Wasting time & money!!

In times of austerity, such as we are living in now, why do organisations freely throw money away?

In the past two weeks I have known of two training programmes that were planned and run in South Wales where attendees failed to turn up.  In the first instance 10 people, out of 12, failed to show up for a two day in house programme and in the second example, two people didn’t turn up for an open course.

In both cases the trainer still has to be paid, as does the venue, catering etc. and presumably the training need for these people still needs to be addressed.  So the organisation will end up paying twice!!

This has to be a serious matter for both the line managers of these people, the person responsible for the training in the organisation as well as the financial implications for the company.  Training can be expensive and this is why people need to plan more effectively, commit to the dates and understand why the training is so important both to their job and to the company’s ongoing success.  Yes you can understand that sometimes there might be extenuating circumstances but 10 out of 12 sounds like careless to me!

As someone who is self employed I do not have the luxury of an employer who will pay for my training & development, it comes straight out of my pocket! Therefore, when I look at my Continuous Professional Development (CPD) I need to consider the time I will not be earning money, the cost of the development and what training needs will be addressed by me attending.  Does this happen in your business?  Do you consider the cost, both in time & money, of sending people on training programmes?  Does the person understand the investment that the company is making or do they see it as a ‘day out of the workplace’! Do you as a line manager have a conversation with the individual before they attend the course about what they want to achieve and do you talk to them afterwards about what they did achieve from the course.  You want to get a return back on your investment don’t you?

So this is why training companies, both small and large will charge a cancellation fee for non-attendance on courses, or will insist that you pay in full up to a month beforehand.  This should also happen with internal courses.  Ok it may be ‘wooden dollars’ but it might make line managers understand the cost and thus value the training that the person will be receiving.  It will also mean that for trainers like me we get a full complement of attendees on a course which ensures that the exercises & key learning points are maximised in the way that the course was designed….but more on that another day.

Thanks for your time,

Suzanne Unsworth

www.rubusassociates.co.uk