Often times when the economy gets bad, one of the first areas to get cut is training and development. Although not vital to keeping the doors open, ensuring the development of employees is one of the most important tools for driving future growth and innovation.
However, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t some training that could be eliminated or reduced.
But, just like watering the garden during a drought, there are some plants that should be watered to ensure the gardens growth when the drought is over.
TAKE CARE OF YOUR LAND
There are a few lessons we can learn about development from taking care of the land during a drought:
1. Not Everything Should be Watered the Same Amount
The hard truth is that there are some training initiatives and programs that are necessary to ensure the growth of the organization, and there are some that are simply just nice to have.
It is important to use this time to eliminate training that doesn’t have impactand redirect those budget dollars to training shown to make a positive difference.
Some areas should be cut in order for other areas to get more needed funding.
2. Monitoring the Crop
It is vital at all times, but especially during “a drought,” to be able to identifythe training that has impact on on-the-job performance. –
The training that can cause increases in efficiency, effectiveness, customer satisfaction, etc. should be those “plants” that get extra water during a drought.
Great training can be seen as a strategic advantage.
Monitoring training impact can lead you to those great training programs more quickly.
3. Don’t Forget to Weed
Don’t hesitate to drop development programs that have little or no impact. It is important that you are showing fiscal responsibility during the “lean times”.
Regardless of the economy, it’s important to focus energy and resources in continuing to develop your folks in an organization.
What do you need to cut back on in order to help your business grow? Which areas in your company need to be “watered” the most? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Anil Saxena is the President of Cube 2.14, an organizational development consulting firm that works with clients to increase both customer and employee engagement while decreasing turnover, improving customer retention, and increasing profitability within organizations.
Saxena is a certified High Impact coach and trainer and a Joint Application Design facilitator. He is also certified by both Rush Systems and IBM as a focus group facilitator. He is an inaugural member of Northwestern University’s Learning and Organizational Change program, and he earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology.
