Case Study

© 2014 Laureate Education, Inc. Page 1 of 3

Corporate and Non-Academic Learners Case Study Document 2

This document is a simulated e-mail.

Dear Kathryn,

I just read through your draft of the Company Outlook and am so excited for Setem’s future as we enter our third fiscal year! However, as the director of human resources, I think it’s imperative that I make the case for a robust Training and Development (T&D) strategy to help Setem achieve our goals for the company’s growth over the next few years. As we all know, with an innovation such as Setem’s tinnitus treatment, the story we tell and the confidence we inspire through our ability to deliver for our clients are almost as significant as the product we sell. Given the crucial importance of Setem’s performance record, I think there are a number of areas where we can improve our performance through implementing a training strategy and drive growth by improving our internal processes. I feel the following areas are prime targets for improving Setem’s performance through training:

Medical malpractice—Last year, doctors performed over 1,200 procedures to implant Setem’s technology in patients. Resulting from these procedures, there were complications with only 22 individuals, or fewer than 2% of all patients. All of these complications resulted from physician error rather than from design problems. Medical malpractice insurance can be a huge cost for Setem and improving doctor performance is crucial to keeping down operating costs. We could develop an online training module for doctors to follow that would keep them current on any changes to safety precautions. To maximize the utility of this training module, we could distribute it through a mobile training app, so doctors would have access to the module through their smartphones.

Public relations—In addition to making sure our medical teams are well trained, Setem must present an image of clarity to the outside world. To put it bluntly, our approach to public relations over the last two years has been inconsistent at best and poor at worst. While I agree with Kathryn that we should look to expand our media profile, last year Setem blew a couple of opportunities for positive publicity when reporters were given some inaccurate information suggesting that we didn’t fully understand our product. I have similar criticisms of the patient liaisons who work at each of Setem’s clinics. When liaisons provide inaccurate information or do not have immediate answers, their lack of professionalism shakes patients' confidence about toward this new medical technique. The best way for our business to attract new clientele is to satisfy the needs of current patients; word-of- mouth recommendations lead to new business, so we should make sure we have the most informed advocates interacting on the ground and singing Setem’s praises.

© 2014 Laureate Education, Inc. Page 2 of 3

Of course, these are just a couple of examples where I believe training can have a huge impact on Setem’s potential for growth. There may be additional areas with the potential for dramatic impact on Setem’s growth. Investing in our already considerable intellectual capital should have benefits for Setem that I believe would outlast any marketing campaign. Some of the broad areas where I feel T&D would have a strong impact are:

• Employee motivation: Workers tend to be energized when they acquire new information that can be incorporated into their work. Learning can foster new perspectives that generate interest and excitement. When employees feel freshly engaged in their work, creativity becomes a part of the company’s culture and the resulting innovations drive business growth. Research also supports the idea that one of the best ways to retain employees is to make them feel that they are active stakeholders in solving business problems (Mehta, Kurbetti & Dhankhar, 2014). T&D can help to cultivate such an innovative culture.

• Professional development: By investing resources in professional development, we are not only providing our employees with the tools to meet our most pressing needs but also empowering them to take initiative in areas where they do not realize they have skills to contribute (Schooley, 2008). Since our business atmosphere already requires employees to be proficient in a wide range of areas, who knows what hidden talents we may unlock by increasing the capabilities of our current workforce? Should we need to expand rapidly in the future, it would benefit the company to have well-rounded employees who can quickly fill gaps rather than being forced to hastily recruit outside talent.

• Increased efficiency of processes: Setem may be a small company, but our different departments tend to follow different protocols. For instance, when new advances are made at the ICU labs, Setem does not have a system in place for developing updated talking points. The result has been that our patient liaisons and sales representatives use strikingly different language when speaking with clients, which detracts from the cohesion of our message and hurts our branding. By teaching all departments what language is most effective when addressing specific audiences, we can develop best practices and communicate agreed upon talking points that enhance our branding and marketing efforts.

None of these areas where T&D can have an impact exist in isolation from the priorities of marketing and partner engagement that you outlined in your email. In fact, training should work in concert with the other priorities to enhance their impact. But considering our rather limited resources, I would place a T&D strategy at the top of our list of priorities.

Thanks,

Doug Pfeiffer, Director of Human Resources for Setem Technologies

© 2014 Laureate Education, Inc. Page 3 of 3

References

Mehta, M., Kurbetti, A., & Dhankhar, R. (2014). Review paper – study on employee retention and commitment. International Journal of Advance Research in Computer Science and Management Studies, 2(2), 154–164. Retrieved from http://www.ijarcsms.com/docs/paper/volume2/issue2/v2i2-0056.pdf

Schooley, C. (2008). How to create a comprehensive, high-impact learning strategy. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/smcdanield/howtocreateacomprehensivehighimpactlearningstrategy

Siegel, P., & Borgia, C. (2007). The measurement and recognition of intangible assets. Journal of Business and Public Affairs, 1(1). Retrieved from http://www.scientificjournals.org/journals2007/articles/1006.htm

The learning needs analysis toolkit. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/courses/professional/lnat/index.php

Impact International. (2011). Whitepaper: Aligning training with corporate strategy. Retrieved from http://www.trainingindustry.com/media/3674124/impact aligning training with corporate strategy.pdf