Employee Training and Development at Motorola

Summary:
Motorola was founded in 1928 when the Galvin brothers, Paul and Joseph, set up the Galvin Manufacturing Corporation, in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Its first product was a "battery eliminator," which allowed the consumers to operate radios directly using household current instead of batteries. After the continuous invention in 1986, Motorola invented the Six Sigma quality improvement process. It became a global standard.

What is training?
Training is the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and competencies as a result of the teaching of vocational or practical skills and knowledge that relate to specific useful competencies.

Evolution or growth of training function

For nearly eight decades, (Motorola) has been recognized as one of the best providers of training to its employees in the world.

 Motorola began training its employees' right in 1928, the year of its inception, on the factory floor as purely technical product training. Training, at that time, just meant teaching new recruits how to handle the manufacturing equipment to perform various predetermined tasks assigned to them.

Process of training
a. Organizational Objectives and Strategies : The first step in the training process is an organization in the assessment of its objectives and strategies. b. Needs Assessment : Needs assessment diagnoses present problems and future challenge to be met through training and development. c. Training and Development Objectives : Once training needs are assessed, training and development goals must be established. d. Conducting Training Activities : At the job itself. On site but not the job for example in a training room in the company. Off site such as a university, college classroom hotel, etc. e. Designing training and development program : Who are the trainees? Who are the trainers? What methods and techniques? What is the level of training? What are the principles of learning? Where to conduct the program? f. Implementation of the training programme :

Deciding the location and organizing training and other facilities. Scheduling the training programme. Conducting the programme. Monitoring the progress of the trainees. g. Evaluation of the Results : The last stage in the training and development process is the evaluation of the results. Since huge sums of money are spent on training and development, how far the programme has been useful must be judge/determined. Evaluation helps determine the results of the training and development programme. Motorola University's classroom training and e-learning courses: These focus on job functions as well as leadership, management and compliance. External institutions, seminars and conferences: Employees use external programs to supplement internal training. Technology-based learning resources: Content for resources such as podcasts and knowledge-sharing communities is generated internally by subject matter experts or by the user and reviewed by subject matter experts.

Benefits of training
As the business world is continuously changing, organisations will need to provide their employees with training throughout their careers. If they choose not to provide continuous training they will find it difficult to stay ahead of the competition. The other benefit of training is that it will keep your employees motivated. New skills and knowledge can help to reduce boredom. It also demonstrates to the employee that they are valuable enough for the employer to invest in them and their development.

 Training can be used to create positive attitudes through clarifying the behaviours and attitudes that are expected from the employee. Training can be cost effective, as it is cheaper to train existing employees compared to recruiting new employee with the skills you need. Training can save the organisation money if the training helps the employee to become more efficient.

Benefits of innovative training at motorola university Helped employees to achieve a certain level of expertise. In a decade since 1987 Motorola reduced cost by US$ 10bn. Productivity measured by sales per employee increased 139 percent. The company was getting a return of US$30 in three years for every dollar spent on training.

The need for planning for training function

Whether the training and development function and the HR function are tightly integrated or more loosely linked, both at the centre and in local units Whether the training function operates as a single centralised service reaching out to the business or as a devolved function, embedded in the business How strongly key business functions control the content and delivery of development activities for their people across internal business boundaries The degree of ownership which line managers take over plans for the training of their staff and training spend

 How far and how fast the organisation is shifting from the provision of courses to other learning methods of a more tailored and experiential kind (such as projects, secondments, coaching and mentoring, team development and OD).