Training Industry Blog

Everyone knows that virtually every company, no matter of their size and industry vertical, in some way and at some time, must spend money to train themselves, their employees, their customers, or their suppliers. All large corporations and government offices provides some form of training for their constituents. Even the small independent consulting companies periodically provide or take training to keep their credentials current and to stay up to date on industry trends and innovations.

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As it turned out from our last blog report things did not turn out as bad as we first thought. In fact the quantity of coal was meager and hardly enough to take the winter chill off (even here in Florida). There is however enough warning from what we received to help us prepare for 2010 and beyond.

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This is a fascinating, often-asked question in part because many people incorrectly think the characteristics of high performing leaders and managers do differ by industry. However, upon closer, more careful examination, leadership and management experts as well as role performance studies have shown that what IS required as a threshold requirement for success in more specialized or complex fields is a foundational level of competency in that field. For instance, my colleague, Dr. Drea Zigarmi, points out that both a lack of knowledge and their lack of adaptability contributed to the downfall of both Carly Fiorina at Hewlett Packard and John Sculley at Apple Computer. It is also important to note that an exceptional level of competency in one’s field is required for “expertise-based leadership” roles such as an actor, athlete, artist, scientist, or physician where expert knowledge, skills, and experience are necessary. Gardner refers to this as a specific “domain” of intelligence required to be viewed as a “leader”, or what we might also refer to as a recognized “star performer” or celebrity in their field.

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There are several rules in life… - You reap what you sow, - Efforts are rewarded in many mysterious ways, and - We share at least 50% of the blame. Yet as we approach the holiday season we hang our business stocking by the chimney with care with the hopes that many blessing will be there (… or will they).

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Last week I had the opportunity to attend InformationWeek/Dark Reading virtual symposium IT Security the Next Decade. What an eye opener! This session outlined the most dangerous IT threats of the next ten years and what you can do today to protect today’s enterprises. While the threats are many, what was even more enlightening was the increased levels of specialized training that will be required to meet these threats.

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If training is such an important investment in a company's future, then why do companies spend less when things are bad? Shouldn't we invest more in our people to help them be more efficient, or to prepare them for when the business returns? Or is management making the right decision?

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I’m not sure that as Thomas Friedman book suggests, The World is Flat, that it is. In fact one might think of it as round and with ripples. As we interact and exchange conversations we often measure the effectiveness of this in terms of our norms. Sometimes we react with amazement as to how they view the same thing as we are looking at. On a regular basis we receive notes of interest from outsourcing companies looking for relationships, collaborations, help and partnerships. What they share in common is that they all are asking for WORK. In a recent interchange I decided to take a breath, a very long deep breath, and ask what the individual expected from us. After a long interchange we got to the WORK conclusion what I then found interesting was how they viewed WORK opportunities getting created. For many they have a very simple model; MY CUSTOMER-THEIR SERVICES.

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Would you agree that one of the fundamental reasons companies train employees is to improve their performance? is it the employee's fault when they don't perform? Learn how to use the 3 laws of accountability to test whether an employee should be held accountable for their performance. Or if management is responsible.

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We are closing in fast to the end of 2009 which usually means one thing with regards to corporate IT training spend: Use it or lose it. It seems quite a few corporate IT learning budgets are set up where in order to get money for 2010, you need to spend all the money you had set aside for 2009. While we may have seen double digit declines in overall training spend, the use it or lose it premise still applies.

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Employees and customers, like people in general, are impacted by their direct experiences with others. People are emotional creatures and research by my colleague, Dr. Drea Zigarmi, has shown that employee passion is a result of our emotional experiences. As a result, while leaders of an organization may be individuals to whom we are willing to demonstrate ongoing commitment, our experiences with our direct manager, or employees can undermine it. That said, the single best available key for any organization is to ...

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