EmployeeTraining Program by Air Canada
EmployeeTraining Program by Air Canada
Projectmanagement is very vital to any organization that seeks to expand itsmarket share and also it profits. A company that does not involveproject management strategies suffers the risk of not making anyprogress or shutting down. Project management is simply theapplication of procedures, methods, skills, knowledge and experiencein achieving the objectives of a project. A project is defined as aunique, transitory effort, undertaken to attain scheduled objectivesthat could be in terms of benefits, outputs or outcomes. This paperseeks to explore the aspect of project management employed in AirCanada. The paper gives a review of the existing documents of theorganization related to how the company manages its projects. In thisreport, there is the project management guideline of Air Canada, thechallenges that the company faces in implementing the projectinternationally as well as the steps it employs to deal with theinherent risks among others.
Backgroundinformation on Air Canada Air Canada is the biggestairline in Canada. It is also Canada’s largest scheduled passengerservices provider. It also operates in the Canada-U.S. trans-bordermarket and also in the international market. It flies from Canada toother international regions and back. Air Canada and its regionalpartners operated a fleet of 351 aircraft, carrying nearly 35 millionpassengers in 2012 alone. They also provided direct passenger serviceto 175 and more destinations on the five continents (Air Canada,2012). The company is a member of the Star Alliance. This makes it apart of the most comprehensive network of air transportation in theworld, which server higher than 1300 airports in the whole world. Bytraffic, the company is currently ranked as the world’s 15thlargest commercial airline. The headquarters of Air Canada aresituated in Montreal. The company employs more than 27 thousandpeople in Canada and 29 other countries all over the world (Yerema &Leung, 2015). Air Canada makes sure that their employees can continueto have sharp skills by offering them tuition subsidies in the AirCanada University program. They also offer programs of extensivein-house training for their airline crews. The training programs areoffered at four training facilities across Canada. Fight simulationtraining is also offered for pilots. These include online simulationsthrough iPads and state-of-the-art simulations. This report analyzesAir Canada’s program management guidelines, the challenges it facesin implementing the projects overseas, and the steps that the companytakes in dealing with the risks and difficulties associated withmanaging a program on the ground from a distance.
Theemployee training program management Learning occurs all thetime regardless of whether one is aware of the fact that is beingtaught or not. As far as an organization employs qualifiedindividuals, it must have a program whereby the skills will bemaintained and experience of the employees enhanced. Everyorganization therefore, has the responsibility to carry out anemployee training (Yerema & Leung, 2015). In its employeetraining programs, Air Canada offers both in-house trainings as wellas online training to all of its employees so that it can maintaintheir competence and skills. This program is headed by the Air CanadaUniversity program. The program also offers to train money toemployees that they can use in furthering their skills and problemsolving abilities (Hassi, 2013). This program is offered bothnationally and internationally. It covers all employees in allsectors who can either be required to take the training in-house ortake them part time at their convenience (Yerema & Leung, 2015Magnani, 2016). Expert trainers are contracted by the company tooffer the training, both in-house and to the employees overseas.These employees are given training relevant to their level ofspecialization and the organization’s goals and objectives.Promoting the skills and knowledge of the employees is their way ofimproving the company’s performance (Hassi, 2013). This task is,however, full of many challenges and milestones, especially offeringtraining to their staff overseas. There are various determinants thatare liable for the challenges that the company meets in offeringtheir training programs overseas (Air Canada, 2012).
Challengesin implementing the employee training program overseas Thecultures and beliefs of the people in the countries where theiremployees are located influence the quality of training they receive.For instance, there are some cultures that still do not allow womento be out of their homes after five in the evening. In thesecultures, the part time training that is usually offered in theevenings after work cannot benefit their female employees abroad(Magnani, 2016). In order to handle this case, the company invests ininteracting with the local communities in such places and explainingto them the importance of the training they offer. In many cases,their efforts have been successful. However, in the areas where theyhave not achieved any success with this strategy, most of the femaleemployees are offered the opportunity for online training,supplemented with on-the-job skills honing training. This method hasalso proven successful, and employees have achieved good results (AirCanada, 2012). Political stability in the other countrieshas also affected their program. It is usually not easy to conductany project in a foreign nation that is undergoing political strifeor war (Csiernik, 2000). There are some of these countries where theydo not even have the opportunity to offer online training. In mostcases, the trainees do not have adequate access to internetconnectivity outside their working hours. These countries have provenchallenging. However, the company has occasionally offeredscholarship to their employees in such places to attend the trainingin the nearest available learning center where the training isoffered (Air Canada, 2012).
Policiesand market dynamics of the foreign countries have also beenchallenging to the company in implementing its employee trainingprogram (Baker, 2007). There are heavy taxation policies for foreigninvestors in some countries that make the training program unfeasiblein such countries. The strength of the local currency against theCanadian dollar is also another problem. When the foreign currency isstronger than the dollar, Air Canada tends to spend more on chargesand taxes, together with other expenditures that are geared towardsfacilitating the employee training program (Yerema & Leung,2015). These factors stretch to the tuition subsidies option wherethe value of the amount assigned to the employee is dependent on thelocation of the employee. The company has not been able to handlethese issues and is making an effort to come up with a lasting andgeneral solution (Air Canada, 2012). Another problem is the issuewith the implied riskiness of flight simulations. When peopleoverseas hear of flight simulations, they believe that they are beingasked to take a huge risk and might end up losing their lives. As aresult, the program has received low outcomes in the overseascountries. Assuring the trainees that all precautionary measures havebeen taken in ensuring their safety has achieved a little outcome.The new method that the company has adopted is to introduce theconcepts of flight simulations during classes until they understand,before engaging in the actual flight simulation program (Air Canada,2012).
Conclusion Theemployee training program offered by Air Canada to its employees bothlocally and overseas is an excellent program that ensures that everyemployee has an opportunity for career development and improves hisor her skills. Through this program, many employees have gained moreskills and have since been promoted to better higher positions.Offering the training to other countries, especially in theunderdeveloped countries has been a boost on the livelihoods of thoseemployees and their families. This program is, therefore, importantand should be adopted. However, there are some factors that influencethe success of the program overseas. Even though the company hastaken necessary steps in handling these problems, their success hasbeen slow or non-existent in some countries. In order to gain moresuccess, the company should associate the training programs withtheir charity works in such countries. One way is to have the traineeemployees participating in community development and other communityactivities. The company should also invest in promoting the access tointernet connectivity for all its employees around the world.
References
AirCanada. (2012). Citizens of the World. Corporate SustainabilityReport.
Baker,H. (2007). Employeetraining.Chandni Chowk, Delhi: Global Media.
Csiernik,R. (2000). Employee Assistance Program Education in Canada. EmployeeAssistance Quarterly,15(3),15-22. http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/j022v15n03_02
Hassi,A. (2013). Case method in employee training: comparative insightsfrom Canada and Morocco. InternationalJournal Of Teaching And Case Studies,4(1),36. http://dx.doi.org/10.1504/ijtcs.2013.053404
Magnani,E. (2016). Dissatisfaction with Working Time and Workers` TrainingOpportunities. Evidence from Matched Employer-Employee Data. EconomicPapers: A Journal Of Applied Economics And Policy,n/a-n/a. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1759-3441.12134
Yerema,R. & Leung, K. (2015). Air Canada Recognized as One of Canada’sTop 100 Employers (2016). Mediacorp Canada Inc.