Will organisations do the predictable thing and slash PD spending?
In an era of skills shortage and with capable and hard working but demanding Gen Y’s in the workforce, organisations that have decided not to invest in their people, as a talent retention strategy but also as a way to maximise performance in lean times, do so at their peril. As far as most workers are concerned, this one or two year period of bad economic times is but a transitory blip on their radar with decades still to serve in the workforce and they will want to be well positioned for any career opportunities that come their way.
Many of our clients have undertaken comprehensive reviews of their OD and L&D initiatives to ensure they are spending their money where it counts. Almost all of them said they had had their budget revised down in the second half of the year. However it got them thinking creatively about how they can achieve the biggest impact with their L&D dollar and strategically, put more and more responsibility onto learners and external consultants to ensure the organisation derives exceptional value for money. At Brash Consulting we’ve enjoyed meeting the challenge and look forward to next year.
What’s the word at your workplace in relation to L&D focus for 2009?
I think it would be foolish in this climate to slash spending on training but then again our company has made stupid decisions before….
, yes, we’ve all seen it all too often before. Hopefully sanity will prevail - ed.