1. Special Issues in Training and Employee Development
Chapter 10
Special Issues in Training and Employee Development

2. Trainers are often forced to deal with a wide variety of important issues that fall outside the traditional discussion of the components of instructional system design.

3. Training Issues Resulting from the External Environment:
Legal Issues
Welfare-to-Work Programs
Cross-Cultural Preparation
Managing Work Force Diversity
School-to-Work Transition 3

4. Training Situations That May Result in Legal Action: (1 of 2)
Failing to provide required training
Incurring employee injury during a training activity
Incurring injuries to employees or others outside the training session
Incurring breach of confidentiality or defamation
Reproducing and using copyrighted material in training classes without permission
Excluding women, minorities, and older Americans from training programs

5. Training Situations That May Result in Legal Action: (2 of 2)
Not ensuring equal treatment while in training
Requiring employees to attend training programs they find offensive
Revealing discriminatory information during a training session
Not accommodating trainees with disabilities
Incorrectly reporting training as an expense or failing to report training reimbursement as income

6. Cross-Cultural Preparation
Cross-cultural preparation involves educating employees and their families who are to be sent to a foreign country (i.e., expatriates)
To successfully conduct business in the global market place, employees must understand the business practices and the cultural norms of different countries

7. Types of Employees in Global Companies
Parent-country national: Employee whose country of origin is where the company has its headquarters (i.e., expatriate)
Host-country national: Employee from the host country
Third-country national: Employee who has a country of origin different from both the parent country and host country where he or she works

8. Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions
Power Distance
Uncertainty Avoidance
Individualism – Collectivism
Masculinity – Femininity
Long-term – Short-term Time Orientation

9. To prepare employees for cross-cultural assignments, companies need to provide cross-cultural training.

10. To be successful in overseas assignments, expatriates need to be:
Competent in their area of expertise
Able to communicate verbally and nonverbally in the host country
Flexible, tolerant of ambiguity, and sensitive to cultural differences
Motivated to succeed, able to enjoy the challenge of working in other countries, and willing to learn about the host country’s culture, language, and customs
Supported by their families

11. Foreign Assignments Foreign assignments involve three phases:
Pre-departure Phase
On-Site Phase
Repatriation Phase
Training is necessary in all three phases

12. Pre-departure Phase
Employees need to receive language training and an orientation in the new country’s culture and customs
The family should be included in the orientation
Expatriates and their families need information about housing, schools, recreation, shopping, and health care facilities in the area where they will live
Experiential training methods are most effective in assignments that require significant interpersonal interaction with host nationals

13. On-Site Phase
Training involves continued orientation to the host country and its customs and cultures through formal programs or through a mentoring relationship
Expatriates and their families may be paired with a mentor from the host country who helps them understand the new, unfamiliar work environment and community

14. Repatriation Phase (1 of 2)
Prepares expatriates for return to the parent company and country from the foreign assignment
Expatriates and their families are likely to experience high levels of stress and anxiety when they return because of the changes that have occurred since their departure

15. Repatriation Phase (2 of 2)
Many expatriates decide to leave the company because the assignment they are given upon return has less responsibility, challenges, and status than the foreign assignment
Employees should be encouraged to self-manage the repatriation process

16. Implications of Cultural Dimensions for Training Design: (1 of 2)
Individualism
Culture high in individualism expects participation in exercises and questioning to be determined by status in the company or culture.
Uncertainty Avoidance
Culture high in uncertainty avoidance expects formal instructional environments.
Less tolerance for impromptu style.
Masculinity
Culture low in masculinity values relationships with fellow trainees.
Female trainers less likely to be resisted in low-masculinity cultures.

17. Implications of Cultural Dimensions for Training Design: (2 of 2)
Power Distance
Culture high in power distance expects trainer to be expert.
Trainers expected to be authoritarian and controlling of session.
Time Orientation
Culture with long-term orientation will have trainees who are likely to accept development plans and assignments.

18. Managing Work Force Diversity (1 of 2)
Managing diversity involves creating an environment that allows all employees to contribute to organizational goals and experience personal growth
This includes:
Access to jobs
Fair and positive treatment of all employees

19. Managing Work Force Diversity (2 of 2)
Managing diversity requires the company to develop employees so that they are comfortable working with others from a wide variety of ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds
Managing diversity may require changing the company culture

20. The goals of diversity training are:
To eliminate values, stereotypes, and managerial practices that inhibit employees’ personal development
To allow employees to contribute to organizational goals regardless of their race, age, physical condition, sexual orientation, gender, family status, religious orientation, or cultural background

21. How Managing Cultural Diversity Can Provide Competitive Advantage (1 of 2)
Argument
Rationale
1. Cost
As organizations become more diverse, the cost of a poor job in integrating workers will increase.
Those who handle this well will thus create cost advantages over those who don’t.
2. Resource Acquisition
Companies develop reputations on favorability as prospective employers for women and minorities.
Those with the best reputations for managing diversity will be the most attractive employers for women and minority groups.
An important edge in a tight labor market.
3. Marketing
The insight and cultural sensitivity that members with roots in other countries bring to the marketing effort should improve these efforts in important ways.
See Table 1-3 on page 19 for details

22. How Managing Cultural Diversity Can Provide Competitive Advantage (2 of 2)
Argument
Rationale
4. Creativity
Diversity of perspectives and less emphasis on conformity to norms of the past should improve the level of creativity.
5. Problem Solving
Heterogeneity in decisions and problem-solving groups potentially produces better decisions through a wider range of perspectives and more through critical analysis of issues.
6. System Flexibility
An implication of the multicultural model for managing diversity is that the system will become less determinant, less standardized, and therefore more fluid.
The increased fluidity should create greater flexibility to react to environmental changes (i.e., reactions should be faster and cost less).
See Table 1-3 on page 19 for details

23. Cycle of disillusionment resulting from managing diversity through adherence to legislation:
Organizational Status Quo
Problem Identification
Action
Relaxation
Disillusionment
Frustration
Minorities and Women Leave the Organization

24. These goals can be accomplished through diversity training programs!
To successfully manage a diverse work force, companies need to ensure that:
Employees understand how their values and stereotypes influence their behavior toward others of different gender, ethnic, racial, or religious backgrounds
Employees gain an appreciation of cultural differences among themselves
Behaviors that isolate or intimidate minority group members improve
These goals can be accomplished through diversity training programs!

25. Diversity Training Programs (1 of 3)
Diversity training - training designed to change employee attitudes about diversity and/or developing skills needed to work with a diverse work force
Diversity training programs differ according to whether attitude change or behavior change is emphasized

26. Diversity Training Programs (2 of 3)
Attitude Awareness and Change Programs
Focus on increasing employees’ awareness of differences in cultural and ethnic backgrounds, physical characteristics, and personal characteristics that influence behavior toward others
The assumption is that by increasing their awareness of stereotypes and beliefs, employees will be able to avoid negative stereotypes

27. Diversity Training Programs (3 of 3)
Behavior-Based Programs
Focus on changing the organizational policies and individual behaviors that inhibit employees’ personal growth and productivity
One approach is to identify incidents that discourage employees from working up to their potential
Another approach is to teach managers and employees basic rules of behavior in the workplace
Cultural immersion is also used

28. Characteristics of Successful Diversity Efforts: (1 of 2)
Top management provides resources, personally intervenes, and publicly advocates diversity
The program is structured
Capitalizing on a diverse work force is defined as a business objective
Capitalizing on a diverse work force is seen necessary to generate revenue and profits
The program is evaluated
Manager involvement is mandatory

29. Characteristics of Successful Diversity Efforts: (2 of 2)
The program is seen as a culture change, not a one-shot program
Managers and demographic groups are not blamed for problems
Behaviors and skills needed to successfully interact with others are taught
Managers are rewarded on progress toward meeting diversity goals

30. School-to-Work Transition
School-to-work transition programs combine classroom experiences with work experiences to prepare high school students for employment
School-to-Work Opportunities Act encourages partnerships between educational institutions, employers, and labor unions
Every school-to-work system required to include work-based learning, school-based learning, and activities that match students with employers

31. Training’s Role in Welfare-to-Work Programs (1 of 2)
There are two methods for training welfare recipients:
The first model involves government agencies referring welfare recipients to a company-sponsored training program subsidized with money and tax credits from the government
The second method is for state and local governments to provide life and skills training directly to welfare recipients

32. Training’s Role in Welfare-to-Work Programs (2 of 2)
Example: Marriott International’s Pathways to Independence Program
Six-week program consists of classroom training and work sessions in Marriott properties
Applicants must have a sixth grade reading level, pass a drug test, and demonstrate a desire to work
Less than 25 percent of applicants are accepted
Participants often need to develop both job skills and life management skills to succeed

33. Training Issues Related to Internal Needs of the Company
The company’s internal environment results in pressures which influence training practices:
The need to train managerial talent
Training and development opportunities for all employees (regardless of their personal characteristics)
Use of the company’s compensation system to motivate employees to learn

34. Training Issues Related to Internal Needs of the Company:
Basic Skills Training
Melting the Glass Ceiling
Joint Union-Management Programs
Succession Planning
Developing Managers with Dysfunctional Behaviors
Training and Pay Systems

35. Deloitte & Touche’s Recommendations for Melting the Glass Ceiling:
Make sure that senior management supports and is involved in the program
Make a business case for change
Make the change public
Using task forces, focus groups, and questionnaires, gather data on problems causing the glass ceiling
Create awareness of how gender attitudes affect the work environment
Create accountability through reviews of promotion rates and assignment decisions
Promote development for all employees

36. Joint Union-Management Programs
Provide a wide range of services designed to help employees learn skills that are directly related to their job
Develop skills that are “portable” – i.e., valuable to employers in other companies or industries
Both employers and unions contribute money to run the programs and both oversee their operation

37. Joint Union-Management Programs (continued)
Example: The United Auto Workers – Ford Education Development and Training Program
Life / Education Planning Program
Education and Training Assistance Plan
Skills Enhancement Program
College and University Options Program
Targeted Education, Training, or Counseling
Retirement Planning Program
Financial Education Program

38. The Succession Planning Process
Identify what positions are included in the plan
Identify the employees who are included in the plan
Develop standards to evaluate positions
Determine how employee potential will be measured
Develop the succession planning review
Link the succession planning system to other human resource systems
Determine what feedback is provided to employees

39. Training and Pay Systems
Training is increasingly linked to employees’ compensation
skill-based pay systems
knowledge-based pay systems
Employees’ pay is based primarily on the knowledge and skills they possess rather than the knowledge or skills necessary to perform the current job