The Great Workplace Toolbox

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Self Assessment

1. Do you centralize the development of training programs with one or two people in the organization?
   
2. Do you have an annual budget for training and development programs?
   
3. Do you conduct training needs assessments for all your employees? If yes, how often?

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Exercise: Budgeting for Home Improvements and Workforce Improvements

Imagine you are planning to add a deck to the back of your home. Make a list of all the steps you would take to be properly prepared - from setting a budget to picking out the design and materials.

Obviously, before you begin digging up your yard and driving nails through two-by-fours there is a lot of preparation that needs to take place. Central to that preparation is making sure you can afford to make the improvements you want. If you don't budget properly, you may end up in the middle of a project that you can't afford to complete. On the other hand, if you do take the time to establish a budget, you are much more likely to move forward with the improvements and get the job done.

Training and development programs are very similar. It's one thing to know you want to make improvements to your workforce. It's an entirely different thing to create a budget and a plan that guides how those improvements will get accomplished. In a way, a budget makes it more "real". Without that focus and commitment, you may be starting projects that you can't afford to complete and could be ineffectively piecing together training programs that ultimately won't accomplish your goals. If you take the time to centralize the training function and put together a budget for your development initiatives, you could be well on your way to increasing the chances your organization will follow through with needed programs and get the job done.

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Perspectives

65% of NorthCoast 99 winners centralize the development of training programs with one or two people in the organization. In addition, 94% have a budget specifically for training and development programs and, on average, that budget represents about 2% of gross revenues or operating budgets.

It shouldn't be a surprise that so many NorthCoast 99 winners offer development opportunities to their employees. Skill Development Opportunities were ranked as the 11th most important job attribute that top performers look for in a job and that motivates their performance (2005 ERC Job Attributes Importance Survey).

The development of top talent is as much a priority for the NorthCoast 99 winners as attracting and selecting great employees from outside the organization. Organizations that focus on providing significant learning opportunities for their employees may not only appear more attractive to potential external job candidates, but they also enhance their ability to retain, motivate, and develop talent within the organization.

Consider the following statistics:

• 87% of NorthCoast 99 winners conduct annual training needs assessments
• 84% of NorthCoast 99 winners require managers and supervisors to work with their employees to create annual performance expectations
• 96% of NorthCoast 99 winners post open positions so all qualified current employees may apply
• 91% of NorthCoast 99 winners consider internships to be a valuable internal recruiting resource
• 30% of job openings were filled with internal candidates in 2004 by NorthCoast 99 winners

NorthCoast 99 winners filled nearly a third of all open positions with internal job candidates. This may not have been possible if they didn't respond to training needs and provide focused development opportunities for their current employees. This may help underscore the importance of effective training and development programs in terms of how they affect retention, performance, and cost savings. After all, organizations that don't provide their employees opportunities to learn and grow run the risk that their workers will feel trapped in their positions and look elsewhere for new jobs, they won't acquire new skills that will help them perform better, and the organization will be forced to look outside the organization (which is much more costly) in order to fill future open positions, especially those that require higher levels of skill and expertise.

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Examples

• Below are examples of some of the ways NorthCoast 99 winners centralize their training and development function.

  • Corporate Branded University - Many winners (such as Moen, Ohio Savings Bank, Hyland Software, etc.) have internal branded corporate universities in which employees at all levels can enroll. These "universities" offer courses ranging from basic fundamental business principles and philosophies to finding your way around the building to how to provide better customer service and perform your job better. Participation is always encouraged and sometimes required, and many times employees may even take courses outside the scope of their current position in hopes of developing new skills for future career opportunities.
    
    
  • Annual Training Needs Assessments - By conducting annual assessments of training needs, many NorthCoast 99 winners are in a position to better understand the overall development needs of the organization and design a coordinated approach to addressing those needs.
    
    
  • Internal Trainers - Some NorthCoast 99 winners not only have an individual in charge of developing training programs that meet the needs of employees and the organization, but also employ full-time staff trainers who conduct the actual programs. For some organizations, depending on the amount of training performed on an annual basis, this could represent a cost-effective way of providing training to their employees.

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