Insurance Training Proposal Plan - Assignment Example

Insurance Training Proposal Plan The objective of this paper was to develop a training proposal plan for an insurance company. Due to highattrition rate, the insurance company has been recently facing risks of financial losses as well as issues related to its sustainability. The organization has repeatedly failed to retain its trained members, resulting in the crisis situation. To overcome this particular challenge, a sample survey has been designed in this paper. The survey conducted was interpreted on the basis of the five-point category Likert scale. The trainee members who had completed 2 weeks training were accordingly, considered as the respondents for the survey. Five open-ended questions are also prepared for the sample survey, considering the fact that both qualitative data and quantitative data will be required from the trainees to suffice the requirement of the project. Keywords: Attrition Rate, Quantitative Data, Qualitative Data, Sample Survey, Likert Scale, Training Insurance Training Proposal Plan Attrition rate in insurance sector has always been a major issue of concern. Evidently, this particular challenge has increased need for continually recruiting new-hires, whether in life insurance or in general insurance segments (Cummins & Santomero, 1999). A similar issue has also been prominent within the insurance company wherein huge investments are made to train and furnish the talent of new hires. However, the organization has repeatedly failed to retail its trained members, resulting in insignificant return on its investments. Research on this phenomenon has revealed that 20% of the trained employees and 45% of the trainee employees are either fired by the management or quit willfully from their job, giving rise to the attrition rate in the organization. Apparently, such occurrences have started taking toll on the sustainability and financial prosperity of the organization (Bliss, n.d.). Taking note of these issues, a planning has been conducted in this paper that focuses on the type of data to be collected to identify the limitations of the training program and suffice its improvement needs. Correspondingly, a data collection method will be developed to offer a reliable insight to the issue so that proper remedial measures can be taken within due time. Data Collection Planning The insurance company needs to be very cautious about their hiring and training practices, considering the current pitfalls of their training program. Correspondingly, to have an insight of the limitations persisting in the training program applied by the company, two types of data will be required, i.e. qualitative and quantitative. Both these types of data will be gathered from the trainee members, who have completed 2 weeks in this phase, which will help to identify their perceptions and its gap from the applied concepts in the training period. The data required, will be obtained through a sample survey, which will allow the participation of all trainee members in the organization, complying with the selection criterion (i.e. 2 weeks of their participation in the training program). The survey will be conducted on the basis of Likert scale, wherein five categories will be considered to judge the perceptions of the respondents. The Likert scale will include five point categories ranging from strongly disagree, disagree, uncertain, agree and strongly agree (Johns, 2010). The chart given below represents the close-ended quantitative questions to interpret the responses on the basis of Likert scale. Likert Scale Survey Questionnaire Table Questions (Put a tick mark in the boxes to specify your answer) Strongly Disagree Disagree Uncertain Agree Strongly Agree The training program will help your overall development in personality and professional qualities The training program increases stress on the members The training programs helps you understand the needs of the client better and align it with the product features The training program fulfills your expectations The training program lacks proper consideration from the management Classification of Qualitative Data and Quantitative Data As stated in the above section, both qualitative data and quantitative date is required for this survey. The causes liable for the failure of training programs, which is again observable in terms of the rising attrition rate, can be evaluated on the basis of qualitative data (Government of Canada, 2014). Qualitative interpretation will allow the respondents provide data about their perceived gaps in the training program, which can be further assessed to identify the fundamental problems in the procedure. It is worth mentioning in this context that the training program may also comprise certain quantitative reasons for failing at repeated instances, wherein the quantitative type data will be useful (Neuman, n.d.). To obtain quantitative data, a primary survey will be conducted for this project, based on five point category Likert scale. Notably, the Likert scale will emphasize five close-ended statements to obtain an understanding of the perceptions of the respondents (Chan, 1991). Accordingly, open-ended questions will be included in the survey to obtain an insight about the qualitative features associated with the failure of the training program. Below are the open-ended questions that can be asked to the respondents during the survey to obtain qualitative data. 1) Do you think that the involvement of trainers in the training process needs improvement? Why do you think so? 2) Describe a situation when you felt this training program to be of limited help/ great help to you. 3) Which features should remain unchanged in the training program, as it is performed currently? 4) Which features of the training program should be changed for the overall betterment of the training program? 5) What motivating factors do you find effective in this training program? Significance of the Data From a generalized point of view, a training program is needed for the overall development of the members, i.e. the personal as well as the professional qualities of the participants. These developmental needs, addressed by the training program, are further identifiable in terms of both qualitative and quantitative variables. For instance, the perceptional changes of the members before and after undergoing a training program can be identified as an example of qualitative data, while the variance in their performance during the same gap can be measured with quantitative tools. This indicates that identifying, measuring as well as interpreting both qualitative and quantitative data is vital for this survey (Adler & Clark, 2014). Sample Data collection In this survey, a non-probability sampling technique will be considered wherein all the trainee agents will be interviewed face-to-face, to take note on their behavioral, attitudinal and non-verbal attributes, which will also be interpreted as qualitative data obtained through observations besides the quantitative information to be obtained through Likert scaling technique. Technology used for survey A face-to-face technique will be used for the planned survey. This technique will help identifying the non-verbal aspects as well as the quantitatively measurable aspects of the respondents’ behavior, adding to the reliability and criticality of the survey results. Summary The objective of the planned survey is to identify the limitations or pitfalls of the training program practiced in the insurance company currently. The survey will certainly help to obtain an insight about the perceptions and the gap persisting between the expected and the actual needs of the trainee agents in the organization. Both qualitative and quantitative data will be obtained through the survey, applying a non-probability sampling technique. Correspondingly, participants having 2 weeks experience in the training program will be selected for the survey. The data gathered through the survey will accordingly be evaluated on the basis of Likert scale technique and observation during face-to-face interaction. References Adler, E. & Clark, R. (2014). An Invitation to Social Research: How Its Done. USA: Cengage Learning. Bliss, W. G. (n.d.). Cost of Employee Turnover. Retrieved from: http://www.isquare.com/turnover.cfm Chan, J. C. (1991). Response-Order Effects in Likert-Type Scales. Educational and Psychological Measurement, pp. 1-10. Cummins, J. D. & Santomero, A. (1999). Changes in the Life Insurance Industry: Efficiency, and Risk Management: Efficiency, Technology, and Risk Management. Massachusetts: Springer science & Business Media. Government of Canada. (2014). Employment Insurance (EI) and courses or training programs. Retrieved from http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/ei/information/training.shtml Johns, R. (2010). Likert Items and Scales. Retrieved from http://ukdataservice.ac.uk/media/262829/discover_likertfactsheet.pdf Neuman, W. L. (n.d.). Basics of Social Research. Boston: Pearson. Read More