In a recession, correction, down economy, whatever you want to call it, training budgets are always the first to go. This is a very very bad idea for a number of reasons, not the least of all is that the knowledge of your staff is your bread and butter. And, depending on your field, it could make the difference between a big check and a big lawsuit.
I heard recently about a city building department that needed to make some budget cuts, so the director of the department decided to deny all staff requests for training. Keep in mind that building codes and laws change every year. And these people were being kept from knowing the latest laws regarding how they did their jobs!
When the director was asked why he felt this was a good idea, he said that he thought all training was “useless.” remind me never to buy a house in his town.
For another example, look at Circuit City. Remember Circuit City? A few years back times were hard, so they fired all of their “Senior” staff. these just happened to be the people who knew the most about the merchandise they were selling. In my personal experience, the knowledge of the CC staff was the only thing that separated them from other electronics stores. In fact, I recently heard a comment that a good definition of a “big box” store was one in which, if the answer wasn’t on the “big box” on the shelf, the staff didn’t know. Maybe yes, maybe no, but I have had good and bad experiences in these retailers. Your thoughts?
