Human Resources Policy - Tuition Fees Reimbursement Policy for Toyota Company - Case Study Example

HR Policy: Tuition Fees Reimbursement Policy for Toyota Company Rationale for the Policy Even though Toyota has several educational programs that keep the employees current with new developments and technologies as well as career development programs, Toyota does not pay for the tuition fee of employees who choose to pursue education in programs not offered by Toyota such as degree, or masters course in various education institutions. Therefore, by paying tuition fees for employee pursuing various programs in universities and other accredited institutions the company will provide an additional incentive to workers to constantly develop their abilities and skills and also by Toyota investing in learning and development of its employees by paying for tuition fees, this will increase employee engagement, career growth, high innovation as well as innovation in its workforce (Armstrong, 2006). The Policy Development Process 1. Determining need for the policy to ensure that the policy will enable Toyota to address the requirement of investing in learning and development for its workforce. In this step it will also be important to assess if the policy is in line with Toyota values. 2. The second step will be developing policy content by consulting with stakeholders, management, personnel and also a board member in Toyota. This will assist in ensuring that the policy will tackle the appropriate issues and have a full perspective. This step will also include identifying and connecting with comparable companies that have previously developed Tuition Fees Reimbursement Policy as this will serve as benchmark for best practice. 3. The third step is drafting the policy and the draft policy should include all the required sections 4. Writing the procedure by providing the step-by-step guidelines of how the policy will be carried out 5. Reviewing of the policy by the key parties such as Toyota management, representative group of Toyota employees, legal representative, board of governors as well as other important stakeholders. 6. The next step is policy approval by the company board because at Toyota board is responsible for the final approval on policies. It will be necessary to consult with the board regarding the scheduled review date and following the board endorsement the approval date should be added to the policy. 7. Policy implementation should follow and then review and updating of the policy. If there are any changes to the policy after review and updating, the changes should be communicated to the entire organizational members appropriately (Armstrong, 2006). The Main Elements of the Policy Policy Statement: The actual standard being communicated by the policy Purpose: Will set out the objective of the policy Scope: Will stipulate to whom the policy applies Eligibility: This will indicate the requirements that need to be fulfilled for an employee to be considered qualified for the tuition fee reimbursement. Approved Programs: The level of education and types of educational programs and courses covered in the policy Reimbursement: Will cover the reimbursement process and the conditions that an employee must fulfill in order for the tuition fee to be reimbursed (McConnell, 2005). Draft Policy Document TUITION FEES REIMBURSEMENT POLICY POLICY STATEMENT Toyota Company recognizes is committed to developing its employees to become more educated, competent and high performing members. Toyota supports learning and development of its personnel with levels of financial support which vary according to the relevancy of the education/training opportunity. PURPOSE To stipulate the requirements for approved programs, worker eligibility and tuition reimbursement SCOPE This Policy is applicable to all non-company sponsored educational programs. It is applicable to all permanent and temporary full-time and part-time employees. For a employee to be eligible for reimbursement, he/she should be pre approved before enrolment. RESPONSIBILITIES The Human Resource Manager has the responsibility of for coordinating educational programs and reimbursement with departmental managers or personnel. All Departmental Managers have the responsibility to requests for Educational programs, in coordination with the Human Resource Manager, for every reporting worker. ELIGIBILITY All full time Toyota workers are qualified after six months of service. All university/college degrees should be approved by the employee’s general manager in consultation with Human Resources manager. Employees should provide a business case outlining the direct connection of the university/college program with the business needs of Toyota Company. An employee should obtain the required approval signatures’ before registering in the educational course/program by filling out a “Tuition Advance Form” APPROVED PROGRAMS The educational course/program should compatible with the position an employee holds in the company and should also be relevant to the company’s operations of the company. Educational programs can encompass college/university or trade school courses and self-study courses from accredited institutions. REIMBURSEMENT Reimbursement for approved educational programs should be 80% of "direct" tuition costs and only a maximum of $2,500.00 per fiscal year per employee is to be reimbursed. Expenses such as travel costs, text book costs, examinational costs and such will not be reimbursed Employee should satisfactorily complete the educational programs with a grade “C” and above or a “Pass”. Implementation Toyota management, Board of Directors, employees as well as the key stakeholder should be informed of the policy and should be able to access to up-to-date policy copy and procedures. All of them should be provided with a manual containing detailed information regarding the policy, procedures and guidelines. A meeting should be held by the management and board of directors to discuss and inform regarding the policy. The policy will also be availed to employee electronically through intranet, shared devices and through emails and a link. This will enable employees to directly access the most recent version of the policy. In addition, information sessions should be held to make sure that employees completely understand the policy as this will give them an opportunity to raise any concerns and ask any questions regarding the policy (Armstrong, 2006). Other Issues The cost of tuition reimbursement per employee will be around $1,500 annually for undergraduate courses and $2,500 per employee for post-graduate studies annually. Even though the cost of tuition reimbursement program is likely to high for the company, the expected benefits for Toyota are equally high. The tuition fee reimbursement program will be a valuable recruitment tool for Toyota. The program is also a generous benefit for the company employees and hence it will instill loyalty in employees. Additionally, by Toyota paying staff tuition the company will be investing in its employees and this will created an educated trained workforce (Armstrong, 2006) Bibliography Armstrong, M., 2006, A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice, London: Kogan Page Limited. McConnell, J., 2005, How to Develop Essential HR Policies and Procedures, New York: AMACOM Div American Mgmt. Read More