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Downturn Drains Training Budgets
Recession-rattled companies and organizations are slashing training budgets, creating fresh challenges for human resource professionals charged with delivering and administering the programs. A new survey by learning-services firm Expertus confirms what many HR departments already know -- in tough economic times, training is often one of the first things to go. The survey found that, for 2009, more than twice as many respondents expect budget decreases rather than increases. Nearly half (48 percent) of the respondents expected decreased training budgets in 2009, up from 41 percent in 2008. About three in 20 (17 percent) expect a training budget increase in the coming year. The survey was completed by 84 corporate and government training professionals from organizations of varying sizes in 19 different industries. The findings didn't surprise Trellis Usher-Mays, president of Atlanta-based T.R Ellis Group, a management consulting firm that provides training services. "Most companies are cutting training budgets," Usher-Mays says. "In learning organizations today you have to show a clear line of sight between training and positive business impact. Now is not the time to ask a C-suite executive to 'just trust us to use training money wisely.' " Usher-Mays says now, more than ever, HR leaders need to fully understand the strategic business objectives of the organization to ensure that training dollars get approved -- and to make sure those dollars deliver the best return on investment. "During times of plenty, you could get away with what I would call non-essential training," says Usher-Mays. "Not anymore." Ideal Opportunity Yet, she says, the focus on budget cutting provides an opportunity for HR leaders to highlight the value of training to an organization, particularly when it comes to compliance issues, creating a competitive advantage and keeping good employees engaged and growing professionally. Steve Leon, president of The HighTop Co., a Fargo, N.D.-based firm specialized in e-learning courses for businesses, agrees that a business slowdown offers an ideal opportunity for an organization to focus on training that can broaden the skills of workers, while also preparing the workforce to excel when the economy starts to improve. When making the case to continue fund training, he says, it's valid to make the argument that a lack of focus on employee development "is part of the reason [the United States] is in this economic mess in the first place." "The reality is the only way to compete globally is to continue to develop workers," Leon says. "If we really want to make sure that our workers are ready to compete in the 21st century, then we can't have blanket, across-the-board training cuts. If cuts are going to be made, make certain you keep the training that aligns most closely with the top priority of the company." Nevertheless, he says, the mood of his clients "is somber. I think most managers are working to just maintain the training they have."
Trends emerge
One of the ways companies are trying to leverage their limited training dollars is through e-learning, Leon says, where he is seeing an uptick in interest. "E-learning is easy to deliver to folks all around the world," Leon says, noting that it is a less expensive alternative to live training with an instructor and the obligatory morning doughnuts and coffee. . A move toward e-learning was also a trend identified by a roundtable of training executives assembled by Expertus, following the completion of the firm's recent training survey. "One of the main trends they discussed was realigning training to match the company's goals," says Gordon L. Johnson, vice president of marketing for Expertus. "You no longer have the luxury of being comprehensive when it comes to training. You need to do things that increase revenue, decrease costs or improve relationships with customers. Otherwise it will get cut." Another suggestion to emerge from the roundtable was to encourage informal learning in which employees rely on managers or peers for training and on-the-job education. Internal blogs, Webinars, mentoring programs and brown-bag lunches can help develop a learning culture and encourage employees to share knowledge and skills, according to Expertus. For instance, one of the roundtable participants said his company has tapped managers as "team instructors." Managers provide training and then have participants practice new skills and provide feedback. "Not only does this extend the learning opportunity to outside the traditional learning event, it provides a forum for team members to comment on what's working and what's not," according to a summary of the roundtable discussion. Usher-Mays suspects the downturn in training will ultimately make HR leaders more focused and strategic as the economy recovers. "I think what will come out of this is that training will be in a better position to be a strategic partner," she says. "I think the increased scrutiny will force training to elevate itself. I suspect that for learning organizations, a lot of best practices will emerge out of this. At the end of the day, training will be better and more focused." And that's important if organizations want to retain their best and brightest, she says. "Talented people will always find something else to do if they are not satisfied," Usher-Mays says. "I don't care how bad the economy is, if you want to keep the best people in an organization, you have to continue to stretch and challenge them. And that means offering professional development and training."
December 30, 2008 Copyright 2008© LRP Publications |
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