Factores que determinan la formación de la personalidad

THE FGC EDUCATION PROJECT

A RELATED CASE STUDY

ABSTRACT

In 2004, the New Zealand Food and Grocery Council (FGC) identified a critical, industry wide shortage of experienced and skilled staff in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industry and developed industry specific short training courses to address this problem. By comparing the number of attendees at the FGC courses (100) up to 2010, against the 2004 “industry wide” context (36,000 people) there has been a “lower than expected” uptake of these courses. This case study investigates the reasons for this “lower than expected” uptake rate.

There is still a shortage of experienced staff in the FMCG industry in 2010, and consequently a need for training courses, but the shortage is not critical or “industry wide” as suggested in 2004. Indeed the evidence suggests that even in 2004 the need was neither critical nor industry wide. In 2004 the FGC did not undertake any needs analyses to identify the need for the training or number of people who actually needed training. Rather the “need” was based on the shortages of Key Account Managers and Logistics and Supply Chain Managers some FGC member companies were facing at that time. It could reasonably be expected that as the members of the FGC at that time were all managers of FMCG companies they would have contested this “industry wide” misconception. However, it seems that they approved the set up of the FGC Education Project on the concept that “the industry needs this training so we should do it” without identifying that their individual companies did not. This thereby gave false expectations to training providers to the FGC Education Project that the whole of the industry (36,000 people) would be candidates for training. Hence the 2010 perception that there is a “lower than expected” uptake of the FGC Key Account Management courses is incorrect, as it is based on comparing the actual attendees against the whole of the industry, instead of against the number of Key Account Managers in the FMCG industry.

In addition, the larger FMCG companies have developed “dedicated, in-house” programmes and recruited experienced staff from overseas. This has significantly

reduced their need to recruit trained staff from the New Zealand labour market, thereby reducing the pressure on the labour market and minimising their need for training courses from external Providers such as the FGC. Hence, SMEs are the target for the FGC training courses, but in many cases they do not use the courses as they can not afford the course fees, or simply do not provide training for their staff.

In 2010, the industry’s top three topic priorities largely match those of 2004 (Sales, Leadership and People Management), but business acumen has replaced Logistics and Supply Chain Management as the fourth priority. The industry does not value or reward education and is only interested in education that improves an individual’s ability to do their job. There is support for the development of a staircase from short courses to University qualifications, but only to the Bachelors Degree level. There is mixed support of an FMCG endorsement for such University qualifications, but a perception that there are not sufficient people in the industry to support such qualifications.

Companies pay for training that benefits the company but they do not fund other training. They select courses for their content, quality and “fit with their business” so long as the cost is within the industry norms. Operational factors such as timing, course structure, loss of productivity from staff being away from their desks and location are not of concern. Companies are not concerned about staff portability but there were opinions for and against bonding. The association of the FGC with training courses is essential, University involvement is beneficial.

There are a number of dilemmas which are reducing the uptake of courses. Mapping the underlying polarities provides an action plan by which the FGC can manage and reverse the negative impact of these dilemmas on the use of the training courses.

THE FGC EDUCATION PROJECT

A RELATED CASE STUDY

In broad brush, the purpose of the FGC is to provide services to their FMCG company members which assist them to achieve their goals. In 2004 the FGC identified the need for industry training and set up the FGC Education Project to address this need. It was therefore the job of the FGC to ensure that this project maximised the required outcomes for the industry. However, from the number of participants at these courses from their launch in 2008 to the present (2010) attendance appears to be lower than expected, based upon the parameters identified in the original conception of the Education Programme. The focus of this case study is therefore to identify, from an FGC perspective, why there has been a lower than expected uptake of the FGC courses and from that identify actions that the FGC might take to improve the uptake rate of these courses.

CHAPTER 1: SETTING THE SCENE