Here's something that came through from your local Chamber of Trade and Commerce.....

TRAINING SOLUTIONS ON A BUDGET

When times are good it is often difficult to find the time to develop your people and when times are bad, finding the money for training can be even more difficult.

The truth is that we would not cut down on the maintenance or repair of essential equipment that we need to produce our products and services otherwise we would go out of business. So why should we halt the development of our most vital asset - our people?

We may be able to delay the maintenance of some of our equipment in the short term, but can we do the same with our people? In difficult times, particularly when our headcounts reduce; we need people to raise their game, improve productivity and work together to ensure that we can weather the storm.

With a bit of creative thinking, there are plenty of ways to develop your people without blowing the budget. Here are some suggestions:

Take advantage of the NVQ programmes on offer - 100% funding for NVQ levels 1 and 2 is widely available.
Take advantage of last minute offers - training providers will often heavily discount last minute places.
Train one person to train others - send one person on the training and get them to share what they learn with others.
Form a training co-operative - team up with other small companies to reduce the cost of providing courses.
Train your managers and team leaders as coaches - effective coaching can have a major impact on the performance of your people including helping people to:

Change their behaviours at work to become more effective in their roles
Refocus and look critically at their approach to work
Identify barriers that prevent them from being more effective
Commit to new and stretching performance goals
Become more flexible, solutions focused and self managing

No matter how small your business or how tight your budget, it is possible to find a training solution that meets your needs at an affordable price.

Courtesy of Cooper Parry, for more information visit: www.cooperparry.com