Introduction
Currently, the business world is competitive, and for organizations to remain viable and relevant, they require professional staff members that can provide quality services hence the growth and development of the firm. In order to attain this, most employers are forced to induce training and career development programs to aid in imparting knowledge and skills to the employees. When workers are enlightened, they feel job satisfaction making them comfortable, leading to ease of retention within the firm. A business organization is only considered effective as the employees working in it. The quality of service and products provided by the firm is depended on the value of the workforce available. Despite the significance of engaging staff in such strategies, there are some limitations associated with the practice which hinder and reduce the morale of the organization to initiate the plans. Business organizations face a number of dilemmas such as the rapid change in technology, exit of the employee after training, ease, and normality of hiring contract professionals, which lowers the ability to implement training programs.
Discussion
Human capital is an essential aspect of a business organization. It is the stock of skills and knowledge that employees possess, either innate or acquired, that contributes to their productiveness. Based on the human capital theory, the model outlines that having a formal education is significant and instrumental in advancing the usefulness of people (Galiakberova, 2019). In other words, educated workers are key assets to an organization. To increase the value of employees, there is a strong need to invest in their learning and training to raise their overall productivity. When an employer trains its staff members, the quality of services is improved (Ogundipe et al., 2021). Whenever companies want to subject their workers to educational and other training programs, they encounter serious conflicting situations that make it challenging to pick the best approach.
Generally, operating in an ever-evolving industry requires the organization management to train its employees to gain and improve their skills and level of competencies necessary for their growth and task performance. The dilemma managers face in this scenario is choosing to subject workers to career development; then, after obtaining the relevant knowledge, they quit and join other companies (Moussa & Somjai, 2019). This will imply a loss to the business since, in order to impart the capabilities, the corporation will have to incur a large amount of capital to facilitate the whole program leaving it with less profit. The management expects that after completion of the intended training, the employee is supposed to offer the services to the company to enhance the performance of the business (Papa et al., 2018). If the worker leaves before delivering as per the expectation, the corporation will have lost the resource.
The contradicting situation is when the employer decides not to offer learning opportunities for the worker, yet they opt to stay and work for the industry. This will mean the company will not be able to be competitive in the market due to the limited skills and expertise necessary for effective performance (Aburumman et al., 2020). The circumstances present a dilemma to the management because it is not easy to estimate the likelihood of occurrence of any of the mentioned situations. Therefore, it leaves the company at a crossroads, not knowing exactly what direction to take. In this case, once the employer fully understands the significance of having educated and well-trained workers and their potential, the program should be considered. The value employees generate should prompt managers to undertake the development program to facilitate the ability of the firm to be more competitive due to the availability of adequate and more productive human capital.
The rapid change in the level of technology in the current business environment poses a significant dilemma to the organization managers. It is challenging to match the training course and the values of the inherent skills (Cardenas-Navia & Fitzgerald, 2019). For instance, employees are subjected to a training program where they learn coding and a new system language for about eight months, then after a period of six months, another method emerges, rendering the already known useless. In this perspective, the skills gained during the career development would not be able to increase the productivity of the company as estimated before the commencement of the program (Rodrigues et al., 2020). In other words, the firm will spend money which in return yields less income to the organization. Similarly, the knowledge and abilities obtained during the process would not add value to the workers because they will no longer need them to perform their duties within the industry (Lu et al., 2019). Therefore the pace of digital transformation is a barrier to employers in initiating and facilitating career developments.
The need to match the required skills and the ability of employees is a concern that bothers the employees. The critical purpose of training is to advance the capabilities of workers; however, there are categories of staff members who are unable to adapt to the new developments (Kraiger & Ford, 2021). In this scenario, spending money to increase their ability and expertise will impact the organization. Most managers fear taking the risk of educating such employees because they will bring an insignificant change to the competitive edge of the business organization. On the other hand, subjecting them to the program will imply incurring massive costs with a limited return to the company due to a mismatch of knowledge and the potential of workers.
The emerging trend of ease and normality of hiring freelancers is a contributing factor to the dilemma companies are facing concerning training. In the current economy, there are several people with relevant skills appropriate for the needs of the organization; therefore, recruiting them will not cost the employer more expenses for career development (Van Den Groenendaal et al., 2022). In this perspective, firms are stuck between acquiring already trained personnel or educating and adapting the existing workers who have insight into the operations performed by the company. Sometimes, contracting workers may enable the organization to achieve the expected goals within the shortest time possible because the new recruits will need an adequate period to adjust to the cultures and platforms of the industry. However, they reduce the cost involved in career development; they may lag behind before being compatible with the team (Wright & Constantin, 2021). On the other hand, providing educational opportunities to staff might be costly, but the ease of implementing the skills and working in the same direction to achieve the goals is guaranteed.
Another dilemma is designing the training time and working period. Generally, employees are expected to deliver their services as per the contract agreement. In order to train and educate workers, some professions will require a longer duration to attain the necessary skills. This implies the organization will have to continue operating without some of its staff members, hence risking lowering its productivity. The conflict between working hours and learning periods may prompt managers to choose either that meets their needs. When they consider maintaining employees to facilitate the production, the possibility of enhancing expertise is diminished. Similarly, allowing workers to secure career development programs will make the organization have a reduced number of service providers, thus lowering the general output.
Limited resources such as finances make it challenging for employers to decide whether to invest in an employee training program or to finance other operations within the organization. Generally, when workers are effectively educated and equipped with relevant skills and knowledge, their productivity increases; hence they become a good investment opportunity for the company. To perform the whole learning process, the firm will be forced to use a large amount of capital that it would otherwise channel into other activities. Similarly, there are avenues that require funding to generate income for the business organization; hence an employer might want to take chances to boost the source of revenue. In this scenario, the management body is facing two options that have the possibility of improving the profit; however, due to insufficient resources, they have to choose one.
Moreover, the choice of whether to have on-the-job training or workshop learning is another issue that leads to dilemmas amongst employers. Career development programs can be undertaken either within the company or at a different institution that offers a full-time focus on the intended project. When workers engage in learning while performing their tasks, they have the ability to adapt quickly to the changes and implement them into the system (Yamoah, 2014). The practice permits learning to center on the emotional and social context, therefore, making it easier to relate the program to the normal work condition. In such an environment, employers are capable of manipulating the project to match the needs and expectations of the organization to ensure that the end workers and the business enterprise benefits from it. Furthermore, it allows the management to reduce expenditures such as accommodation, transport, and meals that would be catered for if the training was to be conducted outside the corporation.
Similarly, undertaking a program outside the job environment or off-the-job allows employees to focus deeply on the learning activities and thus are able to develop their skills and knowledge effectively. The concentration increases the productivity of workers, which makes them essential for the company’s operations. It is significant to have a conducive training environment in order to enable capturing of finer details. The conditions make it easier to impart proper skills to the employees for their development. Therefore, most employers face the dilemma of having on–the–job or off-the-job training services.
Generally, the employees’ training and career development are aimed at improving job satisfaction and increasing the competitive advantage of the firm. It is necessary to examine the program and its methods of delivering services in order to match the goals of the company. In most cases, trainers use different techniques that, at some point, do not align with the education required by the company. In such a scenario, the whole project may provide incompetent workers making them less productive after learning new skills. To attain effective training results, it is necessary for managers to define the goals for the exercise to ensure knowledge and abilities acquired in the process contribute to the welfare of the firm. The dilemma associated with the situation is educational tactics and the organization’s goals to be achieved.
Another complex situation faced by employers is choosing between training novice workers or enhancing the career development of expert staff members. Some research studies indicate that the ability of amateurs to integrate technical skills and categorize problems is high therefore enabling them to retain more details necessary for finding solutions (Wong & Au-Yeung, 2019). When such employees are given the opportunity to advance their skills, they will acquire several relevant skills and knowledge that can benefit the operations of the company (Liang et al., 2018). However, following the volatile employment market, the probability of novice staff members seeking jobs in other areas is significant; hence, after receiving adequate exposure, they may join other organizations. This implies that the firm will not have enough time to exploit the abilities staff provide.
Employees who have worked for an organization for some time have gained the trust and loyalty of the employer. When they are trained to acquire contemporary skills, the likelihood of being retained by the business organization is high (Itri et al., 2019). However, because such workers have accumulated more knowledge, it becomes challenging for them to capture new ideas compared to the novice staff. This may make them less significant in promoting the productivity of the corporation using the learned knowledge. Therefore the dilemma of choosing between educating young employees and advancing their skills of expertise is a common scenario facing most employers in the industry.
Similarly, another conflict is to have effective training and the cost associated with obtaining the services. Generally, when employees are subjected to more practical education, the organization is capable of lowering the money spent on cheap and insignificant career development. The following elements constitute having concrete training; transfer of learning, the satisfaction of the trainee, trainer, and the training session (Bretos et al., 2019). Moreover, engaging workers in frequent educational development play a vital role in improving their overall performance within the workplace. For instance, employees undertaking on-the-job training are less likely to make mistakes during their assignments which indicates how the exercises impart them with proper knowledge and skills, enabling them to work accordingly. A practical and continuous program is efficient in promoting the productivity of staff members (Shen & Tang, 2018). However, the conflict arises in the cost involved to facilitate the whole repeated project. Sometimes employers may not be willing to incur large expenditures following underlying factors such as possible turnover. This aspect will make it complicated for the business organization to reach a quick decision about the procedure of career development.
In addition, the changing forms of work organization pose a dilemma to employers. Currently, the economy is undergoing vigorous digital transformation, whereby most operations are based on e-commerce and internet activities (Litvinenko, 2020). Therefore, it becomes challenging to merge the needs of the business and the training methods required to offer effective services. For instance, most organizations have started using Artificial Intelligence (AI), the internet of things (IoT), and robotics applications to facilitate their business activities. In such an environment, it becomes challenging to configure the most productive training that can match the evolution being experienced by companies in different industries (Vrontis et al., 2022). According to the scenario, the possibility of offering obsolete training and education is high; therefore, the chance of the organization benefiting from the programs might be limited.
Lastly, the structural shifts in the labor market present a conflicting situation amongst employers in the economy. Generally, after employees have received adequate training and career development, their skills and level of productivity increase proportionately, leading to improvement in their performance (Ismail & Rishani, 2018). When workers have more experience, their income is expected to grow as well. In most cases, companies are reluctant to facilitate the change since they aim at lowering the cost of production. Since the program will force the need to raise salaries, it might become inconvenient, especially in a situation where a good number of staff members are engaged in educational and training services. The management might not be able to structure the expenditure that comes with having several experts in the business. The dilemma scenario is whether to have more trained personnel or reduce the production cost by employing less qualified workers that demand less pay.
Conclusion
In summary, human capital investment is a significant tool that allows employers to gain a competitive edge in the market. In order to improve the productivity and performance of workers, companies should engage in training and career development programs. Despite the significance of having an elite workforce, the business organization encounters arrays of dilemma situations that make it challenging to undertake the activity. For instance, educating staff members then leaving the company or failing to train them, and they stay. Similarly, the rapid technological changes can quickly render learned skills obsolete within the shortest time possible. These conditions contribute to the need to make proper decisions to perform training projects.
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