The HRD division is managed by training director Kellie Stephens, who supervises two other employees: a trainer and an administrative assistant, who coordinate the logistics of PACs training programs. Recognizing the continuous dynamics of the high-tech industry, PAC has been a strong supporter of employee development. With approval of the immediate supervisor, PAC encourages employees to attend training seminars, and tuition reimbursement is available for college-level courses that are related to the employees job.

In-house training is conducted regularly to ensure all employees are up-to-date on sexual harassment and safety procedures. Other training is made available as the need arises. Whenever possible, training programs are developed and facilitated by in-house staff members. When that is not practicable, a request for proposal is generated and PAC hires outside facilitators. Since the labor problem a few years back, Stephens aggressively trained management employees with particular emphasis on skills for first-line supervisors. She wants to see improvement in people skills and consistent implementation of PAC policies across department lines. Unfortunately, her efforts are not universally well received. Some managers grumble that HR just gets in the way and ties their hands when dealing with difficult employees. All too often Stephens hears managers say that there is the classroom way and the shop floor way. She sees training for PAC managers as an ongoing process. Last years strategic planning process identified knowledge management as an area for organization-wide improvement. PAC has a history of employees working in silos, with little communication across functions. Hoping to bridge the gap and encourage collaborative exchange, Stephens established communities of practice, where individuals could meet to problem solve and exchange ideas.

Her first community-ofpractice group consisted of individuals from research and development, engineering and production. A number of other communities have since been established. More informally, Stephens encourages snack and chat meetings on Friday afternoons, where employees can drop by for a snack and talk about their work. To increase information exchange with employees working off-site, an idea blog was added to the companys intranet, where staff could share information about their successes and failures on various projects. At first, people were reluctant to comment, and it took some time before they were willing to share their knowledge and ideas. Stephens had not anticipated how proprietary some individuals would be about their work methods. Progress has been made; with increasing postings, the blog is becoming a source of ideas and information sharing. To manage the volume of information generated by the blog and to make it easier for more employees to use the system, Stephens submitted in a budget request to add enhanced knowledge software to the intranet. To capture knowledge that might be leaving the organization, Stephens worked with Steve Wilson to improve the exit interview process. Departing employees are encouraged to talk informally about their career at PAC and to pass on information other employees need to know. There has been some success here, but as expected, not all exit interviews generate a positive exchange.

As part of the recent directives to tighten up for increased results, HRD was asked to update and improve the companys performance management system. In addition, the organization is looking closely at all training expenses, and Stephens was asked to identify the return on investment for all programs. She is worried about her management training program and feels certain that tuition reimbursement will fall under the ax. Special considerations

1. Identify the goals of PACs training programs. Are they meeting these goals? What could be improved? 2. Discuss PACs efforts to retain and transfer knowledge. Are these efforts effective? What could be done to improve the process? 3. What can HRD do to improve transfer of training? 4. How can HRD demonstrate return on investment to prevent cuts in the training budget? What is the business case for training? 5. Research Kirkpatricks four levels of training evaluation and design an evaluation system for PACs management training program. Use all four levels of evaluation.