Spending my first 21 years of my career in public accounting, I was completely spoiled by the amount of continuing education I was able to obtain.  CPAs, like attorneys, HR professionals, health care professionals, and others, are required to obtain additional education to maintain their CPA license or other certifications.  In the firms where I worked, this meant that all employees had this opportunity regardless of their status in the organization.  Luckily, not all of our training was in accounting; we had technical training, but also lots of harassment, ethics, and leadership skills as well.

In a recent SHRM HR magazine article, Brad Shuck, an assistant professor in organization development at the University of Louisville, was quoted, “The more the employee feels the Company is investing in their future, the higher the level of engagement.”  As is many times the case, I took this for granted in my career.  I always had it, so I didn’t realize that not all employees did!

Training does not need to be expensive, and can be accomplished in a variety of ways.  Consider more cross-training between employees, internal training, business book clubs during lunch or breaks, shorter 2 hour trainings (but held more frequently to reinforce), online training, or, of course, outsourced trainers like Purple Ink.

Fortunately, Purple Ink’s training services have been growing rapidly this year.  The economy is good (at least in Indiana!), and training dollars typically follow the economic trends.  Unfortunately, training seems to be the first area to be cut when times get tough – for the individual company or the in the economy as a whole.  I challenge you to consider training on a regular and consistent basis, as it seems to me that when times are difficult, we probably need it more than ever:  to keep us sharp, to increase engagement, and to re-evaluate whether we are working as efficiently and effectively as we can.

Some organizations worry that investing in training might be a waste of money if the employee doesn’t stick around.  I think it’s a much bigger worry that they will leave if you don’t!  I heard a speaker say once, “Someone asked me why we invest so much in training when the employee might leave.  I said, what if I don’t invest and they stay?”

Purple ink provides training in StrengthsFinder, teambuilding, harassment, ethics, time management, and many other engagement and leadership topics!  Let us know how we can assist you in building a culture of development, engagement, and leadership!