Everyone who's spoken to a hiring manager has heard the complaint that good people are just too hard to find. The secret is that the reason for this isn't that there aren't any good people. There are plenty of highly skilled and qualified employees in the workforce. They just don't go on the market - they're just too darned happy where they are. A big part of the reason for this is that they didn't necessarily start out as highly skilled and qualified, but were brought to that level through competent business and management coaching.



Many CEO's have a Harvard MBA, but below the CEO level a large percentage of management started out at the bottom working their way up. There is no real truth to the idea that one begins at the bottom and stays there for their career. It is widely recognized that competent training management, often referred to as "on the job training," is one of the primary ways companies increase the value of their in-house talent. This is because that value does not leave the company.

When employees see that a company invests in them, through conferences, seminars, and other forms of training management, they see that they are working for a company that cares about them. This is one of the main reasons that they don't go on the market, looking for another company that probably won't treat them as well.

Another dirty secret is that training management works well for companies whose employees don't know exactly what they're worth. Unlike employees holding a Harvard MBA, those with training management do not have a piece of paper that suddenly makes them too expensive to hire. At the same time, though, they are often just as motivated, perhaps even more so, after taking on the paid job training than someone who has just slugged through academia. This is one of the many reasons companies are eager for training management.

Another function of a company is change management, just as important as training management. Would that the market never moved! That once we designed a product, we could keep selling it forever. But the fact is that change is a constant part of our world, and even a product as venerable as Coke gets a redesign from time to time - not to mention the ad campaigns. Through continuous management, a company is able to keep its workforce very new.

While a piece of paper from Harvard never changes, continuous changes are a fact of life for corporations across the world. With the right training and change management, companies can keep on top, turning weak employees into strong ones, and allowing someone with out-dated qualifications into fresh and exciting new areas.