Learning budgets are another casualty of the economic situation.  According to Bersin and Associates, “Over the last year, companies have cut training spending and staffing; changed training program priorities; moved to coaching, informal learning, collaborative activities, and other less costly training methods; and increased reliance on outsourcing.”

Yet, in the current hyper-competitive employment environment, we all need to be as skilled as we can possibly be. Thus, continuing education is essential.

Considering fiscal restraints, events like HR.com’s VIEW are both convenient and cost effective. I hope that many of you had the chance to listen to the broadcast of at least some of the excellent speakers at last week’s Employers of Excellence. I was able to catch two presentations—Erin Gruwell and Stedman Graham—and found both of their messages to be inspiring (something we could certainly use more of these days).

I took three main messages away from both of these presentations: that there is tremendous power when an individual finds the field that is best suited to him or her; that learning is an individualized process; and that the learning process never stops.

These messages not only have relevance to employee engagement and performance, but also hold personal significance to any individual who has gone through a job loss. I think one way that employees can feel more secure in this economy is to be confident that they provide value and have skills and capabilities that are in demand. As Liz Ryan writes in BusinssWeek,  “The folks who get hired most quickly today and for the best jobs are the ones who know exactly why they're in quality or circulation or safety or corporate strategy. Not only do they know where they are; they can also tell you where they're going.” Without a doubt, an employee who feels more secure in this economy is one who is more able to focus his or her full attention on the work tasks at hand and on performing well.

This need for self definition was one of Graham’s main points. On his website, Graham writes “You cannot be successful if you have no vision or if you don't feel worthy of success. A lack of vision inhibits your development and growth as a person. Look at the qualities that you bring to the table and the interests that you have so that you can develop a vision of where you want to go in life. This is your life's destination.” It is very difficult, however, to reach this coveted level of self-awareness without the help of others. As a result, part of the value proposition that organizations offer to employees includes the opportunity to identify what they are good at, to learn and grow and to try different types of work. These experiences help employees in the search to identify what makes them the most competitive.

But if knowing your own direction or “life’s destination,” helps you succeed and advance, then knowing the motivators and aspirations of one’s direct reports helps you to guide them. But, a trusting relationship between a manager and his or her direct reports is not built overnight. It requires mutual respect and sincerity. In order to facilitate the development of this type of relationship, a verbal agreement between the manager and employee can be created to clarify how often to meet on an individual basis and to clarify which issues should be discussed. Employees also need to know how to access immediate support in a critical situation and should feel that, when it is appropriate, the manager will support him or her in a conflict situation. A trusting relationship based upon an understanding of what is important to the individual employee allows learning and development to be customized. Gruwell eloquently demonstrated that we must understand the daily challenges individuals face before we can offer them learning opportunities that are of relevance. Subsequently, an essential part of the performance management process involves getting to know our direct reports. The following questions could be a good place to start.

-where is the individual at in terms of stage of life (almost retired, starting a young family, etc.)
-how can job related skills provide value to this individual? (for example: will acquiring certain skills make this individual more valuable in the marketplace?)
-are you speaking the same language? (figuratively speaking)
-what pressures is this individual dealing with outside of the workplace and how will they impact your managerial/teaching approach?
-perhaps most importantly, are you conveying the message that you care about this individual as a person?
-what is the value proposition being offered by your organization to this individual?

Gruwell found out early in her career that what works for some students may be totally irrelevant for others. Customized learning is what it is all about, and not only must we customize it to the individual, but also to unique financial restraints.

References:

Bersin and Associates. What Works® Enterprise Learning Newsletter. “2009 Corporate Learning Factbook Shows Training Spending Has Declined by 11%” [http://www.bersin.com]. January 2009.

Ryan, Liz. “The Accidental Career.” BusinessWeek [www.businessweek.com]. January 27, 2009.

S. Graham & Associates. “You Can Make It Happen” [www. stedmangraham.com]. Obtained February 3, 2009.