July 16th, 2002 Continuing Education by Peter Meingast, CHRP

Long gone are the days when continuing or adult education consisted of macramé classes one night a week at the local high school.

Forty years ago, it was said that the store of human knowledge would double within our lifetime. In fact, it is now doubling every two years. This is a daunting fact—no one can know it all—and many of us cannot access much of it. It is almost all potentially accessible; one must educate oneself on the basics, and determine how, what, where and why they want access.

As a young man I was fascinated with the School of the Air, Australia's unique solution to education in a land of vast distances and a highly decentralized agrarian population base. This school is still in operation, an educational necessity, in the remote and thinly populated outback.
<< top >>

Personal responsibility
The educational opportunities available today are immense; the Internet now hosts all manner of study opportunities from virtually every major university or college. All types of degrees can be achieved online: graduate studies, post-graduate offerings, and the one I see most often, MBAs in a wide variety of disciplines—all accessible by the touch of a keypad.

In my opinion, the perspective surrounding education needs to be reassessed. In this new century, more than at any previous time, ignorance is merely ignorance; there is no bliss to it.

Each individual has an inherent responsibility to educate him or herself. Regardless of who you are or how far you have developed your life, wealth, career, and span of authority, ignorance is dangerous. Despite the fact that we all are replaceable by someone better informed, or perceived to be better able to perform our roles, in today's world continuing education is a matter of simple necessity. The issue is this: considering all the resources available, which is the most likely to achieve the proper and desired result for your situation, be it at work, at home, or in your own business.
<< top >>

However, every employer also has a stake in education. It is no longer enough to simply pay taxes and trust the government of the day to produce a workforce for the future. As often as it has been said that expertise can always be hired, today that is simply not true anymore. True, one can hire the best professional services available - lawyers, accountants, engineering firms and so on. That is not the issue.

The prevalent issue is twofold: Availability of Staff and Due Diligence.

Can any organization successfully compete for the dwindling supply of hearts and minds in the years to come? The Boomers are moving toward retirement, the much smaller Baby Bust generation is attaining the age of undertaking responsible roles.

Who in the organization know what needs to be done and how to best get it done? Who is able to best direct the assets of your organization to the most secure and productive purpose? The second richest man in the world, the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffet, has achieved his vast wealth and a corporate empire of daunting capacity by "never investing in anything he did not understand".

Can your organization prosper with executives and managers that "do not understand"?
<< top >>

Continuing education must be seen as a mutual program. With the human resource capacity of 'Western' countries falling far below demand, and the currently escalating 'Talent Wars' resulting in diminishing affordable options for organizations in need of talent, the best interests of an organization are met by investing in existing staff.

The annual mean value of personal investment in continuing education has been pegged for many years at 5% of income. It is a simple practice for organizations to reimburse for completed education, and many already do. Individuals seeking to grow as people let alone to enhance their market value are still wise to invest 5% of their income in themselves and their abilities.

It is astute for organizations to go beyond the norm. Assuming that Human Resources are highly valued, one could apply an index to a Quality of Employer assessment. Similar to the UN's HDI (Human Development Index), one could grade an organization on "life chances" of employees as opposed to strictly economic rewards (paychecks). An organization could add educational opportunities, health outcomes and political systems ---opportunities to assume accountability and advance one's career. Employers could also consider time and study environments during working hours.

Think of a person coping with home, young family and all the other outside pressures of life. Does studying close to midnight really enhance the learning process? Alternatively, a study hall environment for a four-hour period a week at the office can do much to enhance learning, and more importantly, it can enhance employee loyalty, allowing you to retain your better-educated person within the organization.
<< top >>