Designing Training Plans
Our study found that the training plan of each organization is prepared by its HR/Training Department or a related committee on a yearly basis and in a more or less similar way. Basically, the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Civil Service (MOCS) lay down the ways that government organizations must plan, execute, and assess their annual training activities. Using these guidelines has both a positive and a negative impact. For instance, the positive aspect of such standards is that they provide all member organizations with a systematic and standardized approach to the training function. In addition, this approach provides many tools for analyzing skill-sets and training needs; these help organizations to prioritize their training needs on an annual basis. However, the absence of any clear strategic objectives to inform the process means that these annual plans are often repetitive and short- term. It also hinders the creation of a formal long-term training and development plan aimed at developing employees' competencies and enhancing their overall learning.
Even organizations not governed by the Civil Service Law (CSL) tend to suffer the same limitations, largely because of the prevalence of uncertainty-avoidance within their training culture. As a result, training directors not required to follow the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Civil Service (MOCS) still prefer to apply approaches followed by CSL members in order to avoid any of the potential risks that accompany a heavy investment in long-term training and development plans. Two examples where this trend was observed were the Public Establishment for Industrial Estates and the Public Authority of Electricity and Water Resources. The absence of a long-term training strategy in public sector organizations and the non-connectedness of their training to their vision, mission and strategic goals definitely hinder the development of their employees. This also shows the ambiguity of their HRD objectives. In our view, the organizations urgently need to establish a long-term HRD plan which is linked to their objectives, well spelt-out and able to provide an integrated framework for employees’ development and growth.