Training

OVERALL GOAL OF TRAINING

Among the goals of AIRF’s training programs include creating an understanding on various modern management and productivity enhancing techniques exposing participants to entrepreneurial and analytical skills to improve their knowledge base, creativity, innovativeness, strategic thinking, and competitiveness so as build competence and capacity to constant self learning and continual improvement of job efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity.

AIRF always aims at satisfaction of ever changing customer needs and wants and continuous provision of superior value to customers.

Service delivery surveys from our clients who have received our training indicated that after the training, their staffs associate more with their firms; there is an increase in motivation, work spirit and ethics, competitiveness; better organizational culture; and hence, an increase in individual and overall organizational performance.

TRAINING OFFERED

Majority of the courses offered by AIRF are short, tailor-made to suit customer’s needs and are in line with the current business, technological, social and economic environments. Our courses are geared to improving expertise and skills in various areas so that the participants can turn into multi-skilled and enterprising people.

Below are some of the courses we offer in Kiswahili or English:

1. Strategic Thinking and Analytical Skills Development

The AIRF course in strategic thinking focuses on how to find and develop unique opportunities, to create innovative and creative propositions at work place and value for the organization and the customer. This course aims at creating analytical capability and competence, enabling and creative dialogue among the internal stakeholders to affect change in the organization’s direction and performance so that it can be strategically aligned with changing external business environment. This course is an input to strategic planning which uncovers potential opportunities for creating value and resolving challenges faced by the organization. Strategic thinking is a way of analyzing and understanding the current and future fundamental drivers of a business and rigorously challenging conventional thinking for the better future technical and financial performance and customer results.

2. Customer Relation Management (Customer Care)

Customer service is an integral part of our job and should not be seen as an extension of it. An organization’s most vital asset is its customers. Without them, we would not and could not exist in business. When you satisfy your customers, they not only help you grow by continuing to do business with them, but recommend you to friends and associates. Good customer relationship management entails careful customer care and building customer satisfaction, loyalty and retaining them. Customer satisfaction and loyalty are directly tied to the quality and value of your services. Value of your services is measured by your customer through technical and emotional attributes in relation to the cost. In this course strategies for customer care and customer relation management using Ten Commandments of customer care will be dealt in detail.

3. Negotiation Skills

There are many reasons why you may want to negotiate and there are several ways to approach it. A negotiation is an interactive communication process that may take place whenever we want something from someone else or another person wants something from us. Negotiation is usually considered as a compromise to settle an argument or issue to benefit ourselves as much as possible and every one to leave with a perception of a Better-Alternative-To-A-Negotiated-Settlement. Communication is always the link that will be used to negotiate the issue/argument whether it is face-to-face, on the telephone or in writing. Common mistakes during negotiation and strategies including Ten Commandments for negotiation will be taught in this course.

4. Corporate Governance

The course will highlight the concepts and current best practices of corporate/organizational governance. Governance is a set of systems, structures, processes and mechanisms by which an organization is led, directed and controlled in the best interests of shareholders and internal and external stakeholders, i.e. the employees, customers, suppliers, complementors, and the community. During this course we will discuss and share the essence and definitions of corporate governance in modern day of public and private sector business undertakings, including how the board of directors and management are supposed to function and operate in the 21^st century globalized business environment. Other includes how to develop strategies and sustainable plans that will enable an organization to respond to the challenges of today and in the future. The course develops ways and means of managing the future from the present. It also identifies the organization stakeholders and their needs and how to work with the value chain participants so that the organization can serve them to their best interests and give them maximum value across the entire supply chain.

5. Strategic Management and Development of a Strategic Plan

Strategic Planning is a critical, evolving, and ongoing process for setting the future direction of an organization. In addition, to shaping its future, it directly supports the effectiveness of the organization in accomplishing its vision, mission and major goals. Strategic Management is the effort to transform the high level directions of Strategic Planning into well aligned actions of the working units of the organization, using performance measurements and performance based management as a business process. The course includes topics such as: Internal and External Environmental Scan; Leadership and Management Assessment; PESTEL Analysis; Value Net and Value Chain Analysis; Business Excellence Model application; Key Result Areas development; Re-engineering of Business Processes and Structures; Service Delivery Targets, Activities and Budgets; Individual Job Analysis, Review of Work Flow and Scheme of Service; Monitoring and Evaluation Framework; Dealing with Resistance to Change, and Communication Strategies. During the process of developing a Strategic Plan, the participants are also exposed to transformation and change management.

6. Corporate Viability Assessment

Viability assessment is an analysis of the most common causes of decline and distress an organization is facing which may result to total collapse. Among the causes of organizational decline include: poor leadership; lack of current informational and talented human resources; misalignment with current customer requirements and market demands; being out of sync with industrial best practices and stakeholders wants; bad organizational culture; inadequate or antiqued business and organizational systems; poor business and competitiveness strategies; strategic shift and poor financial control (e.g. high cost structure, poor marketing, lack of customer relationship management, etc.). This course enlightens participants on these issues and how to address and solve the threats and pitfalls.

7. Writing Winning Proposals, Bankable Business Plans, and Publication of Reports

The training will enhance skills and performance of participants in preparing technical and financial proposals or business plans and soliciting and lobbying tactics for funding from internal and international funding sources for conducting organizational activities, and preparation of technical reports and publications for submission to funding agencies and other stakeholders and refereed journals.

The course enhances the understanding the different styles of writing to suit technical and non-technical audiences and donors, writing of modern bankable proposals, writing final reports, newsletters, posters and communicating the results and outcomes different types of stakeholders.

After the training the participants will be better able to:

Write good and persuasive proposals that have a high probability to attract funding and other resources and a deeper understanding of the continuously changing funding search technicalities, tactics and politics;
Write good technical reports and publications that may be accepted and published in refereed journals;
Write good posters and newsletters on their findings to wide stakeholder audiences;
Communicate well the results and outcomes of the project or business performance.

8. Public Policy Analysis, Formulation, Monitoring and Evaluation

This course explains how policy is made and implemented in a business enterprise, public organization, and country. It exposes participants to a range of models for preparing policies, analyzing the policy process and applying policies and their programs for enhancing the performance of an organization. This course starts from structuring the problem at hand, through policy analysis, to how to perform a benefit vs. cost analysis of alternative policies and programs, to choosing and implementing the final policy and programs.

The course also seeks to identify how power is exercised in the policy process by examining the mobilization and organization of interest groups, the extent to which policy responds to public opinion, and the role of experts in policy-making. The course examines policy-making across policy sectors and assesses the impact and effectiveness of the implementation of policies.

Participants completing the course will:

have developed detailed knowledge of the different actors, processes and stages involved in formulating organizational and public policies;
have acquired a critical understanding of the main theories and practical implementation of the policy process;
be able to apply theories and models to contemporary policy issues;
understand the institutional features of policy-making, with a particular sensitivity to the role of different levels of governance.

9. Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurial Growth Strategies

This course aims to provide an insight into entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial growth strategies that will be valuable to managers, employees, and associated stakeholders.

This course enables participants to learn how to how to:

develop a business ideas and models that can lead to a successful business enterprise;
conduct industrial and competitiveness analyses and taking calculative risks;
develop a bankable business plan;
choose right business tactics and strategies;
get organized, set up and run an office, conduct negotiations and meetings, and time management;
recruit employees with the right knowledge, skills, expertise and culture and modern motivation best practices;
improve leadership and management skills and maximizing the benefits from resources, especially informational, financial, and human resources;
undertake production and value chain management;
undertake product/service safety and quality management;
conduct supply chain management (e.g. demand forecasting, production, distribution, logistics, and brand management);
conduct customer relationship management and customer satisfaction techniques;
developing and implement targeted marketing plans and advertising campaigns;
handle communication, legal, and intellectual property issues; and
mainstream corporate environmental management in research and development and business and production activities.

10. Human Resource Management

The Human Resources Management (HRM) function includes a variety of activities, and key among them is deciding what staffing needs you have and whether to use independent contractors/outsourcing or hire employees to fill these needs, recruiting and training the best employees, ensuring that employees are high performers, dealing with performance issues, and ensuring your personnel and management practices conform to various regulations. Activities also include managing your approach to employee benefits and compensation, employee records and personnel policies. These policies are often in the form of employee manuals and standard operating procedures, which all employees should understand and have.

The course will include:

Basic Overviews of Human Resource Management and Human Resource Development
How to Get the Best Employees through recruitment and selection processes
Placing and Paying structure of employees
Training Employees
Appraisal and Ensuring Compliance to Regulations
Ensuring Safe Work Environments
Sustaining High-Performing Employees
Retirement packages

11. Open Performance Review Appraisal System (OPRAS)

The annual staff appraisals are applicable for all members of staff working in an organization. To ensure that the appraisals are carried out in a proper, efficient and correct manner, this course has been developed as a Guide to explain how the appraisal system is to be used so that it can enable the organization to reach its goals and fulfill its mission.

To deliver at work, to improve the quality of products and services, and to meet the challenges that an institution/organization is facing are increasingly becoming complex and demanding tasks. Therefore, there is a need to maximize the caliber and contribution of each individual employee in the work force. One must therefore, manage and improve performance and optimize the efforts and contribution of all employees to get the best from each individual and that of the team.

The aim of the OPRAS course is to contribute to the successful development of the institute/organization through establishing system for fair, open, objective and transparent appraisals of all members of staff in an institution/organization.

It is hoped that the introduction of the newly developed system for staff appraisals will bring a number of tangible benefits to the institution/organization. These include:

Increased motivation of members of staff;
Clarification to members of staff of what is expected of them;
A system for better identifying individual, and office wide training needs;
A method for giving fairer evaluations of the work done by both management and members of staff;
Providing a method for identifying, documenting and correcting wayward attitudes and underperformance, and identifying areas for improvements;
Recognition of achievements and encouragement of further success;
A system for assigning promotions, wage salaries and new tasks to high performing members of staff.

12. Environment Management System

Environmental management system refers to managing organization’s environmental programs in a comprehensive systematic, planning and documented manner. It includes organizational structure, planning and resources for developing and implementing and maintaining policy for environmental protection from research to production and distribution to disposal of given products.

Environmental management systems can assist an organization to meet increasing demand for sustainable and clean production, and increasing stakeholder pressure and legislation against environmental pollution. In many cases, the introduction of an environmental management system can also aid cost savings, and reduction of environmental liability.

This course will introduce participants to a number of environmental best practices and standards and legislation requirements in Tanzania and globally, and the potential opportunities that are emerging in the environmental business, e.g. the carbon trade mechanisms and markets. The course will also provide guidance on a wide range of environmental issues including cleaner production, environmental auditing, eco-labeling, life-cycle assessment, eco-balance, social balance and benefits of EMS. Some of the benefits include

Cost savings through the reduction of waste and more efficient use of natural resources (electricity, water, gas and fuels.);
Avoiding fines and penalties from not meeting environmental legislation by identifying environmental risks and addressing weaknesses;
Reduction in insurance costs by demonstrating better risk management;
Improved overall performance and efficiency;
Ability to monitor and reflect (audit) your businesses and see which areas need intervention;
Better public perception of the organization, leading to improved brand equity, sales, and profits;
Reduction of the impact of air, water and soil pollution (e.g. noises, smells, dust) of your activities on the local residents, leading to more community and stakeholder support.

13. Transformation and Organization restructuring (Change Management) and Competitiveness

Transformation is defined as the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical contemporary measures of performance, such as cost, quality, service, and speed. Transformation is a management approach aiming at improvements by means of elevating efficiency and effectiveness of the processes that exist within and across organizations. Transformation derives its existence from different disciplines such as organization, technology, strategy, and people. The key to transformation is for organizations to look at their business processes from a “clean sheet” perspective and determine how they can best construct these processes to improve business performance.

This course elucidates four main types of processes which can be transformed. Some processes are core and others are non-core: namely Strategic, Operational, Managerial, and Customer focused. All these four processes focus on how to improve effectiveness, efficiency, economy, responsiveness, quality and speed of the processes.

14. International Marketing

International marketing is simply the application of marketing principles to more than one country. At its simplest level, international marketing involves the firm in making one or more marketing mix decisions across national boundaries. At its most complex level, it involves the firm in establishing manufacturing facilities overseas and coordinating marketing strategies across the globe. The course will include how to develop a marketing strategy and plan; contribution to long-term expansion; overall competitiveness; exploiting unique technology and expertise; capital budgeting; devising organization readiness; developing company export goals; target market considerations; advertising strategies, competitiveness factors, licensing, mergers, joint ventures etc.

Training Duration And Financial Requirements

Training duration: Each course is conducted for 3-6 days

Number of participants: 15-25 participants

Training fees: Affordable

OUTPUT OF TRAINING ON THE TARGET GROUP

New understanding on current local and global business issues will be created;
Enhanced capability to assemble and effective use of resources;
Strategic positioning of the organization/institution staff in dealing with global challenges
Self confidence and empowerment of the staff in pursuing business and production issues effectively and efficiently;
Output orientation rather than input orientation;
Clear roles, accountability and responsibility of the staff will be enhanced;
Employees satisfaction, team building and a resource based institution will be created;
Increased and improved quality of work, customer satisfaction and recognition among stakeholders;
Positive impact on personal knowledge and overall economic development and poverty reduction.

SUSTAINABILITY

The fact that the training will improve the skills and knowledge level of the staff it will enable participants meet customer and market requirements in terms of quality, safety, reliability and timelines of product or service delivery, and enable them negotiate better terms, resulting to premium prices and quality products. The choice of cost-effective, efficient strategies and technologies will provide opportunities for organizations and Tanzania to compete better in domestic and world markets.