Forster 37

Article

Exploring Training Needs for

Old and New Age Middle Managers

Vision
16(1) 3743
2012 MDI
SAGE Publications
Los Angeles, London,
New Delhi, Singapore,
Washington DC
DOI: 10.1177/097226291201600104
http://vision.sagepub.com

K.L.N. Rao
Hardik Shah

Abstract
In the fast changing scenario, managers in many State Transport Corporations (STUs) are facing many challenges to meet the pace of
change. Middle level managers in STUs play a key role as they represent the most critical management cadre of executors, contributing towards organizations vision and achieving business objectives. In order to meet diverse stakeholder expectations, they must be
equipped with updated knowledge and skills through continuous training inputs. In the last three years, professionally qualified and
experienced middle managers were recruited externally in all the functions. This article explores current and future training requirements for the two selected groups of middle managers: internally promoted (old age) and externally recruited (new age). Primary data
has been collected through eight in-depth interviews with top management executives and 14 focused group discussions (FGDs) with
middle managers to understand their current and future requirements for training and how their training needs are different. After
primary analysis, a ranking instrument was designed and administered. Further recommendations were made for effective training
designs for middle level managers.

Key Words
Training Needs, Middle Managers, GSRTC, Coefficient of Determination

Introduction
Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) is a
state-owned passenger transport organization providing
bus services both within Gujarat and neighbouring states
since 1961. From a modest beginning of 7 divisions, 7 divisional workshops, 76 depots and a fleet of 1,767 buses, it
has grown to 16 divisions, 126 depots, 226 bus stations,
1,554 pick-up stands and 8,000 buses. This remarkable
growth is an outcome of the unflagging effort of more than
a workforce of 50,000 and dynamic managers and sustained support from the state government. It has built up
formidable technical facilities including a three-level maintenance and repair facility, 126 depot workshops, 16 divisional workshops and a central workshop, 7 tyre retreading plant, bus body building plant (1,000 bus bodies per
year) and ticket printing press. It has also taken different
e-governance initiatives like Conductor Way Bill Accounting System at 125 Depots, GSWAN (Gujarat State Wide
Area Networking) connecting the central office and the
central stores with all the 16 divisional offices and 100
depots. GSRTC is the first state transport corporation in
country to introduce GPS/GIS-based bus tracking and
monitoring system in luxury buses, central stores and all
the divisional stores. Additionally, the GSRTC has also

added facilities like computerized laboratory testing, online bill payment and provident fund, statistical cell for
data analytics, e-tendering and Bio Matrix systems. As the
GSRTC is leaping forward towards modernization and
revamping of its organizational processes through ambitious future projects like the Integrated Depot Management
System, e-ticketing system, GPRS-based online bus tracking system and Radio-frequency identification (RFID)/
Smart Card-based passes for students leading to many
business challenges for middle managers. Customer service and growth are the key objectives for middle managers contributing towards value creation for all stakeholders
including public, employees, vendors, state government
and fund providers. They have been entrusted with changeagent roles for different future changes proposed by the
state government. Effective running of depots, divisions,
fleets and workshops are the key responsibilities entrusted
on the able shoulders of these middle managers. Their roles
are multifaceted involving multi-tasking activities like
managing depot and staff, operating the fleet, monitoring
schedule of vehicles, controlling traffic, coordinating
with passengers and vendors and maintaining cleanliness
of the rolling stock and the depot, managing workshops
and restrooms, etc. It is imperative that the cadre be staffed

38

Exploring Training Needs for Old and New Age Middle Managers

with highly-skilled professionals as the roles demand administrative expertise, technical prowess, traffic insights
and leadership skills. These 2,000 middle managers can be
classified into two broad categoriesinternally promoted
(old age) from lower management cadres through internal
promotions (70 per cent of the middle managers) and externally recruited professionals (30 per cent of the middle
managers). The first group of middle-level of managers
has been promoted internally from lower cadres with the
average age being 47.3 years and average tenure spent in
the GSRTC being 25.7 years. Compared with this group,
the GSRTC also recruited professionally qualified people
externally and placed them in all the functions as middle
managers in the last two years, having an average age of
33.4 years and average tenure spent in the GSRTC being
merely 2.8 years. In the old age group, most of them do not
have any professional qualification as they were promoted
internally and grown from drivers and conductors cadres.
Some of these old employees have education qualification
up to class eight or ten. The top management believes that
this group lacks managerial, supervisory and behavioural
skills as middle managers but have insights in traffic and
technical areas. For the new age group managers, the top
management believes that they have professional education and prior relevant experience in the area of specialization but they lack insights in traffic and technical areas and
how to manage various departments in the GSRTC. In
order to meet the key challenge of ensuring basic public
transit services to be delivered punctually and efficiently, it
is necessary to explore their training needs. The top management has realized that the cadre of middle managers
needs to be nurtured and strengthened by developing managerial and leadership skills, enabling them to perform
their duties effeciently. For this purpose, middle managers
must be trained intensively and extensively in diverse subject areas. The article is the outcome of research questions
posed for the GSRTC.
z

What are the areas of training requirement for the

two selected groups of middle managers?
Is there a significant difference in terms of training
requirements among internally promoted (old age)
vis--vis externally recruited (new age) middle
managers?
How to align training requirements with organizational objectives for middle managers (Holton et al.,
2000)?

Based on current and future training requirements of

middle managers, 40 training areas were identified and
broadly classified into four clusterstraffic, technical, behavioural and supervisory and managerial. It can be further
inferred that there existed significant difference in terms of
Vision, 16, 1 (2012): 3743

training requirements among internally promoted (old age)

vis--vis externally recruited (new age) middle managers.
The old age group required more training in behavioural
and managerial and supervisory clusters, while the new
age group requires more training in traffic and technical
clusters.

Literature Review
The subject of training and development is widely studied
due to its critical importance and complex nature. Each
organization needs to equip itself to meet the challenges of
today and tomorrow. Reid and Barrington (1999) stated
that training is an important facilitator of organizational
change. Many private and public sector organizations like
the GSRTC are making great strides at identifying and
prioritizing training and performance gaps, intervention
requests and/or resource requirement as well as possible
organizational contributions. Exploring training needs is
the first step in any Human Resource Development intervention (Leigh et al., 2000; Ron and Kramlinger, 1982).
Exploring training needs is a systematic exploration of the
way things are and the way they should be with reference
to organizational and/or individual performance (Stout,
1995). The identification of training needs should focus on
exploring areas and prioritizing them, while a need analysis should break the identified needs into its component
parts and determine the solution requirement (Watkins and
Kaufman, 1996). Need identification is defined as an investigation, undertaken to determine the nature of performance problems for selected roles in order to establish the
underlying causes and how the training can address them
(Erasmus et al., 2000). Goldstein (1993) described need assessment as the phase of the instructional process that provides the information necessary to design the entire programme, suiting trainee role requirements. Desimone et al.
(2002) identify four levels of needs to be analyzed for
Training Needs Analysis (TNA)the needs of the organization, individual employees skills, knowledge and attitudes and their functional responsibilities as well as the
needs of departments. McArdle (1996) proposed two types
of needs assessments. The first type is based on problem
analysis focusing on identification of work problem and
offering training solutions. The second type is based on
required competency considering the available opportunities by identifying and acquiring new knowledge, skills
and attitudes. In order to explore training needs for different trainee groups and organizations, training managers
must record the current and future work situations, clarify
the business objectives integrating with training strategy
and ensure top management support (Bhatta, 2002;
McGehee and Thayer, 1961). Burton and Merrill (1988)
proposed a four-phase model for TNA which is applicable

K.L.N. Rao and Hardik Shah

for practitioners in a variety of disciplines as the model
focuses on the application of needs assessment in the development of instructional materials at the level of a course.
Pecora (1989) suggested Job Hindrance Model as an
important component for TNA as it identifies training
needs by specifying areas of job hindrance, differentiating
between training needs based inabilities or deficits as
opposed to wants. Sarin et al. (2010) proposed a TNA
model where they found that age acts as mediating variable
leading to significant difference in terms of preferred training needs and training styles impacting overall training
effectiveness. They found that trainee age has a significant
interaction with training timeliness and suggested that
older the age, stronger is the positive relationship between
timeliness and training effectiveness. They also suggested
that age has a significant negative interaction with formal
structure of the training, suggesting that the older the employee, the weaker is the positive relationship with training
effectiveness. Similar findings were drawn by Deal (2007)
in his study on sales professionals. He concluded that majority of new age employees prefer to learn both hard skills
and soft skills on the job, while the majority of old age
employees prefer to learn soft skills on the job, and learn
hard skills through classroom instruction. He further explored how computer related training and team based work
are perceived needs of old age employees, but the same is
not so important for new age employees. Fu (2009) found
that as age increases, trainees become more resistant to
change and to new technology (Morris and Venkatesh,
2000). Because of their increased fear of change and of
technology, older trainees may experience greater anxiety
or distress in the context of technological change. For them,
timeliness of change-related training may be more critical
than for the younger trainees. Based on a review of different TNA models, there existed a research gap in terms of
comparative validation taking age as the differentiating
variable and their training requirements. This acted as
motivation to explore the research gap to identify training
needs for middle managers in transport sector undertaking,
taking age as the differentiating variable for the two extreme age groups. Multiple data collection tools have been
used to explore current and future training requirements for
the selected two groups of middle managers (MMs). The
article explores 40 training areas and differentiated required
training inputs for the two selected groups. It provided further insights about how to design training plan based on the
required role competencies for the two selected groups of
middle managers for achieving organizations objectives.

Research Design
As the study is more exploratory in nature, combination of
both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods
used by us in as explained below.

39
z

Eight in-depth interviews including that of seven

departmental heads and Managing Directors have
been conducted to have insights about what are the
current and future expectations from middle level
managers and aligning training needs with organizational vision. It further explored their views about
the benefits or affects they will expect from such
training identification study and aligning training
requirements and overall objectives of the GSRTC.
Semi-structured method of interview was used. Each
interview lasted approximately for an hour and a half
and was recorded in note.
Fourteen focused group discussions (seven FGDs for
each of the two groups having ten middle managers
as participants) were conducted to collect information about broad areas of training required. FGDs
were focused to explore training needs for both
groups based on their individual task, role and organizational requirements.
A comprehensive list of 40 training areas were made
based on interviews and FGDs. The same is converted into ranking instrument. The ranking instrument was administered to 266 middle level mangers.
They have been asked to rank those modules using
ranking order based on their current and future requirements training requirements.

Sampling
Two stage sampling method have been used. In the first
stage, using judgemental sampling, two groups of middle
managers have been selected. The criterion for selection
used was minimum one year placement as middle manger
cadre in any of seven functional areas. Out of the selected
sample, two equal size groups (250 per group) for old age
and new age middle managers were selected. There are
seven functional areas where middle managers were placed
in the GSRTC. In the second stage, based on quota sampling method, sample of 133 middle managers from each
group have been selected, equally representing seven functional domains. A total of 266 valid questionnaires were
used for final data analysis.

Hypothesis for the Study

In order to determine whether there existed significant gap
in terms of training requirements for the selected two
groups of middle managers in order to design effective
training modules, following null and alternative hypotheses are made and tested:
z

H01: There is no significant difference among in

ranking order for training needs of internally promoted and externally hired middle managers.
Vision, 16, 1 (2012): 3743

40

Exploring Training Needs for Old and New Age Middle Managers
z

H11: There is significant difference among in ranking order for training needs have internally promoted
and externally hired middle managers.

Results and Discussion

All the data collected have been then analyzed using
Microsoft Excel and SPSS. In this article, data analyses
have been carried out by using content analysis of in-depth
interviews and FGDs and ranking order analysis. The
results are discussed next.

Reliability for Ranking Instrument

First, we tested reliability for the ranking instrument which
was developed based on in-depth interviews and FGDs
with middle managers. The overall reliability for the ranking scale using Cronbrachs alpha was found as 0.787.

The final data was analyzed using weighted mean by the

following formulae.
Wi = (WM 100)/ (Ni)
where,
z
z
z

WIi = Overall Weightage of the training area i

WM = Overall Weighted Mean of Ranking
Ni = Weighted average ranking for training area i

Based on overall training area weightage, top 15 priority training areas required for middle level managers have
been identified in Tables 1 and 2.
In order to test the hypotheses of ranking order among
the old and new middle managers, Coefficient of Determination (COD) is used. The same is calculated using the
following formulae.
Table 1. Training Areas Required for Internally Promoted
Middle Managers
Training Areas

Training Priority Areas Using Ranking Order

Analysis
Current programmes at the GSRTC for middle managers
do not address a comprehensive range of competencies
required to perform their roles effectively. Most of the
knowledge, skills and aptitudes required to do the job are
learned through informal mechanisms such as observational learning, advice and guidance from senior members.
In times of limited financial resources, training efforts
should target those areas with the greatest need for skill
improvement. All other things being equal, a training priority should be given to those areas which are important for
job performance. It is defined as ordering of training needs
based on relative priority of the topic or area for effective
job performance. The highest priorities will be those for
which a large number of the role holders have a high priority ranking. Training priority information comprises an
ordering of training needs based on the relative priority of
the topic or statement for effective job performance with
least standard deviation. Training priority information
expands the understanding of a training need and is the
most important information to use in the building of training programmes. Training priority information constitutes
a more comprehensive approach to the assessment of
knowledge, skill and attributes deficits by role holder. It
also identifies the topics and learning inputs which is
required as part of first-year training curriculum. In order
to explore priority areas, pivot tables have been generated
using frequency based on rank order assigned by middle
managers for each of the 40 training areas. The frequencies
were then converted into weightages for identifying priority areas for middle managers training requirements.
Vision, 16, 1 (2012): 3743

Basics of Finance for Depot management

Change Management
Meeting Passenger expectations
Basic Orientation Course
Managing Disciplinary Action
Integrated Productivity Improvement
Fuel and Lubrication management
Data Analysis for Depot Management
Train the Trainer programme
Depot Networking & Integration
Team Effectiveness & Cohesiveness
Problem Solving
Mob management
Leading Front and Back
Decision Making for Effectiveness

Wi
79.99
78.45
74.78
66.04
60.34
56.2
52.21
51.71
48.92
46.54
44.54
44.07
41.56
41.2
40.85

Source: Authors own.

Table 2. Training Areas Required for Externally Recruited

Middle Managers
Training Areas
Meditation Techniques & Executive Health
Business Strategy and Management
Route Management
Effective Workshop Management
Collective Bargaining and Negotiation
Rural Transport Management
Accident Prevention, Investigation & Management
Bio Fuel Utilization and CNG Conversion &
Optimization
Team Effectiveness & Cohesiveness
Human resource planning and utilization
Motivation for high Performance
Competency Based Placement
Managing Depot Infrastructure
Execution Excellence
Inter-Depot Coordination
Source: Authors own.

Wi
71
70.38
69.32
68.44
67.98
67.96
67.1
66.96
66.84
65.22
64.8
64.08
63.4
63.4
62.94

K.L.N. Rao and Hardik Shah

Rank correlation coefficient r = 1 {(6d2)/n(n2 1)}
r= 1 {(191866)/(401599)} = 0.80
Coefficient of Determination (COD) r2 = 0.64

41
z

Based on the COD, it can be inferred that there is significant difference in term of training required among the
two selected groupsinternally promoted (old age) and
externally recruited (new age) middle managers. So H01 is
rejected and H11 is accepted. It means that the training
areas required for these two groups of middle managers are
very different which need to be designed separately considering needs for each of the group. The GSRTC need to
design modules focusing on their diverse needs as a single
approach may not be suitable for both the groups.
On the basis of median analysis of all 40 training areas
for the selected groups it can be further inferred that following three training areas are equally important for both
the selected groups.
z
z
z

Team Effectiveness and Cohesiveness

Business Strategy and Management
Managing Depot Infrastructure

Key Findings from FGDs

z

Forty training areas were identified based on current

and future role requirements of middle managers.
These 40 training areas have been broadly classified in four clusterstraffic, technical, behavioural
and supervisory and managerial for the two selected
groups.
Both groups agreed that organization is undergoing massive transformation due to technological
advancements.
Both groups felt a strong need for training interventions as average training days spent for MMs are
below five days per year.
Many of the middle managers indicated that the
GSRTC lacks professional approach for training
function. Training is ad hoc and reactionary and not
integrated with service or organizational needs.
Organizational hierarchy is the key barrier for training initiatives in the GSRTC.
No scientific mechanism for identification of skills
and training required across various functions.
Lack of transparency and fairness about who is selected as trainee, why the person is sent for training.
Divisional heads need to delegate and empower
middle managers to make their own decisions about
training and development.
Formal system for training need to be designed and
professional trainers to be created within.

Training plan to be prepared at the beginning of the

year and to be integrated with the overall business
objectives.
Resistance for learning is high from internally promoted (old age) when compared with new age group
of externally recruited as they do not value training because many of them will retire in the next 57
years.
Developing an open and service orientated culture is
very critical for effectiveness of training strategy.
A strong communication strategy for promoting
different training initiatives to be designed and
executed.
Commitment from top management and HQ is
critical.

Recommendations for Aligning Training

with the GSRTCs Objectives
From the qualitative data collected, it can be inferred that
the function of training and development has been ignored
completely. There is no separate training department in the
organization. Top management needs to improve the following areas to make training effective and achieve organizational objectives.
{

Have different set of training modules focusing on

training priorities for the two selected groups of middle managers as the needs of old and new age middle
managers are very different.
Some of the externally recruited middle managers
are quite innovative in terms of their learning approach and keep themselves up-to-date in terms of
current knowledge domain while some of the internally promoted middle managers are quite passionate to share their experiences. A team of internal
trainers may be selected to lead the training initiatives in the GSRTC to coach other employees.
Learning systems to be created for inter-depot coordination to facilitate knowledge exchanges.
Communication is most critical for any training strategy to be successful. It is necessary to communicate
the change required and performance and training
gaps to be conveyed effectively in order to trigger
strategic and change initiatives in the GSRTC.
Most of the middle managers are facing issues in
terms of union interference in day-to-day activities.
If training programmes needed to be finalized, the
work schedules may undergo heavy changes. Unions
are to be managed appropriately so that the training
schedules are met as planned.
Integration of vision of the GSRTC with middle
managers key result areas.
Vision, 16, 1 (2012): 3743

42

Exploring Training Needs for Old and New Age Middle Managers
{

Training modules are to be designed and implemented focusing on learning specific competency
as it will yield faster and quality results for the
organization.
Timely training would reduce anxiety among older
trainees and will allow them more time to learn about
new technologies and to adjust to the change.
Subject matter experts to be consulted for designing
and delivery of those selected training areas based on
how old and new age managers learn hard and soft
skills (Kupperschmidt, 2000).
Creating opportunity to transfer learning by demonstrating the trainees how to apply the newly acquired
knowledge at workplace by creating an application
bride (Bates and Davis, 2010).
Training efforts must be rigorous and continuous.

Conclusion
Exploring and linking training needs areas with existing
organizational challenges and various roles performed by
middle managers is the key success factor for effective
training design. Training and development, being one of
most critical areas for the GSRTC, is the key to achieve
organizational objectives. It further suggested that balance
must be struck between standardization and customization
of the training needs and business objectives for the two
selected groups of old and new age middle managers.
Inferences drawn in the research have given the GSRTC a
clear roadmap for making effective training modules and
delivery for the two selected groups as 15 training priority
areas for both selected groups of middle managers were
identified. Such exploration offered a codified body of
knowledge about training areas required for middle managers in state road undertakings and how age acted as the
differentiating variable. It has been strongly felt that a separate training department is required to be established in
order to have clear ownership and accountability for training function. A separate head (Chief Training Manager) is
to be appointed to have focused and integrated training
efforts to achieve the GSRTCs objectives. Finally, it is
strongly felt that if genuine and serious attempts were made
for meeting training and development needs of middle
managers of selected two groups, then the GSRTC will
make a quantum leap towards achieving its vision of customer and community service.
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K.L.N. Rao (laxminr05@gmail.com) is Executive Director &
Chief Vigilance Officer at Gujarat State Road Transport
Corporation (GSRTC). He joined the Indian Police Service in the
year 1992 and was allotted the Gujarat cadre. In all, he had been
Superintendent of Police of five districts and Deputy Commissioner
of Police of three cities in Gujarat. He holds Ph.D. in Biochemistry from IARI and PGP in Public Policy and Management
from IIMB. In 2011 he attended a mid-career training programme

43
at University of Cambridge, UK. Recently, he has streamlined lot
of vigilance activities and implemented e-auctioning at the GSRTC.
Hardik Shah (hardik.shah@aiim.ac.in) is Assistant Professor
at Adani Institute of Infrastructure Management (AIIM),
Ahmadabad, Gujarat, India. Prior to joining AIIM, he was Assistant Professor at Academy of HRD. Professor Shah has 10 years
of experience in teaching research and consultancy and has
published 25 papers in international and national journals and
proceedings. He was Chief Editor for ACRM Journal of Business
& Management Research. His current research interests include
Psychometric Assessment, Project Teams, Leadership & Appreciative Inquiry. He has completed training/consulting assignments
in HR domain for NTPC, OBC, GSRTC, SAIL, Hindustan Zink,
etc. He is also a certified Assessor and MPTI Administrator.

Vision, 16, 1 (2012): 3743