Teach employees to fish... for training

You know how it goes, “Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime.”

Well, the same holds true when it comes to employee training. When you teach employees how to fish, or find training on their own, they’ll continue on the same path for a lifetime, or at least for the time they spend at your company.

Teaching employees to fish for training begins with a course in company culture. Only by fostering a culture that promotes education and skills training will employees feel that learning is not only encouraged, but a necessary part of their career.

Getting started doesn’t have to use up a ton of resources either. Encourage employees to fish, for training, that is, by implementing a few of these ideas:

• Improve education from the inside out. Instead of having employees look outside to seminars and courses, give them opportunities to learn within the walls of your workplace. Something as simple as an in-house learning library can give employees the tools they need to make a difference.


• Create your own trainers. Some of the best training resources are right there under your nose – you hired them. Create a peer-to-peer training program where employees share their expertise with others. Without ever stepping foot outside, you’ll be fostering teamwork, improving engagement and encouraging employees to seek out training on their own.


• Embrace technology. These days, finding new learning outlets can be as simple as turning on your computer. From Twitter to online learning courses, technology has made learning more accessible, and affordable, than ever before.


• Try something new. Start a new in-house learning program, like “lunch-and-learn” training sessions. Typically more relaxed and less structured than traditional training courses, lunch-and-learns are a great way to fit training into everyone’s busy day.

Sign up an employee for a training course, he’ll have training for today. Encourage an employee to seek out training on their own, and he’ll have training for a lifetime.

Any more ideas on encouraging employees to discover training on their own? Please leave a comment and let us know.

Summer fun at the HR Carnival

The HR Carnival is back, full of cotton candy, funnel cakes, kettle corn and a list of fantastic posts from some of the best bloggers in town.

The friendly folks at Effortless HR put together a wide variety of topics to browse through this time around, but keep a look out for these stand-out training-related entries:


Erik Samdahl of i4cp would like us to think about How High-Performers Support Employee Engagement

Drew Tarvin shows us how to Team-Build Through 3 Pictures

Chris Young posts a Book Review on Three Laws of Performance

Dan McCarthy wants us to Beware of Cult-like Leadership Development Programs

From the G.Neil HR Forum, some insight on Employees putting your data security at risk

And don’t forget to take a look at our very own posts on whether “lunch and learns” are bad for business and when cookie-cutter sexual harassment training just won’t cut it.


Just remember the number one rule of carnivals: Eat your funnel cake after you ride the Gravitron. Please.

Are “lunch and learns” bad for business?

“Lunch and learn” programs are used by countless businesses to fit training and development into everyone’s busy day by turning employees’ lunchtime into informal training sessions.

While some feel that squeezing more learning into our jam-packed days with “lunch and learns” is a boon for business, others strongly believe that they can be quite a bother.

Nick Milton of Bath, UK, recently explained why he thinks “lunch and learns” are a bad idea in a post last week. While learning during lunchtime makes sense at first glance, it may be sending employees the wrong message. He writes:

But what message are you giving? You are giving the message that learning and knowledge sharing is not something that should be a priority during working hours, and should be fitted into spare lunchtimes. You are giving the message that learning is not real work, to be done during work time. You are giving the message that learning is something you can do while eating, and that you don't need to give it full attention. You are making the tacit assumption that people will not turn up to learn something unless you bribe them with cookies.

If learning is important, don’t relegate it to lunchtime. How many other business activities would you hold at lunchtime, so people could eat as they participated? Would you have "lunch and budgeting?" "lunch and project planning?" lunch and personal appraisal?" "lunch and recruitment interviewing?" No you wouldn't, so why relegate learning to lunchtime? (read the full post)

We’ve written before on the benefits of “lunch and learn” training, and how it can help businesses save money and improve employee productivity. But what works for one person or company may fail with another and it’s our job to learn from both sides of the equation.

So, we want to know what side you’re on. Have you tried “lunch and learn” seminars? Are you a fan? Why or why not?


Please leave a comment and tell us about it.

How training can capitalize on employees’ changing lunch habits

The struggling economy is having a powerful impact on the way Americans spend money during the workday, according to Vault.com’s “Workday Cutbacks” survey. An estimated 80% of workers have changed their workday habits when it comes to food and drink in order to save money.

The most significant changes in food and drink habits during the workday include:

• Avoiding the vending machines (19%)
• Bringing lunch from home (61%)
• Cutting back on morning or afternoon coffee runs (28%)
• Eating or picking up from less expensive places for lunch (41%)
• Skipping the happy hour outing (23%)
• Haven’t changed a thing (20%)

With more employees opting to bring their lunch to work rather than going out to eat, training professionals can capitalize on employees’ changing lunch habits is by offering “lunch and learn” training sessions.

Lunch and learn training programs are generally more relaxed and less structured than normal corporate training, where attending employees can enjoy their brown bag lunch while learning something new.

Among other bonuses, in-house employee training saves businesses money on travel expenses and improves productivity by reducing the time employees spend away from their desks.

Common lunch and learn programs include:

Skills training. Depending on the nature of your business, skills training could range from instructing sales teams how to answer the phone correctly to leadership training for newly promoted managers.

Product training. Lunch and learn training sessions are a great way to introduce new products and services your company is developing. It can also be a great time to brainstorm new product ideas.

Professional training. Use the talent already in the building to enhance the professional development of other employees. Maybe there’s someone in accounting who could teach a course in managing money, or someone in HR that could teach employees how to improve their resume.

Everyday skills. Especially with the economy in downturn, employees are interested in learning skills like household budgeting and investing. Other everyday training opportunities include first aid, fire safety and self defense.

Just for fun. Take an office poll - what do employees want to learn? Have fun with training by allowing employees with a special talent to teach a classes from arts and crafts to wood carving.


Turn the lunchroom into a classroom and foster employee training and development with a lunch and learn program of your own. Have fun and create a culture of learning employees will appreciate.