Joe DiVincenzo wrote
"As companies move to reducing the employee population of their companies
and clearly indicate to employees they need to make themselves useful and
more employable regardless of their length of service (not sure what the
responsibility the company has around continuous learning of employees --
in lots of places lip service seems to be the norm)"
I offer for your consideration that the company has no responsibility for
continuous learning. Common sense in conjunction with an a desire for
self preservation might lead the compnay's management to realize that
there is value in creating systems that enable employees to engage in
continuous learning; but if the market place does not drive this, I doubt
that it will happen. I haven't met too many managers who awoke one day
and said,"Eureka, we have to enable continuous learning for all hands!"
Most of the folks I deal with still seem to think that you can cut cost ad
infinitum and still sustain your own corporately derived perks. I haven't
met any that understand and implement a "grow the business while managing
cost and reinvesting in our people" strategy.
Certainly, no company has a responsibility to do this.
If people want some modicum of control in what happens to, for, and with
them, I suggest that they take responsibility for their own development.
That is, that they ensure that they understand and acquire the
capabilities that will add value in the market palce and therefore be
intrinsically and extrinsically rewarded. Otherwise they will always be
pounded by someone else's wave rather than riding their own.
Surfers of the world unite; take back the night! (Or is that women? Oh,
well.)
Later.
-- Willard Jule 75272.3452@compuserve.com