On-the-job management training and multicultural skills: the moderating effect of openness to experience

This study examined the effects of on-the-job management training on the incumbent public administration managers’ multicultural skills as a function of the managers’ openness to experience. Two hundred eighty four public administration managers from the European Commission and 26 member states participated in the study. The results indicate that on-the-job training (including the initial training, informal training, mentoring, coaching, and the availability of resources) improve the incumbent managers’ multicultural skills, but only when the managers are moderate or high in openness to experience. The multicultural skills of the managers who are high in openness to experience benefit from on-the-job training the most, followed by the skills of the managers who are moderate in openness to experience. When the managers are low in openness to experience, the increased amounts of on-the-job training actually decrease their level of multicultural skills.