RISMEDIA, March 19, 2009-Expertus, a global provider of services that optimize the business impact of learning, has announced the release of a new white paper summarizing the discussion among a handful of learning leaders during the Learning Executive Think Tank’s second virtual meeting. The white paper, “5 Ways to Help Your Training Organization Survive and Thrive in a Troubled Economy,” found that, although many organizations are taking cover and freezing their activities as a result of economic hardship, many learning executives now see promise and opportunities.
According to the white paper, “The emergent winners use recessionary times to innovate and widen the gap between themselves and their competition. While many companies slash payrolls, place product development on hold, and take a wait-and-see position in their markets, the true ‘winners’ strategically increase productivity and prepare to come out ahead when the good times return.”
Forward-thinking companies who take this position are therefore required to keep the training engine running at full speed.
The roundtable group, which included learning leaders from a broad spectrum of businesses, compared insights on key issues facing the industry and shared ideas about not only surviving, but thriving in this tough economy. \
The white paper states, “The interesting dichotomy of the current business climate is that it’s creating an increased demand for training. Organizations are making hard decisions about what stays and what goes. They are making sure that at the end of this recession, their learning organization and the company is stronger and better than it was before.”
When asked how to endure and advance during these tough times, the following pieces of advice surfaced:
-Create a teaching culture. Have a sound teaching culture in place is an extremely effective and economical method for training the workforce.
-Shift to virtual and e-learning. E-learning is a critical training tool in a cost-conscious business climate, offering an opportunity to create programs that ensure excellence without loss of productivity.
-Encourage and integrate informal and collaborative learning. Borrowing from successful social media technology, the use of blogs, webinars wikis, white papers, and peer-to-peer training helps ensure that organizations have access to the training they need at any given moment.
-Re-negotiate contracts with vendors. Keeping current partners is much easier and economical than finding new ones.
-Align, prioritize, and cut. Understand your objectives, align training initiatives with the business and reduce headcount intelligently.
For more information, visit www.expertus.com.
