During tough economic times, organizations reconsider business focus, change strategies, modify budgets, and generally do more with less.  Most companies will trim waste and excess resources.  Unfortunately, companies that eliminate the training budget underestimate the value of employee development.

Success-minded companies understand that employees are their most precious asset.  They maximize their assets through employee learning and development.  Rather than simply surviving this economic slump, they use it to strengthen their people.  Recent studies show that companies who continue to focus on employee learning experience positive performance from their employees.  Those that cut training experience negative performance.  This information should encourage us to develop solid processes to find, hire, develop and retain key talent!

How can you maximize talent and prepare for growth?  Smart companies align learning to the organization’s goals, prioritize learning, and create training strategies to enable employees to perform successfully.  Here’s how they do it:

Align learning to organizational goals. Learning and development needs to connect directly to your business decisions and mission.  Place people with the right skills and attitudes into the right jobs through targeted hiring and development opportunities.  This is a cost-effective choice that can help you respond to the changes in the economy.  This strategy will motivate your employees because they will understand their purpose and see that their contributions are valued.  Your strategy team should ask the following questions:

• Where is the company heading in the next year?
• What are the key strategies, goals, and objectives?
• What is our competitive advantage?
• Do our employees currently have the skills to successfully support those goals?
• Where do we need learning and development to succeed with our plans?

Prioritize learning. Identify and prioritize key learning and development requirements.  Compliance and regulatory training are important, as well as programs that affect customer satisfaction, profitability, sales, and productivity.  Communicate clearly the purpose of training and let your employees know how the purpose is aligned to the organizational goals.

Create cost-effective training strategies.  Since classroom training can be costly, consider alternatives.  Can a topic could be taught online or through self-directed learning groups?  Focus on informal learning with maximum results.  Consider providing some individual self-development programs using online training or DVDs, or create an employee library filled with resources.  Ask, “What can we do that will cost less, impact our company’s bottom line, and increase productivity?”

During times of change, companies must strengthen communication with their people.   Morale and productivity are challenged, particularly if the company has experienced layoffs or cutbacks in salary or benefits.  Lose the “you should just be happy you have a job” mentality.  Maximize the potential of your people through cost-effective learning and development options.  Your actions will communicate clearly that employees play a large part in the company’s success.  Companies that thrive during this recession understand this factor.

Your company’s learning and development strategy protects your most precious asset – your people.  The success of your company depends upon it!