| Course | HRMG 4202 Human Resource Development and Change |
|---|---|
| Week | Week 4 |
| Paper type | Needs evidence paper |
| Length | About 950 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Walden University |
| Program | BS in Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HRMG 4202 Week 4
Is It a Training Need? Needs Evidence From Kiosk Error Logs, Six Observed Evening Shifts and Eight Host Interviews at Larkfield Hotels, Sorted Into Skill, Setting and Belief Gaps
Student Name
Walden University
HRMG 4202: Human Resource Development and Change
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Is It a Training Need? Needs Evidence From Kiosk Error Logs, Six Observed Evening Shifts and Eight Host Interviews at Larkfield Hotels, Sorted Into Skill, Setting and Belief Gaps
Method
General managers at Larkfield Hotels, the composite seven-hotel group that replaced its front desks with mobile check-in and lobby kiosks this spring, believe their guest hosts need more training. This analysis tests that belief with three sources gathered at the three hotels that changed first. Each has a limit.
Kiosk error logs. The kiosks record every failed transaction by type and time. Over four weeks in May they logged 1,184 errors across the three hotels. The logs show how often each error occurs but not what happened next: whether a host helped, the guest retried or the guest gave up and called the phone line.
Observation. I observed six evening shifts, two per hotel, each covering the four-hour arrival peak and recording each stalled guest and how long it took a host to reach them. Six shifts are few, and hosts who knew they were watched may have moved faster than usual.
Interviews. Eight hosts answered the same five questions in conversations of about fifteen minutes. Interviews reveal reasons but are prone to politeness, especially when the interviewer works for the company.
What Should Happen and What Does
Rossett (1987) recommends comparing optimals, what skilled performance looks like, with actuals, what is happening now. Table 1 does this for four host behaviors that the Week 3 impact map identified as critical.
Table 1
Optimals and Actuals for Four Guest Host Behaviors
| Behavior | Optimal | Actual (source) | |
|---|---|---|
| Reaching a stalled guest | A host reaches any guest who stalls at a kiosk within two minutes | 31 of 58 stalled guests observed were reached within two minutes; 14 left the kiosk before any host arrived (observation) | |
| Clearing a key-encoding error | The host clears it at the kiosk in under three minutes | Hosts cleared 9 of 17 observed encoding errors; the rest were sent to the phone line (observation) | |
| Re-issuing a failed digital key | The host re-issues the key from the tablet at the guest's door | Five of eight hosts said they had never re-issued a key; two said their tablet logs out too often to try (interviews) | |
| Covering the arrival peak | At least one host on the lobby floor throughout the evening arrival peak | On three of six shifts the only host was in the breakfast area or back office for over 20 minutes (observation) | |
Composite data for the three first-phase hotels, May 2026.
The Stalled-Guest Gap
The clearest gap is in the first row. Of 58 guests observed stalling at a kiosk, 14, about one in four, left before anyone reached them. The logs suggest why the problem matters: card-read and encoding errors made up 61 percent of the 1,184 logged errors, and both are errors a trained host can clear in a minute or two. The gap is shown by the observation sheets rather than asserted, and its size is large enough to matter even allowing for the small number of shifts.
Cannot, Cannot Here or Will Not
Mager and Pipe (1997) advise asking whether a performance gap exists because people cannot do the task, because the setting prevents them or because they do not see it as their job. Only the first calls for training. Table 2 sorts the four gaps.
Two gaps are clearly skill gaps: clearing encoding errors and re-issuing digital keys. The stalled-guest gap is mixed. Some hosts lack an approach they are comfortable with, which training can address, but some are simply not in the lobby, which it cannot. The two hosts who called approaching guests "pushy" hold a different idea of the job, one built over years of waiting behind a desk for guests to come to them; that belief may respond to coaching and practice but is not a knowledge gap (Gilbert, 1978).
Table 2
Gaps Sorted by Cause
| Gap | Cannot (skill) | Cannot here (setting) | Will not (belief) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stalled guests left unreached | Partly: three hosts said they did not know what to say when approaching | Partly: hosts away from the lobby during the peak | Partly: two hosts said walking up to guests "feels pushy" | |
| Encoding errors sent to the phone line | Yes: hosts had seen the error screen but never practiced clearing it | No | No | |
| Digital keys not re-issued | Yes, for five hosts | Yes: tablets log out after five idle minutes and many are uncharged by evening | No | |
| Peak hours uncovered | No | Yes: schedules still follow desk-era shift times | No | |
Classification based on observation and interview evidence.
Gaps Training Will Not Close
Two gaps belong to people other than trainers. Tablets that log out after five idle minutes and lose charge by evening are an equipment problem for the group's IT manager, who could extend the timeout and add charging docks at the host stand. Schedules that leave the lobby empty during the evening peak are a staffing problem for general managers, who build rosters around desk-era shift times. Training hosts to re-issue keys will not help if their tablets are dead at 9 p.m., and training them to approach guests will not help if no host is on the floor. Recommending training alone would spend money on the part of the problem that is only partly about skill.
Conclusion
The managers' belief is partly right. Hosts need training in two specific skills, clearing encoding errors and re-issuing digital keys, and in a comfortable way to approach a stalled guest. But the largest gap, guests leaving before help arrives, depends as much on schedules and equipment as on training, and the objectives written next week should address only the skill part.
References
Gilbert, T. F. (1978). Human competence: Engineering worthy performance. McGraw-Hill.
Mager, R. F., & Pipe, P. (1997). Analyzing performance problems: Or you really oughta wanna (3rd ed.). Center for Effective Performance.
Rossett, A. (1987). Training needs assessment. Educational Technology Publications.
The Walden HRMG 4202 Week 4 instructions
The Week 4 task is to test whether a performance problem is really a training need. Describe your evidence sources and what each cannot show; three different kinds are better than one. Compare skilled performance with current performance, behavior by behavior, stating both sides as things an observer would record. Present the clearest gap with numbers. Then sort every gap by cause: lack of skill, a setting that prevents the behavior or a belief that the behavior is not part of the job. Only the first is a training need. Name who owns each gap that training will not close. End with a judgment on whether the original belief holds.
How this HRMG 4202 Week 4 example is built
The method section names the logs, the observations and the interviews, each followed by its limit. A table applies Rossett's optimals and actuals to four host behaviors, from reaching a stalled guest within two minutes to covering the evening peak. The next section reports the stalled-guest figures and the share of errors that are card-read or encoding faults. A second table sorts the four gaps into skill, setting and belief using Mager and Pipe, finding two clear skill gaps and one mixed one. The belief strand is linked to Gilbert's view of performance. A section assigns tablets to IT and schedules to general managers. The conclusion confirms the managers' belief only in part.
HRMG 4202 Week 4 rubric: what earns full marks
Needs evidence papers are graded on whether gaps are shown rather than asserted. Using several sources and naming their limits honestly earns the method marks. The optimals-and-actuals comparison should state both sides in observable terms, with figures where the case allows. Sorting gaps by cause is the analytical core of the week, and the strongest papers resist calling every gap a training need. Assigning non-training gaps to named owners shows an understanding of how performance problems are actually solved. A conclusion that partly disagrees with management, when the evidence supports it, demonstrates independent judgment. Tables in APA format, accurate citations and plain writing complete the expectations.
HRMG 4202 Week 4 help from the desk
Before you write, decide what skilled performance would look like and how you would recognize it. Then gather evidence from more than one direction: system data, observation and conversation. For each behavior, write what should happen and what does, with a number if you can find one. Then ask three questions of each gap: could they do it if their life depended on it, does something in the setting stop them, and do they see it as their job? Training answers only the first. Name an owner for the rest. Many drafts accept management's belief without testing it. Another frequent weakness is a single source. If your evidence comes from a workplace survey or incident reports, we can help you organize it into the same tables.
Get a HRMG 4202 Week 4 example written to your instructions
Supply whatever data or observations your case provides, alongside the prompt and rubric; the paper arranges them to show where the gap is and whether training can close it. First custom sample free, ready in 24 to 48 hours. The pilot branches, the kiosk logs and the eight clerks interviewed exist only in this sample.
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HRMG 4202 Week 4 questions, answered
Where can I find a free HRMG 4202 Week 4 sample paper?
This needs evidence paper, with both tables and the method section, appears below without charge.
What sources does the HRMG 4202 Week 4 paper use?
Four weeks of kiosk error logs, six observed evening shifts and eight short host interviews.
What is the clearest performance gap?
Fourteen of 58 guests observed stalling at a kiosk left before a host reached them.
How are the gaps sorted?
By cause, using Mager and Pipe: cannot do it, cannot do it in this setting or does not see it as the job.
Which gaps will training not close?
Tablets that log out and lose charge, and schedules that leave the lobby empty at the evening peak.