Nino’s Pizzeria recently hired a group of 15 new employees for the wait staff and needs to retrain the current wait staff on the training program. A manual will be made to discuss the two day training program for the 20 employees. The training program will identify training needs through a Training Needs Analysis and provide an overall training objective based on the analysis of the business. The objective of the training program will be achieved through an agenda of activities to help employees gain the necessary knowledge. The creators of this training manual will determine the cost of the training program while selecting the training method that will be most suitable for the goals of the training program.
Training Needs Analysis
Training is used by businesses to incorporate learning competencies that are in relation to job tasks to build a competitive advantage (Noe, 2009). Competencies involved in learning include knowledge, skills, and behaviors that will ensure successful job performance. Competitive advantage is useful to grow organizations with the necessary competencies that make employees successful. A training needs analysis is a process that is used to identify if training is needed for an organization and it determines what needs to be admitted or omitted from the training program. A training needs analysis is the initial step to conduct a training program. The needs analysis’ establishes training in relation to the business strategy and allocate resources for the training program at either the organizational analysis level, person analysis level, or the task analysis level. There are five steps in a training needs assessment: collecting and analyzing data; design of program objectives; testing the prototype and instruments of the training; implementing the collection measures; and evaluation including feedback and analysis of data collected .
To conduct the training needs analysis for Nino’s Pizzeria, the employees and management team will need to complete a questionnaire with items related to experience and expectations from the training program. Gathering information from the staff and management will help to pinpoint the areas of training needs and professional development . The needs assessment survey can also help reduce inconsistencies between skills needed to perform the job and skill required by the department. The survey will be beneficial for the needs analysis because it can assess all of the new employees at a single time and it will not take a lot of time. The survey can also provided qualitative and qualitative data to further assess what is needed for the training program. The training needs analysis will also gather information from senior executives and those in top management to obtain specific knowledge on training needs. The comparison of the gathered information from employees and management teams with those in top management will help provide insight on the training needs and the new program will be effective and in alignment with the business strategy.
Training Objective
The objective of the training program is to allow employees to be comfortable in providing quality service through modes of accuracy, timing, and attitude in the promotion of self and of the business. Service is the epitome of restaurants, and a server that is well-trained will be capable of navigating incorrect orders, continuing to smile with unhappy customers, and having an accommodating attitude . Having well trained service will be a positive method in boosting profits for the pizzeria and will help build a welcoming atmosphere. Nino’s Pizzeria is proud to rank very high quality food and would like the service to match to quality of food. The training program will help to ensure that the employees can be competent and aligned with the goals of the company, and also personalize the instructions to maximize effectiveness of the training. Before there was a change in staff, customers complained that the wait staff was not as knowledgeable about the products and prices on the menu. The updated training program will focus on the servers memorizing popular menu items as well as creating a pitch for their favorite item to sell to customers.
Training Activities
As aforementioned, training will be designated for two days and will provide the employees with the tools for successful job performance. The first item on the first day’s agenda will be to provide the employees with a simplified outline of the training objectives, the company’s mission and vision, expectations of the training program, and tables in the restaurant. The employees will be required to know and understand the information on the outline as well as make notes throughout the training to prepare for the comprehension quiz at the end of the second day. The employees will also be given a menu of the pizzeria to become familiar with the most popular items in which they will also be quizzed at the end of the second day. On the first day, the employees will be given tips on how to provide quality service with respect to the standards of Nino’s Pizzeria. The trainers will go through items of the menu and show the employees how to make abbreviations on the menu that the kitchen staff can understand to generate speedy and accurate service. Other activities on day one will include learning the POS system, presenting the check, and cleaning tasks. On the second day, employees will learn the rules of the restaurant and closing cleaning tasks and duties. Also, the employees will shadow the wait staff, and will also have the opportunity to take orders with actual customers. Once the employees practice with customers, they will be given a quiz to measure their knowledge and effectiveness of training. In three months, performance appraisals will be issued to determine the effectiveness of the training activities.
Training Methods
The training method that will be used for this training program is face-to-face on-site training. Interactive on-site training methods will help the wait staff be easily acclimated to transition to the floor because of the techniques taught in training. There are many advantages to on-site training. For instance, employees can become adjusted to the environment, and have the opportunity to observe the culture of the company (Noe, 2009). The on-site training methods will include a series of role playing to encourage employees to act out behaviors while performing job tasks and ask questions or be constructively criticized for behaviors . On-the-job (OJT) training will also be very useful for the inexperienced wait staff as it could be a very effective method of job training by putting the employees directly in the line of work. OJT can be useful in motivating employees and can help them learn more efficiently with hands-on activities. OJT includes listening to an instructor, a mixture of explanation, practice, and observation, trainers explaining the job description, and a series of question and answering. Role playing is a useful method of training as it allows employees to behave in the workplace. Coaching and mentoring can take place during the shadowing phase as an experienced employee can provide advice on areas of improvement and also inform the employees on what they are doing correct.
Calculating Costs: Return on Investment
It is important when measuring the cost of training and development for a company, the return on investment (ROI) tool should be used. The ROI helps companies measure the training effectiveness by identifying costs and benefits for each employee (Aksu & Sevcan, 2011). There are five levels in ROI: reaction, learning, behavior, results, and ROI. For this particular training program, $7,000 has been invested. There is a cost of $3,000 for the instructors, and $2,500 for the cost to pay the hired employees for the two days that they will be on the clock. The pizzeria will also be responsible for the instructor building a curriculum to satisfy the training needs, which will be an additional $1,500. A calculator was used to project the ROI for this training program. According to the ROI calculator on financial-calculators.com (2017) after the training, the pizzeria increased in profit to $15,000. The percentage gained is 114.2857% and the annualized return is -1.00%. To increase the ROI from the training program, the training program should be extended beyond two days to maximize the effectiveness of the training.
In conclusion, the updated training program will be beneficial for the pizzeria because the training will have an increased return on investment. The needs analysis was established by current members of the staff through questionnaires and by senior executives to establish the exact needs for the training program. The activities that are outlined for the program are useful tactics to help the wait staff with the knowledge, skills, and ability to successfully perform the job in alignment with the course objectives. Once the training course is completed, the employees should be knowledgeable on how to be exceptional waiters/waitresses for Nino’s Pizzeria.
- Aksu, A. S. (2011). Measuring Results of Training with ROI Method: An Application in a 5-Star Hotel in Antayla Region of Turkey. An International Multidisciplinary Journal of Tourism , 193-212.
- financial-calculators.com. (2017). ROI Calculator. Retrieved from financial-calculators.com: https://financial-calculators.com/roi-calculator
- Hr.com. (2001, June 14). List of Training Methods. Retrieved from Hr.com: https://www.hr.com/en/communities/training_and_development/list-of-training-methods_eacwezdm.html
- Hr-survey.com. (2016). Training Needs Assessment. Retrieved March 25, 2016, from Hr-survey.com: http://www.hr-survey.com/TrainingNeeds.htm
- Noe, R. (2009). Employee Training & Development, 5th Edition. [VitalSource Bookshelf Online] Retrieved from https://digitalbookshelf.argosy.edu/#/books/0077606086
- Smith, E. (2017). Service Objectives for a Restaurant. Retrieved from Chron.com: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/service-objectives-restaurant-24914.html
