Talent Management - January 2009 - (Page 34)

Get the Most Bang With Limited Training Bucks John Myers and David Collins HR and learning budgets often are the ﬁrst to go when management tightens its organizational belt. But strategic-thinking executives can use a downturn to strengthen their learning programs’ reputations and generate impact from investments. But in a tight economy, job opportunities decrease. Businesses are less likely to invest in new areas. Employees are reluctant to leave their jobs, but may be distracted by ﬁnancial concerns. As a result, productivity and performance often suffer at a time when just the opposite is required. To avoid this, learning strategy has to directly support the business. “Only by understanding a business’ most pivotal strategic goals can a relevant learning program be implemented,” said Dr. John Boudreau, professor and research director at the University of Southern California’s Center for Effective Organizations. Boudreau said leaders typically are comfortable allocating resources for technology, advertising and other areas because they have well-developed models for evaluation and ROI. But the framework for these allocations often is unsophisticated and not geared toward greatest impact. “Training can be the ﬁrst cut, focusing on costs saved rather than value lost. Even worse, organizations may make across-the-board training cuts even though they are certain training and learning are not equally valuable everywhere,” he said. I t’s easy to run a learning and development program when business is good. Growth leads to bigger budgets and new opportunities. percentage of employees fall into these categories. Even in manufacturing, retail or service businesses, managers and supervisors are the ﬁrst line of contact with the workforce. Further, the quality of the relationship with a direct manager is one of the most important variables in employee productivity and loyalty. Training programs that address core supervisory/ managerial skills, such as time management, communications, personal effectiveness and delegation are among the most universal skills and represent the foundation of most training curriculum. Similarly, training around common issues such as coaching, conﬂict management and team performance represent areas that have nearterm inﬂuence on productivity and performance. Because these core skills have proven workplace impact, maintaining funding is easier than that for initiatives considered more speculative, or “nice to have.” Take for example, PHH Arval’s ﬂeet management services business based in Toronto. Senior Vice President and General Manager Jim Halliday realized through analysis of turnover data, employee-opinion surveys and 360 feedback that managers were having a negative impact on employee engagement. This resulted in higher turnover and lower levels of initiative, creativity and innovation needed to drive business results. “With limited training dollars, we decided improving coaching skills would have the greatest impact on improving engagement,” he said. “Coaching is about having ongoing dialogue with staff; creating one-onone relationships that demonstrate understanding of needs, issues and concerns; and providing support to achieve individual and company goals.” Ongoing measured improvement — in addition to seeing the positive progression of most of PHH’s managers Nail the Basics When times are tough, it’s critical to focus training efforts on business fundamentals: What skills training and development initiatives will address the greatest number of workers and have the greatest impact? For many organizations, that’s managerial and supervisory skills. In white-collar businesses, a signiﬁcant January 2009 34 talent management magazine www.talentmgt.com http://www.talentmgt.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Talent Management - January 2009

Talent Management - January 2009 Editor’s Letter Contents Human Performance Leading Edge Learning Connections Integrate Web 2.0 Into the On-Boarding Experience Show ’Em the Money: Compensation Trends 2009 Transition at the Top How Hollywood Manages Talent and What You Can Learn Get the Most Bang With Limited Training Bucks Life After Layoffs Attract Specific Talent Groups Performance Management: Its Time Is Now Helping the Helpers Advertisers’ Index Editorial Resources Full Potential

Talent Management - January 2009

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