Consulting Assessment

Consulting Assessment
Benchmark Custom Homes (Benchmark) is a Northern Colorado residential home builder with projects located along the Front Range from Cheyenne, Wyoming to Denver, Colorado. While their focus is custom homes, they have expanded their services into building out residential subdivisions in rapidly growing communities. Currently, Benchmark is a company with less than ten employees, but the growth in their building services mandates an expansion of their workforce. In order to align the company’s employee development needs with their organizational goals, an assessment of current training practices was completed, and the results reviewed and discussed as follows.
Company Goals Benchmark’s goals are to provide customer satisfaction and to increase their production each year. Their current year-end projection for homes completed is seventeen. This number includes five custom homes, which are completed per contract with the homeowner, and twelve homes in which Benchmark builds a spec home on a lot they own and then sells it through their listing company. Benchmark’s goal for the next fiscal year it to build twenty-five spec homes and complete the three customs they currently have under contract as well as any others they may be asked to build within the year. This increase in production will require additional field managers and administrative assistants as well as an in-house engineer to develop additional house plans. Developing a training program that aligns with the company’s strategic goals is important for Benchmark’s success. According to Noe (2010), “Corporate strategic goals influence the company’s human resource strategic plans, which in turn affect learning priorities” (p. 74). Analyzing the current workforce for its strengths and weaknesses and forming a set of strategies to improve job execution is critical to assisting the company in forward progress. Prioritizing employee training and development into specific and measurable goals focuses the company on what it needs to do to achieve their goals and obtain success while improving employee retention.
Training Needs Currently, Benchmark does not have a formal training program as the company started the year with a minimal workforce. Any turnover resulted in short, hands-on training sessions with the departing employee or the new employees had prior knowledge of the job responsibilities that enabled them to effectively take over the duties. It is recommended that a formal program be implemented to train successfully future employees as well as develop current employees for future growth opportunities. A formal training and development program will allow for a smoother transition from the current production level to the increased level projected for the next fiscal year. Such a program will boost current employee morale while alleviating any gaps in skills for newly hired employees. Benchmark’s training needs will be prioritized based on its goal of increasing production and customer service. According to Bahlis (2015), one of the steps to align the company’s goals with its training needs it to “Prioritize the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to perform tasks that require training” (p. 4). Benchmark’s immediate needs will be to hire and train field managers to supervise the subcontractors on site and to improve the project’s completion time. Growing aptitude in the field managers will also generate more positive customer experiences leading to increased customer satisfaction. Spending significant resources and time training the field managers in all aspects of quality building processes ensures the company maintains a solid reputation in the construction industry.
The next immediate staffing need will be to hire an in-house engineer to increase the inventory of house plans. This position will be hired with the required job skills, therefore, training needs will minimal. The remaining staffing needs will be filled on an as needed basis, and some time will be spent familiarizing them with the company’s processes and procedures. These positions will require less training resources than the field managers, but it is important to ensure they are included in training efforts. While Benchmark is a small company and designating time for training is difficult, it is important to remember that effective and efficient training has a positive effect on the company’s bottom line.
Conclusion
Benchmark is a home builder whose focus is expanding from custom homes to spec homes with business goals of increasing production and customer satisfactions. Current workforce expansion plans need to include implementation of a formal employee training and development program to boost employee morale, grow job aptitude, and increase employee retention. Prioritizing employee training projects to meet immediate needs will ensure alignment with organizational goals and objectives while fostering a supportive work environment.

References
Bahlis, J. (2015). Maximize training impact by aligning learning with business goals. Alberta, Canada: BNH Expert Software, Inc.
Noe, R.A. (2013). Employee training and development (6th ed.). New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.