CASE 4

Learning and Development

In this week's post we will be looking at learning and development through the lens of two separate cases. Unlike previous posts, these cases are not problems that require solutions but cases which illustrate exemplary training programs and their benefits.

First, will be looking at restaurant chain, Nando’s, and its holistic approach to training and team building. By training all levels of employees, Nando’s have grown to over 1,000 locations in 30 countries, while maintaining high standards of customer service and more than quadrupling their sales. Nado’s selects two employees from each location to their buddy program, where they are taught to design compelling and targeted training exercises for their staff. All levels of management get whisked away from their comfort zones and live communally (bunk beds and all) and participate in team building exercises. By maintaining a culture of training, Nando’s has ensured that it can withstand any growing pains while maintaining a ‘family feel”.

In our second case, McDonald’s is using a strategy of gamification and emergent technology to better train its managers and staff to deliver a better product and create and capture value. In 2012, McDonald’s began using a game featured on the company’s intranet, designed to simulate serving an increasing number of customers on the fast-food chain’s new registers. The training simulation masquerading as a game quickly became a smashing success, with upwards of 50,000 users in the weeks after launch. Thus, saving McDonald’s an estimated $1.5-2.5 million in training. This was no mere flirtation with gaming, as now McDonald’s is implementing a virtual reality program to train managers tasked with implementing its new made-to-order preparation in its UK stores. The program, developed with tech-trainer Kallidus, tasks managers to run a shift in the new concept stores with their “JiT” model, allowing them to make learn and mistakes without the risk of losing revenue or jeopardizing customer relationships.

The proliferation of VR technologies mean that simulation training isn’t just for dangerous or expensive work anymore. Primarily used by militaries, surgeons, police forces, and the air travel industry, VR simulation training has been shown to greatly reduce the stress of an unknown environment by giving the trainee a taste of what's to come and developing a skillset to deal the challenges of the new setting or system. Although VR and gamification may be the new hotness when it comes to employee training and development, let us not forget the other flavors that can be used to teach and motivate staff.

On the Job - includes apprenticeships, internships, and job rotation. A classic and most used method for training. While allowing an employee to experience the real thing, it also opens you up for productivity loss and presenting a less polished, less professional image to your customers.

Presentation Methods - While most people are trained predominantly on the job, many companies utilize a number of other methods for training. These methods may be supplementary to OJT, be required before work begins, be presented throughout an employee’s career, or all of the above. They can include, presentation of audio/video, slides, webinars, workshops, role-play, collaborative exercises, courses from external educational institutions, simulations, board games, mentorships, and the list goes on and on.

Although the training methods can vary widely, the goals can usually be boiled down to a few distinct types: skills training, retraining, cross-functional, team, creativity, diversity and ethics.  

The methodology of an organization’s training program—like most things in business—relies heavily on the particular business’s needs and goals. While formulating the program, one must consider not only the organization’s needs but that of the employee as well. Once the individual needs are assessed and the type, location, and presentation are decided, it is time to implement. During implementation, feedback is key. Employees should be asked for feedback on their engagement and learning, while quantifiable metrics should be put in place after to measure the program’s success. Once metrics and feedback are collected, they can be used to calculate ROI and strengthen or augment the training program.

The Training Process as defined by Gomez-Meija, et al (2016).

Development vs training

While training is designed to correct a behavior or acclimate an employee to a new task or environment, development exists as an attempt to futureproof the employee to the benefit of both the organization and the individual. Employees may seek greener pastures if they are not challenged and offered opportunities to grow within the organization. Many companies offer tuition reimburstments or lay out defined career paths to enable growth beyond mere productivity increases. In the current workforce it is no longer the norm to spend one’s entire career at one company. Therefore, companies must offer an incentive to encourage a valued employee to stay beyond regular incremental pay increases. This can improve employee retention, increase your pool of internal hire candidates, and decrease spending on the costly new hire process.

Sources:

Gomez-Mejia, L., Balkin, D. and Cardy, R. (2016). Managing Human Resources. 8th ed. Essex: Pearson Education Limited, pp.263-313.

Howlett, D., Bruce, S., Bruce, S. and boulton, c. (2016). Super-sized gamification for training - McDonald's is lovin' it. [online] diginomica. Available at: http://diginomica.com/2016/06/08/super-sized-gamification-for-training-mcdonalds-is-lovin-it/ [Accessed 9 Mar. 2017].

Pollitt, D, (2006)  "Nando's tastes success through training: Expanding restaurant firm retains a family feel", Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 14 Iss: 2, pp.19 - 21