Training as punishment, or opportunity?

When you sign up employees for a training course or seminar, you do it because you want them to learn and develop skills that will enhance their careers and improve the organization. Right?

Unfortunately, employees don’t always look at training in the same light. Sometimes they feel that they’ve been enrolled in training as a form of punishment, or because they’re deficient in some way.

A headline-making example of training seen as punishment came about last year with US Airways. As a result of high fuel prices, the airlines forced their pilots to take fuel-management courses if they ordered extra fuel for their flights.

US Airways wanted to educate pilots on how wasting fuel negatively impacts the company, while pilots felt cutting back on fuel was dangerous and the mandatory training was an insult to their expertise.

Rebecca Morgan at Grow Your Key Talent summarized the issue in a recent post, saying:

Then US Airways pilots took out an ad that said the airline “embarked on a program of jailintimidation to pressure your captain to reduce fuel loads.” Senior pilots — those who are well aware of the vagaries of flights — were targeted for (gasp!) fuel conservation training.

Their punishment was training!

Part of this is the humiliation they felt at being senior pilots and being relegated to re-training as if they were rookies or didn’t know what they were doing.

One pilot said he felt the airline was “selecting a few and hoping to intimidate the remainder of our pilot group to not add fuel when they feel they might need a little fuel. So hoping if they punish a few, the rest of the pilot group will get in line.”

It’s quite obvious that the pilots were offended by US Airways’ decision, but what should they have done differently?

What could US Airways have done to make pilots see that this training was meant to better their careers and the improve the company, instead of making the training seem like a punishment?

Communication.

If you clearly communicate the reasons why you want employees to go through training and then listen to what they have to say about it, you will have a much better outcome that what we saw in the US Airways example.

A similar story is replayed everyday in the corporate world. If a manager suddenly signs up an employee for a training course on time management, without talking to them about it first, the employee may start thinking that you believe they’re an inefficient worker or it’s punishment for being late on that last report.

Each time you enroll employees in a training course, communicate your reason for the training and how it will help employees reach their personal career goals, as well as help the company improve overall performance. By discussing your motives for training, employees will start looking at it as less of a punishment and more like an opportunity.

What advice do you have for companies that are having trouble positioning training in a positive light? How do you show employees that training is not a punishment?

Training losing ground in the battle of the budgets

Financial hardships caused by the economic recession have led even more organizations to cut spending on employee training, according to two recent studies.

The average amount companies spend on training per employee fell 11% in the past year, according to a recently released research report by Bersin & Associates. Training expenditures per employee declined from $1,202 per trainee in 2007 to $1,075 per trainee in 2008.

Bersin’s data also showed that the U.S. corporate training market shrank by more than $2 billion, from $58.5 billion in 2007 to $56.2 billion in 2008, marking the greatest decline in more than a decade.

This latest report mirrors another study released in November, revealing that more than twice as many corporate and government training professionals expect training budget decreases rather than increases in 2009.

According to the study by training services firm Expertus, almost half (48%) of survey respondents expect smaller training budgets in 2009, up from 41% in 2008.

“When budgets became tight, organizations with a traditional training focus suffered most,” Bersin said in a statement. “Today’s business world demands a combination of formal and informal learning with an emphasis on collaboration, knowledge sharing, social networking, coaching, and mentoring.”

A well-trained employee is one of your company’s best assets and worthy of the financial investment. Resist the urge to take the “easy” way out by cutting development opportunities and find creative ways to stretch your training budget.

For more information on how to (and how not to) handle employee training in a recession, take a look at some of these related posts:

Cutting training, cutting safety: Is our economy causing more workplace injuries

Employee training and the budget battle

Training budgets, just another victim of the recession

‘Recession-proof’ employee training tips

5 tips for employee training on a tight budget

Is our economy causing more workplace injuries?

After three years of decline, the number of workplace deaths in North Carolina rose by 31 percent in 2008 and officials are putting part of the blame on our country’s weakening economy.

Last year there were 59 work-related deaths, up from 45 in 2007, according to preliminary data from the North Carolina Department of Labor reported in the Charlotte Observer.

Labor officials are worried that the slowing economy is causing more companies to cut corners on safety and is creating more dangerous workplaces.

The NC Labor Department spokeswoman Delores Quesenberry said that when tough economic times hit businesses, company training and other safety initiatives are among the first to be cut from the budget.

“That's one of the first messages we want to get to employers: Make sure your employees are trained. It's not worth a life,” said Quesenberry.

A recent workplace survey is validating the NC officials’ worries, and showing that skimping on safety training is a national problem.

A December survey of 300 mechanical, electrical, facilities, utilities and plumbing (MEP) professionals indicates a negligent attitude toward training among MEP employers, according to MEP Jobs.

According to survey respondents:

• 45% said their employer did not have a budget for training
• 15% said their company’s training budget is going down in 2009
• 55% had to fund their last professional certification training and testing costs on their own
• More than 25% either couldn’t remember or hadn’t been trained yet in a work-related safety procedure or process

Workplace safety training is not a luxury - it’s a necessity. With proper training, employees are equipped with the tools to make the right decision in potentially life-threatening situations.

When the economy takes a hit, workplace safety training becomes critical for one main reason: companies hire younger and more inexperienced employees due to the scarcity of skilled workers and to save on payroll. Combining inexperienced workers with a lack of training can lead to disastrous consequences and expensive OSHA fines.

No matter how you work the numbers, the cost-savings you find in cutting back on safety will never compare to the value lost when an employee is injured on the job.

How’s the safety training situation at your workplace? Is the economy forcing your business to cut corners and put employees in danger?

Omelets in a bag as a lesson in training

A year or so ago, TV cooking star Rachael Ray had a guest who demonstrated a no-fuss way to make the perfect omelet, using a Ziploc™ bag and a pot of boiling water. Her under 15 minute omelet seemed like the perfect solution for time-pressed Americans who wanted a real breakfast without a lot of clean up.

Her training was flawless.

She described the technique, demonstrated the steps, conveyed the benefits and allowed participants (Rachael Ray and the audience) to experience the results. Websites were abuzz with this new and simple way to cook an omelet. People added variations..cheeses, meats, veggies. The training had taken hold.

There was only one problem. It was toxic.

According to scientists at the University of Illinois, boiling zippered plastic bags had the potential to release cancer-causing chemicals into the food, making this simple time-saving tip into a toxic cocktail. The Ziploc™ company confirmed that their products were not designed to be safely boiled, and that these omelets could be unhealthy.

And so the recipes and the recommendations went away.

Until yesterday. An article in the The State Journal-Register out of Springfield, Illnois (ironically, the state where the dangers were first mentioned) once again touted the simplicity of these foolproof omelets in a bag. And the frenzy started all over again. The story quickly rose in the Google Trends lists.

The training completed two years ago was still having an effect, even though it had been proven to be dangerous and incorrect!

So why am I mentioning it here?

As trainers and training designers, we have the potential to do great things for employees, which in turn can do great things for customers -- and ultimately, for the bottom line. But we also have the potential to do great harm. If we design, present or endorse incorrect or misleading training, we could be leading the participants straight into a toxic situation.

This is especially critical when we're dealing with safety training. Incorrect information about a chemical's risk or the way to operate one aspect of forklift safety could have tragic consequences. And yet when budgets are tight, we often see an "Any training is better than none" approach. Like the Rachael Ray guest, we could be leading people down a dangerous path simply because it's quick and easy.

Training trends: Building trust, cutting clutter and cessation solutions

The November edition of Training Trends has landed in inboxes across the globe, sharing the latest tips, trend and buzz from the training industry. If you don't receive TrainingTime.com’s monthly newsletter yet, please take a minute to sign up.

Here’s a quick look at the November Training Trends newsletter:

Do Your Customers Trust You? Five Keys to Building Trust

As the economy continues to struggle, so do the profits and margins of many businesses in the U.S. and across the globe. Customers’ buying behavior has changed and businesses must use trust to develop customer relationships.


Give Your Reader a Break - Cut the Clutter

Work keeps us busy - for most of us, busier than we’d like. We need information, and we need it quickly. Most of us tend to get annoyed when it takes hard work to read a long, wordy business document. Use these tips to give your reader a break and cut the clutter.


The Worst Ideas in Stop Smoking Programs for Employees

employee smoking habits can cost your company big time. Smoking breaks and higher health care costs burn away at your bottom line. What are the best and worst ways to help employees kick the habit for good?

Please take a minute to sign up for Training Trends for the latest training information delivered to your inbox each month. For any HR and training experts our there, if you are interested in writing content for Training Trends or TrainingTime.com’s Learning Library, visit our “Write for Us” for information on how to contribute.

To train or not to train

With more people, especially Gen Y, job hopping their way around the corporate world we may see employee training go "the way of the 8 track," according to a recent prediction by YourHRGuy.

HRGuy says - With more employees job hopping, spending less time at each job, it's smarter for companies to put money into recruiting qualified candidates rather than develop current employees.

A Training Time post from earlier this year focused a panel discussion at Fortune's Global Forum where the moderator asked: "Why invest in training people when you know that a lot of them are going to leave you pretty soon?"

Panelist Anand Pillai, Vice President & Global Head of Talent Transformation & Intrapreneurship, looks at the dilemma much differently than HRGuy.

Pillai says - What happens if you don't train them and they stay? The most effective way to retain empoyees is to provide training and keep them engaged with the company.

It's an interesting argument that only starting to develop as more job-hopping Gen Yers move around the workforce.

We want to hear your opinion - Should companies continue to sponsor employee training even though there's a chance many will leave?

When communication training is not the answer

The Evil HR Lady wrote a great post today, commenting on how one emergency room is requiring that all nurses, doctors, techs and secretaries attend “communication training” lectures. The emergency room staff didn’t think there was a communication problem, their concerns were mainly about “good Emergency medicine and logistical issues related to patient flow and delivery of care.”

Here’s a clip of what she had to say:

“And I can hear a communal HR clucking of tongues saying, "well, if you could communicate with each other more clearly, you would be more safe and efficient." Maybe so, but they aren't going to listen to anything the trainer says. Why? Because the trainer has no credibility, the trainees don't think there is a problem, and the course hasn't been designed based on the perceived needs of the department.”

Like the lady said, if the trainer lacks credibility and trainees don’t believe there’s a problem, the training will be a waste of everyone’s time. When creating an employee training program, you should first identify the problem the training will address and how employees perceive the problem. You may find that there’s really no problem at all.

What do you think? Have you ever had to participate, or develop a training program for employees who didn’t think it was necessary and how did you handle it?

Corporate team building: Sing a song, but forget the video camera

Feeling like morale is down? Looking to perk it back up? Why not sing a song?

There’s an energized, soulful trend on the team building scene - choreographed musical numbers.

According to a recent Workforce article, corporate songs have been used by big business for almost 100 years as to motivate teams and enhance motivation. From a new product launch or to support a company’s core beliefs, a corporate song could be all it takes to get your company re-energized.

IBM, Starbucks and Shell have all used corporate songs encouraging employees to sing as a way to build spirit and morale.

Some companies, like Bank of America, create internal corporate songs, but now forbid video or audio recording in order to keep it off the Internet.

Here’s a video from Ernst & Young, that unfortunately landed on YouTube and a good example of how corporate musical videos can go bad.



And, another one from Bank of America on KnowHR is featured in the post "Never, Ever Write an M&A Theme Song." Good advice, at least in this case.

I can't decide which of these two videos is better (or worse?). Take a look, you decide.

How employee performance goals are like New Year’s resolutions

Think about all of the New Year’s resolutions you’ve kept, then compare that number to the amount that you’ve broken. While many New Year’s resolutions are health related, they can still shed light on why we give up on employee performance goals at work.

An article from BusinessWeek shares the top five reasons (and excuses) why we all give up.

Lack of personal ownership. The boss may have a great idea that has everyone excited, but without employee ownership, the idea will never progress. Employees must believe in their goals and have confidence that they are able to achieve those goals.

Lack of time. Why do things always take twice as long than we thought it would? “When the time elapsed in working toward our goal starts exceeding expectations, we’re tempted to just give up on the goal.” The solution - be realistic in when determining the time needed to complete a goal. The author suggests adding up to twice the amount of time you think it would take to complete the task, then add a little more.

It’s too difficult. The goal sounded a lot easier when you described it before, but turns out to be rather difficult. Just like with time, things are usually harder to accomplish than we think at the start. As you’re setting goals, do your best to foresee problems that may arise in the future. When everyone is aware of what may come up during the process, problems will be less of a surprise and employees will be more inclined to keep going.

“More important” things come up. One small distraction can drive you far off course and away from your goal. All of our lives are hectic and distractions are inevitable. Expect something to get in the way of your goal, then plan time to figure out a way around it.

Sticking to it. Once a new goal is achieved, there are certain “maintenance” activities one must stick to. Think of a dieter who has achieved their goal weight. That dieter can’t go straight back to eating junk food, but must keep eating healthy to maintain their new weight.

“Here are the cold, hard truths. Real change requires real effort. The "quick fix" is seldom a meaningful one. Distractions and things that compete for your attention are going to crop up—maybe even more frequently. Changing any one type of behavior won't solve all of life's problems. And finally, any meaningful change will probably require a lifetime of effort.”

Motivating generation Y: How-to and how-not-to

Generation Y, Generation X and the Millenials ... accept it, they’re young and here to stay.

They like to be rewarded and taught in much different ways than their older counterparts. What are the best techniques to engage and motivate your Generation Y employees? Paul Herbert at Fistful of Talent has a few ideas to add.

- They don’t like top-down corporate control. They’ve been able to customize everything in life from their MySpace page to their sneakers. Give them an option to customize their incentive, reward and recognition programs. Herbert recommends creating a shell and asking the employee to fill in the blanks.

- Peer recognition is more valued than “boss” recognition. Lunch with the CEO has no appeal. Let them go to lunch on the company tab, with the employee friends of their choice.

- They won’t be motivated by out-dated incentives like employee anniversary lapel pins. Instead of giving them what you think they want, just ask them what type of incentive they would like.

“To sum up: Be honest, open, collaborative and fast. You'd be surprised how much you both will appreciate the results.”

And, because its Friday, here’s a great video demonstrating the “G.R.E.E.D.” motivational program, a new take on employee incentives.

Your training department did what?????

I recently saw an article on Wired about a Utah motivational company manager who used waterboarding as a technique to inspire flagging sales quotas. Not surprisingly, the employee in question is suing. Ya think????

I think we need to consider this a lesson...there are certain things that just might sound good when faced with senior management's anger at low sales, or negative customer feedback, but maybe, just maybe, we should go for a long, long walk before we adding them to our training schedule.

Here are a few that come to mind, on this Monday morning....feel free to add your own as comments!

• Public flogging. Okay, so it worked well for despotic rulers across time and geography, but as HR managers, we might want to think twice. Not only do modern employees have access to attorneys, but local statutes on public entertainment might require burdensome permits, public hearings before and after, and other restrictions that would just take the spontaneity completely out of the event.
  
  
• Snake handling. Good for proving your loyalty to certain religious groups, bad for proving your loyalty to the company motto. Snake bites would mean hospitalization, and with health insurance rates being what they are....bad idea.
  
  
• Transfers to northern North Dakota or just about anywhere in New Jersey. If you're already in one of those places, you know what I mean. If not, trust me, there are no sales figures low enough to deserve that fate! (People in New jersey and North Dakota, I'm kidding. Really.)
  
  
• Piped in elevator music. The US Army once used rock music to extract a certain dictator from his headquarters. A string and orchestra rendition of Party Like a Rock Star is far worse.
  

So there is my starter list...Now add yours. Send me an e-mail, post a comment, or continue the list on your blog or site and send me the link. Also added it as a discussion question in BlogCatalog

Be creative!

Happy Monday!!