Staff training for business process improvement

Abstract

Purpose -The paper aims to explore staff's experience with role-plays using the example of training bank employees in Six Sigma as a major methodology for business process improvement. Design/methodology/approach -The research is based on a case study. A role-play, KreditSim, is used to simulate a loan approval process that has to be improved by the participants. KreditSim has been conducted many times with various groups in both academic and professional environments. The authors used five role-play sessions to conduct a survey among the participants and questioned seven facilitators experienced in KreditSim to generate empirical evidence for the effectiveness of such role-plays. Findings -Role-play based simulations complement training programs in terms of active participation and first-hand experience. Not only methodological learning is achieved but social and communicative as well as affective learning are supported, too. The employed role-play highlights the relevance and applicability of the Six Sigma methodology to staff's day-to-day responsibilities. Besides boosting awareness for process thinking, the role-play also helps to engage staff members in process improvement efforts. Research limitations/implications -A limitation to the results might be the small number of facilitators that supervised the role-play sessions so far. Thus, results may not be representative in a statistical sense. Moreover, the design of KreditSim could be modified in different ways for future seminars. Using software to automate certain activities is one possible modification. Ongoing research investigates in how far such modifications influence the effectiveness and the participant's perception of the role-play. Practical implications -The present study reveals that role-plays can be effectively used for staff training. The results show that staff are strongly receptive to role-plays in the context of business process improvement. Furthermore, several objectives such as methodological or social learning can be pursued and combined by this type of training instrument. Originality/value -This article contributes to existing research in analyzing the effectiveness of role-plays in a workplace setting. The paper is based on a number of professional role-play sessions within the financial services sector. The survey comprises multiple dimensions of learning and supports that staff appreciate the usage of role-play based simulation in a workplace environment.

The Predicted Trainer and Training Environment Influence toward Vocational Training Effectiveness in Bahrain

“…The result is used to indicate the effectiveness of training. This is according to Börner, Moormann, and Wang (2012), stating that training effectiveness results can be determined by measuring results to the organization from the conducted training. These results can minimize production time, enhanced quality, multiplied production, and costs reduction.…”

The impact of human resource management on business process improvement: An analysis within the MSMEs of the textile and clothing industry

“…Role of people is identified as one of the critical factors of success or failure of BPI initiatives. That is why the training of staff for implementation of this kind of improvement initiatives is necessary in any type of organization (Börner et al, 2012). Knowledge and skills of employees are considered as basic resources that are necessary for BPI (Seethamraju, 2012).…”

What do we know about business process management training? Current status of related research and a way forward

“…When considering the four publications with a primary focus on BPM training, one paper used a qualitative methodology (Börner et al, 2012), one adopted a qualitative methodology (Wollersheim et al, 2015), one a mixed methodology (Lu and Betts, 2011) and the methodology of the other which took the form of an industrial report was not apparent.…”

“…How the theory/framework was employed Börner et al (2012) The use of cognitive load theory (Sweller, 1988) to emphasize the issues related to overloading objectives for role plays as a means for staff training Kirkpatrick's model in developing the survey for evaluating training programs Wollersheim et al (2015) The use of cognitive load theory (Sweller et al, 2011) to assume that the beneficial effect of implementing more than one learning intervention is subject to a saturation effect 3.2 A summary overview of the main themes covered in the current literature This section details the outcomes of the inductive coding that was done to synthesize the literature (as briefly introduced earlier). A grounded theory approach to coding was used where the data were initially coded using in vivo coding, resulting in 234 codes representing granular level themes emerging from the data.…”

“…Several important roles could be identified in training for BPM. Among them are process owners (Hammer andStanton, 1999 as, cited in Palmberg, 2010); business analysts (Sonteya et al, 2012); VET teachers, trainers and tutors (Rozman et al, 2011); business process trainers (Müller et al, 2014); other professional trainers (Börner et al, 2012); professional training providers (Moormann and Bandara, 2012); professional training institutions (Bandara et al, 2012); change management coordinators who institute change early in the BPM initiative as a trainer and educator through the development of BPM courseware that provides interactive workshops with an objective of achieving early adoption (Melenovsky, 2006a); and process management trainers (Bandara et al, 2012). Bandara et al (2012) envision that selected individuals of middle and top executive levels of government agencies (i.e.…”