Capturing the Value and Meaning of Training in Organizations

Summary: "Training Culture: A New Conceptualization to Capture Values and Meanings of Training in Organizations" (Polo, Cervais, Kantola, 2018)

• Current Training Focus:

  • Current emphasis on informal learning, organizational learning, and culture; however, formal training remains important.

• HRM Perspective:

  • Training is often viewed as an HRM practice influenced by organizational culture without considering the reciprocal relationship.

• Training as Subset of Organizational Culture:

  • Proposes considering training as a subset of the main organizational culture.

  • Framework needed to examine meanings and values of training at individual, team, and organizational levels.

• Learning Culture:

  • Learning culture as a specific organizational culture.

  • Training climate concerns factors influencing training success and failure.

• Training Culture Definition:

  • Training culture involves meanings and values attributed to training in specific organizations.

  • Focuses on planned, formal learning with stable and durable features and meanings.

• Levels of Analysis:

  • Management and employees considered at three levels: individual, team, and organizational.

• Interconnected Benefits of Training:

  • Benefits of training detected at different levels and interconnected.

  • Fosters individual performance, knowledge and skill updates, problem-solving, and employee orientation.

• Team Level Significance:

  • Emphasizes teams as crucial in modern organizations for sharing meanings, mental models, and understandings.

• Organizational Level Training Culture:

  • Focus on organizational values, business ethics, and goals.

  • Employees may perceive organizational-level training as indirect unless oriented toward growth and development.

• Challenges with Mismatched Beliefs:

  • Training's value depends on organizational belief in its importance.

  • Mismatched beliefs may occur, where managers may not value training despite their belief or vice versa.

• Tailoring Training Programs:

  • Organizations can compare training cultures in different departments and professional categories.

  • Tailor training programs based on subcultures identified through cultural assessment.

• Individual Characteristics Influence:

  • Employee characteristics (tenure, age, education) influence individual perception of training culture.

• Business Environment Variability:

  • Business environment differences across sectors; further studies needed for cross-validation.

• Training Culture Scale:

  • Scale includes 26 items categorized into individual, team, and organizational dimensions.

  • Respondents rate relevance to their organization (0 to 100) based on importance.