Employee Development Plans LO19702

Malcolm Burson (mburson@mint.net)
Fri, 30 Oct 1998 09:09:33 -0500

Replying to LO19608 --

On 23 Oct 98, at 11:29, Werner, Marijo J. wrote:

> As a word of caution (you may already know this, but )... you really need
> to be very careful here - it is REALLY easy to do this wrong, and
> demoralize people. .... The point of a skills
> inventory program is that you want to "look bad", so that you can qualify
> for training. The performance appraisal process, obviously, has the
> opposite intent (to "look good").

I'm struck by the implications of "wanting to look bad" (incompetent; not
knowledgeable, etc.) so one can qualify for training. This certainly
squares with my experience. It suggests that in many systems "training"
is perceived as a reward (in this case, for apparently negative behavior!)
and as a means of escaping the "real world" of work. One "gets to go" to
training, as compared with learning/receiving training as a normative part
of one's job in its context.

As a consequence, the connection between learning, and what one does, is
severed once again, and suggests the following question, "What can
organizations do to re-integrate training/learning into the world of daily
work?"

Any thoughts?
Malcolm Burson

-- 

Malcolm C. Burson Management Solutions Orono, Maine (207) 866-0019 mburson@mint.net

"The important thing is this: to be able at any moment to sacrificie what we are, for what we might become." Charles Dubois

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