If Gen Y Gets Their Way, Training Goes The Way of the 8 Track

So you always hear about how one generation is better than another or one generation is stupid and one isn’t. This sniping goes on and on and I have often been a gleeful participant. I’ll admit it, I have fun making fun of Gen Y and their haters.

Very rarely do these sorts of posts go into the real business consequences of some of these ideas being proposed by the consistently optimistic Generation Y. I want to not only tackle a business issue but also an HR specific issue: company sponsored training.

Now we’ve heard all the great things about being mobile. You can move more easily, you build transferable skills, you can change entire careers in a blink of an eye and you can have control of your career. All positives, right?

Let’s also assume that we live in reality: college education doesn’t adequately prepare most people for their job. We can say that many other people aren’t even following their degree into a corresponding position. So where are people learning these transferable, mobile skills? On the job, at some company sponsored training (internal or external) or on their own time.

In the mobile world of job hopping hoping though, don’t expect those first two to be around much longer. If you want to move around to five jobs in two years, you’re going to be paying for any of your training in the near future.

Does that seem rash? Yes but it is a response to a reality. Say goodbye to that entry level position with upward advancement. Unless the training is incredibly superficial, employers will want mercinary employees to have the skills necessary to perform the job today. Struggling internal development and promotion programs will be seeing more of their budget going into recruiting as the cost of turnover is fully realized.

That seems a little unfair: how will I be able to advance without getting real experience and increase in responsibilities if I am not going to learn any new skills or be afforded any training? You’ll figure out a way  optimistic Gen Y’er!

Why would companies do that? Simple math. If they consider putting you through a $5,000 training program or OTJ rotation schedule, that’s rolling the dice on you staying long enough for them to make up that cost. If an entire workforce is making them roll the dice though, wouldn’t it make more sense for them to invest the money of that costly program into recruiting and retention of people that already have the skills? I’d have a really hard time justifying anything other than a surface level training if my workforce had high turnover because of the desire for your workers to be mobile.

If I put an employee through an expensive training and licensing program, I want them to stay with us for a year so that we can at least reap the reward and make our cost back. But if we have workforce comprised of people that will bolt after six to eight months, it doesn’t make sense. A two million dollar training budget looks much more attractive being split into recruiting and compensation if that is the workforce’s actions.

So are you comfortable being 100% responsible for your training? If you aren’t yet, you should probably get used to it and quick. It seems as though more and more organizations are shuffling away from it or putting terms in the education reimbursement that is going to make it more and more difficult for employees who wish to move around to get the free ride from the employer that was customary.