A Model for EAP Training Development

Zhiyun Zhang

Syracuse University

May 8, 2013

Submitted to:

Gerald S. Edmonds, Ph.D.

Course Instructor

IDE 632 - Instructional Design & Development II

Context

Employee Assistance Program(EAP) is a set of systematic and long-term benefits and

support projects set up by the organization for employees, providing diagnosis,

assessment, training, and counseling by professionals for the organization and its

employees to help employees and their family members to solve each kinds of

psychological and behavioral problems, aiming to improve job performance and

physical and mental health of the employees, as well as the organizational climate and

management performance (Wang, 2005). Another definition of an EAP is a formal

intervention system that identifies and assists organizational members with a wide

range of personal problems that may be affecting their job-related behaviors (Blum &

Roman, 1988).

EAP was originated in the United States. And it matured and was tested in the practice

at American and European enterprises. When these enterprises entered other

countries, due to the impact of the parent companies, it was more likely to implement

EAPs locally (Wang, 2005). EAP in Mainland China started from Hewlett-Packard,

Motorola and other large-scale foreign-funded enterprises. (Huang, Ye, & Xu, 2009).

In 2001, the first full EAP Services - Lenovo Customer Service Department Employee

Assistance Program was conducted by Zhang Xichao, associate professor of School of

Psychology, Beijing Normal University. From then on, local EAPs gradually began in

China. (Yi & Wang, 2010).

Due to differences in cultural background, employee perception and awareness, EAP

in China was localized, content and manner of service made necessary adjustments.

Studies showed that a difference between the USA and Japan in terms of the nature of

utilization of EAPs is alcohol or drug abuse, which is a major problem in the USA but

much less so in Japan. (Blum & Roman, 1992, Muto, Fujimori, & Suzuki, 2004). This

is the same with EAP in China, which is also developed in response to mental health

problems. China's EAP not only helps employees with specific personal problems, but

also helps to prevent the generation of psychological problems for normal people. The

content contains working pressure, mental health, catastrophic events, career plagued,

healthy lifestyle, legal disputes, financial problems, etc. (Zhang, 2003). The main

contents are oriented to the improvement of positive psychological capital.

The difference in content also leads to another characteristic of EAP in China.

Addressing the negative issues, such as alcoholism and substance abuse, with short-

term counseling is the focus of Western EAP. However, in order to benefit a large

number of employees, one of the components of EAP in China is to improve mental

health awareness and equip employees with knowledge and skills through training.

Usually, EAP of Chinese enterprises consists of six modules: investigation, planning,

promotion, counseling, training and evaluation (Zhang, 2006). The training part is an

essential module in EAP in China.

It is because basically only powerful organizations have the ability and willingness to

implement these program, because EAP is usually provided freely for employees. A

study revealed that in organizations which had more than 1,000 people, the

implementation of EAP reached 76% (Hartwell, et al, 1996). In addition, the purpose

of EAP may also be that the enterprise wants to use EAP to convey a signal to the

industry or the public, it is strong and it values human capital (Osterman, 1995).

EAP training may include themes such as how to plan time effectively, how to

improve the interpersonal skills in workplace, how to deal with negative emotion, and

how to ease the work pressure. By providing training in an EAP, a large number of

employees’ mental health awareness, knowledge and skills can be improved, thus

helping to achieve the certain goals of the EAP.

The proposed model is created in a business setting. It will be designed with several

assumptions. First, the model operates under the assumption that the external EAP

model is employed in this context. It means that the client company itself does not

have a department responsible for the EAP, and it outsources EAP to a professional

EAP services agency. The client company may only has one or two coordinators in

human resources or other relevant departments to contact and coordinate with the

EAP services agency. So the development of training will be served by the project

teams from the external professional EAP services agency as well as the internal

coordinators from the client company. It is also assumed that the training is an

innovation and planed change has been conducted effectively in the module of

promotion. It is unfamiliar or new to the employees as well as the management, but

both the employees and the managers adopt the EAP innovation with the effort of

promotion. Another assumption is that the EAP has been supported and funded by the

client company.

Purpose

The training part is one of the important modules in EAP of Chinese enterprises.

Nonetheless, there is lack of standard to develop training in EAP. More than often,

everything is put in the training or it is designed based on the management’s interests,

regardless of what the actual needs of employees are. Also, the quality of training

cannot be ensured without the development following a well-designed model. It will

definitely bring about negative impact on the whole EAP effects.

This model is created intending to provide a framework for EAP training

development. It will assist in the instructional development process of EAP training. It

provides structure, guidance and rationale for design and development of training and

ensures all necessary issues of such process are addressed. It visualizes the

instructional design process and makes it easier to communicate and negotiate design

tasks between stakeholders.

The model will allow a series of units to be created in a way that best meets the

demands of the client companies - to equip employees with knowledge and skills of

mental health through training, benefiting a large number of employees. It will

facilitate the development and implementation of the entire EAP thus improving the

organizational performance.

The Role of the Developer

The team from the external EAP services agency consists of a project manager,

instructional designers, developers, and technical specialists. Other roles include

trainers working as subject matter experts as well as internal coordinators from the

client company.

Roles and responsibilities of project members:

Instructional Designer: to conduct analysis, design, development and evaluation

phases, consult with trainers in implementation phase.

Instructional Developer: to conduct development phase, work with technical

specialists, consult with trainers in implementation phase.

Project Manager: to make project plan, recruit and develop team, coordinate

between resources and efforts of the whole team, control project progress, and

consult with the client company.

Technical specialists: to provide support services in development and

implementation phases.

Trainers (subject matter experts): to consult with team throughout the project,

conduct the implementation phase.

Coordinators: to consult with team throughout the project, and coordinate

between project and client company.

Intended Audience

Besides the direct users of the model, the primary audience of this EAP training

development model is head of EAP, person in charge of other EAP modules,

administration and management of the client company. This model can be used as a

reference for the overall management and implementation of the whole EAP.

Other audience of this model can be anyone interested in instructional design and

development. For example, instructional design researchers, training designers form

learning and development in human resources department.

Explanation of the Model

Rationale

Below is the model’s categorization according to the frameworks described by

Edmonds, Branch, & Mukherjee (1994).

Orientation: This model could be categorized as both descriptive and prescriptive.

Edmonds et al. described that descriptive models describe a given learning

environment and speculate how the variables of interest will be affected in such an

environment. Prescriptive models outline how a learning environment can be altered

or constructed in order to affect the variables of interest in a certain way or bring

about the desired outcome. Compared to other educational context, in business

setting, instructional design cannot always create an ideal environment. In most cases,

optimal solutions should be found within constraints. So this EAP training

development model might be somewhere in the middle of the continuum of

orientation.

Knowledge Structure: This model is more applied to the declarative side, or at least

both of procedural and declarative if not totally declarative. Because training in EAP

is about equipping employees with knowledge. The instruction will provide more

abstract material, which focuses more on why we reach a goal rather than how to

reach a goal.

Expertise Level: Although the audience for this model cover the range of novices,

intermediates, and experts, those who are using the model to design and develop the

training are more likely to be in the intermediate to expert range. So this model will

not provide step-by-step descriptions of the process of EAP training development,

which are more practical for someone who is inexperienced in the field of

instructional design and development. The team members from the external EAP

services agency have knowledge and skills of instructional design, development,

implementation and evaluation, so they can use this model with their experience and

intuition to guide the process. Although the trainers, technical specialists as well as

the internal coordinators from the client company will be involved in the development

of training, their roles are more consultants than direct users.

Structure: Expert/Soft-System-Based or Expert/Intuitive-Based are both suitable for

this model. As Edmonds et al. stated, Expert/Soft-System-Based is an instructional

design model that relies on expert instructional designers to make decisions and to use

models which rely on their experience to guide the design. And Expert/Intuitive-

Based is an instructional design model that relies on expert instructional designers to

make decisions and to use intuitive models that rely on heuristics, past experience,

knowledge and intuition to guide the design. Both structures can be applied well for

this model.

Context: This model is categorized into the business training. Because the whole EAP

is in the context of business and industry setting. This model will help the

development of EAP training to meet the needs of client companies.

Level: According to the size of the population targeted by the instruction, this EAP

training development model is intended to plan instruction for 1)unit-level, which

would determine specific topics to be learned, 2)lesson-level, which would be

concerned with the actual events that would occur during specific episodes of

instruction, 3)module-level, which would address micro details.

According to the Selected Instructional Design Models Comparison Matrix by

Edmonds et al. (See Figure 1), this model’s categorization leads to several

instructional design models. When the context of the model and the real situation in

which the model will be used are taken into consideration, this model is basically

based on Kemp's Model (1985), Rapid Prototyping Model (1990), and the general

ADDIE Model (See Figure 2, 3, 4). This model learns from the three models and

integrate the characteristics of them.

Figure 1 Selected Instructional Design Models Comparison Matrix

(Edmonds, Branch, & Mukherjee 1994)

Figure 2 Kemp's Model (1985)

Kemp's

Model is basically an oval shape, which shows that instructional design and

development is a continuous cycle. The revision is an on-going activity associated

with all other elements. In the middle of the model, there are nine elements which

should receive attention. One characteristic of this model is that the designer can start

anywhere and proceed in any order (Gustafson, & Branch, 2002).

Figure 3 Rapid Prototyping Model (1990)

Rapid Prototyping Model emphasizes that design and development is an iterative

process. The feedback from user reviews will help to revise the instruction. And a

satisfaction will be achieved after the prototyping.

Figure 4 ADDIE Model

ADDIE Model contains five core elements of instructional design - Analyze, Design,

Development, Implement and Evaluation. Each of them inform the other as

development takes place. And revision continues throughout the process.

These characteristics of the three models all have impact on this model for EAP

training development. The graphic of the model is followed (See Figure 5).

Figure 5 Model for EAP Training Development

The component of planned change is excluded in this model. The EAP service model

for Chinese organizations has psychological investigation, EAP planning, promotion,

training, counseling, and evaluation six modules (Wang, 2005). The development of

such a training module can be considered an innovation, so there must be planned

change in order to facilitate the successful implementation. However, the component

of planned change is excluded in this model. The reason for this is there already have

been a module in the whole EAP which plays similar role. The module of promotion

functions the diffusion of EAP innovation in the client company, which includes

training. So the exclusion of planned change does not mean it is unessential. This

model is based on the assumption that planed change has been conducted effectively

in the module of promotion.

Analyze Phase

Training Needs Analysis (TNA)

It’s basically based on Rossett’s Purpose-based Training Needs Assessment (TNA)

(1987). The purposes of this analysis is to seek optimal performance, actual

performance, feelings, causes and solutions. Optimals are visions of desired

performance. Actuals are what is occurring, what people do. The gap between

Optimals and Actuals is the performance discrepancy. Feelings are opinions about the

problem from employees, supervisors, trainers, EAP project team, coordinators and

significant others. Causes are what various sources think is contributing to the

problem. Solutions are ways of ending the problem (Rossett, 1987). Through TNA,

the performance problem is defined and the possible causes and solutions are

proposed.

After TNA, the question “Is training the solution?” will be answered. If there is a

YES, than the process can be followed. If there is a NO, than the development will

stop. Rossett categorized the causes of human performance problems into four types:

absence of skill or knowledge, absence of environment support, absence of motivation

and absence of incentive or improper incentive. Some of the possible causes might be

employees’ knowledge, organization’s policies, employees’ value and expectancy or

suitability of incentives. But not until the TNA is conducted, can the question be

answered. According to Rossett’s opinion, training can be the solution for the problem

of absence of skill or knowledge as well as absence of motivation. So if the problem

is about theses causes, the training can be the solution. If not, other solutions such as

counseling, environment reconstruction and workflow redesign will be proposed. The

results of TNA will help the complete of FEA plan in the module of planning.

Although it is assumed that the EAP has been supported and funded by the client

company, training for a large number of employees is expensive. A sufficient analysis

before any further step is taken is important.

The following sub-components in analysis phase including learner analysis,

environment analysis, and content analysis. There is no specified sequence for them.

After they are done, the outcome of the analysis phase – the learning objectives will

be achieved.

Learner analysis

The intended audience for the EAP training is basically the employees as well as the

management of the client company. This sub-component covers but is not limited to

demographic features, education level, learning style, prior knowledge or training, and

physical abilities of the leaners, who is involved in the problem defined in the training

needs analysis. Especially, learners’ motivation need attention. Study revealed that

concerns about face, privacy and effect will affect employees’ usage of EAP services

(Huang, Ye, & Xu, 2009).These characteristics may also have implications for the

design and development of the training.

Environment analysis

The learning environment as well as the working environment will be included in this

sub-component. It covers the basic situation of the organization, such as type, size,

main goals and organizational culture, as well as resources and restrictions, like

technologies, equipment and policies (Yi & Wang, 2010). Other characteristics of the

environment that may have implications for the design, implementation, or evaluation

of EAP training are also analyzed.

Content Analysis

This sub-component deals with the content of instruction and learning. For example,

time planning, interpersonal skills, emotion management, and stress management.

Prerequisite knowledge or skills, desired learning outcomes, and the content to be

learned are analyzed. Technique such as learning hierarchy analysis can be employed.

It can provide an indication of sequencing of content delivery in the training.

Learning Objectives

These are the outcome of the analysis phase, which demonstrate the desired situation

the EAP training will bring about. Learning objectives will function as the guidance

and reference for the following phases. The instrument for writing learning objectives

can be the ABCD format.

Instructional designers will work with coordinators to ensure the data is collected and

analyzed effectively. Trainers work as subject matter experts, providing advice in this

phases.

In order to collect data for analysis, the techniques employed are extant data analysis

and needs analysis. Instruments used in this phase will involve documentation

analysis, observation, survey, interviews and focus groups. Since there is an

investigation module in EAP, the results of it can help a lot here. The extant records

which can be used include the results from the previous investigation module, as well

as other documentation of organizational regulations and statistic reports from the HR

or other related departments of the client company. Besides, additional observation,

survey, interviews and focus groups can be employed, covering stakeholders’ opinions

and facts about the performance problem and training itself, as well as the features of

learners, environment and content.

Design, Development and Prototyping

In order to make the training development process efficient and ensure its quality the

ideas of prototyping is adopted. Instructional designers and developers will work with

trainers, technical specialists to complete the sub-components, including content

sequencing, instructional strategies, assessment approach, training materials and

support services. All stakeholders will be involved in the prototyping to provide

meaningful feedbacks.

Content sequencing

According to the result of analysis phase, trainers will consult with the designers to

address the order of the content of training in this sub-component.

Instructional Strategies

Including the method of delivery, the instructional architecture, learning architecture,

the method of grouping for learning, etc.

Assessment Approach

Based on the analysis of content, learners and environment as well as the learning

objectives, assessment approaches are designed. They will exam whether the learning

objectives are achieved. Participation, assignment, test, self or peer review can be

used.

Training materials

This sub-component deals with the development of instruction. Instructional units,

along with the handouts, PPTs, videos, and other materials needed are created.

Support services

Support services from technical specialists, such as multimedia, videography, etc. can

be employed to consult and assist with the developers to facilitate the development of

training.

Prototyping

This is an iterative process. The feedback from user reviews will help to redesign and

redevelop the instruction. And a satisfaction will be achieved from the prototyping.

The result of this phase is the finalized product of instruction, the training which will

be implemented in the next phase.

Implementation Phase

Trainers will conduct the implementation phase. Coordinators will organize resources

like time, personnel, equipment, etc. and coordinate between EAP training project and

the client company.

Maintenance

Technical specialists, instructional designers and developments provide ongoing

technical and pedagogical support during this phase to make sure the effectively

implementation of training.

Evaluation Phase

In the whole process of evaluation, to collect real, comprehensive information and

data is the prerequisite for the evaluation, ensuring the evaluation can reflect the

objective conditions and effects; to make accurate, detailed analysis and assessment is

the middle part of the evaluation process; to improve according to the feedback is the

ultimate point of the evaluation process (Li, 2010).

Evaluation phase actually includes two parts: formative evaluation, which helps to

evaluate the quality and effectiveness of training as it is being constructed; summative

evaluation, which focuses on the quality, value, and impact of the finalized training

after implementation.

Formative evaluation

Formative evaluation and revision continue throughout the whole instructional

development process. The instruments which can be employed in this phase are

design review, one-to-one review, expert review and small group evaluation. The

instructional designers, developers, trainers, coordinators and samples from target

learners will be involved. Their opinions will help to revise and finalize the training.

Formative evaluation continues throughout the whole instructional development

process, which means it requires certain resources. Although there is an assumption

that the development of EAP training is fully supported by the client company, such

resource issue should be taken into consideration when formative evaluation is

conducted. For example, if there is limitations of time, personnel or material

resources, it is optional to have small group evaluation in the early stages.

Summative evaluation

Based on Kirkpatrick’s levels of training evaluation, there are four levels of

summative evaluation in this model to exam the effectiveness and quality of training

(Pulichino, 2007). Level 1 – Reaction deals with how learners react to the training.

Evaluation sheets, interview and other methods can be utilized to exam the learners’

reaction to topics such as content relevancy, media, clarity, comfort, etc. Level 2 –

Learning deals with the extent to which learners change attitudes, improve

knowledge, and/or increase skill as a result of the training. How well the knowledge

and skills are acquired by the learners are assessed through on site activity and

mastery test. Level 3 – Performance deals with the extent to which on-the-job

behavior or performance has changed and/or improved as a result of the training. How

well the learners transfer what they learned from training into real working

environment will be evaluated by self, peer, or supervisor review and survey. Level 4

– Results deals with the extent to which desired business and/or organizational results

have occurred as a result of the training. Instruments like cost/benefit analysis and pre

and post-training comparison can be used to exam the results of training on an

organizational level.

The results of training evaluation can both help the qualitative analysis and

quantitative analysis of the last evaluation module in the whole EAP. It is a summary

of the entire EAP project work. It indicates the achievements and shortcomings of

EAP, and also provides the organization of an in-depth analysis of the return on

investment. And based on the comprehensive information from all parties, the effect

of the overall EAP project can be revealed, and the results will be fed back to the

client company (Zhang, 2006).

Management

The sub-components in this phase deal with the project management issues, such as

team development, communication, coordination, control, budget, etc. Due to the

external EAP model, the situation might be more complex than other general projects.

The project manager should work closely with the coordinators from the client

company and pay attention when he/she address issues related to resources like

money. It would be helpful if the authority in management is made clear in the

contract and respected during the project life cycle.

Management tools such as Microsoft Project, Basecamp can be employed to manage

and control the training development project efficiently and effectively. For example,

Basecamp is a web-based management and collaboration tool. It makes it convenient

for project managers to allocation of tasks and resources, control and manage the

project as it progress. Also, everyone involved in a project can work together on the

platform and project data will be kept together in one place, so communication ways

can be changed. Time, resources and energy can be saved.

Appendix

Peer Review

Hassan Arshad

In my peer review, overall the model looks great and I can feel the efforts

done behind it.

I see analysis part as strength of the model. In a program like EAP, it is indeed

an important aspect. Learner analysis, environment analysis and content

analysis makes the analysis phase a stronger and deeper one.

The other strength I see is that formative evaluation and management of the

model is spread all over the model and has impact on each phase. I feel this

can be a key point in how the model can be continuously improved and

worked upon. Management of course we can do all the time however having it

there right with formative evaluation. Design review, one-to-one review,

expert review and small group evaluation makes the formative evaluation

very strong and it should have a concrete impact on the model’s refinement.

I also feel that in project like EAP, the role of Project Manager is a great idea.

Not only the project manager will ensure that project timelines are being met

but would also see if the other resources and their utilization is being reported

and presented to the management.

My other feedback is that there can be further clarity of the team roles. I

mean the coordinators are doing some work which can be clubbed with

project manager’. It’s just a suggestion, as it's a long term project, company’s

management would be concerned about costs, and the project management

team can also take up coordination work to make the team lean and further

efficient.

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