Can Education Enhance Employee Efficiencies to Achieve Better Performance - Research Proposal Example

Primemark: Can training and development increase employee efficiencies to achieve better operating results Objectives What test can help Primark access its human resources What are the alternatives Primark has to implement a training and development program How can the results of training and development initiatives be measured   Background Primark Manchester is a retail value store that operates 170 stores in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Spain that employs 23,500 people (Primark). The company has been successful by implementing strategies such low prices, variety products and spacious facilities. The true success factor that different successful from mediocre stores is its human resources also referred to as human capital (OPM). The human resource of an enterprise must be fostered by enhancing the value of the asset. Primark has a large work and at times companies forget that employees need to be train in a variety of aspect to become more productive workers (Lister, 54). The way to learn about a subject and gain expertise into a particular area of knowledge is by performing a literature review. A literature review must have a rationale of why it is being perform (Csumb, 2007). One of the reasons a literature review is perform on the area of training and development is to learn the theories and principles that justify the application of this concept in the business world. A well structure literature review has 2-5 related topics and that the research looks at separately (Csum). Obtaining and critically analyzing a subject matter allows a person to truly understand a subject area and facilitates creativity, critical thinking and alternative solutions (HR focus). The literature review section of this paper provides insight into the training and development topic by illustrating its importance, significance, and areas where it can be applied to increase employee efficiency and the overall levels of a performance of a firm. The secondary research realized in this section provides a validation of the theory of the management staff of Primark concerning the possibility of increase overall productivity by increasing employee efficiency through a new training and development program. Literature Review Primark Corporation has a large workforce of over 20,000 employees that perform a variety of jobs for the UK retail giant. In the retail industry customer service is extremely important because it helps companies obtain a higher level of customer retention. The management team of the company has a theory that a new training at development program will help the company increase its productivity by converting its associates into more efficient laborers. In order to find out if training and development of human capital can have a positive impact of a company the literature review section examines HR concepts, theories and principles as well as case studies of other companies that have utilize new training and development programs in the past with the objective of improving their operations. An industry trend in the retail industry is the inabilities of companies of retain its talented employees and properly train promising prospects to enable them to move up the corporate ladder (Doleta, 2007). Training and development serves as a motivating factor that attracts employees to companies that offered such opportunities. Training and development is considered a fringe benefit for employees. Employees are attracted to this type of incentive because training provides an educational experience with practical application which employee can obtain free of charge, which can be utilized immediately on the job to increase efficiency. Training and development is part of the human development process of people working for a firm provides and educational experience to improve the skills, abilities, knowledge and competencies among other variables of the human capital of a firm (Heathfield, 2007). Training employees is the responsibility of the human resource department. Management at all levels can promote a training initiative. Training occurs in a company to improve the skills or competencies of the staff, to educate employees in particular subject or technology, to guide a talented employee on a path for managerial positions or to evaluate the staff on a particular area. The issues for which employees are trained can be identified from areas such as communications, computer skills, customer service, diversity, ethics, human relations, quality initiatives, safety, and sexual harassment (McNamara, 2007). In the 21st there have been changes in the technical skill set employees must possess in order to be able to achieve certain tasks in the workplace, but the base cognitive and people skills required to successfully integrate a firm have remained basically the same (EDSI, 2007). One of the most important aspects of business that can provide a firm with a competitive advantage is its human capital. Employee efficiency is related to motivational factors and the ability and the capacity the person has to perform the work required (Morebusiness, 2006). A person that receives proper training has the confidence to display the newly acquired skills in the workplace. Employee efficiency is extremely important because an inefficient workplace leads to lower productivity. An example of the consequences of employee inefficiencies can be obtain by analyzing the online & telephone usage dilemma in many office work places. Employee wasted nearly two hours a day per full time work shift wasting time performing personal calls and non-work related online activities (Softactivity, 2007). The online inefficiency is costing firms 20% of the employee’s time which could be used to produce output for the business. Efficiency in training also occurs by increasing the amount of employee training utilizing solutions that cost less and can implemented faster. Learning management systems and e-learning training provide companies with low cost solutions that allows organization to provide many training solution in a short time, thus the employees received a value added service in comparison with traditional solutions which are costly and time consuming thus the amount of employee training a company can supply is limited by these two constraints. Training leads to greater efficiency which translates in increase levels of business productivity. According to studies conducted at the centre for business research, better training is directly related to better overall performance for businesses of all sizes (Stiner, 2007). Primark has to identify their weakness areas in the workforce in order to determine the adequate training solutions to increase employee efficiency and the company’s performance. Methodology Major Philosophies There are three major philosophies that influence the job researchers perform. The three philosophies are positivism, interpretivism, and realism. The reason philosophies are an important aspect of research projects is because they help explain how the world around us is perceived by others in order to understand the behavior of its inhabitants. Research involves many different aspects including the human aspect since on many occasions humans are an integral part of any research initiative. A philosophy that explains the world around us is positivism. Positivism is a belief that the understanding of phenomena is solely grounded on sensed data, thus what can be tested empirically can be regarded as proven (Answers). The implication of this philosophy for a researcher is that assumptions based on hearsay that lack scientific proof can not be utilized in the course of a research project. Among the acceptable methods positivism recognizes as legitimate data are experiments based on observation that can be tested on a repeated basis and experiments of data retrieved based on the utilization of the scientific method. Interpretivism is a philosophical theory that if applied to research applications means qualitative approach or a way to gain insight through discovering meanings by improving our comprehension of the whole (Neil). Qualitative research is any type of research that arrives at conclusion without the utilization of quantitative data, the utilization of statistics or any other numerical method. Among the type of potential qualitative approaches to research there are case studies, grounded theory, phenomenology, ethnography and historical (Neil). A third philosophy that has practical applications to research studies is realism. Two types of realism that provide different insight into concept are direct realism and critical realism. Direct realism is a theory of perception that stipulates that people perceive material object direct without the help of ideas or sensory representations (Kermerling). Roy Blaskar is the father of direct realism in the United Kingdom (Kaboub). This type of realism differentiates the capabilities of the brain to interpret sense data by saying some objects properties and events are capture by sense data while others are not. For Blaskar philosophical considerations are an integral part of the research process and its continued success will be enhanced by the critical realism perspective (Dobson). The difference between direct realism and critical realism lies in that direct realism says that the senses and related representation are never involved in perception of materials; while critical realism says the senses are a factor in the perception of things depending on the situation. The research to be performed for Primark Manchester utilizes both secondary and primary research. . Secondary is data available using external sources such as the internet (Disc). The utilization of secondary data implies the performance of a qualitative approach, thus the research is partly based on interpretivism philosophy. The research also incorporates primary research, which is data directed collected and created by researcher (Isd). The primary research performed in this study relates to the philosophical theory of positivism because the scientific method and observation will be a part of the process. Research Approaches The research approach a person performs can follow one of two paths, deductive reasoning or inductive reasoning. Deductive reasoning starts with a model, forms a hypothesis, gathers data to test the hypothesis, then uses the data to conclude whether or not the model accurately describes reality (Ray). Inductive reasoning is an opposite process in comparison with deductive reasoning. In inductive reasoning a research begins with specific observations and measures begin to detect patterns and regularities, formulate some tentative hypotheses that can be explored and finally ends up developing some general conclusions and theories (Socialresearchmethods). The research project for Primark utilized both deductive and inductive reasoning. The secondary research initiative which includes the literature review concentration on theories and concepts on the project objects utilizes deductive reasoning, while the primary research approaches such as the questionnaires and observation in the form of mystery shoppers utilizes inductive reasoning. Research Strategies There are various research strategies a person can utilize to accomplish a set goal. Three of these strategies are observation, experiments, and surveys. Observation is method that involves making observation about a particular matter which are typically flexible and do not necessarily need to be structured around a hypothesis (Brown). An experiment is a test performed to demonstrate a truth, examine a hypothesis, or learn about something not yet known (Webster II 245). Survey research is a very common research technique because it is inexpensive, practical and easy to implement. A survey involves a researcher selecting a sample of correspondents and administering a standard questionnaire to them (Colostate). The research to determine different aspects of the training and development at Primark involves two of three primary research techniques explained above: surveys and observation. Surveys will be utilized in this research study to obtain data from the employees of the company. Interviews which are a type of one on one survey will be performed on the managerial staff. Observation will take place by utilizing mystery shoppers to test the employees and gather data about their work habits. The objective is to gain insight from various perspectives on the work being performed in order to determine the best training and development program to be utilized and to evaluate their effectiveness. Time Horizon & Types of research methods The Primark research project has a time horizon in which all the secondary and primary research activities are to be performed in a three month span. Setting a time horizon in research is important because if a researcher is aware of time constraints then this will become an overriding factor when he/she plans research design (Fao). Another dimension of time in research applications other than overall time elapsed is the actual timing of the different research. There are two major types of research methods called cross sectional and longitudinal. Cross sectional research method design involves the collection of data without applying time differences since all data is collected at some point in time (Washington). On the other hand longitudinal studies are research designs which collect data at different points in time (Socialresearchmethods). Data collections methods utilized The research study to find a solution for the training and development proposal at Primark involves secondary and primary research. The secondary research performed in the literature review focuses on creating a theoretical background for the three basic objectives of the study. Secondary data is collected from various sources such as academic journals, professional databases, newspapers, corporate website and other internet sources. The secondary data can be used to learn the principles, concepts and theory related to training and development and generic benchmarking of other companies that have gone though similar situation in various industry. The use of secondary research data is also applied throughout the entire methodology section to facilitate the understanding of different principles and concepts. The primary research methods utilized in this study are surveys, observation and interviews to the managerial staff. The surveys are in the form of questionnaires submitted to employees, while the observation is applied through the application of mystery shoppers to test the staff of the company. Ethics and safety Ethics is an important subject matter that must be applied in research gathering situations. One aspects of the research methods applied in this case that may bring ethical controversy is the utilization of mystery shoppers. These shoppers are gathering data about the employee’s performance by observing their behavior without the employee knowledge of the occurrence. Researchers are bound by high ethical standards and professionalism is expected both during the gathering process and in the analytical process to ensure bias is not a part of the equation. Research must be design in ways that it does not cause physical, mental or emotional harm to the participants. The primary research methods performed in this study are completely safe in all three aspects for subjects. Time scale and Resources In order to illustrate the how Primark will implement the proposed research project to achieve improvement in its operation by creating a new training a development program the Gantt chart illustrated below shows the steps, timescale and resources utilized on the different stages of the project. Task Duration Resource 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Literature Review Week One Human resource Director X Internal Analysis of the company staff Week 2 - 4 HR department / Consultant company X X X Interview management staff Week 5 Consultant X Employee questionares Week 6 Information systems department X Mystery shoppers experiments Week 7-9 Hire college students / CEO X X X Interpretation of data Week 8-10 CEO / Executive management staff X X X Final report week 11-12 CEO X X Conclusion The research proposal plan for Primemark provides a layout on how to perform a research project utilizing a combination of secondary and primary research to obtain findings related to develop a training and development program for the firm based on the need of the employees of the company. The proposed project takes three months to complete and is divided into a work breakdown structure of seven major tasks. The literature review segment of the paper validate the company’s theory that training and development can increase employee efficiency and lead to higher profitability levels for the company. The main primary research that will be utilized by the company to accomplish the data gathering to determine the optimal solutions are surveys and observation. Works Cited Answers.com. 2007. “Positivism”. 3 November 2007. Brown, L. “Observational Field Research”. 7 November 2007. Colostate.edu. 2007. “Overview: Survey Research”. Colorado State University. 2 November 2007. Csumb.edu. “Literature Review”. 29 October 2007. Disc. 5 March 2003. An Introduction to Using Data at DPLS. 28 October 2007. Dobson, P.J. “Critical realism and information research systems research: why bother with philosophy” Information Research 72.2 (2002). Doleta.gov. 27 March 2004. “Retail.” 9 November 2007 EDSI. 2007. “Talented Career Synergetic Solutions.” 9 November 2007. Fao.org. “The Role of Marketing Research” 6 November 2007. Isu.edu. “Research Guide”. 28 October 2007. Healthfield, S. 2007. “What is Human Resource Development (HRD)?” 8 November 2007. Kaboub, F. “Roy Blaskar’s Critical Realism.” University of Missouri. 6 November 2007. Kemerling, G. 7 August 2002. “Philosophy pages”. 5 November 2007 Lister, G. “Education is not like Fast Food”. American School Board Journal 194.11 (Nov2007). McNamara, C. 2007. “Employee Training and Development: Reasons and Benefits. Authenticity Consulting.” 9 November 2007. Morebusiness.com. 2007. “Employee Efficiency and Motivation.” 10 November 2007. Neill, J. 5 July 2006. “Analysis of Professional Literature”. 6 November 2007. Opm.gov. “Human Capital Standards for Success. 30 October 2007. Primark. 2005. “Introduction”. 1 November 2007. Ray, W. 2005. “Research Concepts”. 7 November 2007. < http://tulsagrad.ou.edu/statistics/content/InductiveOrDeductive.asp> Social Network the Newest Employee Network Tool? HR Focus 84.11 (2007). Socialresearchmethods.net. “Longitudinal Research”. 5 November 2007. Softactivity.com. 2007. “Activity Monitor”. 10 November 2007. Stiner, P. 2007. “Training Software Trims Employee Training Cost to Ease Turnover.” 10 November 2007. Trochim, W. (2006). “Deduction & Induction”. 5 November 2007. Umich.edu. “Research”. 28 October 2007. Washington.edu. “Chapter 7: Cross Sectional Analysis and Regression”. 6 November 2007. Websters II. 1984. “New Riverside Dictionary”. Office Edition. New York: Berkey Books. Appendix: Conceptual framework Read More