February 2008: Perishable Asset!

Remember way back when – when you knew what Newton’s Third Law was, how to do long division, how to solve quadratic equations, the difference between mean/mode/median….?  As a quality professional we’ve probably all had to learn these basic concepts at some point in our careers.  So why don’t we remember them?

While training some folks on blueprint reading I realized that although I could mentally calculate the least common denominator, I could not explain it to them easily.  I sought help from a teenager and as he started explaining it to me, it all came back.  Why had I forgotten something so simple?  Thinking back over all of the complex calculus equations I used to solve, it also dawned on me that I had not worked with these techniques since I learned them.  These skills had just vanished, perished!  We have all heard “No pain, no gain”, so how about adding “No practice, no skill”?!

Therefore, as a corollary, skills are a perishable asset!

What can organizations do to keep up the skill set their employees learn and not lose them soon thereafter?  During most training sessions, it is not uncommon to hear comments like, “I vaguely recall having learned some of these tools way back when, but don’t really remember how to use them now.” What a waste!

Interestingly, whenever organizations consider a training initiative, they often talk about the return on investment.  Yet they do not necessarily take the time to answer the following types of questions to make a sound financial decision:  

1. What kind of rate of return to consider and how to measure it (e.g. ROI, xxxx)
2. What costs to consider (e.g. direct – out of pocket, indirect – meeting time or lowered productivity while employees are being trained)
3. Time frame
4. Effectiveness of training and how to measure it….

For initiatives requiring training, organizations should first identify their expected outcomes, understand their constraints, and understand that skills are a perishable asset.  With that understood and defined, they can take a proactive approach, set realistic expectations about results, and plan on ongoing training; it is not a one-time deal.

Investment in production equipment pays off only when the equipment is used to produce products that the customer purchases.  Similarly, investment in training pays off only when the skills are used to improve products/services and/or their associated processes.  To prevent the skills from becoming a perishable asset, organizations need to encourage trainees to use their newly acquired skills on a daily basis and regularly on projects.  They should also provide a forum for showcasing the results as well as providing regular investment in ongoing training to keep the skills from getting rusty.

Don’t let the skills perish; build on them.