Training Proposal

Small businesses often do not have the extensive training requirements that large businesses with many employees have. These businesses often train new employees by taking an experienced employee away from their responsibilities to train them or by allowing the new employee to learn on the job. Both of these approaches can be time consuming and can cost the business more money than necessary. According to the human relations theory, an established training protocol would improve the business by allowing new employees to be adequately trained before being put on the job. A small business that specializes in providing mental health services in the form of therapy will be analyzed to determine how an established training proposal can improve the performance of the business.

The agency is a for profit mental health agency that provides therapeutic services to individuals who have insurance or have the resources to be able to pay for the services out of pocket. While the agency has an experienced staff of therapists on board to provide services they lack in having a staff that can competently address the business needs of the practice. This can include the areas of hiring and firing new employees, paying for the costs of running the business, marketing the services of the agency to acquire the clientele that is needed and ensuring the agency is achieving the quality measurement standards. In order to ensure that these areas are running efficiently various departments will need to be established and comprehensive training will need to be provided to new employees. The new employees will need to be trained in not only their job function but will also need to be educated on the specific needs of the clients who all will have mental health problems. The training proposal will address these areas to ensure all aspects are covered.

One of the main challenges that will be experienced by the management in this agency is linking the needs of the business aspects with the needs of the clients who have mental health concerns. The agency will need to be able to provide quality services without sacrificing their profit margin. Management will have to ensure that clinicians are serving enough clients so that the business is successful. However they must also ensure that clinicians do not feel overwhelmed as this would impact the clinician’s ability to treat the patient. Management has to be able to juggle the needs of the business as well as the clients. For the long term goals of the business it would be important to address the needs of the client first to ensure that the business is successful. 

Another challenge in addressing organizational performance would be the development of competencies that are in line with the goals of the business. Management would need to ensure that a vision is developed for the agency. This vision would need to be reflected in all aspects of the business. By focusing on a mission of the agency the business is demonstrating that they are focused on improving the staff of their agency, which is often lacking in small businesses. “…it is shown that those organizations which lay emphasis on the development of human resources are less adversely affected by skills shortages than those organization’s which, in contrast, lay emphasis on the exploitation of human resources.” (Jones, 1991 24) Training would need to focus on ensuring that staff is aware of the goals and vision of the agency. A clear mission can guide employees to work effectively without needing be micromanaged by their supervisors. Creating a vision is a vital key for improving organizational performance.

Another challenge to organizational performance is providing incentives to employees to improve organizational performance. Managers can face the challenge of developing incentives that are not only within their budget but are also effective in boosting performance. These incentives can be incorporated into trainings for new employees to allow them to get used to the incentive model of the agency. Management also has to be careful in that they want to allow employees to be able to motivate themselves intrinsically and not always rely on extrinsic motivations in the form of incentives. However by providing small incentives management can boost the performance of the organization, which would benefit the agency as a whole. 

By detecting these organizational gaps and addressing them early on the business can be successful. This is especially the case for small businesses that struggle with improving organizational performance. Patton (2000) found that despite the benefits small businesses often do not engage in practices, such as providing training opportunities, to improve organizational performance. “It is noticeable that smaller firms in particular are reluctant to engage with formal training initiatives regardless of the incentives offered” (Patton, 2000 11).  Small businesses often do not have the resources of a large agency to be able to identify organizational gaps in performance. In the case of the mental health agency the business may have trouble with ensuring that clinicians are turning in their notes on time. As these notes would provide the justification needed to bill to insurance companies it would be important to ensure these notes are turned in on time. The business can identify this organizational gap and can address it through training to new employees and ongoing training to remind clinicians of the importance of completing the administrative tasks to ensure services are being paid for.

The training strategy that will be developed will be focused on improving the position of the business in the mental health market. As the field of mental health has numerous competing agencies a training strategy can create successful employees that allow the agency to be competitive. The training strategy will develop trainings that will focus on three aspects of the agency: management, administration and the services providers. The training for the management will focus on leadership development and improving their capacity for supervising their employees. Westhead (1996) found that focus has not been provided to management training in small businesses due to the lack of research on the topic. “Its conclusion was that the relationship between participation in management training and small business performance is currently not well established” (Westhead, 1996 13) However improving the performance of managers can impact the small agency as a whole. The training activities in the strategy will focus on team building activities to improve the ability of the leader to work on improving the cohesiveness of the staff within the agency. The activities will also focus on leadership development through a series of interactive activities. This would allow those in management to become leaders who create morale in their employees. This would improve the work performance and atmosphere of the agency. After the management is sufficiently trained the training strategy will shift to training both the administration and services providers. 

Training administrative is a key component of the training strategy as this staff supports the personnel who directly provide the services. Administrative staff also ensures that the business is running smoothly. The training for administration will be focused on reviewing how to complete the tasks that they are assigned. This would occur through the use of manuals and on the job training. The administrative staff will also be encouraged collaboratively through the use of the model of the peer exchange. Garavan (1994), found that these models are often lacking in small business training procedures. “The major problem relates to balance…too much emphasis on information transfer learning methods and not enough on individual small group learning methods such as project teams, peer exchange, individual counseling and workshops” (Garavan, 1994 3). The training should also focus on providing administrators with a basic knowledge of mental illness so that they can be a better support to client and services providers. Through the use of training videos and interactive exercises the administrative staff can be provided with a basic knowledge of mental illness. The staff would also be trained on how to engage in difficult situations with clients who may become belligerent. This would ensure the behavior-based safety of the administrative personnel as well as the other clients who may be coming into the agency.

The final stage of the training strategy would be addressed for service providers. As these providers come in with the knowledge of how to work with clients the training for them would be focused on addressing the mission of the agency as well as reviewing administrative tasks that they need to complete in order to bill for services. The mission of the agency can be communicated through a manual as well as team building exercises. Through the team building exercise learning partnerships will also be formed so that service providers can go to their colleagues to gain knowledge and information. As Gibb (1997) found, learning strategies can be effective in determining if there are gaps of knowledge for certain individuals. “The concept of learning circles and learning partnerships is introduced as a basis for exploring in some detail the issue of 'who' needs to learn. It is argued that the learning needs of those who effectively dictate the level of the playing field for achieving small business success are very high”(Gibb, 1997 13). These exercises would also allow employees to feel as if they are a part of the agency. This would make it so these services providers conduct work that reflect positively on the agency as a whole. The administrative aspects of the agency would be taught through the use of a training manual as well as on the job training.

The training strategy that has been developed will increase the return on investment (ROI) of providing the training through creating an agency that runs smoothly, provides the services that are needed and develops a positive reputation in the community. Through ensuring that every employee in the agency, no matter their responsibilities, are receiving training the agency can ensure that costly mistakes are not being made. The training strategy will also instill the mission and goals of the agency in each employee. The employee would begin to understand that they represent their agency, which would improve their job performance. A focus on training is not just to ensure a person can do their job but to ensure the agency as a whole is successful in their field. 

References

Garavan, T. N., & O'Cinneide, B. (1994). Entrepreneurship Education and Training Programmes: A Review and Evaluation–Part 1. Journal of European industrial training, 18(8), 3-12.

Gibb, A. A. (1997). Small firms' training and competitiveness. Building upon the small business as a learning organisation. International Small Business Journal, 15(3), 13-29.

Jones, R. A., & Goss, D. M. (1991). The role of training strategy in reducing skills shortages: some evidence from a survey of small firms. Personnel Review, 20(2), 24-30.

Patton, D., Marlow, S., & Hannon, P. (2000). The relationship between training and small firm performance; research frameworks and lost quests. International Small Business Journal, 19(1), 11-27.

Westhead, P., & Storey, D. (1996). Management training and small firm performance: why is the link so weak? International Small Business Journal, 14(4), 13-24.