Training is Back!

Training is back in budgets, at least that’s how it looks from my perspective. In my 17 years in business I have seen training budgets ebb and flow in sync with the economy. Spectros Associates training business has returned to pre-recession levels, and this may mean an overall economic upswing is in progress. I actually have more than one acquaintance, including my stock broker, who uses the level of my business as an economic indicator.

Training is often one of the first budget items cut during hard economic times. In reality, the time right after a recession has bottomed out is an excellent time to invest in training. With the turnover in the labor market in the last 12 months it is common at many companies for people to “inherit” the responsibility for running an FTIR. In fact, of the thousands of people I have trained over the last 17 years this is the most common story as to why they need training. These people frequently have little or no experience with FTIR and so cannot possibly do their jobs efficiently. A company can’t realize the efficiencies gained by reducing head count if the people left behind don’t know how to do the jobs of those let go. This is why training is so important now. Only by investing in the employees they still have will companies realize any increase in profit from this year’s job cutting.

Training also makes sense when money is tight because it saves money. For example, after hosting one of my onsite courses a lab learned how to change their FTIR sampling procedures and saved hundreds of hours of analysis time per month. Training can pay for itself in improved worker performance and fewer mistakes made. Remember, if putting out fires is a problem in your lab, training is your fire extinguisher!

Lastly, investing in training now will give you a leg up on your competitors. By being the first to spend money on training during this economic cycle you will realize the increase in analysis quality and efficiencies before your competitors do, who are probably waiting for a full economic recovery before unfreezing their training budgets. Your bottom will recover faster than your competitors as a result.

Spectros Associates FTIR courses can be delivered in public sessions (schedule here: http://www.spectros1.com/schedule.html), over the internet, or at as customized courses at your facility. Go to our website for more information on your training options: www.spectros1.com .