How to Evaluate Your Employer's Commitment to Training

Many experts believe the training industry is ensconced in profound and permanent change—for the better. Training Industry, Inc. CEO, Doug Harward, recently addressed this topic in his article, “Key Trends for 2012: New Era of Personal Learning Is Transforming the Training Industry” (Trainingindustry.com, December 2011).

In his view, the features of new technology, social platforms and search engine enhancements are delivering voluminous and valuable information to all who care to find it. The Internet empowers individuals to conduct their own learning and permit company HR tools to deliver better trained talent to companies.

Employer Training Techniques Often Criticized

Certainly, all employees hoping to accelerate their careers value training to make them more valuable to their employers—and themselves. However, historically, employer commitment to or techniques for training have been questioned.

Employees have often commented on the lack of training, uselessness of some programs and training focus that was not “real world” oriented. This is not unlike some B-school students who formerly questioned the usefulness of marketing classes that focused on the propriety of studying the concept of “utils” in the 1970s as taught by professors who had never marketed a product in their lives.

Employers have long espoused the value of and their commitment to training their staffs to help them become the best of the best. Yet, many of their programs satisfied neither the employer nor the employee. Finally, this dissatisfaction may be morphing into valuable employee training for those employers committed to using effective HR tools and new, innovative programs available.

It is time for you to evaluate your employer’s commitment to training you to become the best that you can be. First, you need a knowledge foundation of the realities and then some benchmarks to decide if your employer is really committed to helping you learn new skills to support your career advancement.

Training Realities

The best way to evaluate your employer’s commitment to training is to understand the contemporary “face” and changing realities of employee training and education. The seemingly constant evolution of technology, markets and economies demand that employees stay current with up-to-date knowledge. How does your employer approach these training realities?

Employer expenditures on training still modest. While many employers increased their spending a bit in 2010-2011, the lingering effects of the deep recession remain. The lack of economy-wide confidence in a strong recovery is influencing employer training expenditures. Many components of the training industry projects a modest 2 percent increase in spending for 2012. While not outstanding, U.S. employer spending could be around $132 billion. The uncertainty of the world economy should keep training expenditures at these levels.

Slow improvement in U.S. job market restricting innovative training programs. Employers and employees are both waiting for the job market to improve. While job seekers can certainly criticize employers for “staying on the sidelines” instead of getting into the game, but there is much risk in adding large numbers of employees without a corresponding increase in sales and revenue.

Training techniques evolving because of new learning technologies. Employers and training organizations no longer dictate the form or specifics of learning programs. Employees can now play a major role in deciding what they want to learn and when they want to learn. Online learning platforms are available to employees to gain training and knowledge in a seemingly infinite number of subjects.

Gaming becoming integrated with training. In many cases, learning portals are integrating their core subjects into a gaming environment to achieve a “learning is fun” result. Employees can find standard training programs morphing into a game environment. Employers with modern HR tools are embracing this technique in ever growing numbers.

Outsourcing training becoming more popular. For cost control and improving results reasons, more employers are using outside organizations to replace their former in-house training staff. Integrating training organizations with personal learning platforms gives employees wonderful flexibility to build and retain knowledge.

Your Employer’s Commitment

Now that you understand the trends and realities of contemporary training, you can evaluate your current employer’s dedication to helping you become a more knowledgeable and valuable employee. Ask yourself a few pertinent questions.

Does your employer encourage employees to use the many new online learning portals and/or HR tools?

Do they support traditional formal education, such as degree and non-degree programs at local or online schools?

Does your employer recognize or reward employees that excel in training exercises, either in a formal setting or your own initiatives during off work time?

Are you comfortable with, hopefully stimulated by, your employer’s training programs?

These are but a few suggested questions, the answers of which will help you determine your employer’s commitment to employee training. University education costs may severely tax your personal budget. Employer-sponsored training, if high quality, is a better solution for your bank account and your career track.

Blending employer activities with the many personal learning platforms via the Internet, you can accelerate your career progression. If your employer has a low commitment to training, you can help yourself with web-based personal learning and possibly finding another employer with high-level dedication to employee training and education.

Source: http://www.trainingindustry.com/articles/10-trends-for-2012.aspx