FREE online courses on CRM - Developing People - The Key To Success - Boost
Them - Integrate 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. Appraise 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?
