Rink

I had the opportunity to instruct a half-day course not too long ago, and was chatting with a student named William after class. He told me he had almost a five-hour drive in front of him to get home. I jokingly asked him why he didn't pack up his car with employees to come take the class; at least he would have some company on the drive home. William chuckled, and told me that he was lucky to even attend the class. His facility did not have the budget for training. He asked me if I had any suggestions to get his boss to free up some money so he could keep coming to training programs. I told him I would think about it… And thought about it I have. While I realize the financial constraints that many organizations currently endure, I do think it's important that employees are exposed to job-specific training and new ideas and have the ability to network with their peers. For an employer to find the balance between training an employee and main- taining an already too-tight bud- get is difficult at best, particularly when necessary to justify funds for out-of-town travel that involves airfare, hotel, meals and rental car. I do not believe that it is fair to place all of this responsibility on the supervi- sor. The employee should bear as much responsibility for their training if not more. Employees who want the opportu- nity that training provides should begin by researching available training, locations and the associated costs. Many decision makers fall into the habit of simply responding, "It's not in the budget" any time they hear a request for money. Truthfully, I had a supervisor who had fallen into this habit many years ago, however, I was obnoxiously relentless in my pursuit of securing training funds for my department. Beth's line of "It's not in the budget" wasn't a sufficient answer to me, and after negotiating, begging, plead- ing and threatening, I finally got what I had asked for. Who wants to go through that process every time? Not me! I knew that I might not be able to change the system, but thought I could at least change Beth's thinking about paying for training. After completing a two-day man- agement course, I made it a point to schedule time to meet with her. I started our appointment by thanking her for investing in my department and me. I provided an outline of the subject matter that was covered over the two days and a paragraph or two on what I believed to be the main points. I pointed out what ideas I liked, and which ones I thought reinforced what we were already doing. I also felt it was important that I explain how I would be using my new- found knowledge to make my department more efficient and effective. I proposed a meeting with key staff to present the material that I had been exposed to and communicate key points. Beth agreed that this was a good strategy, and was impressed that I had taken away that much informa- tion. Not only did this training benefit me personally, I demonstrated to Beth how it benefitted her, our co-workers and subor- dinates, and ultimately our customers. If you're fortunate to work for an orga- nization that has training in their budget, or need to "fight the fight" like William and me, I suggest you apply these steps: 1. Acknowledge the financial resources used for training and show your appreciation. 2. Take the time to reflect on your training: What you learned, what you can use to educate your staff, what you can use to become more efficient as an organiza- tion and how the investment in this par- ticular training will produce savings down the road. Share this information with the decision makers. 3. Put your training to use, the sooner the better. Don't leave your staff out of this process. ✪ Final cut Lessons learned around the rink 62 / MAY.JUNE.2012 RINKMAGAZINE.COM Persistence Pays BETH'S LINE OF "IT'S NOT IN THE BUDGET" WASN'T A SUFFICIENT ANSWER TO ME, AND AFTER NEGOTIATING, BEGGING, PLEADING AND THREATENING, I FINALLY GOT WHAT I HAD ASKED FOR. ILLUSTRATION ISTOCKPHOTO.COM by JOHN MONTELEONE

• Cover