Why companies are so reluctant to offer non-job related trainings
or presentations?
I was reading an article this morning regarding Candy Crush Saga
developer, King, and at some point the article pointed out that employees are
having training in the fields of nutrition, health, African countries,
volunteering, etc…
I admit I was intrigued, I have never heard until now any of my
employers having the courage to bring such benefits to the employees.
When thinking about employee motivation the bonus structure, the
incentives, KPI’s and KPO’s are so well embedded, that it is hard to see, that
money is just a small part of abundance. Is somebody with a huge bonus really
abundant and wealthy? Or is wealth and abundance a relative feeling which comes
from an intrinsic motivation or reason? I can’t help remembering Marsha Sinetar
saying “Do what you love the money will follow”, or Tony Robbins suggesting to
help your employer see what you and your colleagues really want. Actually as I appreciate
the inspiration people like Robbins or Branson give, and I am not afraid of stating
my opinion even though sometimes weird or not ordinary as encouraged by Seth
Godin…I have myself tried last year to propose a new training structure to the
giant I am working for. I have presented to the HR department and two of my
managers how we can change the attitude of the employees (having quite high attrition),
how we should show them more that we as company care, by helping them
developing communication and leadership skills, not just “on the job trainings”.
My proposition was to create a team of excellence, in which to
have actually our own employees who are passionate about reading and
development, who are great in presenting and bringing ideas alive, who are
interested in discussions which are not limited to macros, standardization,…or who
went out with who in the office… Working in a 400 plus employees “financial hub”
finding about 10 people to create this team is more than reasonable and also doesn’t
require additional financial funds. Working in an Asian environment where most
people are afraid to stand up, to look around, to share their opinion, breaking
down some big cultural barriers and bringing a more open communication I would
see a reasonable and beneficial thing to do. The hub which was more like a
modern factory thanked me for the idea, and even though I proposed a list of
topics, they were very reluctant. In the end the only effect of all this was to
have a 6 hour long training held by British Council on “How to write an email?”…specially
addressed to Asians’ over-polite attitude.
Are giants ready to move out of their comfort zone, or how long
we still have to wait until we see a surprising, out of ordinary improvement? Or
do we have to wait or take the leap and pick ourselves to be excellent where
this is not hindered by out aged rules?
Do companies want monkeys, servants, mediocre or computer like
people who get the job done…or do they want a bit of that sparkle? Anybody can
punch in some numbers, process some journals and produce similar reports from
one month to another as typical to most of our outsourcing companies “standard
deliverables”…but who is actually courageous enough to analyze the trends and
give frank feedback without being in a management position, look behind the
reasons, have the curiosity to connect the operations with the numbers… Working
in finance should not be limited to following instructions and producing
reports: it should give us that great curiosity to see WHY these numbers are
representing our activity. Numbers tell the story, and they connect people and
materials, how can we see the true value if we are afraid to look deep enough
or to look ahead enough? We are not just minions calculating standard
percentages, we are individuals who have the brainpower to give interpretation,
to analyze, to connect, to see the business but to visualize outside the
business, to have the attitude of not working for a company but rather creating
the value together with other colleagues. We are all dispensable and replaceable…but
we can all bring something unique, we can all feel a connection to our workplace
which makes us want to develop it, and feel like we are part of it, and as it
is our own.
And if this feeling of loyalty and belonging for me, and probably
some other employees comes from some topics which are discussed together, but not
related to the strict list of tasks we are doing: what would be really the loss
of the company to get engaged in doing a “Personal Training School” compared to
the massive benefits it could discover by actually seeing those hundreds or
thousands of employees as individuals and not a number on the payroll?
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