*Introduction*
Day care is a good example of a small business. It is a business venture that generates profit according to its high demand. A daycare is where working parents without nannies can take their young ones during the day or night when they are at work. The caregivers at the daycare centers take care of the children by feeding, cleaning, and making sure they are at ease until their parents or guardian takes them. The most important thing is the safety and well-being of the children; therefore a daycare should be situated in an environment that is conducive to them. Most daycares are situated in schools where kids whose parents work late can stay until they are picked up during late hours. Most teachers and caregivers in those daycares are not properly trained for the specific job they are supposed to do. The director of High Hope daycare invited me to his business to provide training and consultation.
Employees should understand that even after obtaining a job opportunity in an organization, they should always be updated on new techniques and courses that will supplement their qualifications. By conducting a training program for his employees, the director will have more competitive workers that will operate efficiently, attracting more clients.
*Purpose / Agenda for the Training*
The purpose of this proposal is to train the staff on how to improve performance for The High Hope Daycare Services. This training will also help identify the challenges that the daycare director might face. This will help in the early prevention of obstacles by heading in the right direction. The training agenda will also include detecting the organizational gaps in this business and justifying its effects.
*Comprehensive Discussion on the Proposal Agenda*
*Key elements of training and development in improving the performance of High Hope Daycare*
Orientation is one of the key elements that the institution should engage in to commit new employees to their new jobs. Training and development programs recommend employees undergo orientation in their new workplace for preparation for the commitment to their work. Mentorship is also an element that a training program requires the daycare teachers to go through by being given advice and training by the old employees on the matters of organizational cultures to help in them in developing skills that will come in handy for the benefit the of the institution. Another key element is the job rotation program in small business. This is an effective way of making sure that in case of any market change in the day care business, the employees will be flexible to carry on with their duties in a different working position.
When the key elements are properly put into practice, the daycare will experience a very big change in terms of employee performance. This is because training will equip the caregivers with the necessary skills, making them do exactly what they are required to and hence improve performance (Shaw, 2018). Once the teachers understand their work in the institution, it will increase their job satisfaction, and will stay longer in the company not only to enjoy the benefits of working there but also to continue offering their qualified services to the institution. Shaw (2018) suggests that a training program should provide information and knowledge relevant to their jobs and meet their needs and expectations. Before the employer asked for my consultation for his daycare business, he first identified the needs of his employees. He made sure I successfully delivered a program that met the employees’ expectations.
*Challenges that the High Hope Daycare Director Might Face*
Managing people from different backgrounds and with different values in an institution can be challenging for many directors. It is recommended that they foresee the challenges and be ready to tackle them whenever they arise. As a small business consultant, I always advise my clients never to underestimate the staff performance management issue, no matter the institution’s size (Vinel, 2015). The daycare director should be able to ensure that the employees are working effectively in meeting the institution’s objectives. Here are some issues that the daycare management might face while addressing organizational performance.
*Maximizing Employee’s Performance*
Most managers strive to increase their output by maximizing their employees’ performance. This is not as easy as many small business owners might think. Making the existing skills, knowledge, and talents more productive for the benefit of an organization is a complicated task. This becomes more complex when the manager handles different projects with other companies (Vinel, 2015). As stated earlier, every challenge must have a solution or a way of dealing with it. Bruno Vinel used several processes in performance management that worked for him in his different teams. The managers should clearly outline the vision and the strategies put in place. He should communicate with the employees and make clear the objectives and what is needed to be done. He should plan and set the targets to be made and give out the initiatives for the strategies by enhancing feedback and learning
*Managing Millenial employers*
Daycare staff can be of different ages, ranging from young mothers to grandmothers. In such an institution with employers of a different generation, it is easier to handle the older ones compared to the young ones. The management should thoroughly address the millennial generation’s needs and avoid generalizing. Millennial workers pay attention to details and adapt easily to new strategies and plans. They are workers full of new ideas and usually need more feedback on every progress they make (Vinel, 2015). The existing managerial system may not fully cater to the highly educated young employees, which this can lead to low performance in their work.
*Performance Appraisals*
In my view, as consultant appraisals should be done now and then to evaluate current performance so that if any problems are identified, they can be dealt with within a short period. But instead, most organization review appraisals for a year backward, making mistakes hard to be quickly spotted. In order to avoid inefficiencies in employees’ performance the objectives to be reached should be well understood by the employees. They should be revisited every time to make every point clear.
*Justifying the effects of detecting organizational gaps in the daycare business*
An organizational gap analysis can be conducted to identify which organizational gaps are present in an institution. Since there are not much staff in the daycare, the analysis can be conducted on every staff as opposed to per department (Berman, 2018)). There are several organizations that are more likely to be present in a daycare setup; skill gap, performance gap, or communication gap. The skill gap is the difference between what the organization needs skilled employees and what the employees can provide. A performance gap occurs when the current performance of the workforce is different from the desired organization performance.
By detecting the present organizational gaps, the manager will be aware of the areas or departments which are underperforming and act quickly to provide a lasting solution. It also helps in realizing the company’s current status and how far it is from reaching its set goals (Berman, 2018). By detecting the gaps in high-hope daycare, the director will easily know whether the institution is working towards its vision.
After identifying the gaps, the manager should look at what could have caused them. For example, if the organizational gap present in the daycare is a performance gap, the director should find out what causes the underperformance (Berman, 2018). If the daycare can handle more than a hundred children according to the number of staff, but they can only manage half the number, and there are complaints from the parents on how their children are being treated. This can be caused by lack of skills from the employees and also luck of training on the new technology or equipment on handling the generation z children (Nordmeyer, 2018).
When the manager identifies gap and the causes, he should go ahead and come up with a strategy that will get the institution back on its feet and running and make it the best that people recommend for their children. Here is a competitive training strategy that will improve the position of the business in the market.
*Training Strategy*
This strategy is designed to meet the institution goal and help in addressing the issue of the organizational gaps detected. Training strategy offers information and knowledge that add value to the employees’ performance by improving employee skill set and prepare staff for the goal to be achieved (Root, 2018).
*Needs assessment*
For high hope daycare to know its internal needs, an assessment should be conducted which can be easily done by the manager because he has a better knowledge of the employees. The staff performance can be assessed by determining the efficiency dedication and turn over. Once the deficiency has been detected the next step is getting employee feedback (Leonard, 2018). The surveys to get employees feedback can be done privately by feeling a form and submitting it to the manager. By doing this the employees will be honest in giving their feedback even if it is negative hence obtaining accurate information.
*Other daycare services*
The director should learn from his competitors, what works and what does not work for them. Taking one or two tips from your competitors can be a business strategy that can maximize the institution profit.
*Agenda of training activities*
This area will point out on the main agenda that the training will be about. This is from the feedback that the employees have given and the deficiency seen in the care giving department as observed by the director. The first agenda of the training activities will to learn more on employee behavior. This includes sensitive matters such as sexual harassment at work and communication strategies (Root, 2018). The training on this will discuss how an employee is supposed to do once they experience sexual abuse at work, how to communicate effectively among employees clients and even the management in order to actualize the daycare gals and vision.
Another important agenda in the training activities is the employer performance strategy. This is a very important agenda to be discussed because it point outs on the performance of the employee which is contributing factor to the development of the institution. The feedback given by the employees the underperformance is brought by untrained daycare teachers who are not familiar with the latest technology and equipments in serving our clients (Root, 2018).
*Instructional strategies to be used*
They are different methods used in a training program to help participants master the delivered content. They include;
· Chunking- this involves presentation of information in small units, this helps the brain to organize the already learnt information to prevent overload. This is suitable for the elderly employees.
· Reciprocal Teaching – this is where by the participants master content then remind themselves by teaching one another. This helps one remember all the details of the lesson.
· Visual and graphic organizers- these include diagrams, tables, charts, videos and audios. This is a very good way to put emphasis on what has been taught (Connors, 2011).
*Details of the Training strategy proposal*
- Training program will start from April 25th and will be on for two weeks.
- All the employees of High Hope Daycare will be participating in this program.
- Employees to be informed about the training requirement
- Provide training and writing materials for the participants
- After every training session ask for feedback about how it was and what they have learnt.
- The training will take place in the school classrooms to avoid extra accommodation cost.
- There will a test for what has been learnt to see what the employees have captured.
*Reference*
Berman, C. (2018). *Organizational Gap Analysis*. *Smallbusiness.chron.com <Smallbusiness.chron.com>*. Retrieved 20 April 2018, from smallbusiness.chron.com/organizational-gap-analysis-70281.html
Connors, P. (2011). *Instructional Strategies for Effective Training Delivery*. *Hr.maricopa.edu <Hr.maricopa.edu>*. Retrieved 20 April 2018, from hr.maricopa.edu/sites/default/files/InstructionalStrategiesManual.pdf
Leonard, K. (2018). *How to Develop an Effective Training Strategy*. *Smallbusiness.chron.com <Smallbusiness.chron.com>*. Retrieved 20 April 2018, from smallbusiness.chron.com/develop-effective-training-strategy-17943.html
Nordmeyer, B. (2018). *How to Document a Performance Gap & Solution Strategy*. *Smallbusiness.chron.com <Smallbusiness.chron.com>*. Retrieved 20 April 2018, from smallbusiness.chron.com/document-performance-gap-solution-strategy-38612.html
Root, G. (2018). *Examples of a Training Strategy*. *Smallbusiness.chron.com <Smallbusiness.chron.com>*. Retrieved 20 April 2018, from smallbusiness.chron.com/examples-training-strategy-11474.html
Shaw, J. (2018). *Effects of Training on Employee Performance*. *Smallbusiness.chron.com <Smallbusiness.chron.com>*. Retrieved 20 April 2018, from smallbusiness.chron.com/effects-training-employee-performance-39737.html
Vinel, B. (2015). *5 challenges with organisational and employee performance*. *www.linkedin.com <www.linkedin.com>*. Retrieved 20 April 2018, from www.linkedin.com/pulse/5-challenges-organisational-employee-performance-bruno-vinel
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