Discussion: View Thread

(apologies for cross-posting - please note, the Knowledge management
event will run on the 26th of Jan, and this one on the 20th!)

WHO REAPS THE BENEFIT?

ANNOUNCING A BPRC ONE DAY FOCUS GROUP

A one day seminar will be hosted by BPRC entitled 'Who Reaps the
Benefit? Understanding the Costs and Benefits of Employer Provided
Training and Professional Development.' The seminar will be held on 20
January, 1998 in Arden House, University of Warwick (VENUE TO BE
CONFIRMED).

With the decline of the lifelong employment relationship, can employers
still reap the reward from the training they provide? Available
evidence suggests that the indirect and direct costs of training and
professional development can be considerable. If employees then use
their new found skills and competencies to gain employment elsewhere,
then the employer amasses much of the cost and little of the benefit of
the training they provide. But this may be too simplistic a view of
professional development and training. Provision of continuing
professional development and training, for instance, may be one of the
means by which employers retain their best employees.

Identifying the costs of professional development and training is often
a relatively straightforward exercise. Identifying the benefits is
often much more difficult. For example, the impact of providing
professional development and training on job satisfaction and employee
commitment, may well feed through into higher levels of employee
productivity or even employee innovation. Such benefits, however, can
be difficult to quantify. Increasingly, however, the business case for
providing professional development and training requires some evaluation
of the benefits obtained from training. In addressing this type of
issue, a number of related questions will also be posed, including:

* Why do employers train?
* How important is to evaluate professional development and training
activities?
* How important is lifelong learning within firms?
* What are the emerging models of best practice?
* To what extent should the employee bear the costs, financial and
otherwise, of professional development and training?

Presentations will be made by representatives from firms in the
manufacturing and service sectors, and from researchers involved in the
evaluation of organisations' professional development and training
activities.

A charge of 50 pounds will be made to cover administrative costs.
Numbers are strictly limited, please book early to ensure your place.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE MORE INFORMATION?

The Professional Development and Training theme is being organised by
Terence Hogarth, Principal Research Fellow, Institute for Employment
Research, University of Warwick. If you require more information about
the content of BPRC's activities in relation to professional development
and training, he can be contacted at T.Hogarth@warwick.ac.uk, tel:
01203-524420; fax: 01203-524241.

If you would like to participate in the network, attend focus groups, or
would like to know more about BPRC's Professional Development and
Training Network activities, please complete the form below or contact
Rebecca Dale (telephone: (+44) 01203-524344 or e-mail:
R.Dale@warwick.ac.uk). Further information about BPRC can be found on
the website: warwick.ac.uk/bprc.


Sign me for membership of the network
I am interested in knowing more about
the Professional Development and Training Network
Send me more information about the 'Who Reaps the Reward?'
Focus Group
Sign me up for the 'Who Reaps the Reward' Focus Group
Please send me more information about BPRC


Name: __________________________________

Organisation: __________________________________

Address: __________________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

Telephone: __________________________________

E-mail: __________________________________


A copy of this document can also be found on the world-wide web at:
warwick.ac.uk/brpc

Please reply to:

Rebecca Dale
Research Fellow
Business Processes Resource Centre
tel.: (01203) 524 344
fax: (01203 524 307
email: R.Dale@warwick.ac.uk
http://bprc.warwick.ac.uk

Rebecca Dale wrote:

> (apologies for cross-posting - please note, the Knowledge management
> event will run on the 26th of Jan, and this one on the 20th!)
>
> WHO REAPS THE BENEFIT?
>
> ANNOUNCING A BPRC ONE DAY FOCUS GROUP
>
> A one day seminar will be hosted by BPRC entitled 'Who Reaps the
> Benefit? Understanding the Costs and Benefits of Employer Provided
> Training and Professional Development.' The seminar will be held on 20
> January, 1998 in Arden House, University of Warwick (VENUE TO BE
> CONFIRMED).
>
> With the decline of the lifelong employment relationship, can employers
> still reap the reward from the training they provide? Available
> evidence suggests that the indirect and direct costs of training and
> professional development can be considerable. If employees then use
> their new found skills and competencies to gain employment elsewhere,
> then the employer amasses much of the cost and little of the benefit of
> the training they provide. But this may be too simplistic a view of
> professional development and training. Provision of continuing
> professional development and training, for instance, may be one of the
> means by which employers retain their best employees.
>
> Identifying the costs of professional development and training is often
> a relatively straightforward exercise. Identifying the benefits is
> often much more difficult. For example, the impact of providing
> professional development and training on job satisfaction and employee
> commitment, may well feed through into higher levels of employee
> productivity or even employee innovation. Such benefits, however, can
> be difficult to quantify. Increasingly, however, the business case for
> providing professional development and training requires some evaluation
> of the benefits obtained from training. In addressing this type of
> issue, a number of related questions will also be posed, including:
>
> * Why do employers train?
> * How important is to evaluate professional development and training
> activities?
> * How important is lifelong learning within firms?
> * What are the emerging models of best practice?
> * To what extent should the employee bear the costs, financial and
> otherwise, of professional development and training?
>
> Presentations will be made by representatives from firms in the
> manufacturing and service sectors, and from researchers involved in the
> evaluation of organisations' professional development and training
> activities.
>
> A charge of 50 pounds will be made to cover administrative costs.
> Numbers are strictly limited, please book early to ensure your place.
>
> IF YOU WOULD LIKE MORE INFORMATION
>
> The Professional Development and Training theme is being organised by
> Terence Hogarth, Principal Research Fellow, Institute for Employment
> Research, University of Warwick. If you require more information about
> the content of BPRC's activities in relation to professional development
> and training, he can be contacted at T.Hogarth@warwick.ac.uk, tel:
> 01203-524420; fax: 01203-524241.
>
> If you would like to participate in the network, attend focus groups, or
> would like to know more about BPRC's Professional Development and
> Training Network activities, please complete the form below or contact
> Rebecca Dale (telephone: (+44) 01203-524344 or e-mail:
> R.Dale@warwick.ac.uk). Further information about BPRC can be found on
> the website: warwick.ac.uk/bprc.
>
> Sign me for membership of the network
> I am interested in knowing more about
> the Professional Development and Training Network
> Send me more information about the 'Who Reaps the Reward?'
> Focus Group
> Sign me up for the 'Who Reaps the Reward' Focus Group
> Please send me more information about BPRC
>
> Name: Luis T. Diez __________________________________
>
> Organisation: UCM__________________________________
>
> Address: Facultad Economicas __________________________________
>
> __Somosaguas________________________________
>
> ___28223 Pozuelo (Madrid),
> Spain_______________________________
>
> Telephone: __34-91-3942560________________________________
>
> E-mail: __ldiez@ccee.ucm.es________________________________
>
> A copy of this document can also be found on the world-wide web at:
> warwick.ac.uk/brpc
>
> Please reply to:
>
> Rebecca Dale
> Research Fellow
> Business Processes Resource Centre
> tel.: (01203) 524 344
> fax: (01203 524 307
> email: R.Dale@warwick.ac.uk
> http://bprc.warwick.ac.uk

> Rebecca Dale wrote:
>
> > Available evidence suggests that the indirect and direct costs of training
> and
> > professional development can be considerable. If employees then use
> > their new found skills and competencies to gain employment elsewhere,
> > then the employer amasses much of the cost and little of the benefit of
> > the training they provide.

If training people is seen as a cost and not an investment (we invest in new
machinery so why should we not also invest in new skills and knowledge?), what
do we call the price we pay for not training them? A wise person once wrote that
if training someone and having them leave is such a bad thing, imagine how bad
it would be if that person is not trained and then stayed.

In my experience, if someone leaves an organisation after they have been trained
then either that person received training that was more applicable in some other
organisation or he/she was going to leave anyway. Either way, we shouldn't
penalise everybody in order to stop the few doing something they probably would
have done anyway.

I was once asked to identify why people were leaving one organisation for
another after they'd completed an intensive 18-24 month training program. My
report said, in simple terms, stop training people for that other organisation
and give them reasons to stay.

Just a few thoughts on a sunny weekend down under.

Phil Rutherford