Should We Train Employees Who Might Leave or Keep Them Untrained and Loyal?

Hey all,

I require your suggestions on this. What if you train a person and he leaves, or what if you don't train him and he stays with the company? Which option do you think is better in your view? Kindly give your opinion.

Regards,
Sujata

Hi,

I agree with Viki. You need to train a person and ensure that person is motivated by that training and applies it in their job. Training is a gamble because there is a threat that the trained employees might leave or demand more, but at times you have to take a risk.

If the training is costly, you can always ask the employee to enter into a bond, which most organizations do since it benefits both the employee and the organization.

Other than that, training is required if you expect your employees to perform well with high efficiency and be more effective. You can introduce monetary and non-monetary rewards to ensure they stay in your organization and apply their training in their job, which will help you benefit from the training while keeping the employees happy at the same time.

Regards,
Ashra

Hi friend,

I think the points put across by other fellows here are worthwhile, but I am still not convinced. I see no dilemma under any circumstances when providing training to anybody in the organization.

An effective training program includes Training Needs Identification, Training Needs Analysis, Training Design, and then Training effectiveness analysis. So, the point here is how a training manager identifies the special needs of the training and the target person.

Attrition is prevalent in every walk of the organization these days, and we have to keep this particular thing in mind while thinking about and planning any value-added initiatives for critical talent. Therefore, the success of this initiative depends on selecting the right person for the right kind of training. Here, the Right Person would be the Critical talent, and the Right kind of Training would be the Critical Values that they are going to add to the organization.

Personality and perceptions of the selected person for training are also key determinants for a successful Training Program. More often than not, half of the Training Programs could not reach their desired objectives due to the poor identification of the Trainees. Therefore, emphasis should be placed on a proper understanding of the psychological aspects of the employee before selecting them for any Training Program.

What do people say? Correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks and Regards,

Suryakant Pandey

PM&IR

TISS, Mumbai

Hi SuryaKant,

I do agree with you. We need to understand the psychology of a person before giving any training to him/her.

Regards,
Sujata

Hi Sujatha,

I would like to offer a simple suggestion. The problem is like a big tree; one must delve into the roots and reach the seed from where the problem originates. The issue may not necessarily be linked to providing or withholding training; it could be associated with the incorrect selection of candidates, compensation, working environment, etc. However, the most crucial aspect is to train the immediate reporting authority first to become a coach if you aim to gain the true benefits of training.

Regards,
Bino

Hey binomathew,

Thanks for your reply.

My question is, which option would you prefer: training a person who leaves after training, or not training at all?

Thanks,
Sujata

Hi Bino,

Could you please elaborate on why you would like to train a person, suppose he/she will leave you after training?

Regards,
Sujata

Dear,

It may be possible that as one of the alternatives: "ONLY HIRE THE TRAINED EMPLOYEES."

With best regards,
Alok Goel

Training is a necessity. It is not professional thinking to avoid training with the concern that employees may quit. It is the strategy and skill of the management to retain employees they want. As an HR professional, you should be concerned with both these issues.

Hi,

I personally think training is needed. Though, I also agree that sometimes a post-training analysis is needed to judge the effectiveness of the workshop/session.

The sad part is that the organizations which ask for training workshops themselves portray the training as something that needs to be undertaken for some benefit to the organization itself. They don't portray it as something that is going to be beneficial in the long run to the individual. That's why, and this is my personal opinion, a lot of trainees come to the workshops with a closed mind. They are undergoing the training for a benefit, a certificate, and not for themselves. And that is why post-training analysis is so disheartening to the trainer.

One good outcome is that the trainers have been forced in such closed mind situations to think out of the box. However, and fellow trainers will agree, while the money is good, the real reward for us is to actually see a trainee see that light at the end of the tunnel.

So, the moral of the story is training is needed, and more than that, a pre-workshop analysis is needed so that the trainer can customize the workshop to wake the trainees up.

Richa

Sujatha,

It is a question that has been asked of me by my management and my other managers. This is a risk we have to take, and to date, I have personally faced many problems with this training. We conduct training for employees on high-end engineering software that is not taught in schools. As suggested by others, we also require employees to sign bonds.

1. Individuals who were trained have run away despite signing the bonds. Legally speaking, we cannot do much to stop them.
2. Individuals have blackmailed us into paying them more salary after receiving the training.
3. Individuals have become irregular in their office attendance after completing the training.

These are some of the problems we face. BUT THEN WE STILL TRAIN. Without training, we cannot survive as there is a significant supply-demand gap in the market. It is a helpless situation.

Hope this helps. Praveen

Hi Rajeev, Richa, and Praveen,

Thank you for your valuable inputs. I do agree that we need to train the people, but as Praveen mentioned, we face a lot of problems too. Is there any solution for it?

Regards,
Sujata

Training is required, but to utilize that training for proper development, you need proper coaching. We are people with "Thick Skin". We don't work unless it is a compulsion. So, it is better to provide training to your employees but have them sign a bond with the company. I am not foolish to spend lakhs and lakhs of rupees and then see my people being poached by others and using the training provided by me. Therefore, signing a bond or maintaining a security deposit is essential.

Regards,
Sanjeev Sharma

Hi,

The same problem we are also facing in our hospital. Though we are getting frustrated at times, we cheer ourselves up by training new people. We cannot place people in jobs without routine training because it is a must, especially in a health sector like ours.

For specialized training, as somebody mentioned, major criteria such as training identification, selection of trainers, and providing training for the right people all play vital roles. Developing the mentoring skills of our own staff in middle-level management positions may reduce the severity of the problem. Over time, they may identify the right individuals who will stay with us after being groomed by us.

This is my perspective. Do you have any other views? Please reply.

Mangai

sujata
It's for sure that we can not avoid skill training as a part of capability building but options to de-risk would be to have an internal training program conducted by the person who had gone thru the training immediately after the program to the second layers where by u have alternatives.
But as an organization it is always important to understand the criticality of the position by doing a mark to market survey and decide on the money that can be paid to that person
kalyan kumar