The Value and Importance of Training Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Value and Importance of Training - Essay Example They employ 2.2 million associates worldwide. With their ‘Every Day Low Cost’ strategy Wal-Mart has been able to become leaders in the retail sector. The company recognizes the contribution of its associates (Wal-Mart refers to its employees as associates) in the success of the company. The company since beginning believed in ‘bringing people up through the ranks’ (MMR, 2012). Associates that were keen to further their careers at Wal-Mart are regarded as potential management trainees. To support this, Wal-Mart had a well-established management training program and in the 1980s an increasing number of associated enrolled for the accelerated store management candidate program. Growth of Wal-Mart was so rapid that they had to go in for college recruitments in addition to its internal management identification and training program. Wal-Mart also has a reputation of high turnover of staff, which suggests that they need to motivate the staff to reduce attrition. H owever, associates need to have the knowledge and skills to serve, support and sell within their division (Wal-Mart, 2007). It is thus essential that associate learning is aligned to the business strategy of Wal-Mart. Training, for associates at Wal-Mart has to be specific to their area of responsibility. At the same time it must also prepare them for growth within the organization. Wal-Mart continually updates training and development programs and they adopted computer-based learning. However this has not been sufficient to motivate the associate to grow within the company. Wal-Mart needs to employ more effective training programs that could motivate and enhance performance of their associates. Training is fundamental in transforming the workforce but the training must start from the top and cascade down to the lower levels (Vermeulen & Crous, 2000). The best results are obtained when managers train their own people. However, for training to be effective it must be planned in a sys tematic manner. Training has to be ongoing not merely to meet the changes in technology but it also has to be relevant to the business environment in which the organization operates. In addition, training must be able to meet the future needs of the organization and should be organization-specific. Today it is no more sufficient to align training with the business strategy, especially as organizations employ young graduates. They need to fulfill graduate expectations as well (Connor & Shaw, 2008). Therefore, there has to be a shift from computer-based coaching. The efficacy of structured class-room coaching is debatable even if it is computer-based. Technology provides for alternate solutions including long-distance and e-learning approaches. The traditional programs curb creativity and do not encourage risk-taking (Cron et al, 2005). While technology is increasingly being adopted in training and development programs, it is necessary that such training is ongoing (Byers, 2005). Cons tant change in technology requires life-long learning. Change is inevitable in any business environment. Online training offers the flexibility and capacity to update the training instantly. This is not only a necessity as rapid change takes place in the business environment but it also adds to learner satisfaction. This enables the mature learners to avail of the training sessions at their convenience. Coaching activity in companies is declining which indicates that expected business benefits have