Training Program Plan for the Sales Department of Great Western Manufacturing

This field project for the Masters of Science in Engineering Management at the University ofKansas was designed to provide a layout for a training program for the Sales Department of GreatWestern Manufacturing. It began with a literature review on how adults learn, the types of trainingprograms available, and information on designing training programs. Through the literature review,it was determined that adults learn best through repetition and scenario based training.A questionnaire was distributed to the Sales staff and production managers at Great WesternManufacturing. The questionnaire was focused on the opinions of both veteran employees and newstaff within the Sales department. Based on the idea that the production staff would know betterwhere sales lacked at delivering the necessary information for production, a second questionnairewas created for production supervisors to get a sense of what the supervisors thought should beincluded in the sales training program. The questionnaire focused on what training employees feltwas needed in a training program for the Sales department. It also asked employees what they feltwould be the best method of training for the training programThe Sales staff found five areas to focus training: internal systems, technical aspects of GreatWestern equipment, sieves and flows, customer/industry information, and competitor information.Overwhelmingly, production managers found the area in greatest need of training attentionconcerned documentation and order descriptions. Both groups found formal structured trainingwith some hands on training to be the best methods of delivery.Based on the information provided by the literature review and questionnaire, a training planwas developed for the Sales department of Great Western Manufacturing. The plan includes thecontent of the program, mode of delivery, roles and responsibilities, and the preliminary schedule.