Newsletter - March 2010
Training and Development: A Strategy for Employee Engagement
March 11, 2010 - Lisa Smith
Training and development is sometimes viewed as a luxury item provided by good companies to their employees, when the truth is that training is a necessity provided by responsible companies. In a bad economy, employee development is one of the first items on the chopping block. Training is a premium tool that can be used as a part of the business’ strategic plan for growth and rebounding as the economic pendulum begins to swing upward. In addition, if the organization is experiencing change of any kind, training can be used to keep the employees focused.
Training is a wagon with many wheels, but there are three wheels that should be in constant motion at any given time in the organization. The three include employee development training, job skills development training and new supervisor training. The organization should always find themselves engaged in one or the other.
Employee development training is a critical element to any organization and should not be ignored for the sake of the budget. If employees are to remain engaged in the process and feel as if their contribution still matters, the organization must continue to invest in them individually and keep the employees skill set in line with the companies goals. Investing in employees generates a certain amount of loyalty from them in ways that include commitment to quality work and commitment to both internal and external customers, which are two indicators of the business’ ability to remain relevant.
Job skills training allow the organization to take measurable steps towards improving employee skills. This training is non-negotiable for existing employees and new hires if the companies plan includes growth, productivity, quality, or employee satisfaction. Even in a down economy, the goal is to the get the work done, but getting it done right the first time with fewer players on the team has an impact on the bottom line. Most businesses are trying to meet the needs of the customer, which could translate to doing more with less or doing the same work with fewer hands on deck. This scenario begs the question “how can this be accomplished without job skills training?” The answer, “it can’t be done without their being a significant leak in the boat somewhere.”
Another nugget in the training jewel box is New Supervisor training, which is most often neglected or non-existent. It is a common occurrence for organizations to take their most productive worker and reward them by making them a supervisor without any training to ‘manage their transition.’ Three sins have likely been committed when this situation occurs: 1. the productivity in the environment has been negatively impacted because that productive worker is no longer a contributor, 2. We have more than likely created a problem for the other employees by giving them an unskilled and unprepared leader, and 3. the enthusiasm and confidence of the new supervisor, who is now not being very effective, is on the decline. The new supervisor has the closest ties to the line employees, remember; a few days ago they were one of them. With adequate training to manage this transition and to prepare them for their new role, they have just become management’s secret weapon. This new supervisor can now be counted on to motivate the line employees and monitor quality and productivity from a mid-management and a line employee perspective. You have created a loyal employee who wants to prove that the organization made the right decision by investing in development with job skills training.
In organizations where training is considered a luxury item, employees rarely see the value and will resist having to participate in training sessions. On the other hand, organizations that consider themselves ‘learning organizations’ enjoy the luxury of having employees who have come to expect an investment in their development. These employees also expect to repay that investment by helping the business continue to grow and increase its position in the market. When training is viewed as a strategic and necessary investment, everybody wins!
Lisa Smith is a Training Director with OI Partners / Russell Montgomery & Associate, LLC, West Tennessee Region. She can be contacted at lsmith@oipartners.net or 901-763-1818.
