Why cutting back on education is always a bad idea.

The focus of companies and institutions is largely on the core activities and the products or services it sells. And that in itself is logical, as long as the supporting, and just as important (!), activities are not compromised. Not infrequently, cuts are made on maintenance and resources. And one of the most damaging cuts is in education and training. It starts with converting good and professional training, which usually lasts a bit longer, to so-called “company" or "internal" training, which often only takes a few days or weeks and is done by the employees who also have their own responsibilities and work. And it often ends in minimising the HR organisation, precisely the group focusing on personal development of employees including training, up to drastically reducing the number of training courses. Not only are knowledge and skills eroding, with the training often just not fitting the logistical planning, but it also devaluates the know-how of the other professionally trained employees and it poses a risk for production output and quality.

But above all, it devaluates people: “am I not worth investing in”?

Continuing to learn is more than just acquiring knowledge. People get to know other people, expand their networks, it broadens insights and can also just be fun to do. It also attracts new professionals and retains existing professionals in your company or institution.
And it does not always have to be professional training or education, it may also be training in another field or even a hobby or in the context of voluntary work or informal care or charities; be creative!

Continuing to learn keeps people mentally flexible! And it is this flexibility that we need more than ever in this time of uncertainty, change, further automation and globalisation, with more questions than answers and the search for innovative ideas.

Would you like to discuss this? Or are you looking for a fun training in the field of colour of Engineering Materials? Contact weColLaborate.