Employee Training and Development at Abbott - Case Study Example

Abbott's "Promise for Life" s what they believe in and what they value and what they deliver in their day to day work for their s, communities and stakeholders. Its promise acts as compass for the employees at Abbott guiding their actions at higher level to day- to day activities in every area of work. It truly admits that it challenges its workforce to continually improve their performance to deliver the best and to live up to the expectation of its customers. Abbott prides itself on being recognized as a good place to work because it always strives to provide an environment that enables employees to succeed. Abbott has received numerous local, national and international distinctions for its commitment to workplace excellence. Our programs range from award-winning health care benefits to a variety of convenience and wellness services and long-term retirement benefits. Abbott has been named one of the best places to work in the world. It has received many awards for its unique performance and its concern and care for its workforce safety, growth and development and success and excellence. The present study covers some of the important areas in employee training and development that have made it a distinct company. Strategic Training: Strategic training is directly linked with the business strategy of a company. It begins with identifying the business strategy. Then strategic training and development initiatives that support the strategy are selected and these are translated into concrete training and development activities. The final step involves identifying measures or metrics. These metrics are used to determine if training helped contribute to goals related to business strategy. (Noe. 2008) A company's business strategy is influenced by three factors: 1) its mission, vision, values and goals, 2) SWOT analysis and 3) competition in the market. As Raymond Noe rightly points out, the company's mission, vision, values and goals help to determine the strategy. The mission is the company's reason for existing. The vision is the picture of what company does in the future and what it wants to achieve. Values are what the company stands for. SWOT analysis really helps a company to identify its strengths and weakness and an analysis of its operating environment to identify opportunities and threats. It studies closely the internal and external factors that affect its performance. This analysis goes a long way in formulating the business strategy. The company has to consider its competition. It will decide how the company will compete with others in the market. There are three main points to consider when planning the strategy for competing. They are: 1) where to compete 2) How to compete 3) With what will it compete Abbott has a clear business strategy with its clear mission and vision statements and thorough SWOT analysis.- Once the business strategy is clear then strategic training and development initiatives that support the Strategy are identified. Strategic training and development initiatives are learning-related actions that a company should take to help it achieve its business strategy. (Noe, 2008) These initiatives are based on the business environment, an understanding of the company's goals and resources and insight regarding potential training and development options. These provide the company a road map to guide specific training and development activities. One of the initiatives in strategic training is to diversifying the learning portfolio by using new technology, facilitating informal learning, and providing more personalized learning opportunities. Expanding who are trained is another major initiative in strategic training. It includes customers, suppliers and employees. It also aims at providing training for non-managerial employees. Accelerating the Pace of Employee learning is another major strategic training initiative. It helps in quickly identifying needs and providing a high-quality learning solution, reducing the time to develop training programs and facilitating access to learning resources. Improving customer service, providing development opportunities and communicating the same to the employees are other important training initiatives. Aligning training and development with the Company's Strategic Direction and ensuring that the work environment supports learning and transfer of training are other most important training initiatives. To gain competitive advantage, training must help company to reach business goals and objectives. As it is well proved that training makes a greater contribution to achievement of business strategies and goals, the business -embedded and corporate university models will become more prevalent. Program Design The purpose of training is to help employees learn so they can successfully perform their jobs. It requires a systematic planning of the training program based on certain condition for learning to take place. Raymond Noe points out there are four conditions that should be kept in mind when designing a training program. They are: 1. Providing opportunities for trainees to practice and receive feedback. 2. Offering meaningful training content 3. Identifying any prerequisites that trainees need to successfully complete the program, and 4. Allowing trainees to learn through observation and experience. Design of the training program is the most crucial area for learning to happen. It includes creating the program schedule, providing a physically comfortable training environment, and arranging the seating in the training environment to facilitate interaction among trainees and between the trainer and trainees. Defining what learning outcomes are expected after the training goes a long way in designing the training program. It is obvious that each learning outcome requires a different set of conditions for learning to happen. It is one of the most areas of program designing. Abbott labs have got a variety of training programs aimed at improving specific learning outcomes for different employees. Each Professional Development Program is designed with a well defined learning objective and outcome. A close look at the programs offered at Abbott reveals that they are designed based on the learning theories for effective learning to take place. Program design refers to the organization and coordination of the training program. Even though the objectives of the program are well defined, meaningful materials are provided, opportunities for practice and feedback are provided, it is essential to plan and provide the proper course materials and equipment for effective delivery of training. Program design aims at providing programs that are well developed based on the expected learning outcomes. A detailed lesson plan helps both the trainer and trainees to understand the sequence of activities. Each activity requires a specific set of conditions for effective delivery. Training Evaluation "Training evaluation refers to the process of collecting outcomes needed to determine whether training is effective" (Noe. 2008) Evaluation is vital for training as it provides information to determine training effectiveness. It involves identifying the appropriate outcomes to measure. Evaluation begins even before the training starts i.e. with the training needs analysis and assessment. Specific and measurable learning objectives help identify outcomes that should be included in evaluation design. The outcomes used in evaluating training programs include trainees' satisfaction with the training program, learning of knowledge or skills, use of knowledge and skills on the job and results such as sales, productivity and accident prevention. Evaluation also includes comparison of costs of training to the benefits received. An analysis of Return on Investments is an essential part of training evaluation. At Abbott Laboratories, programs are evaluated based on the learning experiences of the trainees and their problems in transferring the training to the work place. As Noe points out that "outcomes used in training evaluation help to determine the degree to which the program resulted in both learning and transfer of training." (Noe. 2008) Evaluation also involves choosing the appropriate design to maximize the confidence that can be placed in the results. E-Learning and the Use of Technology in Training The use of technology for learning requires collaboration among the areas of training, information technology and top management. When it is designed with good learning principles it will be effective. It should also have top management support and match the company's technology infrastructure. Abbott has excellent technological infrastructure and the full support of company's top management. It is evident from the Professional Development Programs that it extends to employees belonging to the different departments. The company web site speaks how it helps its employees in guiding their actions throughout the world around the clock. It says: "We offer a number of resources to employees, such as Abbott's Ethics and Compliance Helpline, a telephone- and Web-based hotline available 24 hours a day, seven days a week" (Abbott) Technology such as computers and internet are increasing available for all employees at work and at home are becoming an integral part of learning. Several surveys of company training practices suggest that although face-to-face classroom instruction is used by all companies, new technologies are gaining popularity. Raymond Noe quotes: "the use of technologies is expected to increase dramatically in the next decade as technology improves, as the cost of technology decreases, as companies recognize the potential cost savings of training via desktop and personal computers, and as the need for customized training increases while economy moves from a one-size fits-all approach to mass communication in the delivery of goods and services." (Buren and Woodwell, 2000) The important feature of incorporating the latest technology is that it ensures learning and transfer of training. For example, multi -media training methods and CD ROMs and e-learning offer rich learning experience to the learners appealing to multiple senses. Another greatest advantage of the use of technology is that learners can learn at their pace and place and at their convenient place. Technology based training can be used to provide consistent delivery of training content involving transfer of information (knowledge and skills) to geographically dispersed employees who work at their own pace, practice and collaborate with the trainer and other trainees online. The latest developments in technology offer a rich possibility for introducing and implementing different training programs. For example, Expert Systems refer to technology (usually software) that organizes and applies the knowledge of human experts to specific problems. (Hannum) Employee Development For many companies employee development is a key component of company culture. It is a special feature of Abbott Labs that makes it one of the best places for employees to have a continuous growth in their career. Abbott is one of the best rated companies for young college graduate to launch their career. The Professional Development Programs at Abbott are the best examples to show why Abbott considers employee development is a key component for its growth and development. Raymond Noe considers employee development is a necessary component of a company's efforts to improve quality, to meet the challenges of global competition and social change, and to incorporate technological advances and changes in work design. There are several methods that help for employee development. Formal education, assessment, job experiences, and interpersonal relationships are some of the most important methods of employee development. Formal education involves enrolling employees in course and seminars offered by the company or any educational organization. Job experiences include job enlargement, rotating to a new job, promotions, downward moves, temporary assignments, and transfers. All these are in regular practice Abbott Laboratories. The active roles of the senior managers in training programs and their mentoring have helped employees to deliver the best services at Abbott. Coaching relationships also form a vital and useful method of employee development. A coach can play three roles. He can coach on one-on -one basis with an employee, providing feedback based on psychological tests, 360-degree assessment, or interviews with other employees and seniors. He can also help employees to learn for themselves by putting them in touch with the experts. Finally he can also provide the employee with resources such as mentors, courses and job experiences. (Peterson and Hicks, 1996) Diversity Training: Workforce diversity has increased significantly. There are older workers, women, minorities, regional groups, and people from different countries and cultures. There is an increasing need to learn how to do business internationally, understanding cross-cultural/ diversity issues, international finance and strategy, and international human resource practices. The global environment characterized by diverse workforce has made diversity management a crucial managerial responsibility. Managing or valuing diversity encompasses a range of activities aimed at making managers more aware that members of other cultures or subgroups may hold different values and assumptions which can affect the way they co-operate, compete, communicate, plan, organize, and are motivated. Managing diversity requires skilful, informed, and extensive training in interpersonal skills and appropriate systems and an understanding of both ethnic and corporate cultures. Diversity training involves training for generating awareness about the workforce. Diversity training is of two types: 1. Awareness building training designed to help employees understand the benefits of diverse workforce, with the objective of increasing acceptance of diversity among employees. 2. Skill building training designed to provide knowledge, skill and attitude are necessary for working with people who come from diverse backgrounds. Abbott's commitment to workplace diversity starts at the top of the organization. The company chairman himself is a diversity champion. They have aggressive goals for managers requiring them to fill least 50%of their open positions with women and least 25%with minorities. Sharon D. Larkin, Divisional Vice-President, Human Resource Programs at Abbott Labs says" We also routinely ask our employees' opinions about how we are doing. Using this feedback, our managers develop action plans for improving the work environment. Our managers also participate in diversity training to ensure they are equipped with the skills necessary to lead diverse teams.(Larkin, 2002) The mentoring programs at Abbott are unique in effective implementation of diversity training. Abbott offers mentoring programs tailored to each stage of an employee career, from programs to help a new employee come on board to programs targeting senior managers. Abbott has been named to DiversityInc magazine's annual "Top 50 Companies for Diversity" list for the fifth consecutive year. Abbott's commitment for its employees growth and development has enabled it to occupy a distinct place in the market winning the confidence of millions of customers. Works Cited Hannum, The Application of Emerging Training Technologies Larkin Sharon D. Divisional Vice-President, Human Resource Programs http://www.black-collegian.com/issues/1stsem02/abbott2002-1st.shtml M. Van Buren and W. Woodwell Jr., The 2000 ASTD Trends Report: Staying Ahead of the Winds of Change (Alexandria VA: American Society for Training and Development, 2000) Noe.A. Raymond, 2008 Employee Training and Development Peterson D.B. and Hicks M.D. (1996) Leader as a Coach (Minneapolis, MN: Personal Decisions, Read More