Due to the success of “The ROI of Training”, I’ve collected some thoughts on the ROI of Virtual Evening Courses. It looks like the economy is growing through 2010, though the positive impact of that growth has been tough to find. The growth looks to be built upon the backs of the existing work force. Companies have increased profits by increasing productivity. They have done this by controlling hiring and increasing the workload of the existing staff (sound familiar?). This strategy has definitely produced short-term gains in the way of corporate earnings, but there are some potentially serious long-term impacts. Just look at HP.
Yes, HP was the darling of Wall Street through the Mark Hurd years, but when you lift up the covers, you see years of short-term cost cutting and productivity driving have now produced a serious flaw. That flaw is a lack of innovation and an inability to respond to changes in the market. Who is the next in line to challenge Apple’s iPad? Most industry watchers would say HP based on their legacy track record, but they aren’t. Cisco seems to be the next most likely to challenge Apple with their Cius tablet. How has HP handled Cisco’s push into their sweet spot (the server market)? By trying to push their ‘old’ ProCurve line into Cisco’s sweet spot (routers and switches). HP’s old doesn’t have a chance against Cisco, but Cisco’s new (Nexus) does have a chance against HP.
R&D success is specifically tied to a company’s ability to handle and exploit change. A company can’t handle and exploit change without knowledgeable employees. Employee’s knowledge can’t increase if they are too busy working and are not allotted any time to learn. ASPE knows we can’t change the current productivity driven mindset, so we decided to create a new option to give them a chance to learn. We want to provide the opportunity, to both increase skills and knowledge, and still allow you to be productive at work. Click to continue »
