It's been said that one of the keys to success is a positive
attitude. In today's economic climate, expenses, downsizing, and
restructuring challenge our ability to maintain such a positive
outlook. Many training programs focus upon improving communication,
handling diversity, and improving skills, but very little insight
is given into training the root cause of some of these issues -
attitudes. Unfortunately, many people express attitude as a default
influence upon training rather than examining attitudes as
something that can be improved or changed. Attitudinal training,
however, can be accomplished by helping individuals understand how
their attitudes are formed and the complexity by which they can
change.
Attitudes, by definition, are one's evaluation of something. If
evaluation can be made to make a decision, then attitudes can be
trained just as we train people in decision making. In training
attitudes, it is beneficial to examine what components comprise
attitude formation. Next, attention should be given to what would
change attitude. While many people are passive about how they
evaluate things - deeming some days "good" and others "bad," for
instance - they are unaware of why they label them as such.
Trainers must take an active role in bringing attitudes in line
before performance expectations are established. Rather than saying
a training program didn't work because of the participants' bad
attitudes, we must acknowledge that attitudes can be changed, and
in turn that change can improve training and performance. More
knowledge of attitude and its changes, can do nothing but improve
the training department's skill set and an organization's overall
health.
To provide effective training around attitudes, we must first
understand the ABCs of attitude development and change:
- Affective component. Training the affective
component means examining participants' opinions and feelings,
which in most cases are very subjective and spontaneous. The
trainer must then probe for reasons behind these feelings - most
likely, reasons will be connected to values. Trainees who recognize
that their attitude begins with a feeling can most likely see the
necessity in changing behavior and cognition.
- Behavior component. This component addresses what
a person is willing to do regarding how they feel. Are trainees
passive or aggressive? Are trainees willing to make adjustments
within themselves? Are trainees unwilling and, if so, why?
- Cognitive component. In training attitudes, it is
necessary for people to discuss their values in a training setting.
The attitude cognitive component consists of the values that
participants already hold. Trainers may change the behavioral and
affective aspects, but in order for an attitude to be truly changed
then values also must be changed. Needless to say, this area
presents the biggest challenge because of the long-term nature and
hold that values have for people. In fact, the process of training
attitudes is most likely lengthened by this component. However,
training focused on the affective and behavior components, and the
success thereof, can mean an acceleration in attitude change.