Training Not a Priority? (CAD Manager's Toolbox)

Contrary to what you might think, you really can maintain a training program during hard times.

I've received several e-mails recently from CAD users and managers who are discouraged that CAD training has been eliminated at their companies. The question I see most often is, "Doesn't the company understand that if users are better trained, they get more done?"

I don't have any magic answers, but I think I can provide some guidance that may help. Please consider these points:

• Understand that training gets cut because money is short. And since you can't print money (only government can do that), you'll have to understand that budget cuts are a reality. Simply resign yourself to this fact and you'll be less frustrated by the situation.

• Your company does want efficient users, but it can't spend money right now. So are there things you can do to cut training costs? Could you conduct lunch-and-learns once a week? Would other users in your company volunteer to teach a productivity-enhancing course once a month so the company doesn’t have to shoulder the entire training burden? Get creative and see what you come up with.

• Your company views training as something that users should want to do on their own. Can you demonstrate that your users want to learn? My experience has shown that when users start showing up voluntarily for lunch-and-learns or evening training sessions, management notices and realizes they have a motivated work force that wants to learn.

Understand that the current business environment doesn't give you much choice but to make the best of a bad situation. By doing what you can to conduct a bare-bones training program, you'll certainly get better results than doing nothing, right?