CAREER Q & A

Corporate Training Programs

Q: I want to have good professional training and maximize my potential. Please advise me about this.

- Candle in the Wind

A: Lawrence Appley, former president of the American Management Association said that "working in a drug store is not sufficient training to become a doctor," while business writer Robert Townsend prescribed that "the only way to get somebody trained is on the job."

Lack of formal training is often the most abused reason why employees fail their jobs. That is why company-wide training programs are needed to develop people.

Some companies fail to consider this particular training approach: employee transfer or rotation. Many global firms rely on a series of systematic transfer through different business functions to help develop employees and professionals in becoming high flyers.

Exposure to different functions and culture produces a broad understanding of the organization and its environment. Job rotation is supplemented with more proactive training courses offered by the HRD.

R.A.H. Elbo is the managing advisor of Kairos Management Technologies and acting president of Kaizen Institute of the Philippines, both consulting and training companies.