Crunch time for training
How will organisational learning fare in a recession?
Perhaps you found yourself perusing any one of the national newspapers last week in an attempt to understand what was happening either to the world’s economy or wondering about the media frenzy over a tasteless radio show. If you did, you would have been hard pushed to miss full page adverts containing an open letter exhorting UK employers not to abandon or cut back on the training of their staff. In fact the letter called on businesses to invest even more in training in these difficult economic conditions.
The letter was sponsored by the UK Commission for Employment & Skills and signed by some high profile business leaders including Marks and Spencer’s Chairman and CEO Stuart Rose, who stated: “From our experience in previous downturns, it was the businesses that did invest in their staff which saw the most dynamic recovery.”
All this against a background of hiring freezes and the shedding of staff, not just in the world of banking, but even in the still very profitable pharmaceutical sector and among some of the major players in IT services. The letter warns that companies striving for short term profitability by cutting investment in training now, could undermine their success and competitiveness in the longer term.
As a result training professionals are realising that to stay ahead, and in work, in an increasingly competitive market, they need to distinguish themselves from the run of the mill trainer. More and more trainers are working at attaining qualifications and accreditations as proof of the quality of their work. Many are working for their Certificate in Training Practice from the CIPD, whilst others see the Institute for IT Training’s new Trainer Performance Monitoring & Assessment Service (TPMA) as the way to establish their credentials.
“This is a way of not only establishing the trainer’s credibility but is an opportunity for experienced trainers to review and refresh their approach and share ideas with other experts” says Niall Shanahan, Senior Training Consultant at Training Synergy. “It’s not just about letters after your name, but making sure learning is relevant, interactive and fun.”
Story Date
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
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