Canadians attend college or university not only to learn about a certain subject, but also to prepare for the workforce. So why are companies developing in-house training programs for their employees? And why are employees eagerly taking them?
Because as valuable as post-secondary education is, it can never be geared entirely to training individuals for a specific job within a particular organization.
So companies, such as Cognos, Wunderman, Bank of Montreal and Ceridian, have created in-house training programs, which are generally a blend of online and classroom training lasting anywhere from two hours to two days, to ensure employees have the skills to excel in their jobs.
Some courses address technical proficiency. Of course, individuals come to their jobs with a foundation, but sometimes the core skill set needs to be further developed. At Wunderman University, for example, the co-creative director of the advertising agency teaches an "evaluating great creative course," to what the company calls "apprentice-level" employees ( junior copywriters and designers) and more senior "journeyman level" ones as a refresher.
In other cases, employees need to learn a technical skill to carry out a job task, a PowerPoint presentation, for example. That's why Ceridian, a payroll and human resources management services company, has basic desktop user courses online, such as "creating animations in PowerPoint" or "pivet tables in Excel."
While some technical skills, such as the desktop programs, can be learned through standard licensed courses, others require customized classes. "We have a payroll [software] program that our customers use called InSync that employees can't learn elsewhere," says Heather Turnbull-Smith, director of national learning and development at Ceridian.
The customized classes are taught by senior and executive-level staff, who draw examples from the day-to-day business. "In 'how to write a creative brief,' our vice-president of creative direction showed us an example of a brief written for the client Wyeth, and I was able to apply the learning to the client I work with, Microsoft," says Leann Kirwan, account supervisor at Wunderman.
Companies also provide personal skills training because working with others doesn't come naturally to everyone and isn't formally taught in school. Ms. Kirwan found the "communicating for results" course at Wunderman University especially helpful because it taught her how to work with different personalities in the office. "They didn't actually teach these skills in any of my advertising courses at Georgian College," she says. Similarly, Cognos, an Ottawa-based business intelligence and performance management solutions company, offers employees courses on "how to deal with and resolve conflict," and "adapting to change."
And when employees take in-house training together, it improves their ability to function as a team. Frank Ouyang, manager of technical solutions for localization services at Cognos, says, "the opportunity to interact with coworkers during in-house training has benefits beyond networking. I often find we are building and sharing business context with participants [who] work in different functions."
But it's the in-house management training that employers and employees feel is most beneficial. "We were observing that as people were required to take on supervisory roles, most had little prior experience," says John Wright, executive vice-president at advertising agency Wunderman, and "dean" of Toronto's Wunderman University.
Even employees with an advanced degree, such as Mr. Ouyang, who holds a Master's in computer science from Computing Technology Institute, China Academy in Beijing, was keen to take almost 30 in-house management courses including "reaching group agreement" and "leading successful meetings," so he could operate as an effective manager.
"The training courses are about soft skills, which were missing from my university course," Mr. Ouyang says.
Employees could take management training as part of an MBA program or through an external professional development organization, but Jerilyn Pattle, team manager, small business solutions at Ceridian in Winnipeg, argues in-house training is more applicable because it's tailored to her company and industry.
"In our 'manager essentials' course, we're all doing the same job from across the country and so it's easier to think of examples of how we're going to apply the learning."
However, don't assume inhouse training will be a fast-track to the executive suite. First of all, the opportunity to take career development courses is of secondary importance.
"We don't want managers to send employees to courses all over the place; the No. 1 priority is to get employees the skills they need to do their job well," says Ms. Turnbull-Smith.
Also, not all the employees interviewed say that in-house training advanced their careers. Myra Cridland was a senior manager, head office, retail bank division at Bank of Montreal, when she took a specialized three-year BMO-Dalhousie MBA at the $50-million Institute for Learning. Now the vice-president and chief administrative officer of private client group at BMO, she says, "without it [the training], I wouldn't be where I am today."
However, her training experience was unconventional in that it was actually an MBA degree.
Whereas Ceridian's Ms. Pattle, who has had three promotions in six years, says the Business of Administration diploma, the human resources diploma, and the certificate in management, all of which she took at Red River College in Winnipeg, played a more instrumental role in her promotions.
Wunderman's Ms. Kirwan, who was recently promoted, also reports "the courses didn't affect my review." It was her performance on the job that was the biggest factor.
Also when moving companies, the credibility of an employee's in-house training in the eyes of another employer is often tied to the reputation of the company the employee worked for, says Jeremy Miller, partner at LEAPJob, a Toronto-based recruiting company that specializes in sales professionals.
"If it's unbranded training, as a recruiter, you've got to figure out how good the level of knowledge is."
Source:thestarphoenix.com
