The Blame Game: Who is Responsible for Employee Development? Part 1 of 2
The debate continues: Who bears the responsibility for professional development? Employees believe their employer is responsible for developing them and employers believe employees should take the initiative to develop themselves.
It's a tough question because each point of view makes sense. You're probably familiar with the popularized corporate dilemma:
Manager: What if I train them and they leave?
Supervisor: What if we don't and they stay?
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, employees are only staying in a job on average for 1.5 years. Let that sink in. 1.5 years. That's barely enough time to add any value to the organization.
Training and development is one of the highest fixed costs in any company with a customary budget of 3-6% of payroll. It is a significant expense, especially in light of how quickly employees move on to other employment. So, is it realistic in today's employment environment for employees to expect their employer to fund their portable knowledge?
Here are the pros and cons from the employer's perspective:
Now, compare the employer's perspective with employees' expectations:
The problem is evident and it's multi-layered. Where is the happy medium? How can employers and employees reach a meeting of the minds? Both sides have valid points of view on this issue.
Notice I didn't ask how employers and employees can compromise? Candidly, I'm not necessarily an advocate of compromise as neither side is generally happy with what they've had to give up to reach agreement. Rather, I'm an enthusiastic sponsor of working to improvise. It's clear that this debate is badly in need of some innovative thinking.
To that end, I'm interested in steering this discussion to SOLUTIONS that will improve the employment experience in our industry as a whole. So, in the Comments, let's discuss novel ideas and original approaches that are gaining traction.
Conversation starters for the Comments:
How does your company handle employee training and professional development?
What is your company's viewpoint on whether employees are entitled to company-funded learning?
Does your company offer development at all levels?
Is it delivered in-house or externally?
Do you know of any company that is getting it right? If so, how so?
Comment away and keep an eye out for Part 2 of this post.
