There is a concern building within learning and development circles about the effect of the economic slowdown on budgets. Traditionally, development and training budgets are one of the first to be hit along with the marketing budget. The thinking being that the short-term financial need outweighs the short-term impact on performance. Development is wrongly seen as a long-term activity.
In a time of uncertainty and change, people need support and development to be able to deal effectively with the inherent issues and challenges. It is the responsibility of learning and development professionals to identify the business issues and specifically where focused learning interventions can have an impact on the bottom line. This might be in areas such as financial management, business acumen or how to lead change.
A smaller budget doesn't mean that results can't be achieved, but it might take a bit of creative thinking to generate solutions. Leadership and development professionals need to be able to fight for their budget by being clear about the issues they are addressing and the impact that these will have on the organisation. It is important to point out the consequences of not continuing to invest in development, as there is clear evidence that those organisations that refocus and invest in development of their market and staff, are those that tend to do best when the economy moves into a growth phase.
Be clear about your plans and the impact these will have on the performance of the organisation, and think about how you can drive more efficiency in your own area of responsibility. We hope we can support you in this at eden tree.