One of the challenging and compelling undertakings in human resource management is the ability to exploit full potential employees. It has well been established that successful organizations are those that work to mould an engaged workforce. An engaged workforce has the potential of delivering quality and best practice which inevitably contributes to optimum and improved performance. Training is a critical and essential factor in creating an engaged workforce. The challenge is on the employer to propose sufficient and effective training programs that are beneficial to the employee and consequently to the organization ( Elnaga & Imran, 2013) . Training is integral such that it should be embedded in the organizational structure. This proposal proposes a training program that focuses on facilitating employee engagement and leadership development within the workplace. The proposal outlines some the objectives that the training program aims to achieve, the timeline, implementation, budget and evaluation procedure of the training process ( Elnaga & Imran, 2013) .
Program Objectives
The overall proposal objective is to seek support for the implementation of a training program that supports employee engagement and leadership development. The proposal details the benefits of achieving the training program objectives to an organization. The employee engagement initiative will facilitate organizational culture by encouraging productive and harmonious relationships within the workplace whereas the leadership development program will encourage improved performance and productivity through personal development in leadership positions. Employee engagement describes specific commitment and enthusiasm attributed to the workforce concerning their motivation to perform the roles assigned to them in the workplace (Anitha, 2014). Significant interest has focused on the role of employee engagement in overall organization performance and workplace culture (Anitha, 2014). The aim of the proposed training program is to create a positive employee engagement situation where employees work in harmony to give their best by showing creativity and initiative. There are different approaches to leadership that have been theorized in many literary works. Different leadership styles describe how people choose to lead. Leadership aims to provide direction on behalf of the people being led. As that, leadership requires exceptional skill and intelligence is it involves imparting influence on people and in the case of business organizations, it involves guiding and motivating employees (Hunt & Fitzgerald, 2013) . The training program aims to impart the qualities of a transformational leader.
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Program Schedule and Timeline
The training program will follow a two-day schedule for a group of twenty employees. The training program will be administered in two days consisting of hourly workshops and seminars that the employees will be required to attend. The training program is divided into two segments, based on the intended program objectives- promoting employee engagement and facilitating leadership development. As such, there will be a specific and distinct workshop and seminars on employee engagement and leadership development.
Training Needs Analysis
Employee Engagement
To promote employee engagement, the training program will focus on achieving and improving the following competencies:
Communication
Effective communication is integral in promoting employee engagement especially during organization projects that require interaction through engagement. Through this training program, employees will be exposed to opportunities that will enable them to develop skills for improved communication that will consequently facilitate engagement and eliminate situations of conflict or disharmony ( Saks & Gruman, 2014) . Many business environments constantly implement the teamwork concept in the accomplishment of various organizational projects. Teamwork has been proved to increase productivity because of the diversity of ideas proposed in team situations. Thus, it is inevitable that employees will find themselves in situations where they have to work as a team. However, the diversity and divergence of views in team situations can limit the achievement of productivity when people in the team cannot reach consensus on issues related to team projects. Thus, it is integral to foster engagement among employees to foster connectedness when they are faced with situations where they have to work in a team ( Saks & Gruman, 2014) .
Conflict Resolution
Conflict resolution training is an important endeavour for any organization that aims to achieve fluidity of operations and harmony within the workplace. This is because conflict situations can be detrimental to the normal operations of the workplace. This training will be available to all employees, those in management/supervisory roles and those in low-level positions. For top management, the training will enable them to learn how to identify, address and handle conflict situations whereas the normal employee will be able to learn how to communicate and approach top management when grappled with conflict situations so that consequently a viable solution to the conflict can be achieved. When conflict situations are resolved, opportunities for employee engagement can be easily explored ( Saks & Gruman, 2014) .
Emotional Intelligence (EQ)
Emotional Intelligence is an important element in promoting employee engagement and promoting a conducive organizational culture within the workplace through engagement. Emotional intelligence is integral in analyzing how people relate to one another. It a perceptual construct that allows one to consider the emotions of another person and using this perception to guide how they relate to them. Studies have shown the importance of emotional intelligence in the workplace. For example, when top management is emotionally intelligent, they will be able to handle their interactions with other employees more effectively. Similarly, emotional intelligence is important in team situations because the dynamic of teams requires interaction with different people (Lopez-Zafra et al., 2012). Research shows that emotional intelligence can contribute to harmony within the workplace by creating a conducive working environment. Some of the attributes of emotional intelligent people include self-awareness, understanding, empathy, social motivation, among others. Employees in management positions are the main targets of this portion of the training program. However, all employees are also required to attend.
Leadership Development
Everyone has a distinct leadership style, and as such, there is no “one size fits policy” that people should adopt. However, certain attributes can be learned that can make an individual a good leader. There has been constant debate whether good leadership is inherent or learned. This program is intended to trigger awareness of the good leadership ideas that a leader should have, such as respect, intelligence, motivation, achievement, etc. The objective of this training program is to impact the ideals of transformational leadership for employees in managerial or supervisory roles. Transformational leadership is one of the most attributable styles of leadership encouraged all over the world. The attributes of transformational leadership encourages positive and extraordinary influence on those being led. It involves impacting the lives of those who you are in charge of by motivating them to be exemplary. Transformational leadership is highly advocated within organizational circles due to its positive influence on people and the belief that it will improve organizational goals. Most organizations are investing resources in ensuring their employees are exposed to programs that motivate them to be visionary and transformational leaders (Hunt & Fitzgerald, 2013).
The leadership training segment will focus on impact leadership skills to employees in leadership positions as well as those who aspire to achieve leadership positions. The key vision for the program is to provide opportunities for growth and teach employees on the need for exploring foundations for promotion through a personal development plan. Some of the training areas include; effective teaching and coaching; employee motivation; team building; conflict resolution; among others.
Implementation Plan
The training program will be implemented through face to face interactions through workshops and seminars. We will run a series of group exercises during these workshops and seminars. Employees will be put into randomized functional groups depending on the segment in which they are interested. There will be different seminars and workshops throughout the day some repeated depending on the availability of attendees. Employees will be encouraged to attend seminars and workshops what they find convenient according to their time schedules. There will be specific activities assigned in each seminar. During the employee engagement seminars, employees will be asked to form functional groups under the guidance of a moderator who will facilitate several engagement activities that will serve as learning points. Interaction through these groups will encourage employees to share best practices and experiences by encouraging networking. Similarly, the purpose of face to face training is to encourage employees to work together, promoting solidarity which further promotes adoption engagement during the training process. Additionally, working together enables transfer of competencies and knowledge among employees. For the leadership development training initiative, we will source the knowledge of a leadership coach who will engage employees in teaching sessions on respectful leadership; team building; the importance of imparting motivation and morale; rewarding employees; among other lessons that are integral in the professional development process. Additionally, each session will have a designated moderator to further ensure a successful process.
One key factor in the implementation of this program is the consideration for dialogue and open discussions. We feel that this will facilitate the adoption of the set objectives of the training program. During the sessions, employees will be required to analyze hypothetical and complex situations that will serve as learning points. In analyzing these mock scenarios, employees will be able to discuss different points of view, interpret these scenarios and derive the best conclusions that will facilitate their training. Working with hypothetical cases will also equip them with ways to strategize and handle real-life situations. For example, in the staff engagement training program, conflict resolution is a major topic to be explored. For example, politics of backstabbing are common in the workplace, where an employee may feel that they are being sabotaged by another employee. Back-stabbing incidences are vindictive and deceitful and can have detrimental effects on an individual and the organization (workplace) as well. Acts of back-stabbing are especially difficult to deal with in the workplace because it creates a dysfunctional work environment. I commend the approach you took to handle the situation at your workplace. Employees will evaluate hypothetical cases of situations where an employee has experienced backstabbing in the workplace then they will offer their responses to these cases. There will be various responses, each unique, for example, approaching and befriending a backstabber may seem like an uphill and difficult task and the last thing a victim of backstabbing would want to do because of the tension they have already created. However, being friendly can sometimes be the solution. One can complement their knowledge of the job and build a relationship by listening to her frustrations. Eventually, good relationships lead to dialogue and communication which can facilitate better relations within the workplace.
Program Budget
To ensure the implementation of the proposed training program, certain budgetary requirements will need to be met. The estimated budget allocation for the program is $30, 000. A significant portion of the budget will cater for remuneration for the hired professional experts who will conduct the seminar and workshop sessions. We will devise hourly contract agreements for each hired professional. We will hire eight professionals, two leadership coaches and six moderators. The estimated hourly rate is $400 per hour and the estimated sessions per day is 8 bringing the total remuneration cost to approximately $25, 600. There will be additional costs to cover incentives such as writing material for the employees during the seminars and food and drinks, which will bring the budget total to $30,000.
Program Evaluation Plan
Upon implementation, we will evaluate the effectiveness of the training program through an analysis of the progress of employees through the training program. This evaluation will be analyzed through surveys administered to employees who have gone through the program. The evaluation process will help us to understand the adoption rate among employees and whether the desired objectives were met. Similarly, feedback from employees will help guide the future course of action regarding changes or input that need to be made in the training program.
References
Anitha, J. (2014). Determinants of employee engagement and their impact on employee performance. International journal of productivity and performance management .
Elnaga, A., & Imran, A. (2013). The effect of training on employee performance. European Journal of Business and Management , 5 (4), 137-147.
Hunt, J, Fitzgerald, M. (2013). The Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Transformational Leadership: An Investigation and Review of Competing Claims in the Literature. American International Journal of Social Science. 2:8
Lopez-Zafra, E., Garcia-Retamero, R. & Martos, M. (2012) . The relationship between transformational leadership and emotional intelligence from a gendered approach, The Psychological Record. 62: 97-114.
Saks, A. M., & Gruman, J. A. (2014). What do we really know about employee engagement?. Human Resource Development Quarterly , 25 (2), 155-182.
