Different skills and knowledge for different times: training in an Australian retail bank
| Date | 01 December 1999 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/01425459910299884 |
| Pages | 577-589 |
| Published date | 01 December 1999 |
| Author | Richard B. Sappey,Jennifer Sappey |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
Different skills
and knowledge
577
Employee Relations,
Vol. 21 No. 6, 1999, pp. 577-589.
#MCB University Press, 0142-5455
Received May 1999
Revised June 1999
Accepted July 1999
Different skills and knowledge
for different times: training in
an Australian retail bank
Richard B. Sappey and Jennifer Sappey
Griffith University, Nathan, Brisbane, Australia
Keywords Management development, Interpersonal skills training, Competences,
Human resource management, Banking, Australia
Abstract This article explores the relationship between an Australian financial institution's
training programme and its commercial fortunes, in particular its mix of technical skills and
social skills training. In this industry, price and product differentiation are limited, and customer
service is the principal determinant of competitive advantage. Social skills training should
theoretically be crucial to gaining competitive advantage. This study involved interviews with the
bank's state and national managers, observations of different types of training courses and
analysis of training programme documentation. It was found that during periods of intense
pressure from the marketplace, managerial perceptions and budgetary constraints placed a
higher priority on technical skills training over social skills training. This had significant
implications for employees' personal and career development in internal and external labour
markets.
There has been considerable emphasis in recent years upon the development of
training policies at national and industry levels. The motivations varied, but
there was a general belief that some industrialised societies were impeding
their own economic development by ignoring the necessity for a more skilled
workforce. To the extent that there were costs associated with training the
workforce, they had to be paid but they would be outweighed by the benefits in
the future. Training thus became viewed as unproblematic in policy terms.
In more recent years this view has been challenged on the grounds that
training lacked a substantial theoretical and empirical foundation upon which
to debate policy options, costs and benefits. In particular, it was seen as overly
simplistic, lacking any strategic development at workplace level. It was also
considered deficient, if not negligent, in failing to identify the individual and
institutional costs associated with linking training to other dimensions of
organisational and economic life.
This paper provides an overview of the recent policy perspectives of
national training in Australia. It discusses significant dimensions of training
which have entered into a broadening debate about its role within work
organisations and analyses case study research in the Australian retail
banking industry. It focuses on the relationship between different forms of
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The fieldwork was conducted as part of a doctoral thesis in the early 1990s but not submitted
for publication earlier because of an agreement with the organisation that some information
may have been commercially sensitive for a period of time.
The authors would like to acknowledge very constructive comments by Andrew Griffith and
the anonymous referees on earlier drafts. The final version remains the authors' responsibility.
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