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Training and Development ProgramDecember 11, 2019Management 486Oswegoland Park District12525383714751314450314325TABLE OF CONTENTS TOC \h \u \z Executive Overview 3Background 4Profile of the Park District of Oswegoland 5Oswegoland Organizational Chart 7Scope of Project 9Training Overview 10Professional Development 12Job-Based Skills Training 21 Leadership Development 30Performance Evaluation 32Recommendations 33Limitations 34 Future Considerations 35Note of Appreciation 36Appendix 36EXECUTIVE SUMMARYThis report provides an overview of the training plan for the Oswegoland Park District employees conducted by a group of UIC students in a Managerial Consulting class. It will highlight the key notes of the training plan, while focusing on the overall relationship of the client and consultant, along with insights of the project throughout the semester. The executive overview contains the background information of the consultant group and the client, and defines who the client is through its profile and organizational chart, along with explaining the scope of the project shortly after. Next, the report provides the overview and the results of the research that went into the training plan, which is split up into three categories based upon the distinctive parts of employee training. Performance Evaluation is an important aspect of training that will be included under the results section for the client to further improve upon the training process. After that, a brief section is dedicated for Recommendations of the Plan that is suggested for the client to pursue. The project analysis portion falls under the “Limitations” and “Future Considerations” sections, in which the consulting group analyzes the ways in which the project could have been conducted better based upon the current experience. Lastly, the report gives a note of consideration from the consultants to client, and the appendix in which the resources for the research are listed. This client report aims to contain an overview of the information that is provided in further detail in the Project Delivery Training Plan paper, and will be submitted prior to the client presentation, which is on Monday, December 2nd at 9:00 am, so that the client has a general understanding of the project and its deliverables. BACKGROUNDThis project is conducted by a group of UIC students attending a Managerial Consulting class in the fall of 2019. The four members are identified as Cristian Ayala, Claudia Komperda, Savannah Sanchez, and Zainab Sultana, who have collaborated amongst each other for the span of the fall semester to present this deliverable to Oswegoland Park District and to our instructor, Dr. Tim Buividas. The objective of this project is to create a comprehensive and strategic training plan for Oswegoland’s employees for up to five years to enhance their job satisfaction and professional development by analyzing each aspect of the park district’s organization and implementing feedback and performance evaluations based upon each individual’s competencies. Because the organization lacked a completely structural training plan, we envision that our role as outsiders will provide Oswegoland with a clearer strategy moving forward from this point on to give their employees more gratification of all the aspects of training they receive to perform their job better. Although it will be challenging to implement these new recommendations right away for the company because they differ from the strategies already put in place, this hump will cause Oswegoland to reform their current policies and use it as a learning experience. If there is one thing we as a group have learned from this class, is that change never comes easy but it is a necessary tool for growth. Throughout the time spent on working on this project and tackling each task together, our group has gotten to know each other regarding our collaborative and communicative styles. It was eye-opening and awkward in the beginning learning about each other’s ways, but we have come to appreciate the open communication by expressing our wants and needs in an open-minded manner. Unlike most of our forme and negative group experiences in the past, each member has contributed their share of work into this project, whether it be writing progress reports, drafting the deliverables, researching training templates online, partaking in client phone calls and working on other assignments, we can confidently say that each member has contributed fairly and given the effort to present this deliverable. Based on learning about general consulting from chapter readings and lectures and working on this project, we have acquired knowledge of what it is like to be a consultant in the “real” world working with an organization that needs an outside perspective on how to improve their company. We hope to have been a good consulting team to Oswegoland by partaking in this research to present them with our training plan outlined for their ANIZATIONAL PROFILEThe Oswegoland Park District is a governmental agency that creates and maintains parks and facilities for the community, whilst implementing recreational programs for residents. The organization was first developed in 1950 as a “special district” and spans within a 38-mile radius around the entire Oswego and Boulder Hill areas, as well as including parts of Aurora, Montgomery, and Plainfield. Below is a map outlining the boundaries: The District is comprised of five commissioners who serve six-year terms serving the best interests of the residents by implementing policies. The board consists of President Sandy Tartol, Vice President Bob Ijams, along with Dave Behrens, Michelle McCallough, and John Wise. Board seats are available to any resident who is a registered voter on odd-numbered years. Any resident is also encouraged to attend Board meetings, held typically bi-weekly. -1047749161925OSWEGOLAND ORGANIZATIONAL CHARTFiscally, the Park District utilizes approximately half of the resident’s annual park district taxed to fund operations, which includes paying its employees to supervise programs and allocating other operational finances to resources, utilities, supplies, etc. The other half of tax dollars go towards the developmental side of the district for the renovation of facilities and new equipment purchases for the spaces in the district. Oswegoland PD provides the public with its financial documents online, including its annual Operating Budget, Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, and an Annual Report. It also highlights the importance of serving quality employees who in turn can provide exceptional service to the community by utilizing tax dollars to fund employee salary and compensation plans. Oswegoland’s PD programs include Special Events, theatre, swim, dance, fitness & wellness, gymnastics, adult and youth sports, preschool, drop-in classes, and Kid’s Connection. Parks and Facilities consist of parks, trails, facilities, aquatics, gardening, reservations, weddings & events, Prairie Burns, and conservation. Opportunities for resident involvement include registration, volunteering, employment, donating, foundations, and bids & proposals. The PD not only offers recreational facilities and parks for its community but it further demonstrates its outreach by participating in several programs, such as the FVSRA-a recreation association that gives recreational opportunities for those with disabilities by accommodating them for participation in Oswegoland PD programs-and scholarship assistance for those in financial disarray who would want to participate but can’t afford to do so. According to Oswegoland PD’s Strategic Plan, its mission statement includes thefollowing: “to effectively and responsively: … plan, acquire, develop, maintain, and preserve parks, facilities, and natural and historic areas … provide diverse, accessible, high-quality services and programs … provide our community with opportunities to play, gather, celebrate, learn, and enjoy nature … provide the leadership, staff, and volunteers with the resources and environment to create a park district that reflects the spirit of our community.”The organization’s values include: “Integrity: True, honest ambassadors of the public trustCollaboration: Working together to accomplish a common goalInnovation: Empowering staff to create and lead our community”Its vision statement is: “Creating opportunities for a healthy community!”The 2017 Strategic Plan gives direction for how the PD is planning to serve its community within a five-year span from 2017-2021. Overall, by strategically planning the organization’s future, Oswegoland strives to define the purpose, establish realistic goals within a reasonable timeline, produce a starting point for progress measurement and focus on key priorities. By creating a mission statement, the organization can then define the purpose and use its values to establish the definition of how the staff and the residents they serve relate to each other. Oswegoland Park District created a Comprehensive Master Plan called “Plan to Play” that was adopted in an August 2019 Board Meeting, which addresses the community’s current and future needs guiding the PD’s growth and development. The Plan has been a topic since 2018 when the PD first started trying to develop a comprehensive plan for goals, policies, and standards of all facilities by establishing a framework to be conducted throughout 5-10 years. The team includes The Lakota Group, ETC Institute, Gewalt Hamilton Associates, Heller & Heller Consulting, and Dewberry Architects. With these resources and the comprehensive plan in motion, the phases of the processes consist of Analyzation, Engaging, Envisioning, and ImplementingSCOPE OF PROJECTOur group encountered similar expectations amongst each other as it pertained to the project. We agreed that open communication is a requirement, as it provides each member a chance to express their desires and wants so any misunderstandings are cleared from the start. Another aspect of alignment is team effort, which was a rule that was decided upon from the beginning to dedicate an equal amount of the workload to each member, as well as seeing to it that each member will follow through with providing their work. Pertaining to the project, we did not expect for the training plan to be as difficult to define as it was in the beginning. Although it was a challenge to organize the project at first, along with trying to match the expectations of the feasibility of the project for an unstructured plan of the client, we were dedicated to providing the utmost quality of our work within reasonable range. Deliverables:Interview Brief: 9/11/19Statement of Work: 9/17/19Project Report: 11/29/19Project Delivery: 12/11/19Presentation: 12/2/19Evaluations: 12/11/19Timeline: September: figuring out scope of project, setting expectations for group, meeting with client regularly, gathering as much information, splitting the work amongst the groupOctober: reviewing the work and making changes, researching further information, meeting with Dr. Tim, aligning individual work togetherNovember: finishing up project, getting the scope more defined, making more recommendations, reviewing work and making necessary changesDecember: updating client, making final touches on deliverables, reviewing the work, setting datesTRAININGOVERVIEWPurpose: To provide guidelines and rules for employees.Policy: The Park District of Oswegoland is committed to the development of highly qualified staff and to the enhancement of job-related knowledge and skills. The objective of the training plan is to provide employees access to training and development opportunities necessary to perform official duties. The highest priority will be given to programs that develop the maximum performance of job duties.. Applicability: All employees, as approved by the supervisor in charge, may attend on-site training programs. Authorization to attend off-site training may require approval from the department head.Training Categories: Mandatory Orientation:This training is required for all incoming employees of all positions; full-time, part-time, seasonal, and volunteers. It is offered twice a month for an hour long, dates vary upon the HR representatives availability.The purpose of this orientation is to ensure compliance with Oswegoland’s values, procedures, safety, and resources. Along with the introduction of each department and their roles. Such Orientation is given top priority as it highlights the importance of job competency and Oswegoland’s values: Integrity, innovation, and collaboration. Job Competency: is a true measure of an employee’s training. It measures an employees learning rather than time. Oswegoland allows the flexibility to move through training based on the skills of the learner. Majority of competencies are aligned with assessments. If an employee scores low on an assessment, reinforcement activities and coaching are available. Competency emphasizes development and empowerment, improving quality and consistency. Integrity: is a fundamental value of Oswegoland. It is a foundation of trust and honesty on which employees build connections and effective interpersonal relationships with coworkers, management, and the community. All employees are expected to follow the code of conduct, failure to do so may result in negative consequences. Innovation: Continuously plotting and adapting to the ideas from new trends, activities, and approaches to lead our community and empower our staff. Collaboration: Working together to accomplish a common goal. Employee Statistics: Total Non-Seasonal EEs: 382Full-time EEs (40+ hours/week): 48Part-Time EEs (20-29 hours/week: 34Part-time EEs (<20 hours/week): 300 Full-Time:All full-time employees are required to attend this monthly mandatory training. In case of an emergency, the supervisor MUST be informed.MONTHLY TRAINING COMMITTEE We plan to implement a voluntary Training Committee, one similar to the one already in play at Oswegoland Park District, where the staff of the committee consists of volunteers within the organization. This way, there are no extra costs while providing extra training hours. Recommendation: We recommend to implement the monthly training at the beginning of each month. This way, employees have the rest of the month to reflect on what was taught. This also benefit employees, as they are then able to ask questions in regards to this topic to expand their knowledge and personal development. The training plan is split into three categories: Professional Development, Job-Based Skills Training, and Leadership Development.PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTCUSTOMER CAREUsed to establish a relationship with clients in a way that satisfies their needs and wants through goods and services. This would entail training towards employees on the recreational level, as well as broadened amongst all levels who interact with clients and customers. 21% or respondents contributed responses regarding customer care.? Customer Serviceo “Effective Customer Service”o “I would imagine customer service would be huge to better served residents”o “Customer Service - it's everyone's job”How to build stronger customer relationshipsFind ways to relate to customers on a more personal levelFocus on consistency in delivering great experiences to all customersAnticipate customer needs and exceed their expectations How to effectively enforce positive customer serviceService strategiesEncourage and track complaintsCultivate relationships amongst employees and customersIncentives for customer appreciationCreate culture of outstanding serviceEnforce accountability amongst all employeesBalance personality with professionalismCreating lasting relationships with customersDefine customer service basicsEtticate (verbal and in-person)Patience Adaptability in situationsCustomers may have certain needsMENTORINGEveryone needs help in furthering their professional development, skills development, and leadership development. Typically, there are people who can offer that kind of assisting to others that want to do more in an organization. Mentoring is the perfect way for that to happen. Mentoring can open up a whole new world to both people who have been at a company for a long time that want to pass on their knowledge and for new-comers wanting to prove themselves. The purpose is to acquaint one employee or a group with planned mentoring, practice some skills, outline specifics of what’s expected of them in this program, and get better acquainted as mentors and mentees.I. IntroductionA. Remarks by organizational leader (purpose, importance and context of program)He/She needs to explain the purpose of a mentorship program being implemented into the company. Without a purpose, the program will go nowhere and we all should know what the goal is.The importance of the program must be a priority because mentoring can lead an organization into a whole new world of knowledge.The context of the program needs to be shown early so everyone can see what possible solutions can ultimately be limited due to certain restrictions.B. Goals, agenda, logistics Goals must be prepared early so we can know what we are working towards. Without goals, we can lose track of what we ultimately want done. All goals can be broad at first to see if it can go into deeper detail but knowing what we want to do is the plan.The agenda needs to be set up to see what are the topics that need to be assessed. This shows what sections need to be focused on to get to the goal everyone is going to be grinding for. This part shows what are the main topics that need to be looked into and the reasons behind the goals.The logistics is about going into detail more intensively. We start going into departments starting from the bottom to the top and vice versa. We need to find out what is going on as much as possible to be able to see what needs to happen.II. Overview of MentoringA. Definitions and key conceptsA mentor is someone who offers his/her knowledge, wisdom and advice to someone with less experienceThere are important components that come with effective mentoring such as open communication, goals, challenges, passion, mutual respect, exchange of knowledge, role modeling and collaboration.B. Mentoring exercises (Ways a mentor can connect and help mentee)Mentee assignment: Write down the picture of a perfect week. What are you doing, where are you living, how do people talk about you? Discuss these discoveries and what you can learn/apply from them.Exchange and discuss potentially useful articles.Review and discuss a letter, proposal or other document written by mentee.Discuss a quote that has certain meaning or inspiration for each.Discuss any cultural values that each of you hold onto. Has culture come into play at all in adjusting to the work setting?Share/lend books, tapes, CDs.Mentee can identify risks, difficulties or stress s/he is facing in the next few months (deadline, conflicts was premises, fears, etc.), and plan with mentor way to minimize them.Discuss a situation of interpersonal conflict or miscommunication that the mentee has experienced or successfully avoided.C. Benefits of mentoring to mentors and menteesImproves communication and personal skillsDevelop leadership and management qualitiesIncrease confidence and motivationMentors offer guidance and encouragement to junior employeesSenior leaders can continue to improve their professional developmentIdentifies emerging talentCreates a culture of growth and leadership in senior staffIII. Building an Effective Mentoring Relationship with YouthA. Phases of your relationships1. Developing and Building Trust: The “ Getting To Know You” stage2. Reaching Goals: Working towards goals set in first stage3. Closure: Towards the end of the sessions where the mentor and mentee finish the programB. Tips for being effective in each phaseFirst stage: Having consistent sessions, showing that mentor cares for mentee’s training, confidentiality to develop trust, and goal-setting for both professional and personal sights.Second Stage: Being able to have closeness with each other, make the mentoring relationship unique with special rewards or incentives, mentors must be prepared for up and down results in sessions, and be able to have staff support.Third Stage: Model appropriate behavior, provide opportunities for mentee moving forward, and address ways of contact if mentee ever needs help once the sessions are over.IV. Critical Mentoring Skills Needed by Mentors and MenteesA. Core skillsActive listeningBuilding trust with each otherIdentify goals that want to be met Encouraging one anotherB. Mentor-specific skillsWillingness to share knowledge, skills and expertiseDemonstrate a positive attitude and positive modelValues ongoing learning and growing in fieldProvide guidance and constructive feedbackValues opinions and initiatives of othersMotivate others by leading by exampleC. Mentee-specific skills (how mentees can help mentoring sessions)Remember that the mentor is volunteering their timeTake responsibility for your own learningBe respectful and set realistic expectations from sessionsBe open about any needs and provide feedback to mentorTake appropriate risksBe flexible and get the most out of itV. How Will We Know We’re Successful?A. Plans for evaluating the programFormative Evaluation: Information that is collected during the mentoring program and after so it can improve the program. Many parts will be focuses on this evaluation such as job satisfaction, work performance, length of participant’s tenure in the organization, alteration in work culture, changes of demographics of promoted employees, and other notable effects.Summative Evaluation: Information collected at the end of the program to determine whether or not it achieved its objectives. This evaluation focuses on what the goals were set at the beginning of the program and be able to see what went right and what went wrong that led to the final results.VI.Final ThoughtsA. FeedbackEmployee Survey: This survey is given to mentors and mentees a month after the program is finished to give feedback on how it was all conducted. It gives the leaders of the program what they got out of the program and how it has affected them since it ended. This survey can show what the potential the program can have on employees.B. Final quote“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn” -Benjamin FranklinThis quote shows how being told to do something is short-lived, being taught something is more memorable but learning something is MUNICATIONIs a means of exchanging and conveying information across a sender and a receiver. There are 3 main forms of communication, face to face feedback, internal, and external. Face to face feedback is the best form of communication because body language, dialect, tone, and gestures can display a person’s comfort with the material presented and any misunderstandings can be resolved right away. Internal communication is through emails, text messages, and newsletter; whereas, external communication is transferred through third party and/or social media. 8% of respondents contributed responses regarding munication with other employees/departmentso “Effective communication”o “Communication”How to effectively incorporate communication skills in the workplaceMeasure current communication levels (and/or lack thereof) and aim for improvementAcknowledge changes in attitudes and behaviorsTrack productivity Measure turnover ratesUnderstand the benchmark standardEnsure the availability of resources in terms of: Rules and regulationsHandbooks and newslettersTeam communications and associationsVirtual meetings, telephones, emails, I.M.SociabilitySocial media, networking events, lunch rooms, common areasFocusing on the overall goalUnderstanding communication barriersNon-verbal communicationsEstablishing a common groundDeveloping active listening skillsUnderstanding the impact of both effective and ineffective communicationPresentational speaking and writing skillsCROSS-TRAININGThe action or practice of training or being trained in more than one role or skill. Employees learn new skills and their value in the workplace increases enabling them to fight position fatigue. All together gains include job enlargement, job enrichment, and job rotation. Although, it may slow down the productivity of the organization, cross-training will increase efficiency. Cross-training may be dispersed amongst employees who are wanting to grow and develop within the company. These employees will be learning a variety of skill sets such as: adaptability and department-focused skills.36% of respondents contributed responses regarding training/cross training.o“New trainings in new and different areas out of our comfort zone seeingwhat other states organizations/park departments or district are doing andto possible improve our skills to make parks better and buildings better”o “More cross training. High potentials should have an opportunity to alsowork in other areas as a way of harvesting new ideas and skills. Ourdepartments have "like" resources”How to effectively cross-train employees:Create a culture of collective success-676274442913Make clear organizational values to support their employees at points of strengths and weaknessesShow employees their capacity and how their work benefits the organization Set formal expectationsWritten and signed contract dispersed to employees, clarifying the following:job description: ensuring all parties are aware of the tasks they must complete with their designated titleexpectations held by higher up management: consequences if expectations are not met: verbal/written warnings, write-ups, suspensions, terminationDevelop a feedback mechanism Allow for healthy feedback amongst all parties during/after training sessionsOne-on-One trainer vs. trainee meetings after training sessionsProvide additional resources and supportAvailable cross-training videos: what was learned, skills, adaptabilityCAREER PATHA composition of jobs performed and skills developed that make up one’s overall career plan. Paving a good path for the future will overall enhance the success level of one’s overall goal. Working towards your goal from early on can lead to the enhancement of mental health by reducing last minute stress and strains. This will affect the overall outcome of one’s success. 39% of respondents contributed responses regarding career pathing/currentOpportunities.? Career Pathingo “Develop a plan to engage employees and create a career path”o “Provide clear advancement goals/positions”o “It would be helpful if it was made clear how you can move up positionswithin working at the park district”? Sharing current opportunities at the park districto “Make it easier to find new opportunities to work or advance your career atthe park district”o “I would love to get emails regarding openings in other departments”How to better encourage employees to navigate their career path:Focus on the employees personal growthListen to what their goals areRecognize where they are in their planCreate a succession plan for employees with the drive and capability to grow and develop Send mass emails of the following:networking events: containing people of different departments (lower, equal, and higher levels)position openings for all departmentsMeet and greets for all levels of managementDevelop employees to be well-rounded leadersRotate employee rolesSupport Work-Life BalanceEncourage mentorships programsAllow for longer lunch breaks for internal interviewsJOB-BASED SKILLS TRAININGTECHNOLOGYActive Net is a cloud-based SaaS system catered towards Parks & Recreation employees who use its data and insights to manage their communities by engagement, operations and managing participation. The system offers: Program and Activity Registration: managing registration, configuring prices, building waitlists, communicating with participants, running activity sessionsFacility Management: -Facility Booking: includes Facility Reservation, which allows its customers to schedule facilities of the organization with an interactive map and calendar updates-Facility Operations: managing facility bookings, access to usage rates to maximize revenue, making updates and new reservations-Lockers and Equipment: customizing locker room by adding a graphical interface and using an integrated system to save time recovering equipment and including damage feesMembership Management: using a web-based software system to manage all areas of membership by tracking data, automating account management, engaging, integrating access control, etc. Marketing and Communication: engaging with customer base easier by creating targeted lists based on activity history and demographics, sending emails, offering donations/fundraising, expanding reach, etc. ChildCare Management: engaging with parents and ensuring satisfaction through registration options, payment plans, consumer access to information, calendars, etc. Reporting/Analytics: accessing data insights to make departmental decisions by customizing reports and gaining visibility into all departmental areasPoint of Sale: allowing customers to make any payments anywhere in the facilityBased on all the various aspects of ActiveNet, this system seems to be a reliable tool for parks & recreation employees to implement into their daily tasks. Below are some concerns that Oswegoland employees had with ActiveNet and the training they received: "To be more effective in my current job, the training I would need would be…”27% of respondents contributed responses regarding technology. The following themesemerged:? ActiveNeto “Active Network training would be beneficial for everyone, don't think we have scratched the surface of what we can do with this program”o “I would love additional training on reporting from ActiveNet”o “More in-depth Active training”? Other Systems:o “CompTIA "Trifecta" (A+. Net+, Security+) and CCNA R/S (Cisco)”o “Technology training on other systems that may be useful for our area”? Other Software:o “Excel training is always helpful for better understanding of data”"What challenges do you currently face in your job that training might help you overcome?”13% of respondents contributed responses regarding technology. The following themesemerged:? ActiveNet Trainingo “Active Network”o “ActiveNet training”? Other Technologyo “New technology to improve efficiency or new techniques in everyday work”o “Working with Fore system”o “Being able to run reports to get consistent numbers”Some participants expressed their concern in acquiring more knowledge about ActiveNet to become more efficient at their job, while some suggested using other systems to perform better, such as Fore, Excel, CompTIA, Trifecta and Cisco. Due to the lack of structured technological training that is already being implemented at Oswegoland, our group recommends training employees on ActiveNet more extensively rather than using other systems that Oswegoland employees aren’t familiar with. Oswegoland’s Current Technological Training: Training on ActiveNet just includes the basics. There is a group of 4-5 individuals within the organization that trainees can communicate with if any issues or questions arise regarding the training, but there is no feedback or follow-up from it. The training consists of a conference that outlines the features for the average user and a few webinar trainings. COACHINGCoaching is a lot of times seen as mentoring. Coaching is when an experienced or skilled individual provides an employee with advice and guidance intended to help develop the individual’s skills, performance and career. This method can improve employee and organizational resiliency and effectiveness. The overall purpose is to improve one’s performance on the job, which can lead to many opportunities in an organization and be able to provide job enlargement.As every method out there, there are steps to implement coaching. These steps are to appropriately carry out the plan into effect and show what each step brings to the objective. Step 1: Put the employee at ease (very important if coaching is in response to poor performance)Make them feel comfortable so they are able to stay focus and regain informationStep 2: Find out what they already know It's not productive to teach them what they already knowPrior knowledge is a foundation to be built upon onStep 3: Present information or demonstrate work methodsDeliver the contentStep 4:Repeat Review/Summarize material again for understanding and retentionStep 5: Evaluate learningTest whether the employee understands the info or have the employee perform the skillStep 6: Provide feedbackAcknowledgement and improvements Step 7: CorrectIf needed, clarify any misunderstandingsStep 8: Evaluate performance on the jobPeriodically check to see whether the employee is using the knowledge/skills effectively on the jobStep 9: RewardThese are meant as incentives that shows the individual being coached that working hard can lead to benefits. It also shows appreciation to the individual on how well they did.SAFETYAll employees are obligated to be informed and aware of safety guidelines. These include: Providing for the safety of the public and other employeesRecognizing and reporting unsafe conditionsKeeping work areas clean and organizedReporting all injuriesFollowing safe job proceduresTo ensure that employees fulfill their responsibilities, safety is an included measure in each employee’s performance evaluation Oswegoland’s Current Safety Training: The Safety Committee is a group of 5-8 individuals within the organization who make procedures and oversee training for employeesCPR Training: CPR certification for rec employees if certificate expires First Aid training optional if employees sign up for itCrisis situation workshop14 min video in a classroom setting Brief presentation on fire extinguisher instructionsOfficer talk about active shooter and blood procedures by Stan SzpytekHowever, safety training hasn’t been standardized in years, according to Keith Zalewski. The Health Committee is mostly responsible for setting up training guidelines and programs by implementing annual goals and is mostly concerned with providing safety procedures to recreational employees, who are more physical and hands-on regarding their exposure to safety risks. There is also no reports concerning this aspect of training for any employees besides the recreational ones. Oswegoland PD would like to conduct CPR certification and training in-house, but currently they pay for employees to be trained externally. Survey Response: "To be more effective in my current job, the training I would need would be…” 18% of respondents contributed responses regarding safety. The following themes emerged: ? Crisis management o “Emergency evacuation or active shooter evacuation training for various buildings” ? CPR/First-Aid o “CPR, first aid” o “Renewal of CPR training with First Aid” Based on the participants of the survey, a few expressed safety concerns that would be more effective towards their job and security, including knowledge of basic procedures like CPR, first aid, and active shooter/emergency evacuation training. Safety should be an important hallmark for trainings, because it provides employees the reassurance of security in their surroundings. Research shows that implementing a well-planned safety training program leads to lower insurance premiums, less productivity loss, higher employee satisfaction, reduced worker compensation, protection from liability lawsuits, and prevents future accidents (connecteam). Oswegoland recommends holding a crisis situation workshop and offering CPR/first-aid certification renewal for those required (typically recreational employees). Based upon survey responses and the need for safety training to become a mandatory standard for the training process, it is our recommendation to hold safety topics every month for 30-45 minutes so all areas of this topic can be covered and employees will become more confident reviewing this type of training each month. ORGANIZATIONAL KNOWLEDGEPerhaps one of the main areas of training that gets overlooked is organizational understanding-a basis for why an employee chooses to work with this organization and how Oswegoland can further provide their staff with updates and information about their PD. It’s important for employees to become acknowledged of the job they were hired for during their orientation, but it is up to the PD to uphold this organizational understanding throughout their career employment at Oswegoland. With this aspect of training tackled, employees can gain a sense of job fulfillment through becoming aware of how their values align with their job, along with other areas of the organization that is important for their consideration of why they decided to join the PD and why they decide to stay. Oswegoland has already taken steps to further their employees’ understanding of the PD by creating a Values Committee that aims to demonstrate the PD’s values by sending out emails and meeting reminders to employees, conducting values meetings, and relying on person to person relationships. However, values training is not a structured process. As stated earlier, it is important for the staff to learn and incorporate organizational values within their jobs, inside and out, to provide a better environment for others and become aligned with the organization’s outlook on how they want to be perceived as. Other aspects of organizational understanding that employees mentioned in the survey that they would have liked to expand on is shown here in the report: “In general, what THREE training topics do you think ALL Oswegoland Park District employees need to take?10% of respondents contributed responses regarding organizational understanding. ? Operations o “Understanding what other departments do/biggest issues” o “Interdepartmental awareness - What are they doing over there” o “Knowledge of facilities” ? Values o “Values training and applying those to work” o “Values” Interdepartmental awareness, facility knowledge, and values training seem to be a concern for 10% of the employees who were asked on what other topics would be required for all employees to be trained on. Another area of organizational understanding that falls into this topic would be finance and budget knowledge, of which is mentioned in the survey as well: "What challenges do you currently face in your job that training might help you overcome?”13% of respondents contributed responses regarding finance. The following themes emerged: ? Budget o “Budget--in terms of what is expected for % revenue generated...everyone is different across the board” o “Budget creation” o “Budget/Financial management” ? Funding o “Understanding the ways a major capital project can be funded using bonds, levies, and referendums” Not becoming familiar with the budget and funding is a concern for 13% of participants who suggest that having more understanding of finance allocation within the organization would help overcome challenges in their jobs. Although this is a smaller percentage than other other concerns that participants have, becoming more aware of the organizational processes seems to be a reoccuring theme that can be addressed with further organizational training that can fall under the wing of the Value Committee.Oswegoland proposes to solve this solution by recommending a Leadership Development Program, which has already been undertaken in this training plan, but the Organizational Knowledge training would just be a sub-category of Skills Development training because becoming more aware of the PD will help employees conduct their jobs better. PROJECT/TIME MANAGEMENTManaging time efficiently is a skill that most employers expect out of employees that are not realistically aligned with the type of skills that employees have. Nobody really gets taught on how to manage time, so it is empirical in order to maximize productivity in the workforce that time management is an aspect of training that the organization provides. Managing time wisely in the workplace leads to better work quality, more productivity, more opportunities for growth, and timely delivery for the organization. Honing in on this skill would be a benefit for both the employee and the organization, as it would provide more productivity and better outcomes in the workplace from a well-rounded, growing individual. Project Management is yet another area of concern for employees that was expressed in the survey that is an important part of conducting the job efficiently. Specifically, project management entails “initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing the work of a team to achieve specific goals and meet specific success criteria at the specified time”. Whilst being occupied with multiple tasks, whether it includes the project or not, time management is a part of executing this category effectively as well. Without managing projects, employees would be subject to misaligning the goals of the finished product and missing success criterias. In order to keep project members on track, more direction would be needed from supervision and developing the types of skills that would help group members reach the goals of the project for a better outcome. According to the survey, this area of management is a concern from the types of challenges that the participants faced in Oswegoland, as stated: "What challenges do you currently face in your job that training might help you overcome?”11% of respondents contributed responses regarding time/project management. The following themes emerged: ? Time management o “Time management” o “Consistent time in each day to do the actual work that needs to be done” ? Project management o “Project management might help” Currently, Oswegoland has no type of training in regards to this challenge, as well as having no recommendations for overcoming this concern, but since it is a category that falls under job-based skill development, Oswegoland recommends incorporating a skill development process for employees, which has been undertaken in this training plan under multiple sub-categories. Developing time and project skills are essential to the productivity of the workplace and further affects the competencies that employees have within themselves. It doesn’t have to be a huge part of the training process, but since it has been mentioned by participants that it is a challenge they are looking for the organization to help them overcome, we suggest allocating at least two sessions a year to teach these skills for a more productive member of the PD.LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENTTEAMWORK / TEAM BUILDINGGroup of people that will work together efficiently and effectively using their individual skills and knowledge to resolve issues and to share knowledge. Each individual has their own set of talents, skills, and flaws, so working together with a diverse group of people will increase their effectiveness and will be beneficial in addressing everyone's needs.7% of respondents contributed responses regarding relationship building/teamwork.? Relationship buildingo “Build good working relationships with coworkers”o “Interpersonal relationships”? Teamworko “Teamwork basics”o “Team building”13% of respondents contributed responses regarding team building.? Building a teamo “Effective ways to become a team, team building activities”? Team Motivationo “Team motivation and engagement”Teamwork basics:All departmental heads are the leaders of their own department and are required to develop their own team. The departmental heads will be given training on how to effectively build a team. How to build a friendly team:Empowering staffCivil engagement amongst each other/managementEmployee BondingFun designated activities outside of workEstablish a personal connection with the teamEstablish the same level of respect towards all team membersEnsure each member understands what is socially acceptable and unacceptableEnsure all members are aware of ethical vs unethical behaviorEradicate any harmful or dangerous behaviorEncourage and support one anotherHow to build a productive team:Motivational energyEncourage employees to want to come to workattitudes, behaviorsImprove job satisfactionImprove task efficiencyPersonal tips and skillsFriendly tips on how to overcome stressHow to maneuver multiple tasks at onceTips on how to improve on designated tasksTracking of productivityRecognize areas of improvementGive healthy feedbackIncentivesPERFORMANCE EVALUATION Performance Evaluation:We want to ensure employees are receiving the most effective training to perform efficiently. To do this, we have come up with a few steps to evaluate performance mid- training and after training. In order to improve performance, we have a variety of different routes we can pursue.Step 1: Short Interactive QuizzesThis can be given before, during, or after training sessions. We can implement these quizzes through e-learning or hand-written during training.This will be used to measure the overall progress and effectiveness of the training, as well as, the employee retainability level. Step 2: Anonymous FeedbackCollecting anonymous feedback will allow for employees to give honest feedback without the worry of being reprimanded for their opinion. This will be collected during and/or after training sessions to ensure the material is being absorbed.This will be at no cost to Oswegoland. This is because we can collect this feedback both virtually and physically.The trainers can collect written recommendations through a drop box, where employees will deposit the feedback in an enclosed box to ensure the feedback is anonymously secured. To collect feedback virtually, we can use a variety of different free online survey/questionnaire websites. For example, poll-everywhere is a free online site where presenters can ask questions to a group of people (so long as they have the code in which the presenter will be given when starting the presentation). They can also use it throughout training for step 1.Step 3: Video Training/Voice-overs We can use activenet to do this. This is where employees will have full access to throughout their employment. This way, in case they need to refer to the basics sometime in the future, or perhaps did not understand the first time around, they will have “retraining” readily available, without costing the company for extra training hours. Step 4: One - on - OneOne-on-one meetings will overall help the employees tackle any specific difficulties they may have with the material they learned in training. This one-on-one will be conducted between the employee and their supervisor. Though we realize it may be difficult for supervisors to take the time to do this for every new employee, we would like to conduct it based on supervisors observation. If the supervisor notices certain employees falling behind, this would be most useful. RECOMMENDATIONSBased upon the research conducted and survey analysis, our team recommends for Oswegoland to first create a Training Committee so the plan becomes a more structured process that is held accountable under a group of individuals. It will be easier for employees to become managed under designated members, which can then be involved in other committees as well. Secondly, this report is an overview of the training plan deliverable, which contains more details of the process. We recommend for Oswegoland PD to analyze whether the budget and plan are within the organization’s feasibility and reality of execution. We realize the plan is a more structured and organized process than the current one implemented, which is why we expect the PD to ease into it slowly until the plan becomes a complete process by the fifth year. We would like for Oswegoland to increasingly implement parts of the training and internalize the process more, all while budget spending will slowly decrease by year 5. LIMITATIONSThe project had a few limitations pertaining to the work that the group put into the training plan. The first limitation was lack of knowledge and structure of the group members as it relates to creating a training plan. Although the class is set up to be an applied consulting experience, our group didn’t realize how much outside work would be unrelated to the coursework, which was a challenge as most of our college courses have material related to the assignments. The second limitation was the client’s lack of structure and knowledge of the training plan, which was challenging to work around because we had the same problem. Although our client was flexible and open-minded, the limitation of where he wanted the direction of the training plan to go was difficult for the group to get started on the work in the beginning, as well as lack of reporting on training on the client’s behalf. FUTURE CONSIDERATIONSThis section explains the routes that our group could have taken if we had the chance to do our project over again, which was agreed upon unanimously amongst each member that our efforts outweighed any doubts on our deliverables. Although the beginning of the project was slow and difficult, we began to understand the scope of the project as time progressed and we gained an understanding of what a training plan really is based upon research and reports given to us. The only aspect we could have improved upon is communicating with our client and our professor better about our confusion, as it could have sped up the process with our deliverables. Other than that, we are confident that our work will be useful for the client to consider as he takes the steps to implement this into his organization.NOTE OF APPRECIATIONOur group wants to thank the Oswegoland Park District organization for providing us with the opportunity to expand our experience working as consultants. We appreciate the chance given to interact with a “real-life” scenario as it pertains to consultant management, and hope our work is just valuable to you as it is to us. We understand that the staff members are hard at work, so we value the time that Keith set aside for our group, and for him to know it wasn’t taken for granted. We would also like to dedicate our thanks to his patience and understanding as UIC undergraduate students working on an applied learning project for the first time. We hope our project is of use to the staff to implement in the near future. Thank you.APPENDIX ................
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