Training in the Canadian Parent Company

The Canadian partner, Canadian Telecommunications International (CTI) conducts its training programs in the typical North American way. CTI hires its management trainees mainly from Canadian universities through advertisements and campus screening interviews. Candidates are then invited for an interview at corporate headquarters where the human resource manager does the initial job interview and provides a short list to department managers who conduct a hiring interview and make the final hiring decision.

Hiring criteria are based on (in descending order of priority):

1. University grades, especially in field of specialization;

2. Extra-curricular activities (whether the candidate played any leader­ship role during his/her study period, e.g., in student organizations);

3. Relevant job experiences (desirable, but not essential);

4. Language skills (especially second official language);

5. Personal impression during interview.

Candidates are hired according to their specialities, e.g., management, marketing, finance, accounting, engineering. They go through a two-day orientation program during which executives explain company policies and goals and HRM specialists talk about career paths and the benefit package. Following the orientation, employees are introduced by their supervisors to their work teams and given their first assignment. After six months the new employees have their first performance review. If supervisors identify specific shortcom­ings, they will recommend either available internal training programs or, if not, relevant outside programs for which CTI will pay the fees if the employee completes them successfully.

CTI has a training department (TD) with a manager and three in­structors. The TD conducts annual training needs analyses by asking supervi­sors to make suggestions as to what topics should be offered during the fol­lowing year. The training manager then decides whether it is feasible to de­velop an internal training program or whether it will be less costly to send employees to programs offered elsewhere.

Decide:1) what is the difference between training and development? 2) what are the advantages and disadvantages of each training system? 3) which training approach is more effective (for the company, employees)? 4) do you know the key statements that should be included in the design, conduct and evaluation of training programs? If so, what are they? 5) could you give an example of the productive company training approach?

CASE 2

«BUSINESS APPROPRIATE» DRESS CODE

Chris Wilson is employed as an account officer with Central Canada Trust Company. He emigrated from Great Britain to Canada when the em­ployment situation at home deteriorated during the late nineties. He joined Central Canada Trust shortly after his arrival.

Chris came from a large family, and since his father could not afford to pay for a college education Chris worked his way through college, holding evening jobs and working during the summer. He graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree. His grades were not impressive, but he would say, "I went through the school of hard knocks. I know the requirements for doing a good job, and good grades are not one of them!"

He was an active member of the Anglican Church and attended church services regularly. After two years in Canada, he joined the Pro­gressive Conservative Party and was selected twice as a local representative at party conventions. He was married and had two children.

Central Canada Trust Company is one of the smaller trust companies in Central Canada and has its main branch in Ottawa. Its services are aimed mainly at middle income earners, mostly civil servants. It takes great pride in the quality of its services, the company slogan being "You Can Trust Us." Every employee had to undergo a thorough orientation program and was afterwards trained regularly.

One of the company policies required that employees who had direct contact with customers had to follow a dress code, which specified that male employees had to wear dark or grey suits, white shirts and ties, and a hat when on duty outside the office. Female employees were asked not to wear pants, and to avoid "deep-cut" blouses. Most employees followed the code and very few could recall that anyone had been reprimanded for wearing some­thing objectionable. As a matter of fact, it was generally felt that management had relaxed the code because nothing had been said for quite some time.

On a hot day during the summer, shortly after his birthday, Chris came to the office wearing a modern safari suit with a yellow shirt and a nice tie. The outfit had been the collective birthday present from his wife and children. He looked very fashionable and elegant in it and several of the employees commented on it.

Shortly after his arrival on that day his direct supervisor, Nick Smith, called him in.

Nick: Chris, I am not happy that I have to do this, but Zhang Wei [the branch manager] was quite upset when he saw you coming in and he asked me to talk to you. As you know he has a Chinese upbringing and is very conservative. He asked me to remind you that our company's image is at stake when you don't wear a white shirt and a suitable tie.

Chris: Nick, you must be kidding. We aren't living in medieval times when companies could prescribe even private activities of employees. I know about the dress code, but it has never been enforced. Besides, this outfit looks very good on me, and some customers even commented positively about it.

Nick: Well, that may be. We haven't had a case like this for some time, but Mr. Zhang feels that you have gone too far. We have the policy and you were informed about it during the orientation program. You even con­firmed in writing that you had read it.

Chris: Yes, I read it, but you can't call my dress outrageous or offen­sive. It is modern, looks good and is certainly more comfortable than a three- piece suit, especially in these temperatures.

Nick: Personally I agree with you, but Mr. Zhang is adamant. He really feels that the image of the company is at stake. You know that we com­pete against the banks and that we try to be perceived by our customers as solid and trustworthy. Mr. Zhang thinks that the way our employees dress has an impact on this image. I have to give you an official warning, which be­comes part of your file. I am sorry about this, but I have to do it.

Chris: Well, I am not happy about it either, but if that is what the company wants, so let it be. It isn't that important to me.

Zhang Wei had been born in Hong Kong, but had come to Canada with his parents when he was fifteen. His father had been an unskilled laborer and had died at an early age, leaving Zhang Wei as the main breadwinner for the family. He had worked his way up in Central Can­ada Trust from a teller to branch manager and was very proud of his accom­plishment. He was considered a hard worker who expected a lot from his employees, and he was considered a fair supervisor.

Nick Smith had been hired as a management trainee after he graduated with a degree in economics from the University of Ottawa. He was considered to be a good manager and was well liked as a supervisor.

Chris was not too concerned about the incident. His performance was good enough that he received the highest merit pay increases in his depart­ment. He was convinced that Mr. Zhang would think twice before he would take any drastic action against a high performer.

Employees of the Central Canada Trust Company had been told that it would be good for the image of the company if employees were involved in community work. Management was even willing to compensate employees for certain expenses, e.g., taxi or bus fares, or the cost of a meal. Chris, for exam­ple, was a counsellor for the local Junior Achievers, a group of high school students who work on small business assignments under the guidance of ex­perienced managers.

A few weeks after the incident in the office, he was invited by Junior Achievers to give a presentation on sound financial management. Since it was part of a promotional campaign for the Achievers, a local TV station showed some excerpts during the evening news.

For the presentation, Chris had dressed casually since he knew the stu­dents quite well and he saw his talk as part of his regular work as a Junior Achiever Counsellor. He was not aware that the TV station had planned to broadcast part of the presentation.

The next day Nick Smith received a memo from Mr. Zhang which stated: Nick, I saw Chris Wilson yesterday evening on the TV news, giv­ing a public presentation. He wore a sport shirt and no tie. Since this is the second time he disregarded the company's dress code and my explicit warning a few weeks ago, I ask you to arrange for his immediate termination. We cannot tolerate employees who violate official company policies and challenge my authority. Nick immediately went to see Mr. Zhang and tried to change his mind, but to no avail. He was especially upset that Chris had appeared on TV and had been introduced as an employee of Central Canada Trust Company. He felt that since Chris had been warned about his inappropriate attire before, the second occasion was a deliberate snub.

Decide: 1) what does “business appropriate” dress code mean? 2) why do companies have dress codes? 3) who makes the decision on individual outfits? Is it legal? 4) could you give arguments for and against company dress codes? 5) what actions should be taken to solve the problem in the case?

CASE 3

Дата добавления: 2015-12-01