If you’re not in the process of learning more and getting better, your competition is, and when the two of you meet, guess who has the upper hand?
Everyone knows that we are living in a time of information explosion. More information has been generated and disseminated in the last two years than in the previous two thousand years. It’s mind-boggling, to say the least.
So there’s no question that every employee needs to be involved in a continual learning process. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there, and if your employees are going to get their share of bones, they’d better be as smart or as up-to-date as the competition.
That means you’ve got to keep on training your employees. You’ve got to recognize that school is not out and never will be.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of companies and a lot of managers who find all kinds of excuses for not training their employees. Perhaps the most common excuse is “We’re just too busy. This isn’t a good time for training.”
Wrong! If you’re an enlightened organization, you know THERE WILL NEVER BE A GOOD TIME FOR TRAINING. It will either be a bad time or a really bad time. If you’re enlightened, you’ll offer training or attend training no matter what time it is, just because it’s necessary.
The second excuse I hear is “We’ll wait until we get through this change.” Wrong again! PEOPLE WILL STUMBLE OR STEP THROUGH THE CHANGE, DEPENDING ON THE TRAINING THEY RECEIVE.
Most organizations let their people stumble through the change. Most organizations just focus on the “forms” of change, all the restructuring and reorganizing that will supposedly save them. Only a few organizations are enlightened enough to also have “forums” for change, where people can learn how to manage and assimilate the change. It’s those enlightened organizations that have the greatest morale and the greatest productivity.
The third excuse I hear is “What’s the point? If I train my people, they might leave. They might go out and get a different job.” But I say THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN TRAINING EMPLOYEES AND HAVING THEM LEAVE IS NOT TRAINING EMPLOYEES AND HAVING THEM STAY.
The point is simple. There has never been a time when training has been more important. So don’t wait for a “good time” to schedule your training. Do it now. Do it while you’re going through the changes. And do it before your skills are outdated.
Action: A new year is here. It’s the perfect time to lay out your plan for developing a new and better “you.” Put three training events on your calendar that you will attend this year.