Introduction and Context
The company chosen for the report is Expedia Group, which is engaged in developing travel metasearch engines and provides travel fare aggregators. The company owns several aggregators and websites built based on unique technologies developed by Expedia Group, including Expedia.com, Hotels.com, CheapTickets, Trivago, and others (Expedia Group, 2022). The organization is in Seattle at 1111 Expedia Group Way West Seattle, WA 98119, USA. The person interviewed for the report is Lake Winston, who currently holds the position of the Head of the Human Resources Department of Expedia Group. The professional was interviewed on October 30, 2023, via phone call. The interview duration was 1 hour 45 minutes.
The company was chosen as it presents a unique and innovative approach to human resources management, focusing on the development and growth of its employees. Additionally, Expedia Group operates in the field of innovative technologies, which often involves complex team collaboration and remorse work. It is interesting how the company manages human resources in such working conditions.
Training and development was chosen as a functional area for the interview as it is critical to explore how modern IT companies handle the process. Exploring employee growth’s role in the overall company performance is critical. The company can provide meaningful insights for other practitioners on efficient training and development practices. The primary reason for choosing Lake Winston for the interviews was his position and associated competencies. As the Head of the Human Resources Department, he is most familiar with the company’s policies related to human resources management.
Interview Summary
Fifteen questions related to training and development were asked at Lake Winston as part of the interview. He admitted that training and development play a pivotal role in the company’s human resources management as they see it as the critical step in building efficient teams. Expedia Group focuses on the balance of employees’ initial and potential competencies. Human resources managers strive to find people with the right pool of existing skills to be applied to vacant roles. Still, they also explore the growth opportunities that a potential employee has. The potential for growth is measured based on personal motivation and aspirations and the ability to accept changes.
It was also noted that the company is willing to spend additional resources on training and development if it substantially benefits the company and its employees. The employees are not required to participate in training and development sessions. However, they are encouraged to participate in developmental courses and take advantage of mentoring courses.
As has already been noticed, the company prioritizes finding motivated employees to grow, which allows them to be in charge of their professional development. There are several policies related to the area, and they focus on the development of new employees and the onboarding process. Additionally, policies are associated with employees’ participation in various training and development activities, but they are specific to each case.
Expedia Group prioritizes the individual growth needs of employees, which serves as another motivation factor. One of the managers’ tasks is to evaluate the needs of employees and offer them growth opportunities that are suitable for them and the company. It helps to keep employees motivated and engaged without adding stress to them. The company focuses on mentoring programs that allow targeting specific skills and competencies. Expedia Group also values employees’ personal and professional development, offering activities such as psychological counseling, sports activities, communication skills development, and various hobby classes.
Interaction with senior colleagues and experience exchange is the core of the Expedia Group training and development process. Employees can refer to any member of the team to get advice and support as part of mentoring programs. The company does not prioritize online training and development instruments over offline ones. The employees have a chance to get access to various online courses.
Still, the majority of training and development is based on real-life interactions and hands-on experience, which is critical not only for individuals but also for team development. Online and offline activities provide different levels of employee engagement as they involve different interactions. The interviewee underlined that online training may decrease motivation and engagement due to a lack of communication with colleagues and mentors. Employees must work collaboratively to feel their contribution and responsibility, which keeps them focused on tasks. Therefore, online training should be a supporting tool to aid the overall training and development process.
The company provides numerous opportunities for communication skills development and team building. The training and development process is meant to engage employees in collaboration and integration, where they can implement their skills. Additionally, the company has separate communication and team-building activities. Hard skills, communication, and decision-making are the most important areas of professional growth for employees, as noted by Winston. Existing training policies are efficient as they aim to guide individual growth and provide opportunities. Winston admitted that he would add more inter-department collaboration so that employees could get a chance to expand their competencies in different areas of operations.
Analysis
Based on the interviewee’s answers, it is possible to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the company’s training and development structure. First of all, the strength of the program present in Expedia Group is the involvement of management in providing development opportunities for employees. It helps to prioritize individual needs and help employees fulfill their growth needs (Chopra-McGowan, 2022). Additionally, the company provides employees with additional activities for personal development. Vroman and Danko (2022) note that supporting personal development needs is the core of successful upskilling programs. At the same time, the employees should be provided with the tools for growth and development.
The most valuable part of Expedia Group’s training and development program is that it engages and motivates employees to grow. Susomrith et al. (2019) underline that active participation in training and development activities is associated with increased innovative employee behaviors. The company provides employees with access to various skills and competency improvement tools, which help them to create a meaningful impact for the company. As a result, they feel their contribution to the company’s performance and perceive themselves as part of the team. It is also positively associated with engagement and motivation to complete work tasks (Susomrith et al., 2019). Therefore, Expedia Group’s training and development program has numerous advantages for the company and its employees.
A potential weakness of the company’s training and development practices is a lack of standardized programs. Ismael et al. (2021) note that training and development programs should be role-specific and based on individual needs to be efficient. Expedia Group focuses on individual growth opportunities for employees provided by mentoring programs. However, the employees are not provided with any structured training and development plan that could guide their growth process. Instead, they are allowed to explore all the information they need for their professional development. They can refer to mentors for advice, but their learning and skill development process is somewhat chaotic. It can lead to a lack of a specific employee’s structured knowledge base and fragmented competencies.
The situation may be aggravated by the initiative to provide more opportunities for inter-department communication, as employees would have access to even broader information. As a result, the training and development process may feel confusing and contribute to a decrease in motivation and engagement. In the long term, the situation may contribute to a drop in performance and overall efficiency of the company’s operations. Vroman and Danko (2022) underline that the employees should be guided on their growth and development path. Otherwise, they can be overwhelmed with the amount of information present and the lack of progress.
The company’s foremost opportunity is the expansion of online training and development tools. Currently, the company’s utilization of online courses and training programs is limited due to the focus on real-life interactions. However, Pinto et al. (2020) highlight that online learning can efficiently develop employees’ technical skills. As a technological company, Expedia Group needs its employees to have strong hard skills that can be applied to create innovations.
Collaboration and hands-on experience are helpful in the development of various competencies, but more online tools can aid the process (Mikołajczyk, 2022). The company may provide employees with more diverse information on current technological trends, immediate access to theoretical information, and different technical training courses. They can further implement the knowledge gained working within teams and contributing to developing the company’s products.
The main threat that the company’s approach faces is the potential lack of knowledge base for further development. The company may struggle to educate new employees because Expedia Group has no structured training and development program. If the company needs an employee with specific skills, it may struggle to provide an appropriate learning trajectory for them. In the long term, it can lead to the lack of opportunities for the quick development of critical skills and the loss of essential innovation capabilities.
Additionally, the lack of any progress monitoring system can result in decreased motivation and employee engagement, which may hurt overall performance. As a result, the company may struggle with employee motivation and the attraction of talented people to the team. Employees should be aware of their progress to feel meaningful and valued in the company. At the moment, the company provides the employees with the freedom to develop as they wish. However, the company does not oversee the progress of its employees, which can disrupt the company-employee relationships.
Recommendations
Based on the analysis, several suggestions might be made to support Expedia Group’s further growth. Initially and foremost, the organization must design a systematic training and development plan for designated corporate positions. Employee growth can be steered properly without sacrificing engagement or drive. The business could also use additional online learning resources to provide staff members a wider range of options for honing their technical abilities. It will support the training process by offering a strong theoretical foundation for professional development and more organized information.
The organization must implement a progress monitoring system to monitor staff members’ training and development advancements. A method like this will help to maintain staff motivation and engagement. Expedia Group currently allows employees to select their growth prospects and plays a relatively minimal role in their training and development. But, the workers can experience a sense of abandonment and disengagement, harming their output.
Lastly, Expedia Group must understand the competencies and abilities needed for the company’s growth. Employee skill development and organization demands can be met with the aid of a planned training program. The business currently has little control over its human resource capacities and is unable to direct its advancement. The organization may experience unforeseen developments as a result of the absence of control, raising hazards for the enterprise.
Conclusion
The report describes unique training and development practices that Expedia Group utilizes. The analysis was based on the interview questions asked of the company’s head of the Human Resources Department. The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the program are identified, and recommendations are provided. The company provides its employees with the ability to choose the direction of their professional and personal growth based on the mentoring program. However, such an approach can lead to a lack of structured skills and capabilities in the company. Expedia Group should revise its approach to training and development, focusing more on organizational needs.
References
Chopra-McGowan, A. (2022). Effective employee development starts with managers. Harvard Business Review. Web.
Expedia Group. (2022). 2022 Annual Report. Expedia Group. Web.
Ismael, N. B., Othman, B. J., Hamza, P. A., Sorguli, S., Aziz, H. M., Ahmed, S. A., Sabir, B. Y., Ali, B. J., & Anwar, G. (2021). The role of training and development on organizational effectiveness. International Journal of Engineering, Business and Management, 5(3), 15–24.
Mikołajczyk, K. (2022). Changes in the approach to employee development in organizations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. European Journal of Training and Development, 46(5/6), 544-562. Web.
Pinto, L., Nunes, E., & Sousa, S. (2020). A framework to improve training and development of workers’ technical skills: effects on operational performance during company relocation. Procedia Manufacturing, 51, 1806-1813. Web.
Susomrith, P., Coetzer, A., & Ampofo, E. (2019). Training and development in small professional services firms. European Journal of Training and Development, 43(5/6), 517-535. Web.
Vroman, S. R., & Danko, T. (2022). How to build a successful upskilling program. Harvard Business Review. Web.