The impact of corporate culture on training and development at Polyoak Packaging, Pinetown.

Abstract

Training and development is an important component for the performance and sustainability of all organisations. Different organisations have different cultures that influence how they do things in a particular way. The research problem concerns the existence of corporate culture and its impact on training and development. The objective of the study was to investigate the impact of corporate culture on training and development at Polyoak Packaging in Pinetown in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It will recommend practices that will lead to improved employee engagement and better understanding of corporate culture, to ensure that after training, implementation of knowledge and skills is happening, hence improving performance, and productivity in the organisation. A qualitative research study was for the purpose of this study undertaken to solve the problem. Qualitative data was collected using an open-ended interview schedule developed specifically for this study by the author. Non-probability purposive sampling was used to select 5 managers, 7 production setters, and 13 packers from the business units of Polyoak Packaging in Pinetown. The collected data was analysed using thematic analysis to assign information and concepts to the various research questions. The research findings showed a general agreement that corporate culture has an influence on training and employees’ commitment, and ultimately improvement of performance and productivity in the organisation. Conclusions from the study are that communication before and after training; knowledge sharing; and the workplace environment; trainees’ support for skills transfer after training; and continuous evaluation and monitoring post training are essential and core parts of an organisation to improve its activities and sustain competitiveness in the industry it serves.