Abstract
Providing for the training and development of employees is a common goal of major corporations. Training is the key to bringing fresh skills and efficient processes into practice for an organization, as well as helping workers remain safe and legally compliant. As workers learn new skills, practice safe and compliant behaviors, and develop into a firm’s next generation of leaders, the company reaps rewards of increased profits and risk avoidance. In this regard, for a publically traded company, training helps leaders meet their legal responsibility to shareholders. Choices on whether training is necessary, applicable training topics, methods of delivering training, and desired outcomes of training efforts are, for the most part, reserved by the business owners. The desires of employees regarding training are often secondary to a company’s legitimate need to act in the best interest of owners. This case study examines the needs, applicability, delivery modalities, and desired outcomes of training delivered by Melnick Inc (a pseudonym) to its Site Security Officer (SSO) network in North America. Applying pertinent literature on business requirements for training and comparing them with interview responses from Melnick SSOs on their personal need for training, perceived applicability of the training provided, feelings on effective and efficient modalities for delivering training, and desired personal and professional outcomes, synergies and disconnects between the company’s requirements and SSO learners’ desires are identified. A training policy which attempts to bridge many of these disconnects is proposed, offering a way to meet company training goals and enhance the training experience for SSOs.