Can anyone point me in the direction of an article, other piece of evidence or useful arguments to help overcome resistance to any form of training expenditure please? I need to persuade the manager of a family business that money spent on training is not 'funding a staff jolly', but as ever there's the proverbial problem of a bottom line calculation for such an expenditure.
Many thanks
adelew
Adele Wright
4 Responses
Resistance to spending money
Common problem:)
Ask the business owner if his company is what he wants it to be and if his staff can do all the things he wants them to do. If it/they are/can then there is no need for training, his company and its staff are perfect. If they are/can not (and I would suspect this to be the case), ask him what he would like his company to be and what would he like his staff to be able to do. Then ask him how he suggests the gap is closed.
Moral is to get him to come up with the argument for training to meet his own objectives. I would also suggest that training is not a jolly but b***dy hard work (ours is anyway), but very rewarding for both the staff and the business.
Regards
Peter.
Seeing the bigger picture
Given the response of ‘funding a staff jolly’ it strikes me that this response is not only hiding an aversion to funding the training but a much more fundamental problem of actually recognising the need of training and the benefits it can deliver ie. the perception that all training is a ‘staff jolly’.
Unless you counter this attitude then I suggest funding will always be hard to come by from this manager. The perception that training is a peripheral activity with no long term value is a deep rooted one in the UK and a much larger issue than your family trader.
Having considered this massive shift in approach/attitude and culture that is required by the manager you may ultimately decide that there are other fish in the ocean.
You could always work out the cost to the business if no training occurs.
Cost benefit
I work for a family run business & would be happy to discuss strategies with you as I have had similar problems.
Feel free to contact me on 01926 814 132 or catherinec@codemaster.com
Resistance to training
Has your manager never recieved any training? Did no other manager along this person’s career path invest in their talent?
Your manager has either not ever recived any training or had bad experience of being a recipient of it. Find that bad experience, and you may be able to unlock the problem.
Also avoid talking training which they seem to equate to time-off and cost. Talk about learning which can be low-cost and on-the-job.