How SMART are U?

by Mandy Exley

Despite the fact that learning can be fun, it is also often hard work requiring time and money. But people generally do not mind this hard work or cost if they are going to achieve something that they really want. Employers rush to train employees if they have expensive machinery standing idle and need a skilled operator; individuals will learn flexibly in their own time to gain a better more satisfying job.

Easy identifiable short-term SMART targets.

But what happens when the target is a little further away - next month, next year, five years? For employers, burdened with the day-to day running (or survival!) of their companies, it is frequently difficult to take the time out to plan where they want to be in three or four years time and develop a overall strategy addressing the key aspects of production or service, selling, finance and employee development. In other words, many companies do not have time to have a target. No target, no action. Worse, because there is no employee development, the company often does not grow or develop as it could.

To help break this cycle, a number of organisations, including Perth College, have in recent years developed an approach to identifying training targets. These targets flow from an analysis of the strategic objectives of the company, its current positioning in the market and its general strengths and weaknesses. This holistic approach aims to identify what can be referred to as STRATEGIC TRAINING rather than OPERATIONAL TRAINING. In other words, employees are trained in anticipation of need rather than when the need occurs and help to realise the longer-term goals rather than being carried along towards them. Imagine if employees were as fired-up and passionate about achieving long-term goals as their employers AND had the skills to achieve them. We would all be flying.

If you would like to explore this STRATEGIC approach members of the Business Skills Partnership can help point you in the right direction so please get in touch and we hope you enjoy the second edition of our contribution to raising awareness of the importance of employee development and training.