So said Lucy Kellaway, management writer at the FT, in her Ask Lucy column last Friday. The question (in question) was whether now is a good time to undertake a MBA at Harvard, to which Lucy replied
"The first tough decision on how to manage in a downturn has already been made by your boss: ban all management training courses that serve to make employees more attractive to rival employers."
Which is an interesting perspective on the value of training.
Is management training valuable to your company or something that will lose you your best employees?
Earlier in the article the manager asking for advice revealed that his company was not willing to pay for the MBA course. This in itself may be part of the problem and a principle reason for the attitude shown by Lucy. Our research has revealed that investing in training is one of the key things a company can do to retain staff, especially when salaries aren't seeing much upwards movement. By suggesting that newly educated staff will jump ship at the earliest opportunity reveals an insecurity at the benefits offered by your company. By contrast, the majority of companies in our own research have revealed that offering training is one of the key things that helps them to attract staff.
Likewise, research by UKCES has shown that organisations that do not invest in staff development are 250% more likely to fail than those that do invest in their staff. To do the opposite for fear of then losing those employees to other companies seems a very odd position to take. Especially when 82% of managers in our own research argued that focusing on management and leadership development will their organisation survive the recession.
Now, more than ever, is the time to invest wisely because if organisations think that developing competence is expensive, they should consider the cost of incompetence.
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Comments
Couldn't agree more - my experience is that developing people brings not only the benefit of their improved performance but also a greater degree of loyalty.
There is always a risk people may leave after being trained - especially if they are not able to perform the roles they are capable of - but it is a risk worth taking.
I know quite a few firms that pay for MBA's (and other external training) that require repayment if someone leaves either a) before the training is finished and/or b) within 2 years of completing it.
This may not sound overly trusting but I think most people recognise that if a company is willing to invest the amount of money an MBA costs into their development they are going to expect some sort of commitment back in return.
I know I was a able to offer a lot more to my company as a result of them putting me through an MBA with the OU and was not only grateful for them for doing so but also very keen to help them do better.
I don't think you can look at this issue in isolation. The training may be a motivation to stay with your current employer so long as other "needs" are being met (i.e. they pay a reasonable salary as compared to similar jobs in competitor organisations and you like your boss based on other recent research posted in the CMI blogs).
That is an absolutely shocking statement. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face, this is ridiculous. To ban management training in an attempt to reduce poaching is like accepting a slash in profit in order to reduce a competitors profit - unthinkable.
This is a shocking thing for a publication like the FT to say. What was she thinking? Was she even thinking at all? If this company is so insecure it's not going to invest in its staff for fear of losing them then they won't have to worry for much longer as people will start leaving in droves!
Wouldn't providing management training also increase your own organisation's competative advantage over rival firms who were not providing similar training for their managers?
The CMI has documented the benefits of having professional managers within the organisation, so it's very short sighted to suggest cutting training will help retain staff, you also need to retain a customer base by providing a better service than your competitors.
With the downturn in the economy is there a possibility that there would be more time to actually do some training with staff preparing to better cope with the upturn? It will keep people usefully employed, promote a good feeling and improve the quality and ability of your people.
You're right Ray - over-resourced departments and 'empty' periods of sales activity provides managers with a great opportunity to invest that most powerful of resources - times - into improving individual staff member's performance.
I agree, training should be banned in this current downturn. That way, myself and others like me that are bothering to keep up our skills will be at a big advantage ;)
I think it is an appalling comment to make. It is important that people continue to learn and develop - a good L&D strategy for individuals with formal education, coaching, mentoring and time for reflection has a positive impact on innovation and effectiveness - things that are necessary for businesses as they attempt to see the recession through. A poorly trained and equipped workforce will not be able to help a business reap the benefits that will come in any future growth and will become a hindrance to success.
In the absence of hard, financial benefits, investing in training is a way of recognising staff and showing that you do care about them as a person. Evidence points to increased loyalty and a preparedness to work over and above the 'call of duty' when necessary if companies have shown their commitment through increased benefits such as education.
To suggest that businesses do otherwise is short-sighted and dehumanises staff at the exact point that we require loyalty, expertise, risk taking and entrepreneurial flair.
Absoultely right Sean, and training doesn't have to be expensive, outsourced or classroom based. Firms can use the slack time to do all the stuff that has been neglected because they have been too busy to do it.
Every business rely on their staff and it is just necessary for the employers to provide professional growth to their staff, for them to be assured of quality service from their staff.