IN THE 1990's, I worked as an HR head with a multi-national company in the Middle-East. I was quite surprised to know then that our company has no employment training regimen.

I could still remember when top management ignored my plea to let a newly hired sales manager undergo an attitude test and a management training program before assuming his post. Top management believed then that the new manager's knowledge and skills are the imperative necessity.

"The Manny Pacquiao Blog". Click here for stories and updates on the Filipino boxing champ.

It took two months for our company to notice that the new sales manager was performing below par and was disliked by his own staff because he dismally failed to understand the culture of the organization.

Although this scenario happened almost 10 years ago, still many companies today committed this type of organizational blunder. They believe in training as long as it doesn't take them or their staff away from "important" tasks that must get done or they just consider training as a nice-to-have instead of a must-have.

The traditional way of dealing newly hired manager goes this way: select someone who appears to have what it takes for the management position; appoint the new manager to the role and get them started in the job; just leave them to it and let them get on with it; and come back again and take a look at how they are doing; and when management discover that things are not going too well, that's the time they send the new manager to a management development program - this looks like too late.

This is a classical example of a company wasting their time, efforts, and money trying to utilize the talents of managers without considering the necessity of a flexible training program.

Many of us have either been in this position or know someone who has. It happens all the time and the damage it causes is far reaching and sometimes beyond repair.

Pushing a new manager to work too soon in the workplace would make them appear incompetent or even insensitive, thus tarnishing their credibility. Clients may be affected and complaints or lost sales may follow.

But what can companies do differently to prevent these problems from arising? We believe the following is a better path to address this problem:

First, carry out a thorough assessment of the manager's KSA (skills/knowledge/attitudes) before letting them assume the managerial position. Evaluate their capabilities and their patterns of behavioral tendencies; second, conduct a detailed training your browser may not support display of this image and you need analysis, based on the outcome of the assessment; third, select a trusted training provider who can develop a customized training program that matches and meets individual needs. Fourth, following training, appoint the person to the management role and arrange for a series of coaching sessions so that your manager can apply what they have learned and really transfer new knowledge and skills to the job, with great results. Gather feedback from the people who report to the manager as well as feedback from the manager themselves; and Fifth, agree a personal learning and development plan that the new manager can follow in the coming months and meet with him or her regularly to review progress, monitor results and give constructive feedback.

Would it suffice to let the new manager jump into work immediately if the company could not afford a management training program? Yes it can do that in the meantime. While management may still seek funding to develop a reliable training program, the HR manager shall let the newly hired accept wholeheartedly the vision, mission, goals, and core values of the organization and foremost orient the new manager on the culture of the organization.

We should take note that the cost of repairing a badly damaged company reputation is surely far more enormous than the cost of having a reliable company training and development program.

(You may send your comments or suggestions to the writer at e-mail: archietim@yahoo.com and cell No. 09266468591)