This Week's Herman Trend Alert The Consequences of Virtual Meetings

The Herman Trend Alert April 8, 2009 The Downsides of Cutting Training It is not unusual, during economic contraction, for employers to cut their training of workers. These reductions are at best unwise and at worst, dangerous. According to the "Maintenance Evangelist" Joel Leonard, a well-respected global advocate for maintenance training, "the postponing of maintenance training costs employers billions of dollars, both in accidents and machinery that is not maintained properly". Making the situation worse is the aging maintenance workforce; the average age of maintenance workers around the globe is 48. If we do not bring young people into the field, train, and retain them, we will simply not function as effectively. Many of us have already witnessed the effects of this lack of training: machines breaking down and not being fixed for days or weeks and even planes falling out of the sky. Effects of this situation are inconvenience or even death. Second, if, due to lack of training, we don't have the depth of bench strength to promote people to higher positions of responsibility (a common situation in Corporate America), we have to hire more experienced people from outside. These more experienced people not only command higher salaries, but often cost more to recruit and take longer to adjust to the culture. In the logistics industry, not training drivers is very expensive. One fatality crash costs an employer over $1,000,000; one two vehicle injury crash costs $140,500. Moreover, the transportation industry wastes tens of billions of dollars annually on preventable wrecks that are caused by driver error. Other research from Ric Newell of Happy Endings, a national driver-training program, reflects that a transportation company can expect an average 10 to 15 preventable wrecks, per 100 drivers, per year. Many companies spend tens of thousands of dollars a year paying for preventable wrecks. Every year, companies that depend on their drivers lose substantial profits to avoidable driver mistakes. "Saving" money, by not investing in driver training, costs trucking companies and other employers billions of dollars every year. Our forecast: wise employers will use this time to reinforce and add more bench strength. Employers choosing to reduce training are leaving themselves vulnerable. © Copyright 1998- by The Herman Group, Inc. -- reproduction for publication is encouraged, with the following attribution: From "The Herman Trend Alert," by Roger Herman and Joyce Gioia, Strategic Business Futurists. (800) 227-3566 or http://www.hermangroup.com. The Herman Trend Alert is a trademark of The Herman Group, Inc." BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND: RETENTION SPECIALIST PROGRAM A growing number of people have expressed an interest in attending our Employee Retention Specialist Certificate Program. We'd like to schedule on that's convenient for those who want to attend, but need your feedback to do so. Please place RETENTION SPECIALIST in the subject line and Joyce will personally call you back to schedule the workshop. Or you can call Joyce directly at 336-210-3548 (PDT this and next week). BUSINESS IS PICKING UP Most employers are unprepared. The recovery will bring a new set of challenges for employers that have been in prolonged contracted mode. They will need more skilled workers or will need now to begin to upskill their current staffs. But organizations can not engage in Strategic Workforce Planning, when they don't know how. That's where The Herman Group can help. We can help you with your "People Review"----large or small---so that you will know who you will need and when you will need them. . . and we can also guide you to the best sources for the people you will need. For more information, call Joyce at 336-210-3548 or e-mail joyce@hermangroup.com. FIND OUT WHAT YOUR EMPLOYEES REALLY THINK AND FEEL Discover what’s really going on in the hearts and minds of your employees. Our InnerViews interviewing service uses SPHRs and PHRs, certified human resource professionals to probe for the information you really need to know. Exit and Stay Interviews, as well as Why-Didn't-You-Take-Our-Offer Interviews. Call Rosalie Catalano at 937-416-7066, or read more at: http://www.hermangroup.com/retentionconnection/exit_interviews.html. Herman Trend Alerts are produced by the Herman Group, strategic business futurists, Certified Management Consultants, authors, and professional speakers. New subscribers are welcome. There is no charge for this public service. The Herman Trend Alert is received by over 30,000 subscribers in 78 countries, in addition to other websites and printed magazines. Do you enjoy receiving this weekly e-mail update? Contact us about our co-branded Trend Alert service. Click here to sign up for the Herman Trend Alert. Subscribe or Unsubscribe to weekly Herman Trend Alert View this week's Herman Trend Alert Archived Weekly Herman Trend Alerts

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