What steps can Human resource professionals take to overcome the organizational tendency to cut training when money is tight?

It is always about cost versus the reward. If the company can see that additional training will cut their labor costs in production, safety, or some other marker, then it is more likely to approve the cost. However, training is seen as expensive, because the people are non-productive during the training time and it costs for the teacher and materials. Soft, or non- monetary rewards are hard to quantify.