Business Education and Training

The critical need for more effective business training and education is illustrated by continuing disappointment with a poor employment climate and economic circumstances that are unpredictable at best. Lack of government and political solutions seem to make it obvious that individuals need to create their own career strategies. The old and traditional business education and training methods have not been working, so the practical goal is to determine what does work.

Individual Career Solutions Might Be Needed

A major component of current employment difficulties is individuals being trained for jobs and careers that do not exist in the contemporary marketplace. Recent college graduates are the most visible example of this problem. A secondary issue is that these individuals still need more training to qualify for many jobs. The university approach to education does not seem to take any responsibility for these oversights and failings. Again this leaves it to individuals to formulate their own career solutions.

Personal initiative is not exactly a brand new idea to pursue when all else fails. But business education and training was typically not a common area for such a need to innovate when it comes to career training. Individuals in recent history simply chose a career path that they wanted to pursue and followed the traditional steps along the traditional route.

Perhaps this started with choosing a desired industry such as banking, real estate or manufacturing. We all know how much some industries such as these have changed during the past five to ten years. This has impacted both those already employed in these areas as well as those aspiring to join the ranks of employees in such industries.

In other cases the traditional career path started with several years in college. The working assumption was that one good thing would lead to another. College graduation would almost automatically develop into a lifelong career. While there might be periodic hiccups in the economy, the career path would not be seriously disrupted.

Change Management for Business Training and Education

When meaningful change happens, it almost always catches many people by surprise. Such is certainly the case when we suddenly saw banking and real estate implode before our eyes. Real estate and banking career jobs suddenly disappeared. In short order there has been a massive restructuring impacting banks and the automotive industry. Appropriate change management strategies now need to be implemented for career planning in general and career training programs in particular. This will ultimately lead to changes in perception about what works and what does not work for business training and education.