Training and learning

http://marketingme.blogspot.com/2006/09/training-and-learning

In response to several emails about yesterday's post, please allow me to embellish.

Training is exactly what I said it was yesterday; an exercise in futility.

For instance, let's say you are an employee of a manufacturing company and have just been told there will be layoffs which will affect you.

The union has demanded that affected workers be retrained.

Training for what? To be a realtor? A flight attendant? A fireman?

The job you had is going away.

Layoffs mean the company is running out of money and is in serious financial trouble.

It is most likely the sign of the industry as a whole. (Think steel, airlines or automakers).
The job opportunities in your industry are shrinking, not growing.

You are asking your company (which is failing) to train you to do something else? Do what? Another job which will be downsized next year or sooner?

Don't ask for training - ask for money. Tell the union you want money. The biggest severance package you can get. Take the money and bolt. Don't look back.

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What about on the job training provide by your employer? You write that is a punishment not a reward?

Let me describe what I mean.

Companies retrain employees all the time on new systems, procedures, etc. This is not a reward - it is a requirement for the employee in order to continue to be productive.

This is not the same as your employer sending you to off site training as a reward.

Your employer is sending you out of the office as a punishment.

Maybe he or she does not want to go to this class themselves, or maybe they feel guilty for your coming termination and they want to assuage their guilt.

Don't buy it! Off site training is either a requirement (mandatory) or a punishment. It is never a vacation with classes.


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Government training? Don't bother. It will be so loaded down with rules, regulations and inaction and contain very little substance. What substance there is will be hopelessly outdated and mediocre at best.

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As I said yesterday and will say again and again - Training is for dogs.

Don't fall for that tired old mantra about "worker retraining" or "free training".

Learn what you want and need in order to get ahead. More on that later...

Training and learning

- A friend loses his job. He immediately signs up for a training class hoping it will land him a new job.

- An industrial worker, threatened with layoffs due to downsizing, demands training for a new job.

- Congress approves an appropriations bill which includes money for training.

- Your boss comes to you with your reward for loyal and devoted service over the past year; off site training.

Training is bad news.

- If you are paying for it, you are wasting your money.
- If you are getting laid off, it will not help you.
- If you boss rewards you with it, you are a failure bordering on termination.
- If government pays for training, it is probably outdated and mediocre.

Training is a death sentence. It is a money pit. It is punishment.

Don't confuse this with learning. Learning can be as simple as independent study for a few hours a night with a desktop application or an advanced course in electronics repair.

Learning is acquiring knowledge about a certain subject.

- I can learn about a subject and write an ebook about it in one weekend.

- A technician learns how an air conditioner compressor works and how to perform maintenance on the unit.

- An intern learns about the human heart and how to clear a clogged valve.

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Trainees get told how to tighten a screw, complete a report or put on a uniform.

Trainees get told "how things work and how they have always worked and how not to break it".

Training is what we do with horses and diaper wearing babies.

Training is for the dogs. Learning is for people.