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Off-the-Job Training
There are times when your men need to get away from the
pressure and immediacy of their workplace to develop technical skills/ up-date
professional qualifications. Applying this acquired know-how is
always the hard part. But transfer of newly acquired skills to
the permanent workplace is the raison d'etre for acquiring them, in the first
place! It could be the boss who is responsible for this lacuna, the exposure
should not have been allowed in the first place. There are few
things more demoralizing than having to live with unutilized capabilities. If the boss is
perceived as the instigator of growth as well as the one who ensures it gets
properly harnessed, it can do wonders for staff morale. If you, as Boss, feel
jittery of your subordinate's abilities, then you should regard them as yet
another resource for optimum utilization, or learn some new skills yourself.
This is why an integrated approach to development must be
adopted, to begin with, a team approach which takes care of problems
before they arise. Six steps are suggested to ensure this happens:
Identify the need:
Training, per se, is no remedy for below-par
performance on someone's part (and may cause affront) unless, of course, a
specific need has been carefully identified.
- Decide on the method: Select carefully with an eye on
efficacy and cost-benefit, but cost cutting or duration-factors should not
predominate.
-
Pre-briefing: can take place at time
of selection of person/ program.
- Plans and
expectations
are clearly conveyed. Boost Them standards of performance/ appraisal.
-
Participation during training: Should normally be
avoided except at crucial stages, to ensure that inputs important to on-the-job
performance get the necessary coverage.
- De-briefing : should take place as soon as possible after
training so that you can discuss and decide final ways/means to use the inputs,
perhaps with a 6-month work-plan
- Review: enables realistic assessment of training
benefits as well the effectiveness of training method/ ‘course'
If all this sounds like an awful lot, then
remember it's basically about attitudes that are important to the
value-structure of the company, your own assessment by your seniors as well as responsible use of organizational
resources.
QUESTIONS:
1.
Are outside training programs an absolute waste, or do they have some
utility? If so, when and how?
2.
How would you go about selecting a relevant training program outside the
company, for your staff? What
precautions would you take to ensure that the effort/ money spent does not go
waste?
