Whatever the result of the General Election taking place in the UK today, the expectation is that there is a period of belt-tightening on its way.  Some are even talking about an ‘Age of Austerity’, and I think that may well be the case, relative to the past 30 years at least.  The UK’s public indebtedness is so large that in order to reduce the deficit, cuts in spending by government plus rises in taxes seem to be a certainty.

However, the economy has only recently come back to growth and no administration will want to send us back into recession if they can help it, so whoever ends up in charge at Downing St (numbers 10 & 11) will want to manage the process of debt reduction without stifling the business recovery.

So, we wait to see whether and where the axe will fall – and those of us in Learning & Development wait specifically to see the ramifications for us.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to predict that the public sector will see major cutbacks, in budgets, in staffing levels, perhaps both.  In the private sector, increased taxation (however it comes) may discourage firms from taking on additional headcount in the short term.  But it’s my view that this period is bringing with it great opportunity for improving organisational productivity.  We have already seen that the recession of the past couple of years has forced a lot of organisations to be leaner and more focused, and the prescription looks like being more of the same going forward.

Whatever happens, planners and senior managers in both sectors (and the third sector too) will surely be looking for increased efficiency – getting more out of less – and it’s not before time as far as many parts of the public sector are concerned.

The big question for managers and learning & development professionals is what the impact of the new austerity will be on development budgets.  The obvious response and instinct from some will be a thick red line through the training allocation; but those who stop to think it through may actually go the other way…

For if the objective is to get more done, to a higher standard, by fewer people, then training has a massive role to play.  It’s not enough to tell people to work harder – you need to give them the tools to work smarter.  Where working hours are closely defined and overtime attracts a premium cost, the challenge is really to overhaul mindsets and eliminate wastage, both of which training & coaching can help with.  The private sector faces the same to differing degrees, plus it has the added challenge of fierce competition for talent, and retaining the talent it attracts.

Dealing with change, effective leadership, improved communication, better performance management, alignment of team goals, efficient time & self management… The list is long.  These are fundamental skills and behaviours that learning & development can improve, and they are the drivers that will deliver the efficiencies that organisations everywhere need in the years to come.

Compared to what Ken Blanchard calls the ‘cost of doing nothing’, tailored, targeted and professional training & development can make a huge contribution to pulling the UK out of the mire – the key is to concentrate on outcomes and use professionals with proven track record.

Tim Holmes, Director

Tags: austerity, budget cuts, cost of doing nothing, efficiency, future of training, General Election, training trends

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 6th, 2010 at 12:29 pm and is filed under L&D Discussion, Phoenix News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.