Training: A Luxury or Strategic Necessity?

Well-developed management systems are developed and implemented to drive efficiency in organizations.  These systems when implemented ensure that  the organization does not become vulnerable or lose its integrity when key personnel change as also during any mergers and splits in organizations. Just as technology is constantly upgraded, so must human potential. In any organization, large or small, training which needs the least investment can play a very important role given the critical contribution by human resources in ensuring efficiency. The necessity of training in building human potential and productivity to ensure optimization of human resources can hardly be emphasized.  

Top Management often go in for implementation of management systems without answering the employee’s question of “what is in it for me?” Training and exposing 10 to 15% of the manpower to management system related standards for efficiency (ISO 9001), risk management (ISO 33000), the environment management (ISO 14001) and security of the global supply chain (ISO 28000) quite prepares them for the system implementation. Some  organizations might choose to implement an integrated management system encompassing all or a combination of two or more of the above standards.

Organizations view training as a luxury and often not as a strategic necessity. A well trained manpower is a great asset in getting the “job done” . When budgets are cut training is often given a low priority. In difficult financial situations when all else costs the organizations so much more, a little investment in well trained manpower results in rich dividends and ensures human capital continues operating at their peak efficiency as a motivated work force even through bleak periods thus ensuring a continually efficient system. As a system is developed and put into place a trained workforce helps to better implement the system and results in a ‘buy in’ of the entire team. A team that appreciates the important role that a well implemented system plays in increasing the efficiency of a system while reducing non-conformities (NC).

As NCs are embraced to drive continual improvement the number of problems affecting the system reduce and the work force has its answer to "what is in it for me". This gives the organization strength in depth and provides more time to innovate and thus continually strive for new heights of excellence.

The benefits of training are intangible but below are listed a few: 

• Better output

• Higher Retention 

• Team Spirit 

• Improved corporate Image 

• Higher morale 

• Improved Profitability 

• Fewer Accidents

A small investment in training will ensure an oriented manpower, familiarized and ready to implement and meet the management’s system objectives and align them with the organizations aim of doing much more with much less.