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Employee Learning Week - more thoughts
By Patricia Lake | November 30, 2007
So - You are a trainer. You have or train employees. During next week, you might try answering the following question:
What did my employees learn this week?
Did they learn that there really isn’t enough time in the schedule or money in the budget to provide necessary training? Did they learn that they are expected to know how to do something without proper training? Did they learn that the training they had planned to attend (or partake in at their desks via the computer) has to be missed or postponed because things are too busy? Did they learn that their bosses consider training nice to have but something that they can do without?
Or . . .
Did they learn that the company has dedicated time and resources to provide high quality training? Did they learn that they are actually expected to utilize the training options the company provides and that they encouraged to use time during their work day to do that? Did they learn that well trained employees who continually work to improve their skills are highly valued employees?
Obviously we want the second set of “learnings” to be the ones that they learn. However, too often companies give lip service to being committed to employee development (training), but they are unwilling to allow the time or allot the resources to provide that training. Production always comes first. The reality, of course, is that companies who take a proactive approach to training and employee development are more successful - they are more profitable than those who continually have “more important” things to do. However, upper management often forgets that fact. Training departments must be ready to advocate for training by making the business case for training.
Here’s a challenge for the group - what strategies have you used to make the business case for training in your company? I invite you to share your ideas by commenting to this blog.
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Topics: - Employee Learning Week |