Learning on the Job

Applications for MBA programmes always increase in tough times - Cass Business School reports applications up by 40 per cent -and business schools have noted a surge of interest in the last few months. Widget Finn, looks a how business schools are responding to the needs of their business clients for recession-busting development programmes.

The business world is currently filled with cutbacks, slowdowns, credit crunches and all things negative – but even the darkest economic cloud has a silver lining. Past recessions meant the death knell for corporate training budgets, which were always the first candidate when costs had to be cut. This time round there’s a glimmer of hope.

Major organisations learned tough lessons in the past. In the last recession the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) cut its graduate recruitment programme, but found a few years down the line that there was a gaping hole where tomorrow’s leaders should have been. Other companies reduced staff across the board then discovered the high cost of getting good people back later. With the wisdom of experience prudent organisations are re-focusing and re-allocating their development budgets rather than cutting them out, challenging business schools to help them nurture their talent through a downturn through programmes that will give more bang for their bucks.

Keeping your stars is always a key issue, but if you treat them well when times are bad the hope is that they’ll remain loyal when the world looks brighter. The stars are only too aware that eventually the market will swing once more in their favour…

The credit crunch means businesses must transform not evolve, says Sue Brooks, MD of the talent management group Ochre House. “Internally they must build communities of talent who will respond to the new opportunities of a changed market.”

Somerfield, which was acquired by the Co-op in March, is facing two major challenges – the external impact of the economic downturn, and internally the need to support the business through the process of integration. Simon Patton, Somerfield’s HR director, echoes the findings of the TMP research. “In a period of uncertainty our focus is to retain and develop our best. This policy has paid off in the past – we’ve only made two significant senior appointments externally in the last few years, as a result of growing our own.”

In a tight economic climate many organisations are cutting down their spend with external providers…Meanwhile wiser employers are sticking to quality but demanding better value for money, and challenging business schools to think creatively in order to offer more for less. They are also considering more carefully where to target the development budget.

So how are business schools responding to demands from their corporate clients for recession-busting talent development programmes? The main options – open programmes or tailor-made ones – haven’t changed, but the length and content, together with methods of delivery, is now subjected to close scrutiny.
London Business School (LBS) is thinking laterally and developing a series of general management programmes which are accessible, flexible and personalised, says JoEllyn McLaren, director of open programmes. “There’s a need for shorter programmes, so we offer two-week modules for executives who can only be away from work for brief periods. Our ‘Managing in the Downturn’ suite tackles how to lead people in these times, working with participants on the competencies they need to weather the downturn and be prepared for growth.”

More expensive tailored development programmes are still in demand, though they are looking different, says Charles Elvin, director of the Centre for Professional Learning and Development at the Open University Business School (OUBS). “Cost effectiveness is now as important as effectiveness. Corporate clients are spending more effort on training needs analysis, where in the past there was less understanding of what the outcome of a course would be. We’re looking at simpler technology to deliver materials online. Complicated simulations can cost £10,000-15,000 per learning hour, but we’ve designed very effective courses using simple technologies without breaking the bank. In the large corporation context you’re looking not at total cost, but the cost per learner for each event.”

Colin Carnall, director of executive education at Cass Business School, agrees that many companies are looking for increased value for money in managing their talent without necessarily reducing their spend.
“Clients want relevance and practical results. When running senior executive development we work alongside members of the main board, making sure we are focused on the board’s agenda and are designing programmes around the strategic changes that are needed.”

Clients are looking for immediate impact. He explains, “They want to see business growth as a result of the programme. One investment bank has teams of people working on new services into existing markets, reflecting the changed pattern of services resulting from the recession. We designed development programmes involving the competencies required to implement those shifts.”

Somerfield, with its double focus on recession and mergers, is working with Ashridge on customising external workshops. Patton explains “They’re linked to our own strategy, looking at the changes we’re facing from a commercial aspect, and are delivered by line managers.”

Professor Martin Binks, deputy director of Nottingham University Business School, reports a noticeable increase in clients’ interest in creative thinking, problem solving and innovative attitudes. “Though we do run some external programmes on managing in turbulent times, we avoid standing up in front of companies and telling them what to do. But undoubtedly the implications of the recession are bound to be included in the content when we’re running programmes for the NHS, Boots and other large organisations.”

Where does the MBA stand in the need for organisations to invest in their talent for future economic improvement? Applications for MBA programmes always increase in tough times, and business schools have noted a surge of interest in the last few months. Cass Business School reports applications up by 40 per cent.

An MBA from a top school is always an asset but in the current market conditions experience of operating businesses in a recession is as valuable as an MBA argues headhunter Ian Scott Bell.

But looking to the future, some business schools have developed a special focus on areas which will be key to competitive edge when organisations emerge from recession. Nottingham Business School leads on entrepreneurship, while Cass has set up an ethics task force to examine how the subject can be applied across all its courses.

Whether green shoots are really poking through the soil, or we’re in for longer doom and gloom, forward-thinking organisations realise that pruning development is not an option. By nurturing their talent during the economic storms they are sowing the seeds for future success.

Source: Talent Management Review

Posted by Talent Management Review