Human Resource Development 6th Edition by Jon Werner , Randy Randy , DeSimone

Exercise 4

Suppose you are the HRD manager for a large electric/utility company. The quarterly report shows a 25 percent decrease in participation in management development programs over the same quarter last year. The number of managers employed by the company has not changed, and the company's profits have remained stable. You already hold these programs in desirable locations off-site (conference centers) and participating in these programs counts toward the employees' annual performance evaluation. Using your knowledge of motivation theory, suggest three possible reasons that could explain why participation rates are down. If, after investigation, those reasons turned out to be the true causes, what might you be able to do to improve participation rates?