STRATEGIC TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT REPORT

The Training Top 125 for 2016

For the past 16 years, Training magazine has ranked organizations based on their employer-sponsored training and development programs.  The list below contains the top five organizations for 2016.

Details about the selection process and about all 125 organizations ranked by Training can be found at the magazine’s website:

https://trainingmag.com/training-magazine-ranks-2016-training-top-125-organizations

You should also browse the trainingmag.com website for additional articles related to the Top 125 list.  The January/February 2016 issue contains a wealth of information.  Since the top five companies in 2016 were also the top five companies in 2015, you should browse the trainingmag.com website for earlier articles about the company you choose to explore.

Prepare a 3 pages report based on your research. 

Using the criteria Training uses to rank organizations as well as from your own research, prepare a 3-5 page report about strategic training and development in your chosen organization.  Your report should include, but is not limited to, the following elements:

1.    A description of the organization and its major products and/or services (a brief description -- no more than two or three paragraphs).  Try to find information about the organization’s mission and/or goals and how its training function is organized.  The organization’s website and its annual report, particularly the letter to shareholders at the beginning of the annual report, are good sources of information.  Be sure to cite the specific web page where you found information used in your report. 

2.    An assessment of the characteristics of the organization that help it excel in training and development.  Include factors such as (but not limited to) the total budget for or amount of money spent on training and development; the level of employee involvement in training and development activities; the type(s) of training and development opportunities offered; the organization’s investment in and/or use of technology for training; and the availability of benefits such as tuition assistance.

3.    An assessment of how the TD function operates in the organization.  How is the TD function organized?  For a description of three training organizational models, read http://www.trainingindustry.com/wiki/entries/organizational-models-in-training.aspx.  Does the organization use training needs analyses (TNAs) to identify performance gaps or the need for new skills to support business strategies and initiatives?  Does the organization employ the ADDIE, RID, or Agile approaches to design training?  Do the TD professionals in the organization display any of the competencies described in the ATD competency model mentioned in the Week 1 lecture? links https://www.td.org/Publications/Blogs/ATD-Blog/2014/05/Talent-Development

      https://www.td.org/About

      http://www.astdnews.org

Support your opinions and statements with a minimum of four references from sources published within the last ten years.  You can cite scholarly and practitioner-oriented journals, course materials, newspaper articles, YouTube videos by or about the organization, the organization’s annual report, and the organization’s web site, but not Wikipedia, vendor websites, or other non-academic sources.  

Use APA format for citations, references, and quotations.  This means your list of references should start on a separate page, and should be double spaced, with a hanging indent and no spaces between entries.