This final HRD strategy, like many of the others I have identified, resembles the training and education strategy. There are usually workshops, seminars, books and articles, and video-recordings associated with this strategy, just as there are with the training and education strategy. A major distinction needs to be drawn, however, with regard to desired outcomes. Training and education programs are concerned primarily with the acquisition of new skills and knowledge, whereas this tenth strategy is concerned with shifts in attitudes regarding a new method or technology. Both strategies are seeking to change aptitudes; however, trainers and educators are concerned mostly with the skill and knowledge elements of the aptitude equation, whereas promoters of new methods and technology are concerned with the motivational element of this equation.
This distinction between the first and tenth strategies is important—and it is a distinction that is often lost upon those leaders who wish to introduce a major change in their organization. When they offer workshops, seminars or printed material regarding the change, is the primary intention to shift attitudes among employees about this change, or is the primary intention one of equipping employees with new skills and knowledge, so that they might successfully implement the change? This question usually can’t be answered until there is an even deeper appreciation for the sources of potential resistance to the change. Are employees fearful about the change because they don’t recognize the benefits to be derived from this change? If this is the case, then this tenth strategy should be implemented. If employees are resistant not because they can’t see the benefits, but because they don’t know how to implement the change, then the training and education strategy should be employed. Obviously, in some cases, both strategies are needed.
Method or technology promotion also differs from the training strategy in that the primary focus is on a specific procedure or technology. The skills, knowledge and aptitudes being offered in a training or education program are portable. Typically, they can be taken to another job or even another organization. By contrast, the attitudes being addressed in a promotional program tend to be anchored in the specific context and climate of the organization where the program is being offered. This is yet another reason to draw a distinction between the promotion strategy and the training and education strategy.
External resources can readily be used in preparing a training and education program, for the skills and knowledge usually are generic. Promotional and motivational resources are another matter entirely. They must be based on a deep appreciation of the unique interests, needs and fears of the employees to which these resources are addressed. In addition, it is important that these promotional resources are directly and consistently aligned with the distinctive intentions of the organization—as articulated in the organization’s charter (see previous set of essays in this series). Professionally produced videotapes about a new computer software program that are bought from the company producing the software rarely much of an impact. Very few people usually watch these pre-packaged programs. Conversely, many employees will watch less elegant videotapes that are produced inside the organization showing the use of this software program by employees. The impact is even greater if this videotape contains informal and candid testimonials from credible employees that identify the benefits to be derived from this new software program. Research on the successful diffusion of innovations always points to the impact of local opinion leaders.[v]
