Benefits of Training Needs Assessments

 Training needs assessments are necessary as a means of establishing achievements and performance obligations, as well as the expertise, intelligence, proficiency, and competence of an individual needed to achieve necessary requirements. Wherever the weakest, most considerable demand is within the company, is where the most attention should be focused if a training needs assessment is going to be effective.  The objective of a training needs assessment should be to address necessities required to yield quality production and applicability, enhance production and bring the mission of the business to fruition, while addressing any disparities between the performance required and current performance at hand.  As differences are identified, the training needs assessment examines the foundations and speculations causing the gaps and mechanisms for terminating or concealing the gap.  

 Maersk has defined the periphery of a needs assessment as organizational, task and personal analysis.  This needs assessment has been established in an effort to reduce employee turnover.  As the company has globalized, there has been a realization that more competent and adequate training is needed in order to bring the company up to standards of the organizational objectives and meet the challenges of the new millennium head-on.  One other concern is a person analysis focused on identifying external recruits who can be trained because the company is pulling away from recruiting and promoting internally.  Maersk’s human resources department has focused their attention on talent management, curbing employee turnover, internal training and development programs, recruiting experienced talent externally, rehiring former employees,

and making their employee portfolio more diverse.  In the past, Maersk’s trademark hiring practices were such that they would employ younger and less experienced individuals and administer training as part of their recruitment program. However, once Maersk globalized, the old talent management practices were impacted significantly.  The shift in Maersk’s executive positions redirected the focus of the internal training structure to accentuate leadership development.  There was a strategy to vitalize leadership and development coaching. Apparently, the implemented changes had a positive effect on the organization’s recruiting, retention and training problems as the global expansion was successful, to a point.

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Appraisals are one of many processes used in evaluating performance management, which, in turn, reviews and evaluates the overall achievements of individuals or teams on their specified responsibilities.  The conclusions of performance management appraisals are chronicled on four rating scales that are used in behavior-based appraisals:  graphic rating scales, behavior-anchored rating scales, forced choice scales and mixed standard scales.  In regards to the Maersk Customer Service – CARE Business Partner, a behaviorally anchored rating scale would be most effective.  As the customer service representatives are the first point of contact with customers and the rapport between the two is measured by the palpable measurements where productivity can be seen.  Upon evaluation, the manager and the employee determine whether the performance standards that were set forth have been achieved and this, in turn, is a chance for the employee to possibly create new opportunities and a better working relationship with the manager. 

 Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-oriented (SMART) objectives are important when developing a training plan, because it allows an organization to formulate clear

and definitive goals that coincide with their business model. The objective should be intended to determine what a company plans to accomplish, measure required staffing needs and how to proceed with training, as well as how to achieve a befitting disposition among the staff.  Using SMART provides the company with a better outlook and perspective for management and employees to follow by defining the priorities of the training plan and at the same time, allowing for self-evaluation and analysis of progress and areas that may need improvement. 

Developing learning activities allows for many advantages that can be beneficial to a company. In the Maersk Company, learning activities can be used for a number of things, including, but not limited to:  improving a set of skills employees possess or even building confidence within an employee or department; helping Maersk customer care associates adapt for the specific task of being fully responsible for the satisfaction of customers; assisting with increasing the specific skills that would allow them to optimize customer satisfaction, which in turn could effectively boost the company’s reputation and improve profit margins.  Developing learning activities for the Maersk Customer Service – CARE Business Partner is necessary to properly prepare the candidate for the position.

Learning activities should be designed to help new employees refresh their skills and enhance their existing knowledge, which will result in better overall performance and help the employee develop successfully on a professional and personal level.  Experiential learning also known as (EXL) is the process of learning through experience, and is more specifically defined as "learning through reflection on doing".  Experiential learning has significant teaching advantages.  Learning only has good effects when learners have the desire to absorb the

knowledge. [1]  EXL can be an important learning activity for adult learners because it incorporates active participation on part of the learner and it allows them hands-on engagement in each activity, allows the learner to give an opinion on the activity, obtain insight from the analyzation, and then apply what was learned to a real-life experience.  The incorporation of adult learning techniques and the utilization of experiential learning could be instrumental to the Maersk Company by creating a successful training plan for CARE business partners.   

A few ways I would incorporate adult learning principles into the Maersk Customer Service – CARE Business Partner training program would include, but is not limited to:  assimilating another job skill and evaluating how to apply it to the learners current role; staging a scene where the adult learner has to engage with others to resolve a dispute; and a transcription test where the adult learner has to listen and transcribe as a means of training for the position offered.

• Felicia, Patrick (2011). Handbook of Research on Improving Learning and Motivation. p. 1003. ISBN 978-1609604967.
• https://en.wikipedia.org
• Drucker, P., The Practice of Management (New York: Harper, 2006).