There are good reasons to mandate training
and development in your organization, and
there are bad reasons for mandating
training. There are ALSO good reasons for
NOT training, in some circumstances, and bad
reasons to refuse. Knowing what training can
and cannot accomplish enables you to make
the right decisions at the right time,
ensuring that your limited training dollars
are used effectively.
The Chaotic
Work World
If our work worlds were
stable, and un-changing, we might not need
to worry too much about training. We might
still do it to provide employee development
but it would be less critical to our
organization's success.
It ain't so. All you need
to do is look around at your own
organization, and what you are likely to see
is significant changes that have occurred
during the last year. You may have lived
through down-sizing, re-structuring, changed
mandates, increased workloads, flattening of
management structure, and a host of other
changes. It is not likely that these changes
will cease in the future, and we may be
looking at changed political imperatives
that will result in movement towards Special
Operating Agencies, and making government
more entrepreneurial.
You know all this. Change
has accelerated to the point where some
organizations are in chaos, and most are at
least staggered. What all this means is that
as our work worlds change, new skills,
knowledge and concepts are needed to achieve
our corporate goals. And, our personal
goals. Just to stay even, and just to keep
our sanity.
Since change is occurring
at such a rapid rate, while we may have
taken our jobs at a time when we were fully
qualified, we may now have gaps in our
knowledge. At a management level, the skills
needed to manage a flat organization, a
Total Quality Management organization, or a
Special Operating Agency are different than
those we have. At an employee level, it is
no different. Technology changes, or changes
in the way organizations are managed, or
even increased workloads change the actual
JOBS in an organization, and change them in
such away that new skills and abilities are
needed so that new expectations can be met.
What Training
Can Do
Training CAN accomplish
many things. It can help people learn the
new skills that are required to meet new
expectations, both formal and informal. For
example, a support staff person may have
been hired originally for his/her ability to
type, to answer the phone and file. But now,
with increased workloads, we want that
person to be able to do much more...perhaps
to solve client problems, to use desktop
publishing processes, to handle more of the
day-to-day issues, so we can use our time
more effectively. Training can help people
accept the challenge of their evolving jobs.
Training can also help
to:
-
Build a common
understanding of the organization’s
purpose.
-
Show management's
commitment and loyalty to employees
-
Develop people so
they can increase their responsibilities
and contribute to the organization in
new ways.
What Training
Cannot Do
There are many things
that training can't do. Training, on its
own, cannot change ineffective employees
into effective ones. It is unlikely to
address ALL the causes of poor performance.
Limited training also will not turn a poor
supervisor or manager into an effective one,
unless it is coupled with ongoing coaching
from above.
Training will not erase
problems that occur as a result of poor
structuring of work, mismatching of work
with the person, unclear authorities and
responsibilities or other organizationally
related issues.
Training as a
Tool
The best way of thinking
about training is to think of it as a
management tool, much like a carpenter's
tool. Just like a carpenter picks the hammer
and not a screwdriver to pound a nail, the
manager should be choosing training because
it is the RIGHT tool for the job.
Also, to continue the
analogy, if the supporting structure (the
wood) is rotted, only the foolish carpenter
would attempt to pound the nail into the
wood, and expect it to help. It is the same
with the manager. If a manager expects
things to improve as a result of training,
he or she needs to ensure that the supports
are there for the use of the tool, and that
there are no other non-training related
problems hanging about.
To conclude, training can
be a valuable tool for the organization and
the manager, provided it is the RIGHT tool
to solve the problem or address the
identified issues. Even then, there must be
supports in the organization so the training
can be effective. Other articles in this
edition discuss some of these supports.
Post your comments at
amin@aiminlines.co.th
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