| If you are fortunate enough to have an approved | | | | functional areas, or organizational levels. Another |
| budget for employee training and development | | | | source to consider is any type of data gathered from |
| programs, you probably already have some great | | | | surveys conducted with customers. This feedback |
| ideas for 2010 and perhaps have started | | | | may show where skills are lacking and where you |
| implementation. Granted, in today's business economy, | | | | have an opportunity to help employees improve in |
| everyone needs to remain flexible and recognize that | | | | those "gray areas" like communication and teamwork. |
| those funds may "go away," but now is the time to get | | | | Conducting an internal survey to better assess where |
| started. It is more important than ever to make sure | | | | improvement opportunities exist is essential to gaining |
| that you use those training dollars wisely. | | | | the buy-in and the support you will need to have a |
| Jumping on the latest and greatest training bandwagon | | | | successful year of training and development. The |
| usually isn't the most effective way to use your training | | | | "survey" can be as simple as interviewing your internal |
| dollars. Before you design a program, send people off | | | | customers. Remember to ask open ended questions, |
| to seminars, hire in a trainer, or purchase a bunch of | | | | use non-defensive interviewing techniques, and listen |
| videos and workbooks, learn what is needed | | | | very well to what is said. Beginning an interview with |
| specifically in your organization. This isn't as difficult as | | | | pre-conceived notions won't help anyone. Other |
| what it may seem and even the smallest of | | | | options include a written survey that can be distributed |
| organizations can make a good plan based on good | | | | by hard copy or electronically. Planning in advance how |
| information. | | | | the results of the survey will be used can be helpful in |
| Training around products and services is often part of | | | | designing the questions. When you learn what is |
| the plan, but what about those other things, like | | | | important to your management team and where the |
| teamwork, communication, leadership? Maybe you | | | | weaknesses lie, you will have some important tools to |
| have noticed an overabundance of negative | | | | build a great training program. |
| competition among employees and you believe | | | | Training programs play a big part in the annual budget |
| teamwork should be encouraged. Or maybe the CEO | | | | and often are one of the first areas cut when |
| has indicated a desire to improve internal | | | | revenues have diminished, yet training is widely |
| communication. Perhaps the executive team feels that | | | | recognized as an important step to achieving |
| people are not productive enough. Some of these | | | | organizational goals. In the 2009 State of the Industry |
| things can be quite nebulous, so find out exactly what it | | | | Report, released by the American Society for Training |
| is about teamwork that your team needs training on. | | | | & Development (ASTD), key findings show that in |
| What is meant by communication problems, and what | | | | 2008, U.S. organizations spent $134.07 billion on |
| productivity issues need to be addressed exactly? | | | | employee learning and development. This is an |
| Your organization probably already has some great | | | | average of $1,068 per employee. Learning |
| information available for you to sort through and | | | | expenditures as a percentage of payroll increased in |
| analyze. A good place to start is to examine the | | | | 2008 to 2.24 percent, up from 2.15 percent in 2007. |
| feedback gathered from employee performance | | | | Completing some research and gathering information |
| appraisals completed during the past 12 months. Look | | | | prior to spending money will help to ensure that you |
| for trends, commonalities between departments, | | | | get a return on your investment. |