Examine how the Zimbabwe Corporate sector is being affected by the current trends of

Issues related to training and Development. (27 April 2017)

In todays era employees are not keen to join an organisation where their knowledge and

skills are not upgraded. A Corporate Sector is a section of society consisting of

Companies/Industries/Business Houses. They are the industrial development side of a society

and they contribute to National Income Generation, Infrastructural Growth and Development of

the Economy. Taylor (1961) conceptualized training as a means to bring about a continuous

improvement in the quality of work performed which would equip trainees with necessary

knowledge, skills, abilities and attitude to perform their jobs. Development is the process in

which someone or something grows or changes and becomes more advanced. This paper will

fairly examine how Zimbabwe Corporate sector is being affected by the current trends of issues

related to training and development.

Training and development describes the formal, ongoing efforts of organizations to improve the

performance and self-fulfilment of their employees through a variety of methods and programs.

In the Current Zimbabwe corporate workplace, these efforts have taken on a broad range of

applications from instruction in highly specific job skills to long-term professional

development. After decades of globalization and intensifying competition, the Zimbabwe

corporate sector has recognized that the market for talent has replaced loyalty as the decisive

factor shaping the relationship between employers and employees.

The new trends in the Z i m b a b w e corporate sector is to emphasize more on applying

systematic approach to training and development in order to achieve higher level of

organizational effectiveness. Organizations nowadays try to link business strategy with

training. Current and future trends show that organisations that want to retain skilled

employees need to provide for ongoing development and educational opportunities. The
Zimbabwean companies and organizations measure the return on investment for training

activities. Employee engagement is the degree to which employees are fully involved in their

work and their commitment to both their responsibilities and the organization as a whole (Noe,

2013).

Change is not new to Training and Development. The advancements in technology and

individuals learning behaviour has always been bringing up some new trends for the Zimbabwe

corporate sector to watch. One of the emerging trends in global human resources management is

diversity training and cross-cultural professional development. Since lifelong commitment to a

company can no longer be assumed, employees must view themselves as a holder of many skills

rather than filling specific job title (Moses, 2000).

Another trend is increasing demand for Mobile Learning: Our new modern workplace roles

with every day challenges and training needs do not give the Zimbabwean corporate sector

time to build a training deck and arrange a trainer. For example, the Econet Zimbabwe Chief

Executive Office, Strive Masiyiwa can remotely give strategic direction, social direction

extra, to the General Manager of his company without necessarily being in Zimbabwe.

Todays managers work more from their homes and off shore rather than from their business

desk. The Zimbabwe corporate sector is moving towards Mobile Learning and to ensure that

their mobile workforce learn while they are on the move. Mobile is booming, and Mobile

Learning is following along. Research by Saratoga (2006) at a global level concluded that

generally it is the organisations that engage in the highest levels of learning, training and

development investment that experience the greatest success in talent management. Such

indicates that companies are progressing on the mobile front, and Zimbabwe corporate sector

expect to see an increase in percentage of companies that plan to do more.

More Focus on eLearning: Almost all major companies on the Zimbabwe Stoke Exchange

such as Dairiboad, OK Zimbabwe are using some form of online learning to train and develop

their employees. Unlike the past where they used to focus more on mandatory trainings or

highly focused trainings that address their pressing business problems /challenges, organizations

are now investing more and more in personal development programs to increase employee

productivity.

Even though technology has come a long way, organizations continue to value the learning that

comes from personal interaction with expert instructors and learning that happens among peers

in specially designed environments. For example, companies such as Toyota Zimbabwe, Delta

and extra are still recruiting apprenticeships to such training and development at Polytechnics

which trend they are investing more and more in classroom training to improve effectiveness.

Organizations are contributing to learning by providing smart devices such as tablets to enhance

classroom experience. Instructors using Videos to explain and access to internet are also some

new trends.

Training through Smaller Chunks of Information: As Zimbabwe is moving towards

digitalisation the corporate sector organisations are now using technology to provide

information in smaller chunks that can help learners to get access only to what they want and

not to everything they have .This meets their business objective of teaching does not become

heavy on the learners pocket. This foresees more demand for craft training in the fulfilment of

the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation. Training employees

reinforces their sense of value (Wingfield, 2009). Through training, employers help employees

achieve goals and ensure they have a solid understanding of their job requirements (Maul,

2008).
Training is usually concentrating on enabling an employee to perform his current job

effectively and efficiently and the evaluation is done to check whether it contributes to current

strategic goals or not. Organizations in Zimbabwe corporate sectors, regardless of types or

nature of organization, note that training and development is essential to the growth and

development of the business. Organizations such as Econet, Delta extra provide opportunities

for learning and use it as a retention tool. Zimbabwean young people with entrepreneurial

aspirations are also finding that they lack the money and experience for such ventures, so they

can use employee development programs during on the job training, off job training to prepare

themselves for a future of self-employment. With unemployment a tone of the lowest rates in 30

years, it is not beneficial for someone to start a job if there is no chance for personal growth

(Dobbs, 2000).

The steady globalization, pressure for greater transparency, and an expectation by senior

management that these efforts pay off in some measurable way has made the Zimbabwe

corporate sector management face a more risk-averse workforce. A growing proportion of the

workforce has become risk-averse, probably due to the sluggish economy and weak job market.

Be that it may collaborative learning is being given high priority now-a-days because people

learn more and quickly through sharing and listening to each other. So this is another area where

people are focusing to come up with solutions to offer training at a professional level. This shift

in thinking allows employees to create goals beyond promotion and give them the flexibility to

grow in different areas of their current companies or into other organizations (OHerron and

Simonsen, 1995).

Staff training in the Zimbabwe corporate sector has become essential for specific purposes

related to business. It may require new workers to undertake instruction in first aid, food

handling or a new booking system. Incorporating training that develops employees toward long-
term career goals can also promote greater job satisfaction. A more satisfied employee is likely

to stay longer and be more productive while on your team and such loyalty has kept companies

such as Econet and Chain of retails such Ok Zimbabwe, Pick and Payne striving. College

graduates are often looking to large firms to get some solid training to set themselves up for the

future, but this can be a strain to organizations that risk losing freshly trained employees within

a couple of years (Feldman, 2000).

Young professionals, especially those in fast paced industries like information technology,

recognize that knowledge is power and they need to keep their skills current to succeed.

Training and development to leadership programs are being retooled for globalization in the

Zimbabwe corporate sector. Some companies have long had a global dimension to their

development initiatives. But others find they must now play catch up or lose ground in an

increasingly competitive global marketplace.

The top competencies for global leadership development are change management, ability to

influence and build coalitions, and critical thinking and problem solving. It is also unrealistic to

expect a recent college graduate to be fully prepared for the ever-changing business world

(Gerbman, 2000. Zimbabwean current trend of organizations find them-selves ill-prepared for

rising turnover. One-third of employers are concerned that employee turnover may rise as the

job market improves. Zimbabwe many companies admit they are not ready to deal with the

challenge and are seeking suitable solutions in Training and development.

Employee training provides the company with many benefits, but it can also cause financial

strain for some companies. Employees taking time out for training on the companys time and

expenses may cause a short-term drop in productivity and create disruptions in the work

schedule. Classic programs devoted to basic skills often suffered during the recession, taking a
back seat to specialized modules that met immediate business challenges. There is now greater

demand for programs that develop communications skills, critical thinking, collaboration, and

creativity, all of which aim to improve long-term employee productivity. More and more

employees now seek entry into leadership programs. If the selection process for programs once

had a low profile, ambitious individuals now volunteer themselves for any kind of leadership

development offering. Organizations realize they must find ways to meet this growing demand.

Most companies, when sponsoring employee training, confine the topics to those which serve

the companys short-term interest. This goes against the long-term interests of both the

employee and the company. The employee loses out on acquiring generic and broad based

skills, and the company loses out on the opportunity of an employee using fresh knowledge to

energize the organization out of the shackles of conventions by applying creativity and

innovation.

Nonetheless, a bigger danger of company sponsored training is the discontent of employees not

offered this benefit. Unless the company offers the training to all employees, a selection

criterion that is not only objective but also seen as objective remains essential to prevent loss of

morale, discontent, and consequently low productivity and high turnover from other employees.

Even so, the assumption of employees remaining loyal and committed in return for the company

sponsoring the training need not always hold true. Contracts that bind the employee to remain

with the company might not be legally enforceable, and the only option for the company might

be to recover the training expenses from the employee.

Although the above discourse on trends and issues in the Zimbabwe corporate sector in recent

years, training and development has emerged as a formal business function, an integral element
of strategy, and a recognized profession with distinct theories and methodologies. More and

more companies of all sizes have embraced "continual learning" and other aspects of training

and development as a means of promoting employee growth and acquiring a highly skilled work

force. In fact, the quality of employees, the continual improvement of their skills and

productivity through training, are now widely recognized as vital factors in ensuring the long-

term success and profitability of the Zimbabwe Corporate sector and the economy at large. For

the most part, the terms "training" and "development" are used together to describe the overall

improvement and education of an organization's employees.

Implementation of formal training and development programs offers several potential

advantages to the Corporate sector in Zimbabwe. For example, training helps companies to

create pools of qualified replacements for employees who may leave or be promoted to

positions of greater responsibility.

In the best interest of the Zimbabwean developing corporate sector, training is improving

employees' efficiency and motivation, leading to gains in both productivity and job satisfaction,

hence, returning employees. Be that it may be, the economy situation were full skill employees

with experience are going beyond border into the Diaspora in search of greener pastures the

Zimbabwean corporate sector is taking the advantage of using two general types of training

methods which are, on-the-job techniques and off-the-job techniques to exploit student

employees. On-the-job training describes a variety of methods that are applied while employees

are actually performing their jobs but with little or no payment, but, the actual output or results,

profit from such are student employees are realised. However in the corporate sector such

training and development have advantages of on-the-job techniques that they are highly

practical, and employees do not lose working time while they are learning.
One of the main reasons Training and Development is becoming more and more crucial is the

rise of technology. (Gerbman, 2000) note that, although higher education is important to prepare

people to work in business, they still need a new set of skills by the time they start working.

Knowledge and information are moving faster than ever with the Internet and a business cannot

keep up in todays world if its employees do not have access to it. Given the population trends

and trends in labour force participation rates, the Zimbabwe corporate workforce will continue

to increase in size but at a considerably slower rate than in the past.

In essence of the above context, training and development becomes a continuous process

throughout the life course, involving training and retraining that continue well past initial entry

into the labour market. Technology-mediated learning is a promising tool for lifelong learning,

both on the job and through traditional public and private education and training institutions.

Future trends in technology, globalization, and demographics will support higher wages and are

likely to affect the distribution of wages, just as they have in the past several decades. In the

absence of a strong increase in the supply of skilled workers in response to the higher returns to

education, wage dispersion , particularly as measured by the gap between more and less

educated workers will likely remain at current levels or even continue to widen.

Vexing employee development problem may also be limited time. The skill sets that supported

their high performance yesterday may no longer sustain employees in the ever-shifting business

environment of today and tomorrow. Because some Chief Executive Officers in the Zimbabwe

Corporate sector attained degrees twenty years ago, therefore, support is required to help them

proactively prepared for both todays and tomorrows new challenges. Training executives is

being pressed for transparency. Organizations need to become more open about their policies

and practices, and the training and development function is no exception. Many companies have
discovered, however, that one of the factors that helps retain employees is the opportunity to

learn and try new things (Logan, 2000).

Zimbabwe Corporate Sector organisations are also realizing that the best matches for the jobs

within the company may not necessarily be people living locally. A push toward global

recruitment is replacing the traditional model of employing from within the community or

promoting from within the organization. Global recruitment is focused on getting the best

person in the available position, no matter if that person lives locally or 5,000 miles away.

Human resources teams that are adopting this global recruitment trend value the diversity that

non-native or non-local employees can bring to an organization, and they seek to bring those

people on board even if there's an added cost in terms of applying for visas or relocating

families. Such employees bring the training and development to Graduates who are from our

Zimbabwe Universities and colleges into appreciation of the movement of todays trends for

example the cooperation between Huawei from China to Econet Zimbabwe.

The effects of globalization on training and development have also brought attention to the

importance of cross-border legal compliance. Companies now have the potential to sell products

and services in many different markets through use of the Internet and postal service. Doing so

brings with it added tax, customs and border security concerns to the human resources division.

Selling products overseas may involve the need to apply for additional permits or to pay tax

within a different jurisdiction. Employing workers in a foreign country will mean that the

company has to follow the laws concerning labour and compensation in that location. All of

these cross-border legal concerns are important for the organization to grasp, because there may

be serious consequences attached to failure to follow the law.

By the same token there are numerous change of trends in training and development in the

Zimbabwe corporate sector with reasons which include: increased job satisfaction and morale

among employees, increased employee motivation, increased efficiencies in processes, resulting

in financial gain, increased capacity to adopt new technologies and methods, reduced employee

turnover, risk management, e.g., training about sexual harassment, diversity training etc. The

training and development sector will be shaped in the year ahead because employees of today

know more about training and development role in their careers and are savvier about tapping

into opportunities from their companies and also external sources

Companies are turning to training to build employee loyalty. With organizations facing more

employee restlessness and turnover, senior management are turning to build closer relationships

with high-performing workers and to use development as a means to improve retention and

engagement. Change is nothing new to training and development.

In the same manner the Zimbabwe corporate sector should cease the trend to the leadership

training problem and scrap it in favour of development. Employees should not be trained, but,

coached, mentored, disciplined, and developed. Where training attempts to standardize by

blending to a norm and acclimating to the status quo, development strives to call out the unique

and differentiate by shattering the status quo. Training is something leaders dread and will try

and avoid, whereas they will embrace and look forward to development. Development is

nuanced, contextual, collaborative, fluid, and above all else, actionable.

Training blends to a norm while development occurs beyond the norm. Training focuses on

technique/content/curriculum while development focuses on people. Training focuses on

maintenance whereas development focuses on growth. Although development in the Zimbabwe

corporate sector is one of the most mature areas of talent management, it is also one of the most
innovative. With recent technology advancements and the rapid adoption of social collaboration,

learning and development has come a long way. Yet making a decision to improve a learning

management program and invest in a learning management solution is often a daunting

challenge.

In conclusion, however, training may not always be the appropriate solution. Training is often

given as a reaction to perceived needs without taking time to analyse the root cause of

performance issues. A training-needs assessment looks at gaps between current and desired

performance, analyses core problems and recommends interventions. Sometimes, the right

response may not be training but other management solutions, such as improving work process,

changing the work environment or communicating expectations. In the Zimbabwe Corporate

sector there is significant growth in new virtual learning environments: companies like ZESA,

Econet and others are extending their training budget through the use of easy to use training

portals and virtual learning experiences. While most big companies still have a lot of work

rationalizing their training spend, the adoption of technology in training has accelerated.
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