Special Report
Multiple choice
Smart Business Dallas | July 2009
Page 2 of 4
Jerry Hoag, associate dean for executive education, University of Texas at Dallas
Goal setting
Training that educates employees on ways to increase revenue or decrease expenses or that improves relationships with customers is a business necessity and has a place in your training regimen.
Determine what your company needs to work on and what areas you need to continue to grow in as well as the basics to keep up with the competition.
“Cutting education is a short-term fix to a long-term problem,” says Myrtle P. Bell, associate professor of management, University of Texas at Arlington. “You can’t just check training off of a to-do list either; you must make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons for the company.”
Considering who will be receiving the training is an important step. Being wise about your budget means training those who are in a position to benefit the company most instead of offering a la carte training to whoever is willing to trade a few hours of work for classroom duty.
“Listen to what employees say they need,” says Donna Ledgerwood, associate professor, human resources management, University of North Texas. “Not to be learning means the company is losing its knowledge and power and thus has an increased risk of entropy. If you’ve tried training in the past that didn’t have the results you wanted, try a different strategy or university if the original one won’t help you solve training issues.”
Considering the type of education you need has equal importance to the way the education is delivered. While some companies find online courses give employers the best return on investment while saving on travel and driving time, others find in-house courses or a classroom setting to be the best delivery method for employees.
