The importance of investment in learning and development in a downturn

Investment in learning and development in a downturn doesn’t have to be costly says Patrick Mills, director of professional development at the IPA…

“We’re going to have to cancel.”
“Why?”
“Not enough delegates.”
“But it’s free!”

An unlikely conversation in a training department, but oddly enough it could be a reality in a recession. What has become apparent to me over the last year is that it is not just the retail price of a course or seminar, the time impact is carefully assessed as well, with businesses reluctant to let their staff out to learn with budgets tight and teams lean.

Sadly the learning and development budget is one of the first to go when businesses tighten their belts. It is an easy one to strike out particularly as the impact of training is not immediately evident.

However, a consequence of the last major recession in the early 90s was a huge skills gap in the advertising industry, partly through lack of recruitment and partly through lack of investment in staff development. The latter aids with staff retention, which can, in turn, fend off competitors desperate for good people when the recession comes to an end.

This recession seems marked by a reduction in the importance of financial services to the economy. As such there has been significant interest and support for creative industries from the government, who are eager to promote the opportunities available to schools and universities. In addition, the government has released statistics that support the benefit of learning and development in organisations: the UK Commission for Employment and Skills suggest that firms that don’t train are twice as likely to fail than those who do.

This is particularly apt in knowledge based industries, of which the creative sector is one:

“The future of the UK economy is in knowledge based industries. These sectors are reliant on highly technical and often specialised knowledge, their products less influenced by price competition but marketed on a high value-added basis.” (Neil Lee, The Work Foundation, 2007)

In order to win business or sell great ideas to clients, agencies need to attain and develop the technical and specialised knowledge that clients are looking for when they hire them. We all know it is an incredibly competitive industry at the best of times, in a recession it is even more so.

This should mean that sensible businesses invest in learning and development. The good news is that many of them do just that, however rather than outsource to training providers they are using in-house or partner resource to deliver relevant programmes to their business.

There is a huge amount of evidence of this through the IPA’s Continuous Professional Development programmes, which our members have subscribed to for ten years, with participation mandatory to qualify for membership. Within the annual submissions there is a wealth of documentary evidence to support the claim that agencies can deliver brilliant training on a shoestring. We have made awards to a number of agencies for their commitment and innovation to learning and development. Agencies like DDB, BBH, Starcom and JWT, to name but a few, all now have outstanding programmes running in house.

In addition we have seen the quality of training and its benefits grow significantly throughout membership during the ten years. This is good for agencies and good for the clients that hire them.

To help agencies of all shapes and sizes within membership the IPA have compiled a list of free or nearly free learning email patrick@ipa.co.uk, in conjunction with training managers from member agencies. Many of these are from highly regarded organisations like national newspapers, the British Library and Government funded short courses available through Creative Choices (www.creative-choices.co.uk). We have also encouraged agencies to take advantage of Train to Gain grants.  All of which have helped agencies develop their staff, while keeping the costs as low as possible.

The importance of this is that agencies need to invest in time, and modest budgets, rather than outsource everything.

Of course, it is highly likely that internal learning and development and free material may not be the complete answer, which is why training providers need to harness the potential of new technologies and provide a range of training opportunities that are accessible and good value for money. They need to be both on and off-line, supported by online content such as edited highlights, videos and downloadable presentations.

To counter this, we should also not ignore the fact that staff in our industry do enjoy the opportunity to get together with people from different agencies, as research has shown, to socialise, swap stories and create mutual self–help groups. So residential or long full day programmes should never be abandoned in the digital age, and importantly they have a career-long impact on delegates.

The critical and overriding factor in all of this is that businesses need to invest in the time to find and implement top quality learning and development, then blend this with carefully selected courses and qualifications to enhance their own offering.

It can be done, and on a budget.

For the latest news and updates on qualifications, courses, or the CPD Programme, as well as tips on learning, go to www.ipa.co.uk and click on CPD Zone/Course. Alternatively email patrick@ipa.co.uk