Today I’d like to talk about the challenge that’s facing a lot of organisations in terms of continuing to have learning and development on a much smaller budget.

So we’ve got the same needs but a smaller bucket of money for training.  MBE’s area of expertise is learning and development, so let’s see what we can actually share with you that might be useful.

A lot of organisations are talking about consolidating at the moment, getting ready for when future opportunities present themselves. And your organisation is probably no different.

So we need to take the opportunity to up-skill and to get our team, our individuals, and our organisation ready for what the future holds.   There are four steps that I think are worth considering which might help.

1.     You need to identify and document what your learning and development needs are.  This starts at an organisation level, then look at it for teams and individuals.

2.     We need to prioritise those needs.  Which ones are we going to invest in now and which ones will need to wait until later.  In considering prioritising here are three criteria that might be useful.

1. Look for what things will have the biggest immediate impact on the business when things start improving.
2. Focus on talented performers and leaders – often investment here as an impact on others in the organisation and team.
3. Focus on the skills that are about coping with growth and change – because chances are what the future holds will not be the same as yesterday.

4.     Look at time and cost-effective options for learning and development.  This might be in-house small group training rather than sending one or two people to a conference, and that can sometimes involve getting the experts to come to you.  Self directed learning is also a good option, getting individuals to take responsibility for their learning.  Online there is a lot of information available.  Online learning such as webinars is becoming more popular and palatable.  See what options are cost-effective there.  Peer learning is also very good – getting those who have a high level of skills in the organisation to share those skills with others, so that it has better business impact.

5.     Make sure that any learning and development is leveraged.  This means making sure that what is learnt has an impact in the workplace.

Try it this week, and let me know how you and your team get on.

 

If you haven’t taken the opportunity to sign up to the Every Tuesday Club with MBE (Management & Business Education), then do so today by going to www.buseducation.com.