Scenario

You just secured a position as the human resource generalist for a software startup company known as Sparkles Software. Sparkles Software is privately owned by the chief executive officer (CEO). You have been hired because, in the past 12 months, the company has experienced significant revenue growth that is projected to continue in the next two to five years. Sparkles Software has a small sales force that is made up of the CEOs college friends. The CEO provided some training opportunities to the sales force; however, many of those efforts have either been stalled or not executed well since the company started to build up a client base.

As the human resource generalist, you are responsible for all human resource strategies and tactics, and you report directly to the CEO. The CEO has shared plans to double the size of the sales force in the next year and wants to be sure everyone on the sales team has the appropriate skills to be successful. The CEO wants you to develop a sales training plan for the existing sales employees and new hires. These new hires have the same sales skills as existing employees in order to meet future goals of the company. The plan should include three sales training courses. A recent survey was completed at the organization, which identified sales training skill gaps and training needs for the sales employees. Some highlights from the survey included:

• Sales managers identified that more than half of their workforce has not completed the Sales 101 training.
• Sales managers stated, New employees seem to be lost on the Salesforce software and do not have time to take Salesforce training.
• Twenty-eight percent of the sales team members have completed only one sales training.
• The sales representatives shared that they have not had any soft skills training (customer service training, active listening training) and do not have time for mandatory training, given the workload.
• The sales representatives shared that they do not feel comfortable with the amount of time they have for training and development; therefore, they always feel they are behind on their sales knowledge.

Directions

Specifically, you must address the following rubric criteria:

Communication Strategies This section should develop communication strategies for major organizational stakeholder groups designed to gain organizational support for the training and development courses.

1. Explain why the training courses are important to organizational success and the need for executive leadership engagement in supporting the training. Consider the following:
   1. Writing your message to executives, what communication strategies will you use for executive leadership?
2. Explain why managers need to make the time for employee participation in training and act as a mentor to address questions or employee concerns during the training. Consider the following:
   1. What communication strategies will you use for management?
3. Explain the benefits of participation in the training and how completing the training will benefit employees careers in the organization. Consider the following:
   1. What strategies will you use for employees?