Determining Training Hours

Dear All,

Hi. I have been tasked to improve our training function within the company, and came across a question that I require some expert advice.

Question: How do I determine appropriate training hours for each category of staff, from operators, supervisors, clerks, executives, snr executives, section heads, deputy managers, managers and snr managers?

Company includes Factory, R&D, QA, QC, Warehousing, Procurement, Marketing, Sales, Finance, HR, Corporate Communications.

Appreciate your kind assistance and expertise.

Smiles and cheers
Noel Liew

__________________
Noel Liew

TRAINING DAYS ALLOCATION

NOEL,

The training days allocation in the corporate budget varies with

-business situation
-business needs

-IT
-NON - IT

-change in technology
-change in product offers

-financial situation/ constraints/availabilty
-cashflow

-competitive situation
-hr development needs
etc etc

WHAT I CAN GIVE YOU HERE A BROAD UNIVERSAL
APPROACH ADOPTED AS A GUIDELINE BY MANY
LARGE ORGANIZATION.

WITHOUT NAMING NAME, I AM OUTLINING AN
APPROACH ADOPTED BY AN ORGANIZATION
[ NON - IT ] EMPLOYING 600 PEOPLE.

The corporate guidelines was , as a rule of thumb,
3 days of training for everyone in the organization
during the 12 months budget period.
================================
SO, UNDER THE GUIDELINE OF 3 DAYS PERSON
WORKED OUT TO 3X600= 1800 TRAINING DAYS.
====================================
NOW THIS MUST BE ALLOCATED TO THE
WORKFORCE OF 600 PEOPLE.
======================================
THE ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE SHOWED

1.SENIOR MANAGEMENT........................................ ....[15]
2.MIDDLE MANAGEMENT........................................ .....[35]
3.FIRST LINE MANAGEMENT-.....................................[55]
4.STAFF SPECIALISTS [ like R&D, LEGAL , ETC]....[20]
5.SALES STAFF............................................. ..................[60]
6.SUPERVISORS .................................................. ..........[80]
7.OFFICE STAFF............................................. ...............[200]
8.FACTORY FOREMEN........................................... ......[10]
9.JUNIOR FACTORY SUPERVISORS........................[45]
10. OPERATORS......................................... ......................[80]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL .................................................. ...........................600

===============================================
THE ALLOCATION OF TRAINING DAYS

1.SENIOR MANAGEMENT........................................ ....[15]X4
2.MIDDLE MANAGEMENT........................................ .....[35]X4
3.FIRST LINE MANAGEMENT-.....................................[55]X4
4.STAFF SPECIALISTS [ like R&D, LEGAL , ETC]....[20]X4
5.SALES STAFF............................................. ..................[60]X4
6.SUPERVISORS .................................................. ..........[80]X4
7.OFFICE STAFF............................................. ...............[200]X2
8.FACTORY FOREMEN........................................... ......[10]X4
9.JUNIOR FACTORY SUPERVISORS........................[45]X3
10. OPERATORS......................................... ......................[80]X2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL .................................................. ...........................1800 TRAINING DAYS

===============================================
THE ALLOCATION OF DAYS FOR EACH CATEGORY
WAS BASED ON A NUMBER OF FACTORS LIKE

-LEVEL OF DECISION MAKING
-TYPE OF OPERATION MANAGEMENT
-CHANGING MARKET CONDITIONS
-ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS AFFECTING OPERATION.
-FREQUENCY OF CHANGES
-CHANGES IN MANAGING TECHNOLOGY
-RESPONSIBILITIES
-ACCOUNTABILITIES
ETC ETC.

THIS IS A BROAD GUIDELINES.

IN ACTUAL SITUATIONS, YOU MUST ALWAYS TAKE
INTO CONSIDERATION YOUR OWN RELEVANT FACTORS.


In some US companies, they allocate 4 days in a year.

regards

LEO LINGHAM

__________________
LEO LINGHAM

PRINCIPAL:BestBusiCon Pty Ltd

I have seen training hours allocated in a number of organizations. I feel this is useful in orgs that have not had a culture of learning and the org wants to change the mindset. However, once you get past this stage, the concept of allocated hours I find strikes at the heart of what training should be used for. Training conducted should be based on needs, both individual, department and organization wide. These vary from person to person, dept to dept and as the org meets different competitive pressures. We can’t pretend that some simple formula of training days is going to match these specific needs.

What we have done in the past is to determine the real training needs, looking at strategic and operational plans and the output from individual development plans. We then allocate a training budget and divide it up along strategic training solutions and individual training solutions. The split might be say 60 percent strategic and 40 percent individual. The individual training part of the budget is then divided up amongst the various departments to use in line with the output of their dept plans and individual performance appraisals.

This worked out much more effective for the organization than saying that all process operators must have two days training.

Vicki Heath
http://www.businessperform.com

__________________
Vicki Heath
Director
Business Performance Pty Ltd
www.businessperform.com