Career Development Plan Part II – Development of a Training and Mentoring Program
Maciej (Matthew) Gajda
University of Phoenix
Training and mentoring needs
According to [24] Snyder and Cummings (1998), organisations' abilities to change are necessary for survival. This capacity of change is associated with organisational learning since organisations have to be able to learn from past experiences, effectively use "lessons learnt" correct errors and disseminate this knowledge within the organisation if they are to change and adapt themselves to the continuously changing market. Organisational learning means changes in what the organisation knows and how it acts ([9] Forss et al. , 1994).
[22] Schein (1999) states that his thinking on change has evolved from a model of planned change to a concept of managed learning. [22] Schein (1999, p. 60) operates from a belief that "all forms of learning and change start with some form of dissatisfaction or frustration generated by data that disconfirm our expectations or hopes". He points out that we can ignore this information and that to move to action it must be accompanied by a level of anxiety that, for example, if we do not change we will fail in some way. People become defensive in learning or change because we have to admit that something is wrong or not perfect. "Learning anxiety is a fundamental restraining force" and dealing with this is a key to achieving change ([22] Schein, 1999, p. 60).
[3] Antonacopoulou (2001) examined the interrelationships between training, learning and change. She found that "managers have come to believe that learning is training and more specifically, that learning is going on courses". Paradoxically the managers in her study also found that training was a barrier to learning in that the timing, structure and match with learners and provision of opportunity to explore and question was inadequate. Antonacopoulou's findings indicate that structured training is not always a...