Evaluation of Current Training Program of Panorama Firefighters Company - Research Paper Example

? Evaluation of Current Training Program of Panorama Firefighters Company The paper details an evaluation plan for a training program used by an imaginary nonprofit organization known as the Panorama Fire Fighters Company. The current training program is based on the successful ways of extinguishing fire and various ways of providing first aid services to the fire victims. The company is based in America and assists the citizens by providing emergency responses that help to extinguish fire, thus preventing loss of life and destruction of property. The purpose of this evaluation is to determine the changes that should be made in order to reduce the expense cost and keep workers safe. The four level models of Kirkpatrick will be used to design and implement the evaluation. The different methods of data collection and analysis used in the proposed evaluation plan are also explained in the paper. Evaluation of a Successful Fire Extinguishing Training Program Background Panorama Firefighters Company is a nonprofit organization that seeks to assist the fire victims with various aid programs. The main objective of the company is to carry out various functions aimed at controlling the spread of fire and providing necessary services to the victims. The company provides various fire suppression systems that help to control the spread of fire once it occurs. The main function of the company is to respond quickly to the buildings and structures that are on fire in order to extinguish the fire before it causes severe damages. The company has offices in twenty-five American states in order to provide services to the fire victims in these states. The occurrence of fire could not be possible to predict, and this makes it necessary to have various fire protection services cannot be accessed easily. Due to the rapid increases in the number of cases that involve fire outbreaks, the company has established many centers in various cities in order to enable them to respond quickly to the situation. The rising demand has enabled the five-year old company to grow tremendously. The company currently has 900 employees with the upper level of management, consisting of fifty people. The other employees include one-hundred and fifty supervisors, and seven hundred people who work on a daily basis. Each state has two managers who oversee the management progress of the company in order to recommend the necessary measures. The company is looking forward to improve the services it provides in order to help reduce the economic losses attributed by fire outbreak. Rationale The Panorama Firefighters Company realized the need of evaluating safety training after a huge fire outbreak that led to the death of five employees who work on a daily basis. The death of the employees could have been caused by lack of proper training that could enable them extinguish the fire successfully. The other ten employees sustained the situation successfully without getting harmed, probably because they were well trained. The fire was to be extinguished using the inert gaseous fire extinguishing system. When using the inert gases to extinguish fire, care must be taken to avoid the loss of life and further destruction of the property. This system mainly extinguishes fire by cutting the supply of oxygen because oxygen is necessary for combustion and its limited supply will definitely put off the fire (Jelenewicz, 2008). Oxygen is also required for respiration and its limited supply will definitely lead to suffocation hence death. Therefore, it is important for the employees to take caution whenever they are dealing with the fire extinguishing systems and this call for proper training. The employees did not follow the safety procedures required to address the situation appropriately thus leading to their death. The company is a nonprofit organization, which makes it to rely greatly on the support of well wishers and the general public. The death of the employees had severe consequences on the company such as the legal issues. The support and donations the organization receive from various organizations and the general public dropped by a greater percentage. The decrease in donation and support from various organizations has a greater impact on the company because it will lack the necessary resources required to respond to the fire tragedies successfully. Therefore, the Panorama Firefighters Company seeks to evaluate the training program that is put in place to enable it prevent further loss of lives and property. In order to be competent enough to extinguish the fires successfully without loss of life, the employees should be trained in the best ways of managing the situations. The training is carried out for a period of one month for the new employees, and weekly trainings for the current employees. The weekly trainings are carried out twice every week to enable the employees advance on their skills by learning new skills. Seminars are also carried out every month within the company to enable the employees learn more skills. The employees are trained on the successful ways of extinguishing fire, security measures taken when extinguishing fire and the first aid practices required to address the fire victims. The employees are also trained on the various fire suppression systems and the applicability of each system. The training will ensure that the employees have the required knowledge to extinguish fire with a high level of safety (Russ-Eft, & Preskill, 2009). The company will carry out the evaluation of the training program to determine the feelings of the employees concerning the current training provided. The employees will express their feelings to show whether the training is satisfactory or not. This will enable the company to determine if there is a need of making changes to the current training program. The evaluation of the training program will also enable the company to determine the effects of the current training on the company’s economy (Carretero-gomez, & Cabrera, 2012). After obtaining information on the current training program, the company will be able to determine whether there is a need for making changes in the current training programs. Purpose of the Evaluation The main purpose of the company for carrying out the training program is to establish the effectiveness of the current training program (Muhammad & Rashid, 2011). The current training program aims to extinguish fire successfully with no loss of life. All the employees including the managers and the supervisors who have received the trainings will be of help for the evaluation process. The company will use the financial records and the data collected from the staff to determine whether the current training program is efficient in preparing the staff to extinguish the fire. Therefore, the evaluation will enable the company to determine whether they provide quality services to the customers or not (Muhammad & Rashid, 2011). Stakeholders The evaluation of the current training program will affect various stakeholders explained below. Insurance Company The insurance companies refer to the special types of financial institutions that deal in the business of managing risks (Barrese et al., 2003). The organizations usually insure their property or the life of their staff by paying the amount of money agreed upon. The insurance companies will provide the financial coverage thus reducing the impact of certain events. The insurance will ensure that the company employs various measures that will enable the staff to work in a safe environment. Therefore, the organization will be able to manage the risk at a reasonable level. Human Resource Director In order for the evaluation to be successful, it will require the intervention of the Human Resource Director. The director will ensure that company fully supports the project to its completion by providing the necessary resources. Because Human Resource Directors are concerned about the effective training programs, they do require the training programs to be evaluated (Thompson & Kleiner, 2005). Therefore, they will support the project in order to determine whether there is a need for changes. If there is need for making changes in the current training program, the HR Director will hire the personnel required to carry out the changes. Supervisors The main function of the supervisor is to ensure that various tasks are completed in the preferred way in order to obtain the set objectives. It is the work of the supervisor to ensure that the employees attend to their respective. Therefore, the supervisors will monitor the employees to ensure that they complete their training and apply the knowledge learnt in their job environment. The assistance of the supervisors will enable the workers engage in training and to participate in the evaluation process. Staff The employees of the company will provide the information that will be used to evaluate the training program. The staff will also participate in the training program after the necessary changes have been implemented. Therefore, the employees are important in the evaluation process because they are greatly affected by the changes in the training program. Donors The company does not make profits to facilitate its activities but rather relies on some organizations and the general public for support. The donors should be informed about the evaluation process to create awareness concerning the use of their money. They will be certain that their money is used in the correct way that will improve the quality of services the company provides. Key Evaluation Questions The evaluation of the current training program will seek to find the following solutions: 1. What is the perception of the upper level management, staff and the supervisor concerning the current training program? 2. How are the employees applying the knowledge gained in the training program to extinguish fires? 3. How are the staff members responding to fire victims by providing first aid services? 4. Does the training program have any effect on the economy of the company? 5. Do the employees respond very quickly to the fire outbreak? 6. Are there changes that can be made on the current training program to improve on the participation of employees, learning and the resources required? Evaluation Design The evaluation of the current training program will be done based on the four models of Kirkpatrick. In the first level, a one shot model will be used to conduct a survey about the reactions of the employees concerning the current training program. In the second level, evaluation will be done based on the learning attributed by the training program. This evaluation will be done at the end of the training session by using a posttest. Because the trainings are carried out on a weekly basis, there will be enough data for the evaluation. However, the data for evaluation will be collected in the first week of the month. After completing the first two levels successfully, evaluation in the third level will be carried out on the sites where there is fire outbreak. The staff will be observed on the sites to see how they are applying the knowledge they have acquired through training to respond to various fire situations. In order to determine the effectiveness of the project, a cost benefit ratio and return on investment will be calculated at the fourth level. This will enable the company to determine the cost of the training program and whether it contributes to losses or it is beneficial to the organization (Carretero-gomez, & Cabrera, 2012). The evaluation process will use both the qualitative and quantitative data to obtain credible information. This will make it possible to make validation on the relevant information to use. The quantitative data will be collected through surveys and posttests while the qualitative data will be collected through surveys and interviews. The evaluation designs used will enable the company to determine the effectiveness of the current training program at a lower cost. Because the company has offices in all the twenty-five states of America, the managers in five randomly selected states will be required to carry out the evaluation of the training program in order to obtain a concrete data that is not biased. In order to ensure that the data collected at the site is not biased, the supervisors will collect the data without informing the employees. The supervisors will observe the way the employees are applying the knowledge obtained from the training program. This will ensure that the employees perform their activities as usual without changing their behaviors because they are being observed. The staff will use the normal behaviors they are usually used in such situations hence giving concrete information concerning the impact of the training program. After completing the training program a survey will be conducted to obtain qualitative data. The staff will be provided with open-ended questions on how the current training program could be changed. A total of fifty employees from the five states will be interviewed in order to collect more qualitative data. In order to avoid travelling expenses, the supervisors in the selected states will carry out the interviews using similar questions designed for all the states. Sampling This evaluation will obtain samples necessary for the project by carrying out two types of sampling methods such as the convenient or accidental sampling and stratified random sampling. Convenient sampling will be used because the interest is in obtaining a sample that is representative of the population. The convenient sampling method ensures that the sample collected is not biased (Gray, 2009). Because the fire outbreak is not easy to predict, it can be difficult to collect data about the training program. Therefore, convenient sampling will make it possible to collect relevant data by responding to the fire outbreak that can be reached easily. This will enable them to respond quickly to the situation thus getting enough time to collect necessary information. There will be no specific cases to be used in this method but rather the cases that can be reached easily with minimal time. Data will not be taken from all the cases that occur in every state but from the case that occurs near the offices. The second sampling method that will be used is the evaluation is the stratified random sampling method. The main reason for using the random stratified sampling method is to achieve a desired case that represents a large group (Gray, 2009). In every state, data will be collected by using one case to represent the other cases. The case used in this case will be chosen based on the convenient sampling method. However, information will be collected from any case if there is no fire outbreak within the location of the offices. The employees will be observed on how they are applying the knowledge learnt to respond to the situation. In order to reduce the expense, fifty employees will be interviewed. This will ensure that the data is not collected from one state only, which makes the data more valid to the organization (Gray, 2009). Therefore, the organization will be aware of the fire suppression systems that should be replaced or altered to ensure that the fire is extinguished successfully with proper safety observed. The upper level managers will not take part directly in the evaluation by providing necessary information concerning the training program because they spend much of their time in the office. They do not physically take part in fire extinguish process, which could make it difficult for them to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the training program. Data Collection In each level, data will be collected and analyzed in the following ways. Level one After completing the training successfully, the employees will be provided with survey questions. The type of the question used will be open-ended questions with no multiple choices. The multiple choices will not be used in order to avoid limiting the views of the respondents. They will be required to give their reaction concerning the training and the improvements that could be implemented. The employees will be asked the useful components of the training program. A special day will be set aside for carrying out the surveys to avoid limiting the responses of the staff due to time factor. The staff will be asked whether the period taken to carry out the training is sufficient enough or there is need of extending the period. Level Two The employees who have completed the training will be interviewed on the various systems of extinguishing fire covered during the training. They will be provided with questions based on what they have learnt during the training in order to test their mastery of the subject. The questions provided will include the methods of extinguishing fire, the safety precautions taken, and the best ways of providing first aid services to the fire victims. A sample of fifty employees will be interviewed to collect the required data. Level Three In the third level, the observational data will be collected by the supervisors in every fire outbreak incidence. Three supervisors will be required to collect the observational data without any bias. The supervisors should be available all the time in order to respond to the situation very fast. The outbreak of fire is unpredictable, which makes it difficult to plan for the evaluation. However, this can be done by ensuring that the company is well prepared for any fire outbreak. Therefore, the employees will be ready with their equipments all the time. The supervisors will be required to gather information about the behaviors that do not conform to the training program. They will be able to determine the effectiveness of the fire extinguishing systems learnt during the training program. The supervisors will also be able to determine whether the first aid practices learnt during the training match with the type of injuries encountered or not. Therefore, the information will enable the company to determine the efficiency of their training program in meeting the set objectives (Carretero-gomez, & Cabrera, 2012). Therefore, the company will be able to determine the need for making any change in the training program. Level Four In the fourth level, the cost and benefit ratio and the return on investment will be determined by obtaining archival data from the records of the company. Records showing the financial benefits of the training program, and the cost incurred to support the training program will be collected. The total benefits and cost of the program will also be gathered to help in the calculation of the cost and benefit ratio of the company. The data will also be used to calculate the return on investment of the program. Analysis of Data Level One In the first level, the data collected will be analyzed by considering the content of the solutions given by the employees. It is possible that the employees may include unnecessary information because the survey questions were open-ended with no multiple choices. Therefore, the data will be analyzed based on the objective of the survey. The employees were also allowed to include any useful information that is not covered in the training program. Level Two After completing the training program, the employees will be given a posttest to assess their understanding. The results obtained from the curve will be represented on a normal distribution curve to determine to show where the majority of the people lie in the curve. The company will also be able to determine whether the curve is negatively skewed or positively skewed. The shape of the curve will show how the learning program enhances understanding of the employees concerning the effective ways of extinguishing fire. Level Three Data collection in the third level entails the observational data that is obtained at the sites where fire outbreaks occur. The behaviors of the employees are observed to determine how they apply the knowledge learnt during the training to extinguish fire successfully. The data will be analyzed by comparing the behaviors of the employees in responding to the circumstances with the behaviors learnt from the training. Analysis is also made of the methods used to respond to the fire victims. This will show whether the first aid practices acquired from the training are effectively addressing the needs of the fire victims. The methods of extinguishing fire learnt from the training will also be analyzed to determine to determine if they are extinguishing fire efficiently. Level Four After collecting the relevant data on the financial benefits and the cost of supporting the training program, the data will be analyzed to determine the cost and benefit ratio of the program. The data will also be used to determine the return on investment of the program. Analysis will be done through calculation to show the effects of the training program on the company’s economy. Costs and Benefit Analysis and Return on Investment Panorama Firefighters Company is a nonprofit organization that relies mainly on the donations and support from the general public and other organizations. Therefore, the calculation of the cost and benefit ratio is difficult because it is not easy to determine the costs and revenues of the company. The grants that are used to carry out the evaluation of the training program will be considered as benefits of the company. The objective of the company is to serve the community without demanding any return for the services. Therefore, the grant money obtained by serving the communities will be calculated as a benefit to the company. In many cases, the company receives money from the owners’ property they save from destruction as a sign of appreciation. These will also be included as the benefits of the company. The following tables show the costs and benefits of the company in 2010. Table 1- Costs of Training Program (2010) Salaries of Participants $ 120000 Increase in insurance premiums $ 80000 Design of training program $ 30000 Facilitation fee $ 50000 Total Annual Costs $ 280000 Table 2- Benefits of Training Program (2010) Donations received from the owners’ of the buildings served before training. $ 200000 Donations received from the buildings served after training. $ 420,000 Increase in donations received from the owners’ buildings served. $ 220000 Increase in grant funding received for the buildings served. $ 285,000 Donations for evaluating the current training program $ 12000 Total Annual Benefits $ 517,000 Cost benefit ratio = $ 517000 = $ 1.8464 $ 280000 Rate of Investment = $517,000 - $ 280000 * 100% = 0.84% $ 280000 Conclusion The financial analysis results show that the training program has benefits to the company as compared to losses. The value of return on investment is positive showing that the training program is effective. However, the company should increase the amount of resources required to extinguish fire successfully. The death of the employees could have been attributed by the inadequate resources that were available and not lack of proper training. This evaluation will enable the company to improve the quality of services it provides to ensure that the employees are safe, and the company’s resources are used economically. List of References Barrese, J., Scordis, N., & Schelhorn, C. (2003). Teaching introductory concepts of insurance company management: A simulation game. Review of Business, 24 (1), 43-48. Carretero-gomez, J.,M., & Cabrera, E. F. (2012). An empirical evaluation of training using multi-attribute utility analysis. Journal of Business and Psychology, 27 (2), 223-241. Gray, R. J. (2009). Weighted analyses for cohort sampling designs. Lifetime Data Analysis, 15 (1), 24-40. Jelenewicz, C. (2008). Understanding gaseous fire-extinguishing agents. Buildings, 102 (10), 38. Muhammad, Z. I., & Rashid, A. K. (2011). The growing concept and uses of training needs assessment. Journal of European Industrial Training, 35 (5), 439-466. Russ-Eft, D., & Preskill, H. (2009). Evaluation in organization. (2nd Ed.). New York, NY: Basic Books. Thompson, J., & Kleiner, B. H. (2005). Effective human resource management of school districts. Management Research News, 28 (2), 42-55. Read More