Some may call me biased but I have a soft spot in my heart for Teachers, Trainers, Mentors, or anyone that truly enjoys sharing knowledge with others.
Training departments have a huge responsibility to ensure their employee base has the skills necessary to develop within their careers not just within their current employer but as a professional in their industry. The more knowledgeable their current employee base is, the less need for outside recruitment, and the more internal opportunities can be created and provided.
The sad part is when there are budget cuts the first thing that’s looked at is training departments. Many businesses feel that training can be easily outsourced, and in the day/age of the internet if someone needs to learn something they can just google it right? Well in a less cynical sense sure you can outsource training at a pretty penny, and yes there are plenty of things to be found on the internet to include webinars or even local seminars/conferences to attend. But the intangible that’s lost is someone truly ingrained and invested in your company culture and success and that’s something in my humble opinion that’s hard to come by.
There is value in having someone onsite that understands your challenges, the skills you are looking to develop within department areas and based on that information can create a customized training/development plan solely for your employees. Now doesn’t that sound awesome?
Sure from a business standpoint, it can be hard to carve out the time and to remove people from doing their jobs, but think about the upside… that small investment turns into positive employee morale because your employees know you care and have invested resources into their professional development and in turn, you have a stronger more skilled workforce with the ability to see you through continued growth in your business. I don't know about you but I love a good WIN/WIN scenario!
To learn more about the world of training check out the Association for Talent Development!
Harris Writing Services, LLC Original Blog Post
