Because learning changes everything.

Chapter 2
Strategic Training

© 2023 McGraw Hill, LLC. All rights reserved. Authorized only for instructor use in the classroom.
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
Development Development Value of
Strategy Activities
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
Managers Support Business Units

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 U.S. facility or through satellite locations

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 Business Conditions

o With low unemployment, 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
o limited resources for training, recruit from the outside

Baseball team
o creativity needed, recruit from other companies or new graduates

Club
o highly regulated industries, develop own talent

Academy
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
o Task redefinition challenges

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 A Change Model

A Change Model Long Description

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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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 Discussion
Question
o How would you expect the training
activities of a company that is
dominant in its product market to
differ from those of a company
that emphasizes research and
development?

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 Discussion
Question
o What do you think is the most
important organizational
characteristic that influences
training? Why?

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 Discussion
Question
o Why could the business-
embedded learning function be
considered the best way to
organize training?

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 o Schering-Plough HealthCare Products decided
several years ago to expand its product lines
by developing pocket-size sticks and sprays of
Coppertone sun blocks, previously only
Discussion available as a lotion packaged in squeeze
Question bottles. The company placed a strategic
emphasis on developing markets for this
product. The company knew from market
research studies that its Coppertone
customers were already using the product in
its original squeeze container to prevent sun
burn. Due to increased awareness of the
dangers of excessive skin exposure,
customers who had not previously used
sunblock except when at the beach, were
looking for a daily sunblock product. Company
managers reasoned that their market could be
expanded significantly if the product were
repackaged to fit conveniently in consumers’
pockets, purses, and gym bags. Identify the
business strategy. What training needs result
from this strategy? What are the training
implications of this decision for (1)
manufacturing and (2) the sales force?

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 Discussion
Question
o Which strategic training and
development initiatives do you
think all companies should
support regardless of economic
conditions? Why?

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 Discussion
Question
o Are any of the strategic training
and development initiatives more
important for small business?
Explain.

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 Discussion
Question

o How can a training function

support a business strategy?

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 Discussion
Question
o How does the strategic value of
jobs and their uniqueness
influences how training and
learning resources are invested?

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 Discussion
Question
o What is human capital? How is
human capital influencing the
changing role of training from skill
and knowledge acquisition to
creating and sharing knowledge?

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 Discussion
Question
o How could SWOT analysis be
used to align training activities
with business strategies and
goals?

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 Discussion
Question
o What are the training implications
of the increased use of teams to
manufacture products or provide
services?

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 Discussion
Question

o How would you design a

corporate university? Explain
each step you would take.

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 Discussion
Question

o What are the advantages and

disadvantages of a centralized
training function?

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 Discussion
Question

o How does a rapidly changing

business environment influence
training outsourcing? Explain.

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 Discussion
Question
o What is a training “brand”? Why is
it important? How does it relate to
marketing the training or learning
function in an organization?

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 Discussion
Question
o What does “change” have to do
with training and learning? What
four change related problems
need to be addressed for a new
training program to be accepted
by employees?

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Because learning changes everything. ®

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© <add the year> McGraw Hill, LLC. All rights reserved. Authorized only for instructor use in the classroom.
No reproduction or further distribution permitted without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill, LLC.