‘We are shaping the world faster than we change ourselves and we are applying to the present the habits of the past.’ (Winston Churchill)
‘We are shaping the world faster than we change ourselves and we are applying to the present the habits of the past.’ (Winston Churchill)
This is an old dilemma. The recognition that must take place in a business environment, amongst other areas of life, that emerging new situations ,cannot and should not be handled with legacy of outdated precepts, concepts and operating procedures.
To respond to the challenges of change, there is a need to upscale skills, i.e. train human resources. Training and development are major pillars upon whose edifice the future and growth of the organisation is wholesomely dependent. This basic concept is now coined as ‘learning initiatives’, ‘learning organisation’ or even ‘knowledge economy’. Old wine is new bottle. Training is an unending need its imparting methodology is an area that goes through phases of positive transformation. No fanciful terminologies alter the meaning of training.
Despite recognition of change, organisations are slow generally to respond with enhanced availability of trained resources. Updation of the technology architecture on a standalone basis does not usher in efficiency it is the development of the craftsmanship of the human capital that will allow for the instruments of delivery of goods and services to achieve the benefits of the technical platform. In his book, ‘business wisdom of the electronic elite’, Geoffrey James says, ‘major changes in technology demand- major changes in culture. Culture not technology has always determined who has prospered.’ My deduction here is that developing a learning organisation must be the prelude to all business engagements and initiatives. Having a tool, but with no knowledge of how to put it to best use, is a wasteful investment. Training therefore, must have relevance to business needs. It could be both soft skills and technical skills with the due emphasis, depending on what business the enterprise is engaged in. There is no individual who cannot vastly improve his or her skills, by training, thought and practice.
No technology can overtake the value of human compliment in any business venture. All management scientists and Guru’s write about right people, right assignment, right seat, right level in hierarchy etc. they come up with a jumble of terminologies, all leading to creating the importance of human resources i.e. people. It is the quality of people hired and the quality of skill training infused in them that would determine the success of any organisation. Hiring and developing must remain in conjunction, as a simultaneous activity. In hiring due cognizance should be given to an old Chinese proverb, ‘even the tallest towers rise from the ground.’
No flowers or shrubs grow under a banyan or oak tree. The old guards in any institution must give way for infusion of young blood that is imbued with a fresh zest of energy. Training others must remain one of the top priorities of senior management. Anelement of selflessness is a major motivator for training others. I always endeavour to find time to spend with younger colleagues besides holding regular training sessions. For any training initiative, it is necessary to have a buy-in from the chief executive and the entire senior management if it is to be met with successful outcome. In a previous organisation, I had made mandatory for the senior management to conduct at least once a year, a technical program or seminar. This was included as an item of their annual performance appraisal. At the bank where I currently work, we have a ‘Learning Council’ comprising senior management that has a hands-on oversight on training and development activities.
Training is not abdication but assumption of responsibility for continuity of good business practices. Plato in ‘The Republic’ says, ‘the sailors are quarreling over the control of the helm…they do not understand that the genuine navigator can only make himself fit to command a ship by studying the seasons of the year, sky, stars and winds and all that belongs to his craft (read institution here!) and they have no idea that along with Science of navigation it is possible for him to gain by instruction or practice the skill to keep control of the helm whether some like it or not.’ Learning the ropes is a predetermining factor to success in one’s career.
In training and mentoring others, the trainer and mentor stands to gain as much for it gives him/her an opportunity to clear cobwebs on thoughts and sharpen the known skills. Ask yourself as manager do you think you have a de-jure or even defacto responsibility to train- if yes, then when was the last time you conducted a formalised session? ‘Make others great’ should be the edifice of your thinking and action.
The author is a senior banker
