Much of the attention in human resources seems to be about how to retain good people. Likewise, when we offer training programs, we make them as palatable and attractive as possible. You can learn long distance, online, anytime and anywhere convenient in the comfort of your own home. If you are busy, we can even break the program into bite-sized modules to accommodate your working demands.

How are we suppose to create an environment of collective responsibility and accountability if we go down the road of placating to their ever increasing demand on account of being recognized as a “talent”?

Nowadays, most organizations will have some form of training and developmental plan and with substantial budget and resources dedicated. Not many though would communicate the long-term vision and commitment of the training and development plan and purpose for their people. Mostly are done haphazardly and are dependant on many variables that will influence the more important business agenda.

People stay in an organization that respects their freedom and cares about their learning. Your training efforts would change radically for the better if we solicited participation. We have three pointers to share that you may want to consider as a primer to your training initiatives:

• COMMUNICATES COMMITMENT – Inspire the people right from the start of their career that they take ownership for their long-term learning commitment.  That all training and development be it on-the-job or designed program require time, depth and personal engagement. True value cannot be achieved in a few hours, on the run or at a distance.

• COMMUNICATES PURPOSE – Impress upon the people the importance of learning agility. Studies have shown that one of the critical skills in the new economy is the ability to unlearn what we thought we already know and relearn what we could possibly know. The purpose then is for people to change their thinking and consider the possibility of creating meaning and a future that is different from the past.

• COMMUNICATES CHOICE – Instill a ‘Come By Choice’ mindset. No one should be force into anything that is against their will and values they hold. Everyone should have the consciousness of what he or she wants and need to learn, how to learn and when he or she wants to learn it.

In my next blog-post under HR Insights thread, I would like to share with you a template that you may find useful in inducting your new employee into your organization that communicate commitment to learning, purpose in career development and ultimately their choice to make things happen.

Till next time.