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Tailor-made courses for real time application Tailor-made courses...
Organisations keen to make certain that their competitive edge remains as sharp as possible are sparing no expense to ensure that their senior executives and managers are equipped with the leadership and managerial skills they need to perform their jobs.
Keeping with the times, training no longer is a catalogue of boring classes. Training plans not only provide the average employee with know-how needed to do his job, but also assist him in developing skills and abilities that may be needed in the future.
Alternatives to traditional training options offered by human resource departments include coaching, mentoring, career development, planned change consultations, facilitated planning sessions and large group processes. These days, the training that is provided is frequently custom-designed with stated outcomes that blend well with the direction of the business. The accent placed in such programs is more on developing skills needed to meet strategic company objectives and specific marketplace challenges rather than on generic skills that may lack real-life application. Interest in integrated corporate university courses and internally designed and presented training is perking up, although the trend is yet to catch up with the massive outsourcing market out there.
Best practice organisations typically use a variety of learning and personal-change strategies to structure in-house training programmes. They are more likely to structure carefully planned career assignments across functions and countries and to provide individual coaching, and less inclined to opt for off-the-shelf study programmes. By integrating a combination of open courses, personalised content and real life case studies, companies can be sure they get education programmes that match their requirements.
With B-schools stepping up focus on executive education, many companies are tying up with big names in the education business for customised short-term and long term training programs for their employees. A study by UNICON, the International University Consortium for executive education, has revealed that more than half of executive education is now customised, as opposed to traditional open enrollment courses that were all the rage a decade ago.
This apart, training takes on a hands-on dimension, as employees are encouraged to seek fresh challenges and learn new skills by moving between various divisions, and by exploring multiple career paths within the parent company. Companies are becoming increasingly innovative with the training options that they offer their employees. At Intel, where super fast, six-month product cycles mean that people are constantly shuffled, the company has various "rotation" programs that bring people together from across the company to focus on skills development. IBM has extensive training plans lined up for its employees, among which is a programme which allows employees to accumulate points based on the number of years that they have spent with the company, and redeem it for a fully sponsored training programme of their choice. Motorola has made it a practice to design a new training programme around the most critical business issue facing the company each year. These are just a few examples of the kind of innovations that are being brought into what was formerly a more or less bland exercise.
Apart from customised higher learning for employees, many companies employ "cross-border assignments" that require executives to take up projects in foreign countries so that individuals learn to lead in different cultures. Others use strategies like cross-functional teams and peer mentoring to deliver on-the-job training.
There are other approaches such as the building block approach or transition strategy, which consists of a set of core, mandatory programmes that are aimed at employees making a transition to key management levels. Typically, these blocks consist of mandatory programmes that are delivered just in time for employees in transition at various levels of the hierarchy.
Through these programmes, new recruits and employees who have been promoted to a new post or cadre learn the skills and knowledge required to succeed in their new positions.
E-learning is one tool that is gaining currency with organisations worldwide. Computer-based training with no live instructor currently accounts for 13 percent of all training. About nine percent is by on-the-job, self-study or other means.
There is a proliferation of services and e-learning options available in the market today. One is Electronic Performance Support Systems (EPSS) that deals with the interface between people and software. Another involves creating and offering courses that trainees will actually finish.
And of course, there is a wide variety of multimedia training software currently available to deliver training to employees via the Internet or intranet.
All this is only the tip of the iceberg. The training industry is all poised to ride on the crest of a multi-billion dollar boom.
As a new wave of evolving technology and changing attitudes sweep through workplaces worldwide, the concept of career-long learning and sustenance as opposed to traditional training methods has taken on greater appeal.
Apart from ensuring that their skills match their growing and changing responsibilities, proponents of this approach believe that it also promotes a greater sense of personal and professional satisfaction among employees.
BINDU SRIDHAR
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