Training and Development at the Coca-Cola Company - Essay Example

Training and Development at the Coca-Cola Company Executive Summary The main objective of this paper is to assess the major issues of training and development that the Coca-Cola Company experiences in its operation. Since training and development affects the company’s overall performance in a positive way, this paper provides the possible solutions and appropriate ways in which the Coca-Cola Company can solve or improve on the issues. Training and development is a fundamental issue within the Coca-Cola Company considering that the company is a multinational beverage company that sources its employees from all over the world. In this respect, the company has contracted Valmax consultancy to conduct training needs assessment and subsequent training for the employees of Coca-Cola Company. In addition, the Coca-Cola Company offers training and development courses for its associates through the Coca-Cola University (CCU) that engages the associates in e-learning and classroom learning. Although the Coca-Cola Company has done well in training its employees, it needs to focus on the personal component of the training program and offer equal training opportunities for its staff across the globe. Brief Description of the Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company is the global leader in beverage production, distribution, and sale, with presence in virtually all countries in the world. Presently, the company produces over 500 brands of soft drinks and other beverages with the main ones being Diet Coke, Fanta, Coca-Cola Zero, Sprite, and Dasani. The company boasts as the leader in the production and distribution of sparkling beverages, juice drinks, and ready-to-drink coffees. Owing to the popularity and huge market share of the Coca-Cola Company, it has a distribution system that covers more than 200 countries. In addition, The Company employs hundreds of thousands of employees at various levels. Since the Coca-Cola Company does close to 2 billion servings of beverages on a daily basis, it requires well-trained and motivated employees who will deliver good results even when the market experiences a slump. With over 700,000 employees worldwide, the Coca-Cola Company commands a huge workforce that requires prudent human resource management through constant training and development of employees (Kurtz & Boone 2011, pp. 281). In order to enhance the performance of the company and make it retain the competitive edge that it has, the Human Resource Department at the Coca-Cola Company extends education to all its associates at various levels. The development and educational programs that the company offers ensures the realization of full potential by the associates (Sahoo, Das, & Sundaray 2011, p. 20-21). In essence, the employees form the greatest assets and associates of the Coca-Cola Company because they determine the profitability of the company through teamwork and organization. The Coca-Cola Company trains its employees every year through seminars, conferences, and workshops. Besides, the multinational offers educational opportunities such as sponsorship for its managers in order to develop the skills of such managers to meet current needs (Kurtz & Boone 2011, pp. 282). Training and development Virtually all organizations train their employees on one occasion or the other, depending on the need. Technological change, new customer needs, industry change, and change in company performance may necessitate and organization to institute a training and development program. By definition, training and development entails all the educational activities that occur within an organization with the aim of improving the performance of the organization through enhancing the skills of staff. Training and development mainly concerns the performance of employees within an organization because they determine the overall organizational performance. In this regard, a company may decide to either impose mandatory training for its employees or offer the training on voluntary basis. More often than not, employees welcome any training program that aims at polishing their skills (Wilson 2006, p. 93). Training and development is the responsibility of the Human Resource Department since the function deals with the enhancement of the performance of staff. It implies that all organizations must mobilize their Human Resource Managements to train and develop the skills of their employees from time to time. Most organization, the Coca-Cola Company included, embrace learning a development since they understand the value of highly productive employees. Training and development does not only help the junior staff to nurture their skills, but it also applies to the managerial staff, who need to update their leadership and management skills to match the existing environment (Kurtz & Boone 2011, pp. 281). Three primary activities define Training and development as it applies to organizations namely training, education, and development. Fundamentally, training involves the activities that aim at improving the performance of staff in regards to the current positions of such staff. It means that training aims at improving the performance of staff at their present jobs and nothing more. On the other hand, education involves the activities that focus on improving the staff of an organization for possible jobs that they may secure in future. In essence, education prepares the staff for future positions that may require more polished skills. When it comes to development, it is worth noting that involves the improvement of competencies and traits of an individual that define who the individual is in a particular company. Development also focuses on the package that the individual may present in future. Training deals with current job, education with future job, while it is nearly impossible to evaluate development against any individual or organizational aspect (Kurtz & Boone 2011, pp. 281). Organizations and individuals engage in training and development because of a number of objectives, some concerning the individuals while others affecting the organizations directly. While individual staff may harbor different ambitions that propel them to undergo voluntary training, organizations engage in training and development programs in order to increase the number of willing and skilled workforce. Besides, organizations train employees and develop their skills because of four critical goals namely societal, organizational, individual, and functional objectives (Sahoo, Das, & Sundaray 2011, p. 20-21). Some organizations may train their employees because of individual objectives in the sense that they want to help their staff to attain their individual goals that in turn enables such individuals to increase the quality and quantity of their contribution to the organization. Concerning organizational objectives, organizations may be concerned about the effectiveness of their staff. In this regard, they may opt to train their employees in order to improve their skills and overall effectives (Wilson 2006, p. 93). Besides, some departments within organizations require skills that are more specialized and organization train employees within such organizations so that they can meet the functional needs of the organization through suitable contributions to their departments. When it comes to societal objectives, some organizations may want to advance their corporate social responsibility by training their employees. Through appropriate training and development programs, organizations can secure their social and ethical reputations as organizations that mind societal challenges and needs (Chambers 2013, p. 24). Over the years, training and development has undergone fundamental revolutions in the sense that most organizations now appreciate its value. Two approaches to training and development have existed namely the traditional approach and the modern approach. Most companies employed the traditional approach in the 20the century because of the huge cost implications of training employees. Instead of launching a training and development program, such companies opted to outsource for already competent staff, mostly at the managerial level. Nevertheless, a vast majority of contemporary companies prefer to conduct their own training and development to their employees (Saks, Haccoun, Belcourt, & Belcourt 2010, p. 42). The process of training employees and developing their skills occurs in three main stages namely the planning stage, implementation stage, and the evaluation stage. At the planning stage, the organization selects the best training methods for the staff and estimates the duration of the training. The organization also identifies the training venue and the resources that may be required. During the implementation stage, the organization ensures that all the trainees are available besides facilitating the trainers by organizing the venue. Since not all training and development programs are effective, it is important to assess the effectiveness of a training program after the completion of the training period. The evaluation of employee skills after training can help organizations gauge the results and areas that need more training and development programs (Kennett 2013, p. 124-125). Training and development at the Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company engages its employees and associates in various training and development programs. Unlike the direct training approach that the Coca-Cola Company gives its staff, the company offers training to its associates through the Coca-Cola University (CCU). The Coca-Cola Company offers education curriculum through the CCU where it offers a wide array of business, leadership, and management courses. The Coca-Cola University conducts its training through e-learning, classroom learning, and field training. Through such educational programs from CCU, the Coca-Cola Company associates develop both professionally and personally. The main educational programs at CCU include leadership, ethics & compliance, marketing, finance, human rights, and sustainability (Sahoo, Das, & Sundaray 2011, p. 19) In an effort to improve the skills of its employees, the Coca-Cola Company hired Valmax Consultancy to offer the necessary training and development programs. Besides offering recruiting solutions, Valmax Consultancy trains staff for an organization on either a temporary or a permanent basis. Since the Coca-Cola Company is a leading multinational in the beverage industry, it ought to engage more training and development firms across the world in order to ensure effective training of its employees in all the countries in which it operates. Most of the training and development firms that the Coca-Cola Company has been hiring operate in the western countries while the third world countries need the same training. The Coca- Cola Company does not engage its employees in third world countries as it does on its employees in western countries. This trend creates a performance gap between its manufacturing plants, thus affecting its overall performance in some countries (Kurtz & Boone 2011, pp. 281). Owing to the premium that the Coca-Cola Company places on its staff, the company has a vibrant human Resource Management. The growing beverage market has necessitated the company to develop the skills of its staff to counter various complexities within the industry. For instance, the Coca-Cola Company set aside 4.5% of its entire payroll towards training and development at its Peninsula Beverage plant. In as much as this bold step is helpful, the company ought to dedicate more funds to training and development across all its subsidiaries across the globe. Overall, the plant has done very well as far as the provision of bursaries to staff is concerned (Goldstein & Ford 2002, p. 77-86). As opposed to adopting intermittent training programs, the Coca-Cola Company has continued to train its staff and associates over the years. The training and development programs are address specific needs that the company experiences at various levels of operation. Perhaps what differentiates the Coca-Cola Company from other organizations is that it emphasized on technical and functional skills. The main objective why the company offers continuous training to its staff is to enable its staff to achieve their full potential and subsequently enhance the performance of the company in its entirety (Chambers 2013, p. 23). In as much as the Coca-Cola Company has done enough to secure succession and career plans of its employees, the company ought to manage the talent of the employees in order to uplift the society as a whole. Corporate social responsibility is an essential component of a multinational company, especially one that operates in the modern world. It is so considering that the Coca-Cola Company operates in some of the poorest countries in the world (Kurtz & Boone 2011, pp. 281). In this regard, the company ought to exercise responsibility by taking up some of the local projects within host nations as part of its corporate social responsibility. It can achieve this objective by extending is training and development programs to the society through various channels. The company can then absorb citizens who prove to be competent after training (Coetzee 2007, p. 128). According to the training and development vision of the Coca-Cola Company, an inconsistency exists between consumer needs and organization needs. Therefore, the training strategies, including talent development, aim at bridging the gap though quality educational programs. Although the Coca-Cola Company is committed to improving the quality of labor with its talent development programs, it needs to improve on its educational programs for its employees. Currently, the company focuses on analytical and technical skills instead of leadership and management skills. In as much as the Coca-Cola Company is a manufacturing company, it also has some departments that are unrelated to manufacturing. Such departments or sections within the organization require special skills that must be nurtured either internally or externally (Kurtz & Boone 2011, pp. 281). Although the Coca-Cola Company has been training its employees over the years, the training has only increased the performance of the company yet the welfare of the employees has remained unchanged. In addition, most of the training skills that the Coca-Cola Company imparts on its employees are not transferrable because they are mainly technical skills, which may not necessarily be relevant in other companies (Coetzee 2007, p. 34). The company can embark on an all-round training program in the sense that it can offer training, education, and development at the same time. The Coca-Cola Company has been largely offering training alone to its staff. It means that the training program adopted is usually relevant to the specific needs of the employees’ current job positions. If the employees change jobs or get promotions, they will have to undergo fresh training in order for their skills to match their present job positions (Kennett 2013, p. 124-125). The Coca-Cola Company needs to improve its training and development program by conducting training need analysis before commencing any talent development and improvement program. The company should ape the likes of Apple Inc. that trains its staff according to the market need and not organization needs. Training employees according to the market needs expands their capacities and skills unlike function-specific training that focuses on the current jobs of employees. It means that an organization that offers training program to its employees cannot compete effectively with an organization that offers both employee education and development programs (Chambers 2013, p. 23). Currently, the Coca-Cola Company has contracted Valmax Consultancy to conducts its training need analysis. The company has done well so far, but the Coca-Cola Company has not yet reached its full potential. Primarily, the company is responsible for identifying the training needs at various departments and production lines. The training needs depict the gaps between the actual performance of the employees and the required standards. This service is not only critical, but it is also vast, requiring the Coca-Cola Company to hire a number of consultancy and training companies to do the job. Besides delivering effective results, more companies will offer better training and bridge the training gaps because they will compete against each other to deliver the best training possible (Kennett 2013, p. 124-125). Recommendations In order to ensure optimal performance of its employees and the company, the Coca-Cola Company needs to look at the organizational, personal, operational components of its training and development program. Concerning the organizational component, the company needs to balance between all other employee needs and the strategic needs of the company. It means that the company ought not to train its employees in a manner that is likely to affect the strategic objectives of the company adversely. At the same time, the Coca-Cola Company ought to work on the operation al component of the training program by focusing on the functional efficiency of the company (Wilson 2006, p. 93). The operational components of training are closely linked with the organizational component in the sense that they both target the objectives of the company. When it comes to the personal component, it is worth noting that the workers are the reason for the success of the Coca-Cola Company and they need enough motivation and training to improve their personal and professional skills. Instead of simply training its employees, the Coca-Cola Company needs to focus on developing the skills of its employees so that they can perform better in future (Coetzee 2007, p. 38). Although many associates participated in the Coca-Cola company (CCU programs in 2009, it is important to note that the program needs diversity in terms of the trainees. Instead of training only the associates of the Coca-Cola Company, the company can liaise with other companies in order to make the program accessible to the corporate world (Kurtz & Boone 2011, pp. 281). Besides, the Coca-Cola Company ought to integrate its employees into the CCU programs instead of offering the programs for the associates only. In 2009, over 27,000 associates attended classroom course at CCU where they enrolled for about 1720 courses. On the other hand, only 39,100 participated in e-learning course. Currently, technology is revolutionizing human and corporate interaction and it would only be fair if CCU engage more in digital learning than classroom learning. It will have more capacity in e-learning than in classroom learning (Chambers 2013, p. 26). Reference List Chambers, MS, 2013, ‘An Exploration into the Challenges Facing Practitioners of International Human Resource Management: A Literature Review,’ International Journal of Business and Social Science, vol. 4, no. 6, pp. 21 -27. Coetzee, M 2007 Practicing education, training and development in South African organizations, Juta, Cape Town. Goldstein, IL, & Ford, JK 2002, Training in organizations: needs assessment, development, and evaluation, Wadsworth/Thomson Learning Belmont, California. Kennett, G 2013, ‘The Impact of Training Practices on Individual, Organization, and Industry Skill development,’ ABL, vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 112-135. Kurtz, DL, & Boone, LE 2011, Contemporary business, Wiley, Hoboken, N.J. Sahoo, CK, Das, S, & Sundaray, BK 2011, ‘Strategic Human Resource Management: Exploring the Key Drivers,’ Employment Relations Record, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 18-32. Saks, AM, Haccoun, RR, Belcourt, M, & Belcourt, M 2010, Managing performance through training and development, Nelson Education, Toronto. Wilson, JP 2006, Human resource development: learning & training for individuals & organizations, Kogan Page, London. Read More