, “This has to be a joint effort.  I’m happy to lend my product and system knowledge, and you bring the training knowledge.  Let’s meet tomorrow afternoon to discuss what we need to prioritize to get started on this!”

Based on the material covered in this module and Chapter 5 of our textbook,

• Propose TWO specific and measurable learning objectives for the training.

• Discuss your most important priorities for planning and designing the training

What do employees need to learn in this training?  How will the Operations department need to contribute to the design of the training? How will the Talent Development team need to contribute?  Will there be a need for any external training resources, and if so, what?

TNA notes for Inventory System Training

Training Needs Assessment for new inventory system

PERSON ANALYSIS

Group 1 – Super-Users – approximately 250 employees

These team members use all inventory systems extensively, will need “super-user” privileges and will need to understand all system functions listed below. This includes the Receiving and Distribution team (part of Operations) and Accounting department.

FYI – this group includes about a 50/50 split of team members who are happy that we are finally getting a new inventory system vs. team members who are unhappy because they are used to working within the old system.

Group 2 – Moderate Users – approximately 500 employees

These team members use all inventory systems frequently, but will not need all the privileges or functions; generally they will need to be able to view and understand inventory information in the system, but will not have the ability to make changes in the system. Primary system functions will be #s 1, 4, 5 & 6 below. This includes the Manufacturing team (part of Operations), Sales, Quality Assurance, Product Development, and Customer Service departments.

Group 3 – Micro Users – approximately 150 employees

These team members should be aware of our inventory system, but probably will not use it frequently, if at all. This includes HR, Talent Development, Safety & Maintenance, and Administrative Support departments. These groups will not need to take part in the training.

• All 3 groups are diverse in terms of age, gender, ethnicity and tenure with SLUHE, Inc.

• Timeline to roll out the new inventory system and sunset the old system: 2 months.

TASK ANALYSIS

Essential System Functions:

1. Order placement

2. Warehouse management

3. Inventory Optimization & Demand forecasting

4. Creating Reports, Recording, Receipts

5. Barcode Scanning & RFID Tracking

6. Order delivery

Assigned Reading

For this module, read the following:

o Effective Training: Systems, Strategies, and Practices Chapter 5

Chapter 5 of our textbook reminds us to think hard during the planning and design stage about the who, what, where, when and how of training. Hopefully the why is already understood based on the results of that great needs analysis you already did (you did perform a needs analysis, right?).

The text focuses on three primary and important concepts in training design: developing training objectives, focusing on trainee motivations and learning styles, and how to maximize training transfer.

Reading Focus and Active Reading Guidance

Note:

So what makes for a strong learning objective? It should have 3 parts, the desired behavior, meaning what you expect the trainee to do, the conditions under which he or she has to do it, meaning where, and when and with what tools or aids, and finally, the standards for performance – do they need to do it quickly, or accurately, or both?

When writing learning objectives, start with the desired behavior and use active, observable and measurable language – action words always play better than stuff that is unobservable. Then add in the conditions for performance – what kinds of tools and environmental factors are involved. Finally, add the standards for successful performance. Here is a great example from the textbook about a telephone line-worker that is broken down to show all three parts.

Make sure your learning objectives are strong, not just so-so. It does not mean they have to be wordy, as long as they are clear and measurable. When it comes time for evaluation, this is a big part of how you will know if the training was effective.