The culture of an organization is an important factor that determines the capacity of the organization to change and retain its competitive nature. Organizational culture can facilitate change or prevent it; hence it is important for an organization to understand its culture well.
It is important for an organization to manage culture and change some attributes of the culture that might prevent the organization from achieving its goals. Since introducing training and development programs is a way of initiating change in an organization, the programs may be affected either positively or negatively by culture (Salas, 2008)
Training and development programs are critical for the continued growth of an organization. Through such programs, employees acquire important skills that are beneficial to the organization. However, the process of implementing the programs is not always easy since numerous challenges are encountered in the process.
The first challenge faced when implementing the programs is inadequate financial resources. Organizations are required to invest a lot of money in training and development programs (Practical management, 2009).The programs are expensive since the ultimate goal is to impart important skills in the participants which means that they cannot be partially trained.
The second challenge that faces implementation of training and development programs is lack of enough infrastructural facilities. Some organizations might want to train more employees but lack of physical resources such as training halls makes it difficult. The third challenge that faces implementation of the programs is lack of commitment from the employees. The employees have to combine the programs with their work and some of them perceive the programs as demanding and are reluctant to join them.
One of the challenges identified when implementing training and development programs is that employees are less committed and when it comes to participating in the programs. This is a challenge that can be addressed by initiating attitude change mechanisms like encouraging employees to commit themselves in the programs. The challenge can also be addressed by offering incentives to employees who take part in the training programs.
Since the training and development programs equip employees with new skills that improve their performance, the organization should appreciate their new skills for them to gain motivation. In addition, employees who undergo the training programs can be promised job promotions. This helps in changing the attitude of other employees towards the training and development programs from a negative one to a positive one hence increasing their commitment to the programs (Management training consultant, 2012).
Attitude change among the employees can be achieved when all the employees in an organization are involved in the process of initiating training and development programs. Other employees can be very instrumental in addressing the challenge of negative attitude towards the programs since they know their colleagues well.
One of the ways through which the other employees can be used in addressing this challenge is asking for their views regarding the programs and what they think should be changed or improved. By incorporating their views in the programs, this shapes the programs in such a way that they meet the expectations of the employees hence increasing the number that participates in the programs.
One of the reasons why the employees might seem disinterested in the programs is that they tend to believe that the programs are enforced on them by the management. However, incorporating their views when designing the programs makes them own the programs, hence solving the challenge of negative attitude towards the programs.
References
Management training consultant. (2012). Employee Training and Development. Web.
Practical management. (2009). Changing organizational culture. Web.
Salas, E. (2008). Learning, Training, and Development in Organizations. New York: Taylor & Francis.