An integrative action research (IAR) on effective execution of brown bag training sessions in a bank

• Main Author: Limbo, Roel Ronald
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2021
• Subjects: Employees—Training of > Philippines; Contracting out > Philippines; Business Administration, Management, and Operations
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etdm_manorg/44
• Institution: De La Salle University

Our company, ‘Bank One’, is one of the biggest financial institutions in the world with extension offices in India and the Philippines. The Enterprise Project Management Team in Manila has been conducting in-house Brown Bag sessions to address the lack of training within our team. However, the Brown Bag sessions were being carried out without proper planning, hence, their relevance and execution became unsatisfactory. To address this issue, the action research team, which is also the Brown Bag Core Group, implemented interventions to ensure the relevance and effectiveness of the Brown Bag sessions. In Cycle 1, the Core Group conducted a Training Needs Assessment (TNA) survey to design and execute a Training Plan. We also required the facilitators to complete a presentation skills training led by our Learning & Development Group. To further motivate the facilitators and participants, we aligned the actual attendance to the Brown Bag to a specific performance management metric in our company. In Cycle 2, our team continued to design, implement, and evaluate the enhanced Brown Bag sessions, but we emphasized that attendance to the Brown Bag is not compulsory but should be out of the participants’ desire and willingness to learn. The Kirkpatrick model guided our team and ensured the success of the Brown Bag in helping the Project Management Team perform their roles better.