Training? Continuing Education? LOL

Working with corporations is always interesting. They have the best intentions, but as we know, once money comes into the picture, out goes some intentions.

The number one item that gets purged or at best scaled down is training.

Putting in a new CRM system? Finance package? Shipping system?
No training? You get what you put in.

Time after time companies that continue to invest in their employees get far greater returns than those that do not.

In a recent Training Magazine article (I am a subscriber) the main article, I Want to Work There!

Employee engagement secrets from companies on Fortune’s Best Companies to Work For and Training’s Top 125 and Hall of Fame lists had this to say:

“We have conducted studies on Return on Engagement (ROE) and have found that there is a distinct positive difference in business outcomes (i.e., revenue, operating margin, customer satisfaction, etc.) from higher engaged organizations versus organizations that score lower on engagement,” points out Chris Dustin, senior vice president of Organizational Development at Avatar HR Solutions.
The firm’s research has found that the top three factors critical to employee engagement relate to recognition (see sidebar below), career development, and the direct supervisor’s relationship with employees. “Managers and supervisors are the key enabler of their employees’ commitment to their job, organization, and workgroup,” Dustin says. “And recognition and career development are directly linked to the manager.”

Not to be left out of this discussion is the Torah's original line from this week's parsha:

7. And you shall teach them to your sons and speak of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk on the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up.

ז. וְשִׁנַּנְתָּם לְבָנֶיךָ וְדִבַּרְתָּ בָּם בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ בְּבֵיתֶךָ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ בַדֶּרֶךְ וּבְשָׁכְבְּךָ וּבְקוּמֶךָ

 This sentence is of course talking about The 10 Commandments and other mitzva's which were just described and the next sentences go on to discuss wearing Tefillin, but also some not so nice rebukes.

It is this sentence which is the key to learning and continued opportunities not just as a parent, but as an employer or an employee as well.

No matter how you work or manage or where you do it, there is always an opportunity to grow and educate. It is not just a once in a while effort or a "go online and take a class". It is also not a daily routine, although one could do something like this, the Daf Yomi (link from my Alma Matter) which is about learning one page, double sided, of the Gemara a day for 7 years. This past week was the Siyum or party to close the completion of the series. Requires great dedication but almost unheard of in corporate life.

Imagine if you could establish a training cycle for the whole company that covered one topic a day and everyone listened to it or liked it/commented about it? Your daily update to the comapny website probably does not get a high click through rate.

But it could

Do you teach your kids or rely on a teacher? Same at work? Do you use internal people to perform training or get outside people? Making that effort, for your kids or your employees may not pay off today or tomorrow but it will and when it does it will have been well worth it.


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Parsha Vaetchanan in the book of Devarim, Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11
It is said that the Torah or Bible could be interpreted in over 70 ways. More likely these days 100's of ways. In light of this idea, I am writing some posts that bring a business sense to what we can learn on a weekly basis. Enjoy, Shabbat Shalom