As the ongoing recession continues to bite an emphasis on saving money has taken hold for many organisations. Often, the need to make savings focuses on cutting budgets rather than streamlining operations and improving cost-efficiencies.
Of course, budgetary cuts may be necessary but often the alternative options are not considered to their fullest. Some budgets are more at risk than others.
Training budgets, for example, are often among the first targeted and the worst hit when savings need to be made.
Furthermore, the negative consequences of making cuts are often not fully considered, and the opportunities that training presents for business development in a changing economic climate may be missed.
We have already discussed the impact of cutting training budgets in an earlier blog, including how this affects staff development and morale and how investing in training instead of cutting it can boost staff retention and skill development.
However, the positive role of training can extend even further. That being the case, this latest blog switches the focus towards how picking the right topic for training can support businesses to streamline their operations and boost cost-effectiveness.
Professional development of the individual
One of the key aims of training is the professional development of individuals. All employers have a responsibility to offer opportunities for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) to their staff.
However, training also needs to be directly linked to the corporate strategy in order to help the business grow along with its employees’ capabilities. This is where topic selection is crucial.
In many cases there are opportunities to choose courses that suit an individual’s personal aims and objectives while at the same time meeting corporate needs.
Perhaps the most obvious example to start with after making the point that training should link in with corporate strategy is how to write, action nd monitor policies, plans and procedures as these activities are central to delivering corporate aims.
Policy documents can be very challenging to write and even more challenging to implement. There are numerous cases where a policy has simply not been drafted, and even more where the policy is written but is then filed away and forgotten about. This is because policy documents are typically full of big words and technical language and therefore not very user-friendly.
Similarly, plans are often drafted but not implemented because they are full of ideas but no measurable actions. Even where actions are plainly stated it’s not always clear who’s responsible for each action and/or the action deadlines are missing.
Where they do exist, procedures are often well implemented. However, their development is dependent on the policies and plans in place. This means that the procedures might be being implemented appropriately but are not actually fit for purpose.
It’s clear to see here the ways in which training related to how one might develop and maintain policies, plans and procedures would be a real advantage.
Timing the training to coincide with a review and refresh of policies, plans and procedures would also be beneficial. For example, many businesses are reviewing policies, plans and procedures in light of the recent rioting as reassessing threats and refreshing security strategies becomes a priority.
Saving money while improving productivity
A timely issue to discuss in terms of which training courses to invest in is how they might help save you money.
Besides the obvious advantages of improving productivity through the development of staff skills, there are specific subjects that focus on reducing costs (such as cost-benefit analyses).
The cost-benefit analysis is a structured approach to assessing how the removal or introduction of a project, programme or policy might impact on the business, allowing you to consider which funding streams might be removed with minimal impact on that business.
In many cases it may be detrimental to remove anything from the business but necessity means that budget cuts will happen: cost-benefit analyses can help you to identify which policy or programme might be removed with the least impact.
Another training area that could help to identify where the necessary budget cuts need to be made is how to review, audit and/or survey existing projects and programmes to identify whether any savings can be made.
For example, security surveys not only assess the quality of security systems but might identify alternative, cheaper methods of security.
There’s a raft of other examples of training that will all feed into meeting the corporate aims. These are centred on transferable skills (in other words, those skills not focused on particular subjects but on methods of working that improve standards). These include:
- project management: poor project management can lead to projects over-running, over-spend and poor quality outputs, all of which cost money and can impact on the company’s reputation
- leadership: poor leadership leads to a whole host of problems including poor quality tasking, lack of direction and low staff morale (which, of course, has a knock-on effect on productivity and staff retention rates)
- communication: communication is key across all areas of business… poor communication can lead to tasks not being completed or duplication of work, and can also impact on staff morale as they feel unsupported (furthermore, poor communication can pose a real risk to the business if there is an emergency)
Looking at the bottom line
Investing in training should feed into the professional development of individual staff members. It should also link to achieving corporate aims. A focus on selecting the right topics and skills to train your staff in will support the business to reach its targets.
Investing in training to develop transferable skills will not only support the individual but also the businesses.
Furthermore, the timing of training (eg training in skills that will feed into logical and evidence-based decisions about how to save money during a recession) can add even more value.
Ken Livingstone (managing director) and Amy Burrell (training consultant) are with Perpetuity Training
Further information about… Perpetuity Training
Perpetuity Training offers a range of short courses, including Level 4 professional awards in Managing Security Surveys and Security Management.
All of the company’s short courses can be adapted to meet the needs of individual businesses. Bespoke training services are also available.
Perpetuity Training is proud to be associated with The Security Institute and to be the provider of the Institute’s two membership qualifications: the Certificate in Security Management (Level 3 Advanced Certificate) and the Diploma in Security Management (Level 5 Professional Diploma).
For more details telephone 0116-222 5550 or e-mail: training@perpetuitygroup.com