Changes in HRD at Hansen Group

 The Hansen Group is one of the UK's largest construction groups. Traditionally, the company has been involved primarily in civil engineering but it has recently begun to diversify, partly through acquiring local government contracts, for example for street maintenance and cleaning and the facilities management of publicly owned buildings, such as universities. Therefore, the company is now involved in a wide range of diverse activities and employs an increasingly diverse workforce, from street cleaners to highly qualified civil engineers. The three years since the Credit Crunch of 2018 have been incredibly difficult for the construction industry in the UK. As a result of the economic downturn, many construction firms have decreased their spending on learning and development. Hansen Construction has, however, increased its investment in these activities, notably introducing a new apprenticeship scheme for construction team leaders, expanding online learning provision and continuing to recruit and develop significant numbers of graduates. Hansen recognises that talented individuals are the lifeblood of the firm and, therefore, sees investment in workforce development as a key dimension of its employment proposition. This approach is felt to be in line with its commitment to sustainability in its corporate activity. The learning and development team at Hansen drives learning and development innovations, provides analysis of business learning requirements and manages the delivery of costeffective learning solutions to support the achievement of business goals. Learning solutions at Hansen include traditional off-the-job classroom programmes, short courses, online learning interventions, workbooks and mentoring. The firm has recently recruited two new team members specifically to design in-house e-learning solutions, and to upgrade the company's online learning management system. As well as the learning and development team located at the company's headquarters, Hansen employs a further 12 learning and development professionals who are located throughout the country and work directly with particular business units and clients, many of whom have diverse needs in respect of employee development. Traditionally, training needs for Hansen staff have been identified centrally and on the basis of the employee group. This has been consistent with its traditional approach to training for large groups in classroom settings. However, with an increasingly diverse workforce, the company has sought to introduce a new performance management system that focuses on individual performance and the competencies behind that performance. In 2019, the L&D team sought to supplement its traditional classroom-based training programmes with a series of bite-sized (typically half an hour) interactive learning modules for construction site staff that were linked together to form part of a meaningful programme of activities. These were known as 'toolbox talks', and were delivered by site managers, using materials developed to support them by the central team. The talks are mainly devoted to site management and health and safety issues. In addition, a significant part of Hansen's revised approach to learning and development is to increase the amount of on-the-job coaching employees receive and to create/do a coaching culture within its management community. Hansen has made significant investment in technology-based learning (or e-learning), particularly software that enables e-learning specialists within the learning and development team to produce online training programmes, several of which are compulsory for all employees. The learning and development team is exploring other technological solutions, such as the use of mobile phones and Online Learnings, to deliver learning to its maintenance workers, street cleaners and other employees who do not have ready access to the Internet. Historically, the evaluation of learning and development interventions at Hansen has tended to focus on the initial reactions of employees by asking them to complete evaluation forms after having attended a training programme. However, as part of the wider changes to learning and development at the company, longer-term evaluation of interventions is now in place. This involves the learning and development centre asking the manager sponsoring any new programme to define what a positive outcome would look like in order to determine an appropriate metric for assessment, such as employee engagement or productivity, and involves contacting recipients of training 3-6 months after they have completed a programme and asking them whether they are doing anything differently as a result of what they have learned.   Based on the above case, answer the following questions:   a) The three years since the Credit Crunch of 2018 have been incredibly difficult for the construction industry in the UK. As a result of the economic downturn, many construction firms have decreased their spending on learning and development. Hansen Construction has, however, increased its investment in these activities, notably introducing a new apprenticeship scheme for construction team leader, expanding online provision and continuing to recruit and develop significant numbers of graduates.  Why do you think that Hansen Construction has increased its investment in learning and development activities despite the tough economic climate? (6 Marks)  b) If Hansen Construction would like to introduce the likely benefits associated with an individualised performance management system, and an associated competency framework, to inform learning and development at Hansen, what could be benefits the employees and company? (6 Marks)  c) Hansen use the 'bite-size' training programme delivered by site managers, a renewed focus on coaching and substantial investment in e-learning. Discuss what are the benefits from using the 'bite-size" training programme.  d) Explain TWO reasons why you think Hansen has decided to change the way it evaluates learning and implement interventions from tended to focus on the initial reactions of employees by asking them to complete evaluation forms after attended a training programme to asking the manager sponsoring any new programme to define what a positive outcome would look like in order to determine an appropriate metric for assessment, such as employee engagement or productivity and involves contacting recipients of training 3-6 months after they have completed a programme and asking them whether they are doing anything differently as a result of what they have learned.   

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a Hansen Construction has increased its investment in learning and development activities despite the tough economic climate for several reasons Talent retention and attraction By investing in learnin... View the full answer