Training Survives Recession: Most Business Will Continue to Invest in L&D, says Blanchard Survey
May 3, 2011--78% of
organisations polled by The Ken Blanchard Companies in their latest
annual Corporate Issues Survey say they will be spending the same or
more on L&D initiatives in the next financial year.
This
is a 6 percentage-point increase on last year's survey, and comes
despite findings in the same survey showing that almost 40% of companies
are cautious about the economy, and 60% saying they are facing economic
challenges. Although 21% of companies say they will spend less or
significantly less on training, this is a dramatic improvement on 2009
figures, when 49% confirmed they intended to slash training budgets.
So how will money allocated for training be spent? According to
Blanchard's survey, the top two management training priorities are
managing change, and creating an engaged workforce. Yet the area most
companies fall down on is developing future leaders; although 62% of
respondents recognise they are not being effective in this area, just
44% say they will be working on this issue - a gap of 18%.
"Companies must invest in developing their future leaders. We've
done extensive studies on the impact of leadership behaviours and know
that what really drives employee passion, customer devotion, and
organisational vitality is how people are treated and coached. When
people are passionate about their work, they take care of their
customers. When customers are taken care of, they want to come back, and
that takes care of the bottom line. Day-to-day leadership directly
impacts a company's success, so businesses that skimp on leadership
training are making a big mistake."
The Blanchard survey also asked respondents about social media for
the first time, and discovered that for marketing and client outreach,
Facebook is the most popular tool, followed by LinkedIn. 57% of
companies said they plan to use more social media in the next year; only
5% will use less.
For a copy of the Blanchard survey results, email uk@kenblanchard.com
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The Ken Blanchard Companies® 2011 annual survey polled 1300
executives, line managers, training and HR leaders from a range of
organisations, industries and countries. Approximately 9800 leaders have
participated in this ongoing study since 2003.
The
Ken Blanchard Companies provides leadership training programmes such as
Situational Leadership® II - the world's most-widely taught leadership
programme - executive coaching, change management consulting, and
team-building solutions in more than 30 countries worldwide. The company
was founded in 1979 by the best-selling business writer and co-author
of The One Minute Manager®.
Web:
www.kenblanchard.com
Social Media Links: Twitter
@kenblanchard;
www.facebook.com/kenblanchard
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www.leaderchat.org
