Tough times for training

By Mary Helen Gillespie, 12/1/2003

If the Boston economy were a cruise ship, we'd all be seasick.

The pundits and Phds in Washington and beyond may be reporting signs of economic recovery but those early signals have yet to dock in Boston Harbor. If you live and work around here, you are still popping Dramamine before boarding.

Wave after wave of layoffs, cost savings and general workplace anxiety continue to batter most balance sheets. One of the first line items axed from the operating budget is training and executive development. The C-level guys and gals may give a lot of lip service to an enterprise-wide commitment to training with cutting-edge best practices, process disciplines and other technical tools. But then someone notices that the quarterly numbers won't be met.

BINGO. Time for another slash in expenses, and the training gurus get told to pack their bags. Say adios to the Six Sigma black belts, executive coaches and the rest of the professional development gang.

Here's the risk: Competitive advantage depends on strategic end-to-end excellence. When an organization refuses to make an investment in human capital, the short-term impact on earnings or other benchmarks of success may be positive, but the long-run effect on the bottom line will be negative.

There are organizations that value employee contributions as the definitive link to exceeding all expectations, and will continue to finance training and development.

That said, if there is no funding, there isn't too much an individual manager can do. But as an individual, the manager can leverage off-balance sheet leadership tools to encourage the "hearts and minds" of the team to keep their skills sharp. Not only for the current employment situation, but for future opportunities as well.

When it comes to earning a paycheck, we are all square pegs trying to fit into round holes. Those holes keep changing size as technology, market and external events influence each and every organization. Our challenge as individuals is to find the best fit for our professional pegs in this volatile environment. Simply put: we need to round ourselves out.

So, the first steps for managers who want to circumvent these tough times for training is to practice what you preach. Accept that the paternalistic model of the deep-pocketed employer-funded training program has changed. It is not going to be the sterling employee benefit it once was, even in the best times.

Let's do the math: Dad is no longer writing tuition checks for the sailing classes. We are all captains now, and need to chart our own individual journeys and pay our own way.

Thus the manager must self-invest in his or her own skills before encouraging the team to do the same. Classes, workshops, seminars, web-based training and other educational vehicles abound, especially here in academia-rich Beantown. Use it.

And no whining about not having the time nor the money.

Everybody has time. Period. End of story.

Not everybody has the money. Well, this is about choice. Do you really need to buy that $5,000 plasma TV for the family room with a credit card offering double-digit interest? Or can you use a small chunk of those funds to learn more about a subject that will support and increase your individual net worth in the professional marketplace?

Hmm, still unsure? Okay. Think ahead five years. The price of plasma TVs will drop precipitously as the efficient use of technology improves manufacturing processes. That plasma TV is outdated as well as overpriced. Remember, this happened with VCRs, CD players and DVD devices.

And where are you? You may be doing the same job at the same salary at the same employer still paying off that honking five grand plus interest.

OR you may be unemployed, unable to find work because your resume is as outdated and overpriced as that television set.

OR you may be soaring in a fabulous new role surrounded by first-rate people, partners, and processes because you took the tiller in hand in 2003. You improved your analytic, executive and tactical skills by investing in educational vehicles with real-time market value.

Sink or swim. The choice is yours.