When times are tough, one common response in enterprise is to examine operational costs and look for efficiencies. Notice that I didn't say "cut costs." I said "look for efficiencies." It seems that many companies have collapsed these to mean the same thing.

Cutting services and raising costs is an instinctive — and very wrong — approach in these times. Instead, companies should look for efficiencies, so they can rectify instances of waste and shortcuts that were acceptable in heartier times.

In the realm of workforce education, the former approach is more common than the latter. So how can the adept training or HR professional respond to management mandates that suspend or reduce investment in workforce education? We recommend four budget neutral measures that may make a difference.

1. Leverage your employee base.
Have subject-matter experts conduct "brown-bag lunch" events to educate others in the workforce. When there is participation from the executive level, employees will flock to these programs because they see value for themselves.

The lowest hanging fruit in this realm could be Toastmasters International, a nonprofit organization that bring people together in order to hone their speaking and leadership skills. With support from management, a company Toastmasters group can be a powerful strategy for a training department committed to developing effective leaders.

There may already be a Toastmasters group in the company that's languishing due to reduction in workforce. Breathe life into it: Place an HR manager in the group as an expression of support, and go further than that. Stimulate excellence with incentives such as inviting top club performers to address executives or the board.


2. Take advantage of hard-times marketing efforts by education providers.
Many training companies will offer free training or mini-workshops as a way of establishing a working relationship with training managers and HR. If the offering delivers significant value, invite them. Your conversation with marketing professionals from these companies could afford you perspective that may be useful in these times.


3. Grant working-hour allowances for employees to attend education of their choice.
Offer an employee two hours each week to attend (appropriate) training outside the company. This lets the employee know the company is a partner in addressing professional educational needs. If you already do this, increase the amount of time you offer them.

If you give employees time to attend professional development classes, they will probably give you twice the amount of extra time back — and be more effective in that time.


4. Develop self-directed study options for employees who take advantage of free Web content.
There is a revolution in education right now and it works to your benefit. Material and educational experiences that were the exclusive domain of the brightest, most diligent learner are now available to anyone with the inclination to seek it out. MIT, Stanford and other top learning institutions are putting vast amounts of their learning resources on the Web.

Knowledge and learning tools that didn't existed before are available to anyone with an Internet connection and motivation. Invest some staff time in aggregating the best of this and offer it to employees. For a fraction of the cost involved to develop and deliver employee education in the traditional fashion, companies can lead them to self-directed learning that will meet both party's needs.

You're being asked to do a whole lot with fewer resources than ever before. I'm here to tell you that there's plenty you can do if you'll be creative.