December 2003 Newsletter > How to Increase Your Training Budget |
How to Increase (or at least protect) Your Training Budget Part 1 of 3, provided by Benchmark Training, Oct. 28, 2003 It’s never a surprise these days when training budgets are cut. Traditionally, the first things that get the axe in government budgets are the Two Ts: Training and Travel. But it seems to have gotten worse over the past few years, and you’re probably sick and tired of it. Pretty soon they’ll cut your funds down to nothing unless you take measures to combat the trend. So what can you do? Lots, actually. Let’s take a few
minutes to explore how you can prepare in advance to protect
your training budget, and maybe even increase it in coming
years.
Now that the reasons for the short shrift given to training are in the open, here are a few steps you can take to protect your budget:
Once we identified this need, we asked ourselves how relevant improved presentation skills are in achieving the goals laid out in the agency’s Strategic Plan. We determined that our poor presentation skills make us look bad to our partners and vendors outside of the agency, are too clumsy and data-driven, wasting time and resources, and prevent those fearful of public speaking from making presentations in the areas where they are really the experts - instead they get others with less expertise but more confidence to make their presentations for them. In our Strategic Plan, it clearly states that our agency needs to improve its communication skills with outsiders. So, becoming better presenters will accelerate the achievement of this important goal. The Plan also states that with a looming federal deficit, capital resources will be reduced during the next three years. If our people can create and deliver their messages clearer and more concisely, the resources used in meetings, conferences, off-sites, all-hands and retreats (i.e. people, time and money) can be optimized, potentially saving our agency hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars during the next three years. Also, our Strategic Plan mentions the recruitment, development and retention of the most qualified personnel as a major goal of the agency. If the “best of the best” lack the skills to turn their knowledge into value for the betterment of the agency, then we'll be falling down on our promise to get and keep the best people.” Sound like a lot of work?
It might be, but if you can systematize the way you ask
for training dollars, it becomes easier over time. In the
meantime, mull these suggestions over and test them out in
your own creative Benchmark Training was founded in 2003 to provide training solutions that produce lasting improvement for government organizations. They educate their clients by providing Training Officer Tips similar to this one each month as an opt-in email service. The tips focus on strategies and techniques to help training officers do their jobs more effectively and improve upon their training.To sign up to receive these tips monthly by email, go to http://www.benchmark-training.com/tips.html
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