In today’s world to create a change, whether it is positive or negative within any specific place, organization or company is the most challenging task. When we are living in the age of globalization we have to keep our self updated to compete and to progress. For this reason companies are more interested to train their workforce in order to maximize their production efficiency and at the same time to face the challenge effectively which they can have any time from external world.

It has been noticed that companies’ established Human Resource Development centers within their premises and hire potential trainers even then they don’t succeed to achieve their destination. The only reason that I have seen is lack of awareness regarding trainings and how can it helps and beneficial for an employee’s future career/growth which cause various internal issues that can create resistance.

First step in creating a positive change through trainings in an environment is to provide basic skills training for everyone and to determine the level of each employee to train/facilitate him/ her accordingly only then you can have fruit full results:

Basic Skill Training

Basic Skills: Skills necessary for the employees to perform their jobs and learn the content of the training program

Why?

• Difficulty in finding competent entry level job candidates
• Relationship between basic skills and training success
• High performance workplace systems

Basic Skills Program

• Step 1: Identification of necessary skill level
• Step 2: Assessment of employees current skill level
• Step 3: Maintaining confidentiality of employees participating in these programs

Following are common issues and difficulties that any organization can have and  some suggested programs/ways which can be used to train your workforce to its highest extent and avoid almost 99% of company’s internal issues only by providing training and to create awareness among our employees. Every organization is facing these challenges and resistance in its working environment only training/awareness is the best way to avoid these discrepancies and convert them into the opportunity by motivation and development of your employees.
1. Glass Ceiling

• An invisible barrier to advancements to the higher levels of the organization
• It is due to stereotypes or co. systems that adversely affect the development of women and minorities
• Male managers receive significantly more assignments involving higher levels of responsibility than their female counterparts
• Female face more challenges because of lack of managerial and peer support
• Melting the glass ceiling would take time
• Glass ceiling is caused by Lack of access
• To training programs
• To developmental relationships such as mentoring because of managers’ preferences to interact with other managers of similar status and intentional exclusion by the managers having negative stereotypes regarding women and minorities’ abilities, motivation and job preferences
• To appropriate developmental job experiences

Recommendations for Melting the Glass Ceiling

For such programs to be succeed:

• Senior managements’ support and involvement is necessary
• 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 the gender attitudes affect the work environment
• Create accountability through reviews of promotion rates and assignment decision
• Promote development
  of all employees
• These programs should ensure that women and minorities gain the skills and visibility needed to move into the managerial positions

2. Joint-Union Management Program

These programs provide a wide range of services designed to help employees learn new skills that are directly related to their jobs and also develop skills that are “Portable”:

• Employers need to become involved in business planning and strategic decision-making
• Management needs to learn how to share power and allow worker to participate in decision-making
• Both labor and management have been forced to accept new roles

Benefits

• Improve the literacy level of the workforce
• Contribute to productivity
• Encourage life-long learning
• Adaptability to new technologies and Global competition

Disadvantages

• Costly
• Time consuming

3. Succession Planning

• It refers to the process of identifying and tracking high potential employees
• High Potential employees are those the company believes are capable of being successful in higher level managerial positions

Need??

• Retirement
• Restructuring
• Lack of experiences

Development Procedure of High Potential Employees

• Step 1: Selection of high potential employers
• Step 2: Developmental experiences given to them
• Step 3: Top management’s active involvement in employees development

Benefits

• Identify and create a large number of qualified leaders
• Provide set of developmental experiences to the prospective managers
• Build commitment among the potential employees
• Help to attract and retain managerial employees 
• Identify and create a large number of qualified leaders
• Provide set of developmental experiences to the prospective managers
• Build commitment among the potential employees
• Help to attract and retain managerial employees
  

4. Developing Managers with Dysfunctional Behaviors

• Dysfunctional Behaviors
  Managerial behaviors that can cause an otherwise competent manager to be a “toxic” or ineffective manager
  

Such behaviors include:

• Insensitivity to others
• Inability to be a team player
• Arrogance
• Poor Conflict Management Skills
• Inability to meet business objectives
• Inability to change

Action Plan to Avoid Dysfunctional Behavior

There are 3 phases in avoiding dysfunctional behavior:

• Step 1: Diagnosis Phase: involves collecting information about the manager’s personality, skills and interests
• Step 2: Coaching Phase: involves presenting manager with information about the targeted skills or behavior
• Step 3: Support Phase: involves creating conditions to ensure that on the job the manager is able to use the new behaviors and skills acquired in 2nd phase.

5. Training and Pay Systems

"Compensation refers to pay and benefits that companies give to employees in exchange of performing their jobs.”

Compensation systems are used to:

• Attracting and retaining talented employees
• Motivating employees

6. Linkage between Training and Compensation

• Training is link to compensation through the use of skill/knowledge based pay systems.
• In these systems employees pay is based on the knowledge and skills they possess rather than the knowledge and skills necessary to successfully perform their current jobs.

Merits

• Motivate employees to learn
• Provides company additional flexibility and adaptability
• Facilitate cross training
• Leads to better utilization of employees skills and ideas
• Help company to overcome absenteeism and turnover
• Ensuring training accessibility to all employees

Demerits

• Both cost and amount of training will increase
• Problem in ensuring that employees have the pre-requisite skills needed to master the new skills
• Skill perish ability: ensuring that the employees have not forgotten the skills when it comes time to use the