A second reason why traditional management training fails is that it occurs outside the managers’ organizational context and culture.
When managers attend external or public workshops, the instructor does not know and cannot incorporate reference to the individual managers’ organizational policies or procedures.
For example: Performance evaluation strategies are described in a public workshop. Again, because the managers hail from different organizations, the instructor must use general examples.The managers find that the suggested strategies are inconsistent with their organizations’ proprietary performance evaluation forms and policies.
Consequences: The managers have wasted their time, their energy, and their money. They are probably frustrated and confused, trying to reconcile what they learned with what they are expected to do when they conduct performance evaluations. They lack the necessary information and direction to confidently and effectively conduct evaluations of their employees. Therefore, they may avoid giving their employees appreciative or constructive performance feedback, so the employees’ performance and morale may suffer.
A better alternative: Managers attend a training provided by Human Resources that introduces and explains the organization’s performance management policies and procedures. The managers also learn about the forms they are supposed to use, the criteria they should apply, and how to use that criteria.
Tips: Recognize the importance of organizational context and culture on the actions that managers can take and the decisions that managers can make. Make sure that their learning experiences incorporate the context and culture.
In reflection,
Deb Laurel
