EVALUATION OF NEW EMPLOYEES TRAINING PROCESS AT LINKGO COMMERCIAL AND INVESTMENT COMPANY LIMITED

FOREIGN TRADE UNIVERSITYFACULTY OF BUSINESS ENGLISH ---***---MID TERM REPORT Major: Business English EVALUATION OF NEW EMPLOYEES TRAINING PROCESS AT LINKGO COMMERCIAL AND INVESTMENT...

FOREIGN TRADE UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF BUSINESS ENGLISH

-*** -MID TERM REPORT

Major: Business English

EVALUATION OF NEW EMPLOYEES

TRAINING PROCESS AT LINKGO

COMMERCIAL AND INVESTMENT

LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES AND ABBREVIATIONS

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF LINKGO COMMERCIAL INVESTMENT

COMPANY LIMITED AND EVALUATION OF ITS NEW EMPLOYEES

TRAINING PROCESS

1.1 Overview of Linkgo Inc

1.2 Internship activities

1.3 Theoretical background of Learning and Development

CHAPTER 2: EVALUATION OF NEW EMPLOYEES TRAINING PROCESS

LINKGO COMMERCIAL INVESTMENT COMPANY LIMITED

2.1 The training process at Linkgo

2.2 Results of the training process

2.3 Strengths

2.4 Weaknesses and root causes

CHAPTER 3: RECOMMENDATION TO IMPROVE NEW EMPLOYEES

TRAINING PROCESS LINKGO COMMERCIAL INVESTMENT

COMPANY LIMITED

3.1 Department orientation training improvement

REFERENCES

First of all, I would like to express my utmost gratitude to Mrs Le Thi Bich

Thuy – my instructor and lecturer at the Faculty of Business English for her

deliberate and thoughtful guidance throughout my mid-term report writing process

Her instructions were incredibly helpful and have contributed a major part to the

successful completion of my internship report

Furthermore, I would also like to thank Mrs Le Hoang Dieu Linh – Human

Resources Manager of Linkgo Inc for giving me an opportunity to work at a such

professional and friendly environment Her support and practical advice on technical

knowledge have helped me a lot in finishing the report

Finally, my grateful thanks are extended to my family and friends who have

supported me a lot during my internship

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Figure 1.1 The organization structure of Linkgo Table

1.2 Linkgo’s brands and business performance

Figure 1.3 ADDIE model

Figure 1.4 New World Kirk-patrick model

Table 2.1 Organization restraints of Linkgo

Table 2.2 Linkgo’s orientation training process agenda

Figure 2.3 Linkgo new hires’ score on training topics

Figure 2.4 Linkgo new hires’ probation assessment results

In this world full of challenges, changes and uncertainty, there is a growing

trend of focusing on developing human resources through learning and development

(L&D) in organizations regardless of their size and scope This research aims to

examine the act of L&D at Linkgo Commercial and Investment Company Limited,

specifically new employees training activities From the findings, the author then

evaluated the insights to come up with recommendations on how to improve the

training process The main methodology used in this research is qualitative The data

was collected using different research methods, which are observation and second

data analysis After conducting the research, two major weaknesses were detected,

which are ineffective department orientation training and the lack of engagement

activities for new employees The author then suggests two corresponding solutions

to the problems, which are department on-boarding buddy and orientation

ice-breaking games

Globalization, for over two centuries, has been affecting the world on

numerous aspects, from politics, culture to economic Although globalization has

been praised for boosting economic growth, it also brings fierce competition to all

organizations that took part in the global supply chain In order to survive and

thrive, businesses, large or small, need high quality human resources to help drive

their growth Therefore, excellent human resources management, from recruiting to

retaining valuable human capital, is crucial for every organization to achieve their

business goals In the overall process of managing labor force, learning and

development (L&D) has proven itself to be more and more vital to businesses as a

recent report by LinkedIn has shown that 64 percent of L&D professionals from

throughout the world agree that L&D moved from a “nice to have” to a “need to

have” in 2021 Many situations called for the appearance of L&D such as

employees’ competency assessment, upskilling, reskilling, and especially new

employees training process At its core, employee orientation aims to provide new

employees with adequate background knowledge (such as working rules, desktop

computer password, organization structure, etc.) and help them to integrate and

socialize with company’s cultures and people as fast as possible Effective

employee orientation program can bring huge benefits to organizations such as

reducing turnover rate, saving recruitment expenses, at new employees to perform

well in their jobs a lot faster, etc

As a rising player in the field of cross-border e-commerce, specifically the

print on demand (POD) segment, Linkgo is planning to expand their businesses

rapidly in the next two years Business expanding means more and more employees

are going to be recruited And like any other well-designed and visionary

organizations, Linkgo realizes the urgency of having a sufficient new employee

training program

Being a learning and development intern in Linkgo, one of my missions is to

ensure success of this training program Therefore, I want to write a report to

examine the current situation of employee orientation program at Linkgo as well as

having a deeper understanding of learning and development activities in real life

businesses

Base on all the reasons above, I had chosen the topic “Evaluation of new

employees training process at Linkgo Commercial Investment Company Limited”

for my report

The main methodology used in this report is qualitative Besides, to

accomplish the study, I used a combination of the research methods including

observation and second data analysis When working as an intern, I had the chance

to observe all the training-related activities conducted by Human Resources

Department in the company I also collected various secondary data from the

company’s websites and internal reports Using all the information and data I have

collected, I will assess the new employees training process of the company and give

some recommendations to improve it I hope that my report will benefit not only my

organizations but to any other companies working in the same industry

Besides table of contents, acknowledgements, list of tables and figures,

introduction, conclusion and reference, the report contains two chapters:

Chapter 1: An overview of Linkgo Commercial Investment Company

Limited and the evaluation of its new employees training process

Chapter 2: Evaluation of new employees training process at Linkgo

Commercial Investment Company Limited

Chapter 3: Recommendations to improve new employees training process at

Linkgo Commercial Investment Company Limited

COMPANY LIMITED AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND OF NEW

EMPLOYEES TRAINING PROCESS

1.1 Overview of Linkgo Inc

1.1.1 History and development.

In recent years, Vietnam, on its way to integrate with the world, witnessed

the substantial growth in the field of cross-border e-commerce with the sales

through Amazon platform alone at the end of 2020 tripled that of 2019

Cross-border e-commerce, specifically Print-on-demand (POD) has opened new doors for

Vietnamese businesses in the predicament causes by Covid-19 due to its special

business model POD removes the barriers of travel, production and delivery from

the supply chain by allowing Vietnamese businesses to outsource these stages to

suppliers in the target countries and focus only on marketing and product

development

Among emerging players in the field in Vietnam, Linkgo Commercial

Investment Company Limited is a young and dynamic organization with ambitious

vision in developing POD market Linkgo has its root from the e-commerce

department of Life Media Company Limited (Life Media., LTD) After a year of

development, the company separated to operate independently on 6th June, 2019 was

initially named EcomLink The company then changed its name to Linkgo on 10th

October, 2020 to better fit with the core values with “Link” refers to team

collaboration and “Linkgo” means collaborate to develop together Until now,

Linkgo has over 40 employees working effectively together in 7 departments with a

dream to be the global case study for every POD company

1.1.2 Mission, vision, and core values

The company’s vision, mission and core values are the result of mutual

contributions between the board of directors and every employee and were officially

issued in a document by the CEO, Mr Nguyen Tien Dat in November, 2020

a Mission

Working in a field where customer service and products’ design areeverything, Linkgo aims to create a “wow” shopping experience

through their creative products and exceptional service to customer

b Vision

Linkgo aspires to achieve two things in the future The first goal isbecoming a global case study of POD’s business model and organization

building The second one is to grow into a holding company with many

smaller companies working in different fields in Make Money Online

(MMO) industry

c Core values

Linkgo values 5 main traits and qualities, specifically as follows:

Customer-oriented: Linkgo wishes to deliver a “Wow” service toevery customer who takes part in the shopping experience designed by the

company

Team collaboration and family spirit: Linkgo believes that, in order toadvance further in the future, all employees should have excellent teamwork

skill and strong bond with each other

Contribute for a greater goal: Every employee, despite their positions and departments, should have a clear vision toward the ultimate goal of

Linkgo and take it into careful consideration in all their actions and

decisions

Pay it forward: In line with “Team collaboration and family spirit”,every employee must be willing to share their knowledge and offer guidance

and help to anyone who ask for without hoping for anything in return

Bold and creative: To a start-up working in POD, be creative and ready to

take risk are of great importance Only by doing so, Linkgo can achieve the

scale and business plan they aspire

1.1.3 Organizational structure

simple and straightforward The company is divided into 3 main divisions with 8

departments in total The specifics are depicted in the organizational chart below

Figure 1.1 The organization structure of Linkgo

The CEO manages and supervises all activities and strategies carried out by

departments Under CEO, there are 3 main divisions and 8 departments, each with

their own department head

a Operation Division takes care of all product-related activities, with:

R&D Department is in charge of researching customers, competitors and latest product trends to come up with new brand, product line or business

campaign ideas

Design Department turns the ideas of R&D Department into specific creative designs on products and make adjustment where necessary

Customer Service Department is responsible for finding suitable supplier for

the products, managing the production and delivery of these products, and

taking care of customers through the company’s communication channels

b. Business Division helps selling and promoting the products to customers,

Brand Department is in charge of developing company’s brands

through marketing activities

c. Back Office Division manages all internal affairs of Linkgo, with

Human Resources Department is responsible for all personnel-related issues of the company, from recruiting, training and development to

compensation and benefit and employee engagement

Accounting Department takes care of all financial tasks and problems

in the company

1.1.4 Product lines and business performance

Linkgo provides print-on-demand products, mainly t-shirt and drinkware to

European (EU) and United States (US) customers Up until now, Linkgo has

acquired more than 100,000 orders and has more than 10 global brands in all

markets Some of the flagship brands are presented in the table below

• 28,000+ orders global

• 10% year-over-year(YoY) revenuegrowth compared tothe previous year1,000+ orders since it founded on 10th April, 2021

• 44,000+ orders global

theme growth compared to

the previous year

Table 1.2 Linkgo’s brands and business performance

(Sources: Sales and Brand Department)

1.2 Internship activities

Linkgo is an emerging and thriving start-up in the field Therefore, even

though the company scale is still quite small, I got the chance to take care of all the

work related to human resources development as a Learning and Development

intern under the guidance of an experienced Human Resources Manager My main

tasks are to improve current training programs; build a complete competency

framework for every department; conduct performance assessment sessions;

organize and facilitate internal training courses; support other HR functions in

employee engagement, recruitment and administrative tasks

During my internship, I have learned a lot from executing the

aforementioned tasks and watching how other HR leaders and colleagues work I

have come to understand various L&D models and theories such as ADDIE,

Kirk-Patrick, Task design, etc In addition to that, many of my soft skills like

problem-solving, teamwork, and communication skill are also honed as I have overcome

many obstacles when carrying out my tasks The company has paved the way not

only for my career growth but also for my personal development by offering such a

young, challenging and friendly working environment

1.3 Theoretical background of Learning and Development

1.3.1 Definitions

a Learning and Development

L&D is basically understood as the process of equipping employees with the

knowledge, skills and attitudes they needed to perform well in their jobs It entails

facilitating the acquisition of competencies through experience, training programs

organized by the company, coaching and guidance from line managers and leaders,

and self-learning activities implemented by individuals Harrison in “Learning and

Development” helps us defined L&D more broadly as follows: “The

primary purpose of learning and development as an organizational process is to

aid collective progress through the collaborative, expert and ethical stimulation

and facilitation of learning and knowledge that support business goals, develop

individual potential, and respect and build on diversity.”

There are 4 major components of L&D, which are:

• Learning - the process by which a person obtains and develops knowledge,

skills, capabilities, behaviors and attitudes It entails the modification of

behavior through experience as well as more formal methods of helping

people to learn within or outside the workplace

• Development – the growth or realization of a person’s ability and

potential through the provision of learning and educational experiences

• Training – the systematic application of formal processes to impart

knowledge and help people to acquire the skills necessary for them to

perform their jobs satisfactorily

• Education – the development of the knowledge, values and understanding

required in all aspects of life rather than the knowledge and skills relating to

particular areas of activity

b.Strategic L&D

Strategic L&D is an approach in which human resources development

activities are closely aligned with organizational goals and objectives This

approach is based on a fundamental proposition that the human resources of an

organization play a strategic role in its success Through the establishment of a

learning culture and the design of organizational and individual learning strategies,

developing people Therefore, it is about ensuring that the organization's intellectual

capital is developed as well as making sure qualified individuals are accessible to

fulfill current and future demands

The main thrust of strategic L&D is creating an environment in which

employees are motivated to learn and develop Although strategic L&D is closely

related to organization’s business goals, its strategies also have to keep in

mind the individual development needs of employees

1.3.2 L&D implementing model

ADDIE is a widely used model in training and development It helps human

resources specialist develop a broad and general approach while devising training

strategy (Blanchard and Thacker, 2006) ADDIE is an acronym for the major

processes of training:

• Analysis: During the analysis phase, the learning goals and objectives are

determined, as well as the learning environment and the learner's current

knowledge and abilities The analysis phase begins with the identification of

the organizational performance gap (when Actual Organization Performance

is less than Expected Organization Performance) Things such as profitability

shortfalls, low levels of customer satisfaction, or excessive scrap are all

examples of a current performance gap Once a performance gap exists, the

cause must then be identified When a cause is identified and its eradication is

deemed critical, the cause's elimination becomes a "need" for the

organization The analysis phase is often referred to as a training needs

analysis (TNA) as it only concerns with the causes related to Knowledge,

Skill, and Ability (KSA) deficiencies

• Design: The design phase deals with subject matter analysis, the program

outline and the use of learning aids and assessment instruments The inputs to

the design phase are the training needs determined in the analysis phase, as

well as areas of constraint and support The development of training

objectives is a crucial procedure in the design phase These give instructions

on what will be taught and how it will be taught They define the employee

and organizational outcomes that should be attained as a result of training,

and they are used as inputs in the model's development and evaluation

phases Another step in the design process is establishing how the training

will meet organizational restrictions Finally, major outcomes from the

design process include defining the characteristics required in the training

program to support learning and its application on the job

• Development: The process of constructing an instructional approach that

meets the training objectives utilizing the guidelines from the design phase is

known as the development phase This step also includes obtaining or

generating all of the materials required to perform the training program The

instructional strategy outlines the sequence, timing, and combination of

methods and materials that will be used in the training program to achieve the

goals

• Implementation: All the previous phases of the training process come

together during the implementation phase when the training is executed

• Evaluation: The effectiveness of training programs then be measured during

the evaluation phase

1.3.3 Training evaluation model

Kirk-patrick is a world-renowned training evaluation model that measures

training effectiveness in four levels:

• Level 1: Reaction - To what degree participants react favorably to the

learning event

• Level 2: Learning - To what degree participants gain the desired knowledge,

skills, and attitudes based on their participation in the learning event

• Level 3: Behavior - To what degree participants apply what they learned

during training when they are back on the job

• Level 4: Results - To what degree targeted outcomes occur as a result of the

learning event(s) and subsequent reinforcement

The Kirk-patrick Model's Levels 1 and 2 provide information on effective

training These levels assess the training program's quality and the extent to which it

provided knowledge and skills that could be utilized on the job These metrics are

largely used by the training department to assess the quality of the programs they

create and deliver internally Levels 3 and 4 offer the necessary data for determining

the effectiveness of training These levels assess on-the-job performance and the

resulting business outcomes, which are influenced in part by training and

reinforcement Training effectiveness data is key to demonstrating the value that the

training program has contributed to the organization and is typically the type of data

that key business stakeholders find valuable

Currently in the world, the New World Kirk-patrick Model has become

increasingly more popular than the old one The only difference between the two is

the way of approach New World Kirk-patrick goes from level 4 instead of level 1,

therefore helps human resources specialist to focus on the most important outcomes

of the training and better design employee’s development program