Training is not a Cost, it’s an “INVESTMENT!”
Often when we are asked why is training important? What comes to our mind – to acquire new skills, develop the existing ones, learn new techniques to perform better, achieve career & organizational goals or to become a great leader or influencer, isn’t it? Are you thinking on the same lines? Well, that is how our mind is programmed J and it is true in all senses.
In Today’s era things are changing dynamically. And to keep pace with it, one needs stay current with market trends. Training & Development is one Great source for enhancement of knowledge, validation of knowledge, adding value back to oneself & to the organization.
Do you remember when was your first training? Who was your first trainer? Many will agree when I say this – we go back and think of our first job, first day at work, new employee orientation session, etc. which is beginning of the career. In my opinion Training & getting trained comes naturally to human beings. Wondering how? Let’s look at some relative instances:
New Hire:
New Hire is like a “new born”. The way parents teach & train their new born from the very first step – how to walk, how to talk, what to talk, etc. They nurture, guide the kid, help them build on their strengths, work and overcome their weaknesses, hand hold them at all stages in their growing years for a better tomorrow. Parents are your first set of trainers who invest their time and energy, inculcating values into the kid so they come out successfully in their respective careers. It’s an emotional bond that’s get developed over a period & we all know how strong it is.
“Training is not a Cost, it’s an Investment!” You can also refer 10 reasons why employee training is important
Similarly, an organization should invest in the careers of their Existing employees. Here is how:
Existing employees:
People work at organizations for primarily two reasons – they like the company / brand, culture and they see their future there. All of us have our own strengths, weaknesses or shortcomings. What is important is the willingness to learn, adopt & implement. Organizations play / can play a vital role here which can help not just the company but will also provide employee satisfaction.
Why does parents send their kids to school & college to study & encourage them to take up extra curriculum activities of their choice? It’s not just to study but its gives an immense opportunity to the young souls to go out face the world, understand and acquire new skills, meet difference people from various culture and background. Why? So that they relate themselves as one among the population, they learn the art of grasping things happening around them, adapt to the circumstances & perform accordingly. Its natural! And everyone goes through the same process. This becomes a critical part of our growing days where individual learn every day, every hour, every minute, second and mold themselves. We make friends on the way, learn how other people behave & react to things and unknowingly we learn people management. When it comes to the work life we start considering people management as a Skill set required to perform a role & wonder if an individual is fit do so. Strange but the same came naturally to us when we played a game of football or cricket or any other game on the field. Isn’t it?
Company that values & understands the Importance of Training & Development can help with some continuous and never ending in nature employee Training programs which will have some of the following fruitful results to both the employer & employee:
- Amplify existing strength
- Acquire new skills
- Address weaknesses & shortcomings
- Team Building activities for cross collaborations with relevance
- Industry Specific Trainings, Conferences, Seminars, etc. that can benefit the employees career
- better productivity,
- improved quality of services & products,
- Cost optimization,
- less supervision,
- chances for promotion and better opportunity
This will boost employee’s confidence & satisfaction and help them keep pace with ever evolving technology, new methods & procedure. Who doesn’t want to grow & become better! Everyone wants to taste success in anything that they are good at.
Here is a real-life scenario – Story of Suresh Babu, a chef Turned into a Digital Marketing Trainer | Corporate Social Media Consultant | Founder, CEO of Web Marketing Academy | B-School Visiting Faculty, in his own words:
“It was October 2006, I went to John’s office told him that I need to talk to him about an upcoming conference – Pubcon in Las Vegas. Explained to him how I would love to attend this event and it will be useful for me and the organization. At that time, I was working for GravityFree with my good friend John Barron, in Florida.
The registration fees of the conference were around 1500 USD plus travel and accommodation which would cost another 1500 USD. I asked John if the company would help sponsor me. He said, let me discuss with Scott “who is his business partner”. After a few days, he came back told me that they can’t completely cover the fees but half of the cost can be covered. That’s it, I was so excited and today I would say that it was the best perks I ever received from my employer, I learned so much in that 5-day conference, built relationship with a lot of Industry leaders. See below a video where I met Matt Cutts and Interviewed him. Till date I am loyal to John, Scott and GravityFree.
Most companies perk to their employees could be paid vacation, Insurance, Food, instead how about giving the gift of their career, which can change their life.
“Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime”.”
There are certainly 2 ways of Training: On the job training (my personal favorite) and Off the job training
On the Job, new media training:
It is “learning while performing”. It is part of your daily work, where you learn by working on real scenarios. Very good way of saving training time & cost-effective approach. It brings in immense learning as you get exposed to challenges with limited turnaround time & better problem solving skills. One should have a “Never say NO, attitude”, ability to find a way out, ensure that the work gets done.
Fortunately, or unfortunately most of the times I was put into this type of training where I was on the job from day one. Why? As most of the times my boss went on work travel / personal time out or the peer was on sick leave soon after I joined 😊. Leaving me with a set of activities to manage & to ensure I hold the ship till they return. What it did to me – I was on toes all the time, figuring my way out, talking to multiple people, learning processes on the fly, action things in my control, helping people with information & details by collating it from different sources. It wasn’t easy to maneuver! Did I drop the ball anywhere? I tried not to and was successful as people did notice that I was new but never said no to them, took time but circled back with necessary. That’s is all that matters, peoples trust in you. I turned out to be super confident on the learnings I had during this course & it helped me build relationship with my peers & seniors. That’s why this on-the-job training is my personal favorite!
Off the Job new media Training:
This type of training is primarily done for the new joiners where large number of people needs to be trained in limited time. Usually it is done away from the actual work environment by duplicating the real scenarios for training, understanding & practice. Off-the-job training helps the new members to get familiar with organization structure, culture, Mission, vision, terms & conditions, rules & regulations and policy’s and the working condition. They are like the finished, Polished & trained products who are then exposed to the market to perform. Off-the-job-training has its own advantages – gives you the time & opportunity to Meet & learn from others about their ideas, perspectives, etc. as all individuals are different in their own ways coming from different backgrounds. It helps individuals to open-up, engage with people, spend creative & productive time doing some team building activities.
The Importance of Digital and Social Media Marketing Training in our corporate world:
The culture of corporate training is different in various places. In some cases, at the end of year most managers will look for trainings to exhaust the unutilized funds from the allocated budget. In the last month of the year, they rush to spend the budget and end up giving some training which may or may not be useful for the employees. Instead informing, educating, nurturing them throughout the year can make a difference. Or take a step forward and do some research on what trainings will help your employees career and the organization growth.
One of best gift employers can give their employees to help them advance their career & skill up on the latest market trends in their respective field is by:
- Doing research on relevant training/ workshop – Not only the employer but the employee must also have the willingness & should express the interest towards taking up such courses as their investments into themselves.
- Ask for referrals – find out from friends, family, colleagues about some references for industry events, conferences, etc. search online, today we have access to many Online events, webinars, Podcasts, videos, blogs, live sessions across the world to take reference and learn from, irrespective of your location.
- Traditional form – Find out about the in-person workshops in and around you, if you prefer & value traditional type of training to seek knowledge and gain insights by interacting with an expert. Evaluate the course outline to find out if it is in line with your future career plans.
- Choose a curriculum that will cater to your present and future needs, scenarios & will show the path of your growth and success. A course that could benefit both, your personal growth as well as will fulfil organizational goals.
- Employer must ask for a strategy and plan for the next 6 months from the employee after they have completed their workshop or training. How effectively the employee can apply the learnings gained into strategic plans which is implementable and will impact the organization with greater revenues, brand visibility, etc.
- Share what you learnt – great way is to learn & share, teach others, spread knowledge among your fellow colleagues, peers, friends etc.
We have often heard, “Old is gold” or “Old Habits die hard” and you must be thinking why am I referring to this? That’s because old or traditional form still leads & is most preferred way of gaining knowledge or imparting training in my opinion. Why attending an Interactive, live in-person training will be useful than an online course? Here are a few advantages:
- Focused approach, less distraction
- Instant clarification on doubts or Questions
- Practical learning
- Peer to peer learning
- Sharing of experience & to validate what they worked on
- Real time feedback
- A mentor during and after the course
Traditional ways of learning, no doubt brings in its own flavors. Having said that, we should not forget that we are living in a Digital world with so many digital platforms available to connect with anybody & everybody from anywhere in the world. Hence, we all say – “it’s such a small world!” 😊 We take the world in our hand and in our pockets every day. Don’t you think we should know our digital world better & make it much more impactful. That’s is what people at Web Marketing Academy do. They impact people’s life and help them build, improve & grow their facet of Digital Marketing Management through a well-designed Course curriculum. They practice & believe in their unique culture, which is a constitution of in-house faculty, Alumni-guest speakers who hold strong knowledge if the subject which is ever evolving.
How a course in WMA will help:
- The importance of practical, Casual, fun yet structured curriculum
- Latest and future ready content
- Testimonials
- Companies we have trained
We would love to work with you to design a curriculum that best suits your organization. Talk to Suresh at phone number or send an email to [email protected]
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