Based on the information found in the case, discuss what a needs analysis/assessment for LearnInMotion.com would reveal. Note that you do not need to look for outside resources here; all the required information is in the case, your book and your class notes.

Human Resources Management Question

Running Case: LearninMotion.com The New Training Program "I just don't understand it, said Pierre. No one here seems to follow instructions, and no matter how many times I've told them how to do things they seem to do them their own way." At present, LearnlnMotion.com has no formal orientation or training policies or procedures. Jennifer believes this is one reason that employees generally ignore the standards that she and Pierre would like employees to adhere to. Several examples illustrate this problem. One job of the Web designer (her name is Maureen) is to take customer copy for banner ads and adapt it for place. ment on LearnInMotion.com. She has been told several times not to tinker in any way with a cus- tomer's logo: Most companies put considerable thought and resources into logo design, and as Pierre has said, Whether or not Maureen thinks the logo is perfect, it's the customer's logo, and she's to leave it as it is." Yet just a week ago, they almost lost a big customer when Maureen, to clarify" the customer's logo, modified its design before posting it on LearninMotion.com. That's just the tip of the iceberg. As far as Jennifer and Pierre are concerned, it is the sales effort that is completely out of control. For one thing, even after several months on the job, it still seems as if the sales people don't know what they're talking about. For example, Learnln Motion has several co-brand arrangements with Web sites like Yahoo! This setup allows users on other sites to easily click through to LearnInMotion.com if they are interested in ordering educational courses or CDs. Jennifer has noticed that during conversations with customers, the two sales- people have no idea of which sites co-brand with LearnInMotion, or how to get to the LearnInMotion site from the partner Web site. The salespeople also need to know a lot more about the products them- selves. For example, one salesperson was trying to sell someone who produces programs on managing call centres on the idea of listing its products under LearnInMotion's "communications" community. In fact, the "communications community is for courses on topics like interpersonal communications and how to be a better listener; it has nothing to do with managing the sorts of call centres that, for instance, airlines use for handling customer inquiries. As another example, the Web surfer is supposed to get a specific e-mail address with a specific person's name for the salespeople to use, instead he often just comes back with an "information e-mail address off a Web site. The list goes on and on. Jennifer feels the company has had other prob- lems because of the lack of adequate employee train- ing and orientation. For example, a question came up recently when employees found they weren't paid for the Canada Day holiday. They assumed they would be paid, but they were not. Similarly, when a salesperson left after barely a month on the job, there was considerable debate about whether the person should receive severance pay and accumu- lated vacation pay. Other matters to cover during an 222 Part 3 Developing Effective Human Resources orientation, says Jennifer, include company policy regarding lateness and absences; health and hospi- talization benefits (there are none, other than work- ers' compensation); and matters like maintaining a safe and healthy workplace, personal appearance and cleanliness, personal telephone calls and e-mail, substance abuse, and eating on the job. Jennifer believes that implementing orientation and training programs would help ensure that employees know how to do their jobs. She and Pierre further believe that it is only when employees under- stand the right way to do their jobs that there is any hope those jobs will in fact be carried out in the way the owners want them to be. Now they want you, their management consultant, to help them. Here's what they want you to do for them