1/15/08 Reading Summary
In today’s working environment, who is receiving the training and who should be receiving the training appeared to be a common topic among all of the readings. Training is a critical aspect to a successful workplace for several reasons. It allows a company to retain top employees, produce more knowledgable employees, attracts highly valuable potential employees, and promotes a challenging atmosphere. As we learned from the reading though, not all companies understand the importance of training or are not using it in a correct manner.
There are several flaws that plague most businesses in the workforce today regarding training. The first one is that they are not offering training to those who need it the most. Most companies are concentrating their training dollars on already educated employees instead of our working class who need the training to better develop their job skill. Employers also need to be more supporative of employee training in general. A few things that training develops include job interest, educational growth, more productive employees, and team work. And why wouldn’t companies want to improve training? It allows them to be competitive by maintaining a skilled staff.
There are several forces today influencing the workplace such as globalization and the ever present need for leadership. In today’s modern company it isn’t unlikely to see products produced over seas or call centers based in a different country. Afterall, it’s proven to the one of the most cost effective ways of doing business. So what does that mean for us as employees in the US? The first possibility is the fact that your job could quite possibly require you to move over seas. The more your company is setting up offices in other countries, the more likely you might be asked to relocate. Then there is the apparent need for cross cultural training. As companies start to build foundations in foreign places, cross cultural training becomes a very important need. It helps their current employees to become knowledgable of the other cultures they will have some contact with at some point.
Employee development is extremely beneficial to a company. There are several different approaches that can be taken towards employee development dependent on your management’s desired outcome. Through assessment, development, and evaluation; positions can be developed to promote continuing education, constant improvement, goal oriented employees, and a better experience overall.