The right approach to training during economically tough times is to operate a conservative spending policy rather than a complete clampdown, according to the consultancy Righttrack.

The learning and development specialist has pointed to recent research that indicates 51% of employers feel they may have adopted the wrong tactic to deal with the economic downturn.

It says that an obvious tactic adopted by many organisations when facing economic uncertainty is to limit the amount of spending; swapping to a consolidation approach.

This is particularly true of training and HR spend, yet it can actually be more costly to an organisation as reducing the level of investment in employees can create many problems, including:

• Lowered confidence and motivation by employees towards the organisation, which inevitably will result in lower employee loyalty; potentially leading to a higher staff turnover


• Act as a warning sign to employees about the stability of the organisation regarding the future of both the organisation and the employee


• Potential skills that could aid the organisation through challenging periods would not be used due to the lack of investment; this could cause frustration within the work place.

Kasmin Cooney, Righttrack’s managing director, says: “It is those organisations that are continuing with their learning and development as part of their overall HR strategic focus that will be the ones who have not only survived but be in a strong position to hit the ground running when things become more stable.

“Management and leadership are vital skills that are inherent in tense business times. Ensuring the team is pulling together, with a strong understanding of the situation and what is needed can only be achieved through strong management and leadership; the lighthouse quality in a treacherous storm.

“Conservative spending is expected and a good policy in these times as long as it is the wastage that is cut, however a clamp on all spending will only stifle organisations, creating more problems than just the external environment.”