If Behr’s position were adopted by Mini-Glee’s board and he was instru

QUESTION

If Behr’s position were adopted by Mini-Glee’s board and he was instructed to upgrade the firm’s T&D performance, what would be his best first step in determining the firm’s needs?

A) Identify the least productive employees and prescribe extra training for them.
B) Determine the specific skills and job knowledge needed by employees at each level to fulfill Mini-Glee’s corporate goals.
C) Purchase software that would enable the firm to design training programs that could be delivered in a variety of media.
D) Buy a variety of new technological devices to upgrade Mini-Glee’s training center and make it more responsive to new communication media.
E) Model Mini-Glee’s T&D program on that used by its most successful competitor.

ANSWER

Answer: B
Explanation: B) The first objective of training and development is to set clear and concise targets for meeting company goals. So Choice B is correct—otherwise, it would be impossible to design or evaluate the program’s effectiveness. The other options are either premature or irrelevant. An effective training program would include all workers, not just those considered laggards (Choice A), and would reflect the company’s individual needs rather than copying a competitor’s practices (Choice E). Software and hardware probably should be upgraded (Choices C and D), but only after the T&D agenda is developed.