SMART Goals and Training Patterns in CES Development

Introduction to SMART Goals in Training

According to Moskowitz (2008, p. 44), SMART goals are clear and concise and therefore more likely to be understood and acted upon. This principle forms the foundation for the training proposal developed for three Caribbean Express Shipping (CES) franchise store locations in the Palm Beach, Florida area. CES is a faux company used for instructional design purposes. The training proposal applies each component of the SMART goal framework to the specific operational challenges facing CES employees who package and handle shipments.

SMART Goal Framework for CES Training

A SMART goal, according to Moskowitz (2008) — an instructor who teaches training and development in a business and management program and founder of Training Q and A Consulting — is defined in A Practical Guide to Training and Development: Assess, Design, Deliver, and Evaluate as meeting five criteria:

In regard to being specific, the instructional designers plan to train all employees currently packaging items and handling packages across the three CES locations. For the goal to be measurable, trainers will routinely review damage-prevention training sign-in sheets to determine whether each employee attends the designated sessions. To be attainable and motivate behavior, the instructional designers will ensure that all goals are realistic and serve clearly defined purposes.

Article Review: Training Patterns and Employee Social Relations

Role-related goals will be designed to help employees who package and handle items improve in those specific areas, while also enabling them to better critique their own performance. Finally, the proposed training will be time-bound, aligned with the CES schedule and with the evident need to begin training as soon as possible in order to counter current challenges to the reputation for quality that CES strives to maintain.

Understanding the correlation between training models and relationship networks within an organization can offer insight into both the positive and negative ways that particular training patterns affect employees. In the study "Impact of Training Patterns upon the Social Relations of Employees," Sarwar of the Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan; Azhar of the Islamia University of Bahawalpur; and Akhtar (2011) of the University of Greenwich, UK, investigate how the diverse training patterns an organization practices affect the social relations of its employees. The literature-based study explored training-related concepts including training models, patterns, and methods, and addressed components such as learning, organizational relationships, and social networks.

Conclusion: Social Relationships and ADDIE

During the implementation of the unstructured pattern of training, employees more likely engaged in formal relations with each other, with advice and knowledge-seeking networks prevailing over friendly networks. The structured training pattern, by contrast, motivated employees to connect with one another in less formal ways, with friendly networks becoming more prevalent. Sarwar, Azhar, and Akhtar (2011) recommend that regardless of the model an organization or contracting group uses to train its in-house trainers, efficiency can be increased — and the benefits employees receive from training can ultimately be improved — by training the trainer.