Training Management Lets Companies Turn Coal Into Gold
All who have spoken to a hiring manager has heard the complaint that good people are just too hard to find. The secret is that the reason for this isn't that there aren't any good people. There are plenty of highly skilled and qualified employees in the workforce. They just don't go on the market - they're just too darned happy where they are. A big part of the reason for this is that they didn't necessarily start out as highly skilled and qualified, but were brought to that level through management coaching and competent business.
Sure, many CEO's have a Harvard MBA, but well below the CEO level, the fact is that a large percentage of management started out at the bottom. There's not much reality to the old quip "Why back in my day, you started at the bottom - and by God, you stayed there!" In fact, everyone knows that competent training management (often called "on the job training") is one of the chief ways companies have of increasing the worth of their in-house talent. And this worth doesn't just leave the company.
When workers see that a company invests in them, through conferences, seminars, and other forms of training management, they see that they are working for a company that cares about them. This is one of the main reasons that they don't go on the market, looking for another company that probably won't treat them too.
One more dirty secret is that training management leaves a company whose employees don't know exactly what they're worth. Unlike the Harvard MBA, they don't have a piece of paper that suddenly makes them much more expensive to hire. At the same time, they are often just as motivated, or more so, after taking on the job training (while being paid!) than someone slugging through academia. This is one many reasons companies are eager for training management nowadays.
Just as important to a company as training management is another function: change management. Would that the market never moved, that once we designed a product, we could keep selling it forever! However pleasant that thought might be, the reality is that change is a constant in this world, and even products as venerable as Coca-Cola get redesigned from time to time - to say nothing of the blitz ad campaigns! A company must be able to keep its workforce fresh and filled with vitality through continuous management.
While a Harvard degree remains the same, businesses across the world must continually confront and deal with change. With effective training and change management, all corporations can stay on top and bring out the best in their employees. Employees are able to make sure their qualifications remain current, and train in new and exciting fields. Not even Harvard is immune to this challenge.
There are not many skilled people available in the job market because they are happy where they are. A major reason for this is that they did not necessarily start out as highly skilled and qualified as they have become, but were elevated to that level through constant and competent business and management coaching. When workers see that a company invests in them, through conferences, seminars, and other forms of training management, they see that they are working for a company that cares about them. Through effective change management, a company is able to keep its workforce very new and motivated all the time.
Published July 20th, 2007
Filed in Business, Management
