If recent economic turmoil taught us anything, it's that every organization and department must its tighten budgets and prove its value. As we face this new reality, how does this impact our roles as trainers, teachers, and learners? What can we do to not only support our organizations but secure training's place within our organizations?
Here are 10 ideas for you to consider.
- Alignment. Align training with strategic priorities. If ever there was a time to tighten the training belt it is now. Do you know what your company’s strategic priorities are? If not, ask. Make sure that all of your training supports those outcomes and priorities for your library.
- Attitude. Set a good example. Employees often look at trainers as role models for the organization. Doom and gloom do not do anyone a bit of good. Lead by example. Look for the silver lining that exists and embrace this time as an opportunity for growth and change. Be flexible and willing to do things that may fall outside of your normal realm.
- Network and Collaboration. Look for ways to collaborate with other trainers. There are trainers across the country who are ready and willing to share and trade training materials. If you need a handout on the fly, try posting to an email list. Or you might decide to create a more formal training exchange with another non-competing company or organization.
- Webinars. There are many free or low-cost resources out there just for the taking! Do a little digging for these resources online, ask other trainers for their recommendations and sign up for free publications. Many of these free webinar offerings will then come to you via your email inbox. Let your trainers know about them, too!
- Outcomes. Think in terms of outcomes rather than trainings. What outcome or result are you looking for? What problem are you trying to address? Once you’ve determined your outcome then you can determine if training is the best way to reach that outcome (in many cases, it’s not). Don’t invest time and resources in training that’s not needed.
- Free. Look for free authoring tools. Do a search for “free elearning tools” and you will find a lot of great articles like this one. With her budget cut to nearly 70 percent, Sue-Minton Colvin, training and development coordinator for Lexington Public Library, turned to elearning. Not already having an established platform, Colvin created an entire training intranet using Shutterfly. Yes, you read that right, Shutterfly. I never even realized you could create a Web site using Shutterfly! Talk about using your resources!
- Social Learning. On her web site Ageless Learner, Marcia Conner says that, “Informal learning accounts for more than 75 percent of learning that takes place in organizations today.” Embrace the power of Web 2.0 tools such as blogs, wikis, Facebook, and Twitter to facilitate informal learning. Host a discussion. Host a chat. The sky is the limit and we are only on the verge of utilizing these tools fully in learning and staff development.
- Visibility. Be visible in your organization. When you work primarily behind the scenes, it’s easy to stay holed up in your office. Get out and talk to staff. Find out what’s going on. Let them know what’s going on with training. Listen with empathy and remember tip #2.
- Better With Less. Instead of focusing on how we are doing more with less, focus on the opportunity to do better with less. As I said in tip #1, this blip in the radar gives us a chance to focus on the basics, rethink our training strategies, and truly show an impact on the organizations we serve.
- Don’t stop. No matter how tight the budget is, it’s a huge mistake for any organization to stop training completely. As the economy ebbs and flows, it is crucial that our organizations and our staff learn to go with that flow. Only through continuous learning can we keep our workforce’s skills up to date and prepare our employees for the changes that will no doubt take place in organizations.
Lori Reed, managing editor of ALA Learning and learning and development coordinator for the Charlotte (NC) Mecklenburg Library, blogs at LoriReed.com.
