Running Head: Nestlé’s Training Program 0

Training and Development Program for Nestlé Inc:

By: Veree Hart, Lilian Reyes, & Camille Tilghman

University of New Haven

Table of Contents

Introduction

Part 1 Selecting an Organization: Nestlé Inc.

A. Nestlé’s Mission & Values

B. Nestlé’s Business Strategy

Part 2 Nestlé’s Sales Manager Training and Development Programs

A. Current HR Practices

B. Strengths & Weaknesses

​C. Proposed HRD Recommendations

​ ​D. Barriers and Challenges

Part 3 Conclusion
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Introduction

Training and development is a branch of human resource management (HRM), one of the

main business functions within every company. According to Noe (2017, p. 7), HRM is the

“policies, practices, and systems that influence employees’ behavior, attitudes, and

performance.” Effective training practices can increase a company’s growth by improving

customer service; training teaches employees the knowledge and tools needed for success. If

done successfully, training and development can be a competitive advantage for businesses.

Training and development cannot happen without effective learning, the main goal of training

and development.

Learning is the main component of training and development because it contributes

employee performance, positive business outcomes, and supports the company’s business

strategy. Training focuses on helping employees master the skills and knowledge they learned

and apply these to their daily work activities (Noe 2017, p. 8). Training teaches employees how

to perform whereas development prepares employees for future positions through formal

education.

Our Human Resource Development (HRD) project is an experiential application where

students design a training program for their selected organization. Students must apply the HRD

practices and strategies taught in class to a specific work situation. For the project, our team

chose Nestlé as our organization. We will conduct an informal diagnosis on Nestlé’s training and

development program, identify the needs currently unaddressed, propose suggestions for

improvement, and finally, formulate a new training program addressing the HRD topics

mentioned in class and the textbook.

Part I: Selecting an Organization: Nestlé

Nestlé is the selected organization for this experiential project. Our first step was to

understand and analyze the business’s current strategy, organizational/company culture, and HR

policies. It is important to identify whether Nestlé’s current training and development programs

are aligned or closely linked with the company’s business strategy and culture. Then, one can

determine the areas where certain needs are lacking. From there, our team can identify the type

of training needed and/or ways to improve the company’s current HRD practices.

A. Nestlé’s Mission & Values

Nestlé is the world’s largest food and beverage multinational Swiss company. Nestlé

strives to follow their slogan “Good Food, Good Life” by inspiring people to live healthier lives,

contributing to society, and shaping the world to be a better place. Nestlé is a principle-based

company and their Corporate Business Principles formed the foundation for sustainability and

the basic way they do business. Nestlé believes they cannot create shared value for shareholders

and society nor environmentally sustainable if they fail to comply with their Business Principles

(Nestlé 2010). Nestlé created the 10 Principles of Business Operations: Nutrition, Health and

Wellness, Quality Assurance and Product Safety, Consumer Communication, Human Rights

within Business Activities, Leadership and Personal Responsibility, Safety and Health at Work,

Supplier and Customer Relations, Agriculture and Development, Environmentally Sustainable,

and Water (Nestlé 2010). For each corporate business principle, Nestlé created corporate

policies.
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B. Nestle’s Business Strategy

According to Hambrick & Fredrickson (2005, p. 53), there are five major elements of

strategy: arena, vehicles, differentiators, staging, and economic logic. These five elements

provide answers to these five questions: where will we be active?, how will we get there?, how

will we win in the marketplace?, what will be our speed and sequence of moves?, and how will

we obtain our returns? Using Hambrick and Fredrickson’s theory, our group was able to infer

Nestlé’s business strategy.

Nestlé’s arenas are within the food and beverage industry and they strive to meet the

needs of modern customers. Nestlé is based worldwide in Europe, Asia, the Americas, Africa,

and Oceania. Their vehicles are franchises, acquisitions, and joint ventures/partnership. Nestlé’s

differentiation is found in their nutrition expertise and food innovation. Nestlé’s sequence or

staging occurs by diversifying the company portfolio. They have changed their focus from

disposals to acquisitions and are investing in e-business, premiumization, and direct-to-consumer

business. Nestlé is also aiming to expand within the health science business. They obtain their

returns by reducing costs through factory fixed overheads and improving profit efficiency.

Part II: Nestlé’s Sales Manager Training and Development Programs

A sales manager is responsible for leading a sales team by; providing guidance, training,

motivating, counseling, mentorship, setting sales quotas/goals, creating sales plans, analyzing

data, assigning sales territories, and building their team. They are also responsible for achieving

growth within their sales teams and making sure that they have knowledge about the product

they will be selling. Their sales teams should also be supervised and organized. Some other
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responsibilities that they have are to; manage organizational sales by developing a business plan

that covers sales, revenue, and expense controls, meeting the planned quotas/goals that they set,

setting individual sales targets for members within the sales team, tracking their sales goals and

reporting any necessary results, overseeing activities and performances of their sales team,

coordinating with marketing on lead generation, promoting the organization and its products, and

understanding ideal customers and how they relate to the products that they sell. In order to be a

sales manager, they do look for certain requirements. These requirements are; you must have a

bachelor’s degree in business or a related field, have experience in planning and implementing

sales strategies, have experience in customer relationship management, have experience

managing and directing a sales team, have excellent written and verbal communication skills,

have dedication to providing great customer service, and have the ability to lead a sales team.

​ A. Current HR Practices

A typical Nestlé Sales Manager would undergo formal training, on-the-job training, and

external management training. Formal training programs are purpose-oriented and designed to

improve relevant skills and competencies pertaining to the position. Nestlé managers also have to

take management courses. These courses focus on the company’s internal activities and consist

of ⅓ theory, ⅓ Nestlé best practices, and ⅓ external practices (Nestlé S.A. Public Affairs 2003 p.

22). All course leaders are Nestlé senior managers except 25% who are outside professionals..

Nestlé’s sales development (on-the-job training) program gives sales managers hands-on

learning from high-performing Analysts and Associates. The trainees receive a mini team of

employees and with guidance, they focus on scheduling, day-to-day sales, sales operations, and
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group performance management. With this team, the trainees have to achieve their assigned

goals. Each senior-level manager’s responsibility is to guide and coach new managers. This is

crucial to make each new manager progress in his/her position.

External management training is conducted at the Institute for Management Development

(IMD). IMD uses case studies based on Nestlé’s operations and conducts research projects

within the company. The Program for Executive Development (PED) is the training programme

designed for Nestlé managers. PED is divided into two five-week training modules that are

attended about 12-18 months apart (Nestlé S.A. Public Affairs 2003 p. 28). This course is

designed to prepare mid-level managers for a step forward into their career.

​B. Strengths and Weaknesses

Nestles being one of the biggest companies, internationally, runs over 250,000

Employees and 500 Offices and Factories. They have proven that with proper training and

motivation, it is possible to oversee 135 years of food company operations. In their People

Development Manual, it is indicated: “Our principal assets are not office buildings, factories, or

even brands. Rather, it is the fact that we are a global organisation of many nationalities,

religions, and ethnic backgrounds all working together in one single unifying corporate culture.

Our culture unifies people on all continents, with roughly half our factories and people located in

the developing world.” (The Nestlé People Development Review, Nestlé S.A. Public Affairs

2003 p. 2) This statement itself signifies the standards that Nestle holds towards its employees

and partners. Nestlé believes that “the willingness to learn is an essential condition to be

employed by Nestle” (Nestlé S.A. Public Affairs 2003 p. 4). This company believes in offering
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life-long learning opportunities to their employees; people development and learning is an

integral part of their company culture. It is clear Nestlé’s HRD practices are aligned with the

company’s direction.

One of Nestle's many opportunities includes “offering free education assistance and loans

to dairy farmers, building factories, educating managers, technical staff, and factory personnel…

Then maintaining long-term relationships with them.” (The Nestlé Sustainability Review, Nestlé

S.A. Public Affairs 2001). By doing this not only are Im they providing the adequate training to

their partners but are giving them the opportunity to grow personally.

Another strength Nestle has is that it has a 2030 Vision. Many companies today really do

not have a view of where they want to head with the company. Nestle being a major food

producing company, with a global brand that operates in different countries (Nestlé (2020). They

have ambitions that by 2030 they want to improve livelihoods and develop thriving communities,

this all starts with the programs they already have which are “​community outreach days and

regular employee service to disaster relief aid and supporting food security in our neighborhoods,

we pride ourselves on helping to enable thriving communities. Our annual Nestlé Cares day of

service unites our operating companies to make a difference through more than 150 events

nationwide.”

As any company, Nestle also has weaknesses, one of these weaknesses is that they rely

heavily on their own staff rather than instructors. As noted in the ​Human Resource Management

International Digest​ (Vol. 12 No. 6, pp. 27-29), “training is a never-ending process at Nestlé:

Company relies heavily on its own people rather than professional instructors". Not only does

Nestle have to make sure all employees are adequately trained, they have to make sure they can
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maintain their market position globally (​2004, Emerald Group Publishing Limited). Another

weakness are their training evaluations. From what our group could infer, Nestlé provides

feedback and employee evaluations, but their formative training program evaluations aren’t

frequent. Nestlé focuses more on summative evaluations.

​C. Proposed HRD Improvements

As any major company, Nestle has strengths and weaknesses that can either improve or

hinder the company's success. Some recommendations to improve the training and development

of the company is one we can see from the weaknesses . For Nestle to rely heavily on their own

workers for instructions can lead to low morale for their employees. By making the employees

have a constant and continuous training program can become overwhelming for some. One

recommendation that would better suit Nestle when it comes to this includes these constant

training is to divide the training into specific work categories in which will lessen the stress on

the employees. To have a team that is there directly to train these employees properly can help

improve overall morale for the staff. A dedicated staff for training and development for Nestle

can help the employees maintain an overall good standing in their markets overseas.

Besides this one specific improvement recommendation to Nestlé, there are some general

improvements that any company can make to improve their training and development. One is the

motivation to learn. Motivation to learn is a trainee’s desire to learn the content of a training

program. This is important because if a trainee is not motivated to learn, then they will not retain

any information. One way companies can solve this problem is to relate the training to events

that are happening around that time. This will keep the trainees attention and eventually keep
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them motivated to keep learning. Another general improvement is self efficacy. Self efficacy is

an individual’s belief in his or her capacity to execute behaviors that are necessary in order to

produce a specific performance accomplishment. Self efficacy often reflects confidence in the

ability to apply control over one’s own motivation, behavior, and also social environment. There

are many ways in which employers can help improve their trainees' self efficacy. One way is for

them to watch someone else succeed at a task, because they will then believe that they can

succeed at it too. Another way is for those who are training the employees to constantly

communicate with them while they complete the task and give feedback. They can also use that

time to motivate the trainee to do the best they can.

When having a training and development program, it is important for employers to ensure

that they create a learning environment. Creating a learning environment has many benefits such

as; increased efficiency, productivity, profit, employee satisfaction, and a decreased turnover. A

learning environment can improve employees' mindsets and gives them a developed sense of

ownership and accountability while also giving them a enhanced ability to adapt to change.

Ways employers can create a learning environment is by making sure that they formalize their

training and development plans. It is important for companies to make their training mandatory

for all incoming employees. Employers should also formalize sharing knowledge and

information. Also giving recognition to employees who successfully learn something new like a

skill should be recognized. Doing this can encourage other employees to do the same.
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​D. Barriers and Challenges

​In Nestle some barriers and challenges that can arise it having many overseas companies

can include a language barrier. Having this type of barrier can bring about a challenge when it

comes time to train new employees in the forgein market. This can be a challenge because there

can be a difference in the way things can be interpreted so certain expectations may not be met to

the same standard as the company home base. A challenge that Nestle might face is keeping up

with global demand. This is a challenge because if a company can not keep up with its market

share globally there is a loss in profit and then there can be some setbacks for the company in

which it may be employee related. Not being able to keep up with global demand can include

having to recall an item that is dominant in one country can throw off the company's growth and

lead to people losing some trust in the brand itself.

Part III: Conclusion

learned that with proper training and development, a company can manage a domestic and

overseas company efficiently. A company can also manage and maintain a stable market with

effective training and development. One thing that stood out to us was the amount of different

aspects that go into developing a training program. We learned how to analyze a company’s

current training program and enhance the program by ensuring our program addresses the needs

we believed weren’t met. Being able to actually be hands-on and create a training and

development program was a fun experience. It was interesting to see how much companies are
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invested in training and development. Multiple companies know the importance of effective

training and development programs and continuous learning throughout the company as a whole.
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