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Education and Training

Good Essays

The issue: Companies aren’t investing in their employee’s education and/or training as they did prior to the “recession.” When companies struggle through economic downturns, much like the one we are experiencing now, the first instinct is to start slashing the operating budget and managers and employees are asked to do more with fewer resources. The economic outlook for the foreseeable future in our country shows businesses will continue to cut costs and make tough choices in order to survive and stay competitive. While the belt tightening continues, so too will the temptation to cut training budgets or eliminate them all together. It 's been my experience that one of the areas hit hardest by budget cuts is the training function. …show more content…

This is completely understandable when you realize that in many companies, training and development aren 't focused on producing a targeted result for the business. As a result, business owners frequently send their people to training courses that seem right and sound good without knowing what to expect in return. But without measurable results, it 's almost impossible to view training as anything more than an expense. Now contrast that approach to one where training 's viewed as a capital investment with thoughtful consideration as to how you 're going to obtain an acceptable rate of return on your investment. Good training that is objective and performance-based will empower employees to perform to expectations, supporting defined business goals and objectives. When the economy is down, training is more important than ever. Layoffs and job restructuring shift new duties and tasks to those remaining in an organization 's workforce. That alone prompts evaluation of current training programs and new training needs that must be met. Times like these are an opportunity to ensure that the existing workforce still engages and continues to work toward meeting an organization 's goals. Despite the negative impacts of economic downturns on our businesses, somewhere within

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