Training and Staff Development HRM Training and Staff Development

This paper recommends a set of activities which Google Inc. can carry out to resolve its HR issues of low employee motivation and lack of training. The major sections of the paper include training program overview, training need assessment, costs and risks analysis, flow chart and time schedule of activities, and recommendations and their justifications.

This paper presents a report on resolving the human resource management issue through employee training development program. The multinational organization selected for this report is Google Inc. -- one of the most successful technological giants in the world. The biggest issue which Google Inc. is facing in its human resource management practices is the training, development, and motivation of its employees. This report proposes a full-fledged training solution to Google Inc. By conducting a number of analyses; including training need assessment, analysis of different alternative training solutions, costs and risks analysis, and implementation flow chart and timeline.

The paper starts with a brief introduction to Google Inc. By highlighting its history, scale of operations, major products and services, human resource and work culture, and strategic imperatives. The second section of the paper is dedicated to discuss the training programs by explaining its core objectives and advantages, associated risks, etc. The next section presents a flow chart of activities through which the managers will do research and collect data for decision making by the higher management. A cost analysis of the whole training program has also been done in order to get an estimate of the total investment required for this project. The time schedule highlights the time span required for different activities in the total period of 12 months.

The final section of the paper gives recommendation to Google Inc. On how it should move forward with this project and resolve its human resource management issue through training and development program. The recommendations have been given along with justification for the need assessment, training program implementation, and feasibility of implementing the program for its strategic objectives. The paper concludes with an overview of the whole discussion.

Introduction: Google Inc.

Google Inc. is an American multinational corporation that provides internet-based services, manufactures computer programs, and innovative technological gadgets and smart phones. It is also the largest online advertising and search engine service provider in the world. Google Inc. is headquartered in California, United States and operates with more than 70 offices in 40 countries. It was incorporated on September 4, 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin who were the students of PhD at Stanford University. The products and service offerings of Google Inc. target every type of professional, student, businessman, business corporations, and governmental institutions (Google Inc., 2013).

The major products and services offered by this technological giant fall under eight main categories: web-based products like Google search, Google Books, Google Scholar, Google News, etc.; map-related products including Google Maps and Google Sky; development resources like Google Web Toolkit, Google App Engine, etc.; smart phones and Android operating systems; communication, searching, and publishing tools; advertising services; desktop and mobile applications; and statistical tools. The mission statement of Google Inc. is to make every type of information available and accessible to all kinds of users around the Globe. Therefore, each and every product and service offered by Google is aimed at facilitating all types of individuals and corporate users through advanced technological applications (Google Inc., 2013).

The present Google workforce comprises of more than 30,000 employees. Since Google is present in more than 40 countries of the world, the workforce is largely dispersed with respect to cultural backgrounds, nationalities, religions, and races. Google has built a strong organizational culture at its workplaces around the Globe. The cultural values are developed through mutual trust and respect, information sharing, and friendly behavior among employees. Google also provides both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to its employees to make them work more dedicatedly for the achievement of its strategic objectives (Google Inc., 2013).

The core areas where Google focuses in order to ensure a sustainable future in its industry include quality management, superior customer services, strong industrial relations, innovation and creativity, corporate social responsibility, and strong stakeholder relationships. With its strong emphasis on customer service quality and building strong industrial relationships, Google Inc. has achieved a remarkable position as one of the most preferred technological product manufacturers and the best employers in the Global market (Google Inc., 2013).

Statement of the Problem/Organizational Issue:

Google Inc. manages a large workforce that consists of culturally diverse employees from local and international markets....

The behavior and beliefs of these employees vary with their coworkers due to large differences in their opinions, religious thoughts, working styles, psychological and achievement needs, and other personality attributes (Google Inc., 2013). Therefore, it becomes a challenge for the HR managers to motivate, direct, and train these employees with the same management techniques and leadership styles which they use for a non-diverse workforce (Dowling & Welch, 2008).
The differences in opinions, beliefs, and working styles of these employees create various problems for the organization; like weak organizational culture, lack of support, low motivation and morale, creation of political groups within the workplace, conflicts among employees and between employees their managers, and inefficiency at the workplace (Swanepoel, Erasmus, & Schenk, 2008). Thus, the biggest organizational issue for Google HR managers is the training, motivation, and leadership of culturally diverse organizational members who have come and joined it from more than 40 different nations (Bratton & Gold, 2012).

Training Program Overview

Training Program Goals:

In order to resolve the issue of low motivation and morale, lack of training, and workplace conflicts, Google Inc. will have to develop a full-fledged training program for its employees. The primary goal of this training program is to improve the organizational productivity through its most precious asset -- the human capital. By implementing the training and development program, HR managers will be able to address each and every issue which causes workplace inefficiency, conflicts, and low morale of their subordinates (Marchington & Wilkinson, 2006).

A training program can be implemented for the whole workforce or for selected employees from different departments depending upon their training needs and organizational requirements. On one side where training programs help in improving the skills and competencies of individuals; they also increase the administrative and human resource development costs of the organization. Therefore, Google will have to allocate a significant amount for this training program which can spread over 6 to 12 months time period.

Training program is also aimed at improving the job-related skills and competencies of the organizational members through interactive and non-interactive techniques (Gold, Thorpe, & Mumford, 2010).

The overall goal of the training program will be to gain a competitive advantage through human resource which is only possible of all the organizational members work together towards one common direction, follow their leader, and show positive attitude towards their subordinates and supervisors (Burnes, 2007).

Training Need Assessment:

The need assessment analysis will enable the HR managers to analyze the exact training needs of their subordinates. However, the managers will have to assess what type of training each employee needs and how much budget should be allocated for each training session. Google aims to improve the performance of its individuals through skills development and motivation (Google Inc., 2013). Therefore, the training program will be more focused on increasing the analytical skills and job-related competencies of the employees. In order to assess the exact training needs of different employees, the managers will first have to analyze the discrepancies between the actual and desired state of their performance. For example, if an employee lacks problem solving or pressure handling skills, the managers will have to arrange training sessions which are more focused on improving these skills in their participants. Similarly, if an employee is good at these skills, but needs training in his own job-related tasks, the supervisor can ask some senior coworker to train him under his supervision (Marshall, Louis, & Best Practice Institute, 2009).

Risks Associated with the Training Program:

i. Inefficiency at the Workplace:

In contrast to various benefits for the organization, the training program will also bring certain risks which must be encountered in order to get the maximum output from the efforts and invested capital (Klett, 2010). The biggest risk in the training and development program is the slow down of work performance of individuals during the training process. That is, training sessions will be held for a considerable period of time. The employees will have to engage themselves in these sessions whole heartedly. Therefore, they will not be able to perform their day-to-day tasks in an efficient and effective way (Israelite, 2010).

ii. Wrong Assessment of Training Needs:

The second risk is the wrong assessment of training need of individuals in different departments. For example, the members of sales and marketing team will need more training in the areas like building public relations, improving selling, interpersonal, and communication skills, and enhancing customer persuasion skills. On the other hand, the employees from Finance and Audit departments will need to be trained for improving their analytical, mathematical, accounting, and problem solving skills. Therefore, it…