Train for Success
The end of year is nigh and the loud scribbling on and shuffling of ambitious New Years resolutions documents can be heard over the din of budgets, marketing plans and dread performance appraisals. Training will doubtless make it onto many of our 2007 resolutions particularly if we are realistic about what it takes to realize our professional ambitions and find new innovative ways to excel at our jobs and climb our corporate career ladders. In fact for anyone serious about advancing a corporate rung or two over the next 12-24 months, an investment in some form of training is highly advisable.Sadly, more than half of the 641 Gulf-based professionals who took part in a Bayt.com online poll in September said they receive no formal training and are expected to ‘learn on the job’. A further 17.2 per cent said they receive some skills coaching but it is insufficient, and only 32.4 per cent, less than a third, said that industry training is a regular feature of their job. If your employer invests in formal training, you are one of the lucky ones in the Gulf according to the recent survey.
Bayt.com CEO, Rabea Ataya, said: “While attitudes are changing, there is still the view that employees are a commodity rather than an asset – and there is a reluctance to invest. The Gulf business community needs to plan for the long term and use training to maximise staff performance and motivation.
An earlier employer survey taken in May 2006 indicated that up to 16.9% of employers leave it to employees to find and recommend external training programs that are relevant to them while 34.4% of employers surveyed (the vast majority), delegate training to line managers who are trained in coaching/training. Only 22.8% of employers surveyed who offer training have a specialized training unit with an approximately equal number delegating the training role to the human resources department.
One of the main reasons for the inertia of local companies to invest in full-fledged training programs historically has been that the Gulf is associated with transient workforces, and in the past companies have looked for fully-trained employees that could assume roles with a minimum of coaching. The good news is that the trend over time has been toward the implementation of training programs whether delivered in-house through formal training programs or engineered in conjunction with professional external training providors. As cost considerations and localisation programs oblige employers to recruit more staff from the local talent pool, and as companies seek to retain staff, training is indeed being given more priority. There has been a growing realization that training is a vital tool for motivating and retaining employees and gaining their loyalty over the long run. Lack of skills growth and room for professional development is now known to be one of the main reasons people leave existing jobs, so giving proper thought to job training is now recognized as key to reducing turnover and saving employers precious money and resources in the long term.
If your company is one of the training-shy, don’t be discouraged. Walk into your performance appraisal this year-end with a clear plan for what you want to achieve next year and details of the specific training course(s) you need to achieve your goals. Training may be technical or related to ‘soft skills’, may take the form of an in-house job rotation, on-line learning or an intensive course(s) offered by an external training providor. Be clear when you present your request to management about how this training will directly impact your performance and your contribution to the company’s bottom line. As Mark Twain once said, “Training is everything. The peach was once a bitter almond; cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education.”
