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The Influence of Organizational Culture on Training Effectiveness

Rachna Tahilramani Asst Professor Manipal University Bangalore Campus India.

Table of Contents

1.

Abstract .................................................................................................................................... 2

2.

Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 2

3.

What is Training? .................................................................................................................... 3

4.

Factors Influencing the Effectiveness of Training .................................................................. 4

5.

Training & Organizational Culture.......................................................................................... 4

6.

Solutions .................................................................................................................................. 5

7.

Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 6

8.

Bibliography ............................................................................................................................ 6

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1. Abstract Organizational culture is an asset that money cannot buy and it is a factor that can make or break a business. Organizational culture as a concept has a fairly recent origin. Although the concepts of "group norms" and "climate" have been used by psychologists for a long time (Lewin, Lippitt, & White, 1939), the concept of "culture" has been explicitly used only in the last few decades. For decades, writers (Salas & Cannon-Bowers, 2001) have proclaimed the strategic importance of training, a fundamental component of human resource development (HRD). There has been scant scholarly attention to the influence of organization culture on training effectiveness (Palthe&Kossek, 2003). However, there has been considerable interest in the relationship between organizational culture and variables such as productivity (Kopelman et al., 1990), use of technology (Zammuto& O’Connor, 1992), employee retention (Sheridan, 1992), improvement initiatives (Detert, Schroeder, &Mauriel, 2000), discipline (Franklin & Pagan, 2006), and absence (Martocchio, 1994). The purpose of this article is to explore the relationship between attitude of employees towards training based on the dominant culture and subcultures of organizations. Keywords: Organizational culture, HRD, training, attitude.

2. Introduction What is Organizational Culture? Definitions of organizational culture initially focused on distinguishing levels of organizational culture. Many definitions of culture give primacy to the cognitive components, such as assumptions, beliefs, and values. Others expand the concept to include behaviours and artifacts, leading to a common distinction between the visible and the hidden levels of organizational culture – a distinction basically corresponding to the climate/culture distinction noted above (Kotter and Heskett 1992). In contrast to the distinction between the visible and hidden levels, some theorists distinguished multiple levels. Schein (1985), one of the foremost experts in the area, identifies the following levels, as shown in Figure below:

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Levels of Organizational Culture (Adapted from Schein 1980; Schein 1985) In Schein’s view, fundamental assumptions constitute the core and most important aspect of organizational culture. Accordingly, he offers the following formal definition of organizational culture: A pattern of shared basic assumptions that the group learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, which has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems (Schein 1992:12). 3. What is Training? Training: the systematic approach to affecting individuals’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes in order to improve individual, team, and organizational effectiveness. Training programs in organizations provide a variety of benefits. For example, organizations gain through the improved performance and increased productivity that accompany employee development, while employees enjoy extrinsic and intrinsic rewards associated with skill development and performance improvement (Elangovan et.al., 1999). Effectiveness is measured by how many training participants successfully apply their learning on the job (penetration); how long training participants continue to apply the learning on the job (sustainability); and how quickly the organization will realize the benefits for the entire target audience (speed). In order to enhance job performance, the skills and the behaviours learned and practiced during training have to be transferred to the workplace, maintained over time and generalized across contexts (Holton & Baldwin, 2003). Being able to prove the effectiveness of training is important, not only in justifying the expenses of training but also the original reason for carrying it out. Some organizations still pay lip service to training in its many manifestations.

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4. Factors Influencing the Effectiveness of Training In the real world, there are some other factors that influence the effectiveness of training and development in an organization. One of them that have been identified by Haywood (1992) is the human resource policy of training and development. He mentioned that too many training program place emphasis on ease and the very purpose behind the design of programs namely, learning, skill development and behavioural change, has defeat the original purpose and goals of training are lost and the means all too readily becomes the end. Furthermore, the human resource policy would determine a clear link between training and an organization’s career development and reward system in which training might leads to recognition and advancement (Cheng & Ho, 1998). Indeed, the trainers’ capabilities as a subject matter expert would determine the effectiveness of training and development. Training programs can be trivialize if the organization hiring unqualified trainers that could defect the transfer of learning to the employees. In addition, employees’ attitude and motivation are one of the factors that might influence the effectiveness of training and development. Therefore, the positive attitude should be foster through the constant emphasis on team building program to enhance the employees’ motivational effort. In relation to this, the employees’ motivation in transfer and transfer climate are crucial to ensure the effectiveness of training and development (Bumpass, 1990). Finally, the commitment of top management to the training and development is critical to its success. Organizations whose top management view training as a way to meet organizational goals by making sure that employees take an active part in the delivery of training and in the planning of training objectives; and by maintaining a financial commitment to training (Facteau et al., 1995).

5. Training &Organizational Culture Clearly, training does not take place in a vacuum. Even with perfect design and enthusiastic trainees, positive change requires organizational support (Eisenberger, Fasolo, & DavisLamastro, 1990). How often, for example, do practitioners conduct training to foster independent thinking only to send the trainee back to an autocratic manager? Any form of needs assessment is rare, but organizational analysis is almost nonexistent (Arthur et al., 2003; Saari, Johnson, McLaughlin, &Zimmerle, 1988). Writers criticize the practitioner (Baldwin & Ford, 1988; Tannenbaum&Yukl, 1992) for ignoring organizational factors; however, only recently have scholars considered the importance of organizational context. Culture has been described as “one of the most powerful and stable forces operating in organizations” (Schein, 1996, p. 231). Definitions of culture vary but typically include concepts such as shared beliefs, values, and assumptions that are reflected in attitudes and behavior (Kopelman, Brief, &Guzzo, 1990). There has been scant scholarly attention to the influence of organization culture on training effectiveness (Palthe&Kossek, 2003). However, there has been considerable interest in the relationship between organizational culture and variables such as productivity (Kopelman et al., 1990), use of technology (Zammuto& O’Connor, 1992), employee retention (Sheridan, 1992), improvement initiatives (Detert, Schroeder, &Mauriel, 2000), discipline (Franklin & 4

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Pagan, 2006), and absence (Martocchio, 1994). Others have suggested a link between organizational culture and human resource management (HRM) practices (Aycan, Kanungo, &Sinha, 1999; Ferris et al., 1998; Kopelman et al., 1990; Palthe&Kossek, 2003; Sheridan, 1992), although the general focus is on HRM as a mediator of culture rather than the reverse. There have been a few attempts to identify a learning culture construct. Several researchers (Egan,Yang, & Bartlett, 2004) have adopted the organizational learning culture survey developed by Watkins and Marsick (1993). However, these descriptions of culture seem “virtually indistinguishable” from climate (Denison, 1996) and are better identified as manifestations of culture (Rousseau, 1990). Organizational climate is described as “individual perceptions of organizational characteristics and attribute” (R. A. Cooke & Rousseau, 1988, p. 249). To be sure, climate is a reflection of culture; however, climate describes what of an organization whereas culture describes the why (Kopelman et al., 1990). 6. Solutions Organizational Culture: There is no doubt that the organization adopts policies, planning and effort to promote and to encourage employees for attending training programs. This will positively affect training effectiveness. Most of the previous studies emphasized and mentioned this factor in different ways, such as job characteristics and the culture of continuous learning. The organizational culture, by creating a supporting context for training, plays a crucial role in the process of knowledge and skill acquisition and their on the job application (Burke & Baldwin, 1999). The same point of view is given by Facteau et al. (1995), and Rouiller and Goldstein (1993), who found that the social context of the job affects the encouragement of the trainees to acquire skills and their application by promoting opportunities for personal development. Moreover, the managerial commitment is one component of organization culture, which means the management should adopt the innovation, values, norms and attitudes to support the trainees and their performance in the organization. Training and transfer of training: Training transfer generally refers to the use of trained knowledge and skills back on the job. Baldwin &Magjuka (1988) mentioned that for transfer to occur, “learned behavior must be generalized to the job context and maintained over a period of time on the job”. Meanwhile, Saks &Haccoun (2007) views training transfer is the generalization of knowledge and skills learned in training on the job and the maintenance of acquired knowledge and skills over time. According to the transfer of training framework by Saks &Haccoun (2007), the transfer of training activities could be segregated into three phases which is before, during, and after training to facilitate and improve the transfer of training. However, for the purpose of this study, only transfer of training after training is being applied. In this case, the management must ensure that trainees have immediate and frequent opportunities to practice and apply what they learn in training on the job. The management should also encourage and reinforce trainees’ application of new skills on the job. There are many other things that managers do to facilitate transfer such as develop an action plan with trainees for transfer and show support by reducing job pressures and workload, arrange practice sessions, publicize transfer successes, give promotional preference to employees who have received training and transfer, and evaluate employees’ use of trained skills on the job (Wexley& Baldwin, 1986). 5

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The trainer should conduct follow-up or booster sessions following a training program. Trainers should maintain their involvement in the training and transfer process by conducting field visits to observe trainees’ use of trained skills, provide and solicit feedback and provide continued support and assistance to trainees (Lim & Johnson, 2002). Trainees should be able to use new knowledge and skills on the job as soon and as often as possible. At the same time, trainees should meet with their supervisor to discuss opportunities for transfer. Trainees might also establish a network of peers who also attended a training program that can provide assistance and support each other for using their trained skills on the job. Trainees should also set goals for practicing their newly acquired skills on the job 7. Conclusion It was found that top management, commitment and support, lack of guidance and follow-up from the top management, leadership problem and lack of support from colleagues were some of the factors that can affect training effectiveness. Information obtained could be practical when management decides to analyze the evaluation and transfer of training elements that has been addressed in this study as to get management support and to create conducive environment to apply related skill and knowledge on the job. Besides, it would also allow management to capitalize organization strategy in order to deal with elements of the job that contribute to effectiveness of training and development.

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Cooke, R. A., & Rousseau, D. M. (1988). Behavioral norms and expectations: A quantitative approach to the assessment of organizational culture. Group and Organization Studies, 13,245–273.

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Cooke, R. A., & Rousseau, D. M. (1988). Behavioral norms and expectations: A quantitative approach to the assessment of organizational culture. Group and Organization Studies, 13,245–273.

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Detert, J. R., Schroeder, R. G., &Mauriel, J. J. (2000). A framework for linking culture and improvement initiatives in organizations. Academy of Management Review, 25, 850–863.

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Eisenberger, R., Fasolo, P., & Davis-LaMastro, V. (1990). Perceived organizational support and employee diligence, commitment, and innovation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 75, 51– 59.

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Facteau, J., Dobbins, G., Russell, J., Ladd, R., &Kudisch, J. (1995). The Influence of General Perceptions of the Training Environment on Pretraining Motivation and Perceived Training Transfer. Journal of Management, 21(1), 1. 6

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Holton E.F. III, Seyler, D.L. and Carvalho, M.B. “Toward construct validation of a transfer climate instrument” cited in Cheng W.L. Eddie and Ho C.K. Danny, “A review of transfer training studies in the past decade”, Personnel Review, Vol .30, No. 1, 2001, pp. 102-108.

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Wael H. Ramadan, B.Eng., MBA, PhD, PMP. Professor, Sheridan Institute of Technology & Advanced

Learning

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“THE INFLUENCE OF ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE ON

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