Running head: TRAINING PROGRAM PLAN 1

Training Program Plan

Joe Strickland

AET/570

May 15, 2017

Dr. Gregory Dlabach

TRAINING PROGRAM PLAN 2

Training Program Plan

ABC Debt Relief (ABCDR) is a national financial services company that has been in

business since 2002 and specializes in helping people who are struggling to repay unsecured

debts such as personal loans, credit cards, and medical bills. The company grew at a slow and

steady pace until 2015, and then doubled in size in less than two years. This growth was fueled

initially by doubling the size of the New Client Enrollment department, which in turn fueled

tremendous growth in the number of customers. The other departments within ABCDR had to

grow as well to keep up with the growth. Currently the company has approximately 1,600

employees with plans to grow to 3,000 employees in the next 24 months. With this new growth,

a need exists for improvement in the New Hire Training Program for the New Client Enrollment

Department.

Description of Training Program

The current new hire training program for the New Client Enrollment department

squeezes a lot of information into two weeks of in-classroom training for new debt consultants.

While the information is adequate from a knowledge standpoint, too much information is given

in too short of a time period. The purpose of the new training program will be to focus on

retention and application of the information presented during training.

Currently new hire training ends at the end of the two week classroom training period.

That will change in the new training program. The goal of the program will be ensure that the

new debt consultants are able to retain the information they learn, and will incorporate more

skills training. This training program will apply to newly hired debt consultants and will include

three full weeks of classroom training followed by 6 weeks of ongoing new hire training after the

debt consultant begins working in their new role. The change is necessary to ensure that the debt
TRAINING PROGRAM PLAN 3

consultants achieve a better letter of readiness rather than just learning on the fly as they go

along. The objectives of the new training program will be to provide the new debt consultants

with the knowledge, the technical skills, and the consulting skills needed to succeed in an

environment that is becoming increasingly competitive as new companies enter the industry.

The added week of classroom training will help achieve these goals and objectives. Specific

milestones will need to be met each week related to knowledge, technical skills, and consulting

skills. The current new hire training only has one milestone the final test at the end of the two

weeks that must be completed with a score of at least 80 to graduate from training. The new

training will incorporate modules and quizzes to help measure progress rather than relying on

one multiple choice test. The weekly training sessions beyond the initial training class will

emphasize best practices used by top performers to help the new debt consultants hone their

skills.

The end result of this improved training program will be better-prepared debt consultants

who feel confident in their ability to be successful in their new role. Currently the ramp up

period takes too long for many of these consultants because there is too much learning on the

fly. A structured, well-planned new hire training and follow up training program will add

consistency and improve results, which will help fuel the continued growth of the company.

Needs Analysis

The training program introduction identified some of the needs that warrant the

revamping of the new hire training program, and these needs were not subjective. A needs

analysis is an evaluation to determine what changes need to be made (Titcomb, 2000). A needs

analysis was conducted using three common techniques to determine areas of opportunity for

improvement. Initially, room for improvement was identified through observation of post new
TRAINING PROGRAM PLAN 4

hire training experiences. Most new hire classes consist of approximately 15 new debt

consultants. In general, perhaps one or two of these consultants hit the ground running in terms

of enrollment new clients into the debt relief program. However, most of the debt consultants

struggled to perform at the expected level. Some of them missed their quota goals for their first

two enrollments months, which was unexpected since the quota requirements were purposely

low those first two months.

Observing both the discrepancy between the one or two who excelled and the rest of the

class who either struggled or just didnt get off to a fast start established the fact that a change in

training was needed. This required the leadership team to take a closer look at performance

reviews in the initial 90 days of employment for new hires in the last 10 training classes. They

found some consistency amongst those 10 classes in terms of production for the first and second

month after training. As mentioned previously, there were one or two new debt consultants in

each class that strongly exceeded expectations. These top performers were spread out amongst

different teams after training, so there was no clear correlation between their performance and

the team they ended up on. This eliminated management as the reason for their success. It was

determined that perhaps they were just better sales people and were naturally gifted. The other

observation was that with the vast majority of the other new hires, aside from the few that missed

quota, that it took two months before they started to achieve anything close to the level of

success the compared desired for the debt consultant role.

Senior management and learning development management took the time to interview

new hires and their direct supervisors to try to glean some additional understanding. The

overwhelming consensus was that new hires felt inadequately prepared by their initial new hire

training, and that follow-up training was not uniform amongst all teams. The quality of the
TRAINING PROGRAM PLAN 5

follow up training tended to depend more on direct supervisors than any kind of formal training

from qualified trainers. Through observation, performance reviews, and interviews the need for

making adjustments to new hire training was very apparent.

Budget

Up until this point, new hire training has been conducted primarily by one corporate

trainer and product knowledge experts that she brought in from different departments. She also

handles training for other departments, which puts a big strain on her time. In order to fully

execute an effective improvement plan, the learning and development department will need to

hire a new full time trainer for the new hire training program. In addition, the new training will

incorporate three to four days of on the job training in a training classroom for the new hires.

This will be a new part of the training process and will require additional equipment in order to

carry out the plan. The cost will primarily come from new computers, phones, cubicles and

office chairs for the training room that will be used for the on the phone training. The facilities

are already in place for this, as there are extra rooms than can be used for this training. Some

expenses that might be typical in a new training program will fortunately not apply to this

training plan since this is essentially a rewriting of a plan that has already been in place. There

will be no need to spend extra money on facilities, materials, or technical support staff since that

has already been taken care of within the companys existing budget.

The budget for this revamping will be completely funded through the learning and

development department at ABC Debt Relief and will not need additional fundraising to achieve.

The company has already allocated the funds necessary for this improvement plan. The new

expenses mainly consist of hiring the new trainer and purchasing new equipment.
TRAINING PROGRAM PLAN 6

Budget Item Cost Description Total

New trainer $60,000 salary $90,000 annual

$30,000 benefits, retirement,
etc.
Equipment - 15 cubicles, 15 15 cubicles @ $200ea = $3,000 $10,875 one time

Avaya phones, 15 computers 15 phones @ $50ea = $750

with accessories, 15 office 15 comp. @ $400ea = $6,000

chairs 15 chairs @ $75ea = $1,125

IT Staff Already employed NA

Product experts Already employed NA

Travel Not required NA

Materials New hire manuals $10 each, 15 new hires per class $1,800 annual

Facilities Already in place NA

Supplies Already budgeted companywide NA

Miscellaneous NA NA

Total Cost: $102,675

Staffing

The primary additions needed for staffing the new and improved new hire training

program will be the new trainer and the new time requirements for the knowledge and skill

experts. These experts will primarily be new client enrollment team leads who will participate in

the final three to four days of training when the new hires have on the job training. In order to

make sure this new hire training is led by an expert, a new job opening will be created and cross
TRAINING PROGRAM PLAN 7

posted on a number of online jobs websites. To avoid unnecessary turnover costs, it is important

to find the right candidate (Columbia University, 2017). The qualifications for this new trainer

will be as follows:

3+ years of call center training experience

Experience specific to onboarding and new hire training
Experience in training course design
Background in financial services
Superior communication and presentation skills
Bachelor's Degree in marketing, communication, training, or a related field

This new corporate trainer will be a full time salaried employee working 40-45 hours each week.

He or she will work in conjunction with the current corporate trainer to team-train the new hires

and to take care of the responsibilities of the post new hire trainings.

No additional staff will need to be hired, but there will be new responsibilities for some

of the staff that participates in the training process. In the final week of training, the new debt

consultants will be on the phone making outbound calls to older leads in the system to get

practice in live conversations and live practice with the everyday systems they need to become

familiar with for their jobs. During this on the job training sessions, three existing ABCDR

Team Leads will be available in the room to assist with coaching and questions. There will be

two three hour sessions each of the 3-4 days of this part of the training, and Team Leads will take

turns participating in this responsibility. They will have the ability to listen to live calls and offer

coaching to the debt consultant as needed. In addition, one member of the current IT staff will

be on call specifically to handle any technical issues that may arise for the new hires in the

training room.

The two corporate trainers and the learning and development leadership team will also be

available periodically during on the job training, but will focus primarily on evaluating the Team

Leads during that time. One of the primary roles of a Team Lead is to coach his or her team
TRAINING PROGRAM PLAN 8

members in effective practices, and the training team will observe this process in the on the job

training room. This will help with ongoing training for Team Leads to improve their own

coaching and training skills.

Stakeholders and Goals

Stakeholders (minimum of
Partnership goal Ways to build support
five)
Present needs analysis as well
Agree to plan to hire new
Vice President of Phoenix as new training plan and how
corporate trainer to help with
Operations the plan will achieve desired
training implementation
outcomes
Demonstrate need for better
Sign off on implementation of
Vice President of New Client and more complete new hire
redesigned new hire training
Enrollment training based on
plan
performance reviews
Provide a high quality
Provide training and
Director of Learning and corporate trainer that will
instruction to the newly hired
Development need minimal training and
corporate trainer
coaching to get started
Brainstorming meetings
Develop plan with Team
New Client Enrollment between management and
Leads surrounding on the job
Managers Learning and Development
training goals
leaders
Ensure they understand the
Implement coaching and desired outcomes of the on
New Client Enrollment Team
listening techniques during on the job training portion of
Leads
the job training new hire training.
Demonstrate the benefits.
Find and interview the Provide recruiter with clear
highest quality candidates for expectations for the role.
Senior Recruiter
the new corporate trainer Provide competitive salary
position and benefits for the position

Communication Plan
TRAINING PROGRAM PLAN 9

Communication in the implementation of the new hire training will be key in getting buy-

in from the stakeholders and in laying the groundwork for a successful revamp of the program.

The logo, slogan, and fact sheet below will assist in marketing the message of the new hire

training program.

Providing our valued new hires with the tools

necessary to excel in their new roles.

Fact Sheet
Who: Corporate Trainer, New Hires, Team Leads

What: ABC Debt Relief New and Improved New Hire Training

Where: Training and Development Building, Rooms 1 and 2

When: Monthly, first three weeks of the month

Why: To increase the readiness of new debt consultants and to improve their skills before they

are live on the sales floor.

How: New hires will meet for three weeks (instead of two weeks as in prior classes) Monday

through Friday from 8am to 5pm. The first two weeks will be classroom training headed
TRAINING PROGRAM PLAN 10

by the Corporate Trainer, with guest appearances by product knowledge and skills experts

(the Team Leads) to offer specialized trainings. The final week of training will now be on-

the-job training with Team Leads present to offer relevant live coaching and assistance for

the new hire class.

Benefits of the Training Program

As has already been established, a large gap has existed between new debt consultants

coming out of training and their counterparts that have been in their roles for months. This is to

be expected on some level because experience can improve performance; however, with proper

improved training the new hires will be able to more quickly adapt to the challenges of their

position and will produce at a better level from the start of their initial probationary period. The

current new hire training leans heavily toward reading and memorizing a large amount of

information, and does not incorporate an adequate amount of skills training to help the

consultants be ready to interact with potential clients on day one. This was done by design since

one requirement to be hired as a debt consultant is a significant sales background. However, the

debt consultant role is unique, and best practices should be learned and practiced prior to

stepping foot on the sales floor.

In sales, there seldom is a reason to reinvent the wheel (Schroeder, 2016). A large number

of tenured debt consultants at ABC Debt Relief have been successful, and their best practices

should be emulated. The major benefits of the improved new hire training program are centered

on sharing those best practices with the new hires. Throughout the two weeks of classroom

instruction, the new hires will have mini training sessions with Team Leads who are there to

teach the skills portion of the job. The corporate trainer will provide the new hires with the

knowledge needed to perform the basics of the roles. Finally, rather than simply throw the new
TRAINING PROGRAM PLAN 11

hires onto the sales floor with no closely monitored experience, the on the job training week will

give them the opportunity to hone the best practices they learned in the classroom. With the

Team Leads there to assist them, they will be a step ahead when they begin full time work on the

phones as certified debt consultants.

Promotional Channels

The new hire training program is not optional and must be completed as part of the

onboarding process. Most new hires come to a new job ready to learn and striving to get all the

information they can about their new roles. The importance of the experiences with the Team

Leads will be promoted by setting the Team Leads up as the experts. Stat sheets will be shared

with the new hire class to show the improvement of previous new hires over the course of their

probationary period, and emphasis will be placed on the length of time it has taken to achieve

that level of success. The implementation of the third week of training will be promoted as the

way for the new hires to more quickly become successful in their role, and in turn begin making

the amount of money they set out to make.

Program Evaluation

Effective implementation of the plan will be crucial for the plan to succeed. Marketing

the message and getting support and buy in from all of the stakeholders will also play a large role

in its success. However, the only way to know if the redesigned new hire training actually is a

success is by having an effective program evaluation plan to measure its outcomes. An important

component in Kirkpatricks evaluation model is level four the results (Training Industry, 2017).

The new hire trainer will play a role in measuring the effectiveness, but in order to avoid a

conflict of interest, the Vice President of New Client Enrollment will select a few Sales

Managers and Team Leads to form a committee that will develop the evaluation form with the
TRAINING PROGRAM PLAN 12

appropriate metrics outlined. The individuals in these roles are responsible for the success of

tenured consultants on a day to day basis, and they know what success looks like. The purpose

of the program evaluation will be to determine if the changes made to new hire training truly do

move the needle in a positive direction for these new hires. In other words, the goal of the

evaluation is to especially determine if the additional third week of new hire training pays off

and is warranted.

The metrics that will be used in this evaluation will primarily center on new enrollments

into the debt relief program. As previously stated, meeting quota had not been an issue in prior

classes, but quota was very low by design. Since the goal of the revamped new hire training is to

speed up the success of the new hires, the primary metric that will be examined is how quickly

the new consultants achieved the weekly milestone of seven new enrollments. In the past, it took

on average six weeks for a new debt consultant to achieve this number of new enrollments in a

week. With new hire training being extended by one week, the goal is now to have the new hires

achieve the seven weekly enrollment milestone within four weeks. If this does happen, then it

can be deemed that the redesign of the new hire training was successful.

The data will be collected using the current data collection techniques in the new client

enrollment department. Each week, the data is compiled by the admin team into a report that

goes to the Team Leads, Sales Managers, Corporate Trainers involved in new hire training, and

the Vice President of New Client Enrollment. The data will be very clear and easy to interpret,

so it will not take long to determine if the training program is successful. Management has

already agreed to allow six full training classes to go through the new training program to

determine if it can be called a success.

TRAINING PROGRAM PLAN 13

Conclusion

ABC Debt Relief has long been an industry leader in the debt settlement field, and has

seen exponential growth in a short period of time. The quick training and development of new

debt consultants is necessary to further fuel the growth needed for the company to meet its goals

over the next 24 months. An impactful new hire training program is vital to the preparation and

success of those debt consultants as they begin their careers at ABCDR. This new hire training

program plan will implement the changes that will help these debt consultants more quickly

become successful in their new roles.

TRAINING PROGRAM PLAN 14

References

Columbia University. (2017). Planning Staffing Needs. Retrieved from

http://hr.columbia.edu/helpful-tools/hr-manager-toolkit/recruitment-hiring/planning-

staffing-needs

Schroeder, J. (2016, August). Millennials, Don't Reinvent The Wheel. Retrieved from

https://www.forbes.com/sites/julesschroeder/2016/08/11/millennials-dont-reinvent-the-

wheel-why-you-dont-need-a-novel-business-idea-to-be-successful/#567dbbca9a1e

Titcomb, A. (2000, Spring). Needs Analysis. Retrieved from

https://extension.arizona.edu/evaluation/sites/extension.arizona.edu.evaluation/files/docs/

needs.pdf

Training Industry. (2017). Four Levels of Evaluation. Retrieved from

https://www.trainingindustry.com/wiki/entries/four-levels-of-evaluation.aspx