Personal development and growth in a downsized banking organization: summary of methodology and findings

Abstract

This research studied the role, relevance and prevalence of personal development and growth (PEDG) during the downsizing activity of a large Australian bank. The study found that the bank failed to provide adequate levels of training and development (T&D) in the area of PEDG. This was in stark contrast to the abundant provision of professional development and growth (PRDG). It was also determined that the provision of PEDG to employees did occur, but was largely confined to a selected few. Organizational and individual benefits of PEDG were established and three categories of PEDG emerged – lifestyle, mental capacity and emotional growth. Individual participants stressed the importance of PEDG in the context of downsizing and asserted that PEDG had the potential to prepare the workforce for downsizing, to impact positively on individuals during a downsizing endeavour and to enable the workforce to cope with downsizing successfully. Participants opined that PEDG should be introduced prior to the announcement of a downsizing and that a proactive approach to PEDG should be embraced. Finally, PEDG was seen as generic and its substance was perceived to be unaffected by the magnitude, severity, depth and breadth of the actual downsizing.

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