During the past few years, the American workplace has undergone significant changes. Companies are doing more with smaller work forces, furloughs and layoffs are commonplace and those that are still employed have often cross-trained, not to mention taken on more work than ever before. Operating budgets have been cut, and cut again, and companies are leaner and meaner than they’ve been in recent history, not so much to compete, but to simply survive.

But this universal survival mentality leaves little room for growth. One of the ways growth and progress can happen is through continuing education opportunities.

Market timing

Like trying to play the stock market, a long view is often more strategic than seeking short-term gains.

“There is no time like the present to invest in your work force,” says Dr. Joseph Weitzer, director of Waukesha County Technical College’s Corporate & Community Training department. “In addition to the direct effect training can have on the skills of the work force, it has an additive effect on employee morale, motivation and productivity. Furthermore, the more educated one's workforce, the more likely individuals within the organization are to step forward with creative solutions to problems encountered within the work environment. This can ultimately lead to cost savings through efficiencies and reduced error and waste.”

In fact, Weitzer says that while there isn’t necessarily a clear-cut, ideal time to pursue training, sometimes waiting too long can become problematic in itself.

“The irony of trying to strategize about when to implement training programs is that when production picks up, we often cannot afford to have the work force in training as that would hamper our ability to meet productivity goals,” he notes. “On the other hand, training when things are slow might be viewed negatively as we would be expending financial resources without immediate financial return.”

Smart employers understand that their greatest resource is their work force. It’s important to remember the need to take care of it just like any other asset in a business.

“Viewing your work force as an investment and developing and implementing a long-range training plan changes the strategy altogether,” he says. “Respecting the fact that people are more complex than equipment, you might consider that you would not eliminate maintenance schedules on under-utilized equipment and expect that equipment to perform optimally upon increased demand. If you want to keep your people performing optimally, contributing to the health of the organization, then it makes sense to keep their skills on the cutting edge ... besides that, your competition is doing it.”

If there is a silver lining to the tight economy, it is that it has sharpened the focus on continuing education.

“Our numbers are up significantly in our accelerated programs,” says Tom Bartelt, marketing director for the Graduate and Professional Studies Office at Edgewood College in Madison. “Due to the economy, people are very interested in upgrading their skills.”

But there has been a distinct change, says Jim Woodrum, associate dean for Enterprise MBA Programs at UW-Madison.

“Three years ago, people tended to pursue education that a) interested them and b) prepared them for what they hoped would come next in their careers,” he says. “Now, the idea is to make yourself more indispensible when things are bad and, if things get worse, to make yourself even more indispensible. People are a bit more selective in what they are pursuing.”

Structural changes

One of the biggest changes to hit adult education is the way in which it is delivered to students. According to Dr. Robert Schramm, director of online education and technology at UW-Whitewater, interest in and demand for online educational opportunities continues to grow.

“Part of the UW’s growth agenda is to reach out to non-traditional students, and online courses are a way of doing that,” he says, noting that UW-Whitewater offered the first AACSB-accredited online MBA, which it piloted a decade ago. “There is a tremendous benefit to pursuing education online, particularly for those people already in the work force. They can work, travel, coach their kids’ soccer games … and then go home and work on advancing their education.”

The online offerings at UW-Whitewater dovetail with the university’s work in teaming up with the state’s two-year colleges. Students can complete two years of coursework prior to enrolling at UW-Whitewater and finish their degrees online.

“Online degrees really make sense for the working adult,” says Schramm. “It takes away the need to drive an hour to attend a class and then drive home.”

He says that technology has also enhanced online education at UW-Whitewater.

“We’re able to stream everything online and we have a great content management system in place for the coursework,” he notes. “And those students who are located in areas where broadband access is not available can actually purchase a CD with the lectures on it. It is a system that works out very well.”

New coursework

Wisconsin’s technical colleges and universities are also rolling out new coursework, content and majors to meet the educational needs in the state.

Moraine Park Technical College’s mission to “build and maintain a competitive work force” helps ensure area employers and their employees remain competitive and ready for growth. That’s why input from industry representatives was a key factor in developing the curricula for the College’s two newest programs.

Metal Fabrication, which began in January, offers a well-rounded training designed to meet industry needs.

“Fabrication means many different things to the companies in our district, ranging from operating one specific type of machine to building a complete project using a variety of machines and tools,” says Larry Clark, Moraine Park Metal Fabrication program instructor. “All of that was considered when designing our curriculum.”

Mechatronics, which will see its first students this fall semester, is a combination of several engineering disciplines including mechanical, electronic, computer, control and systems design engineering.

This Associate of Applied Science degree is unique to Wisconsin’s technical colleges and will fill an industry need for graduates with a well-rounded understanding of engineering. It will also serve as a complement to Moraine Park’s existing engineering-focused programs. Classes will be held at Moraine Park’s Integrated Manufacturing Center at the Fond du Lac campus.

“The courses will be held during the day, with most instruction face-to-face,” says Raj Pathare, dean of trades and manufacturing. “But there will likely be online courses developed in the future.”

With corporate budgets remaining tight, at least for the foreseeable future, one important continuing education trend is toward seminars, workshops and certificate programs to enhance and develop specific skill sets.

The Milwaukee School of Engineering has developed a number of upcoming courses to meet that need, including:

• A3 for Problem-Solving (one-day workshop): A3 is a standard format for problem-solving, proposals, plans and status reviews that involves graphically depicting the problem-solving process. Directors, leaders and coordinators of continuous improvement, Lean, and/or Six Sigma, as well as anyone who works on projects, initiatives or programs that need to be communicated can benefit from the workshop.

• Innovation Immersion Workshop (two-day workshop): Covers the innovation product lifecycle from establishing the business imperative of innovation in the 21st century through marketplace launch. Attendees will use futures analysis tools to provide a different context for ideation, use different ideation tools and examine the hard work that goes into taking an “innovative idea” to market.

• System Thinking Workshop (one-day workshop): Introduces decision makers to the concepts of systemic thinking and system behavior. This workshop provides an understanding of how systems thinking can help decision makers break down problems so they are manageable, identify how today’s decisions can impact and shape the future and make better decisions.

With the recent emphasis on hard skills, and the expansion of some employee’s job duties, companies have found a renewed need for “soft-skill” training, says WCTC’s Weitzer.

Waukesha County Technical College’s Corporate and Community Training program traditionally offers a wide range of technical workshops and seminars on technical and industry specific topics, but this spring is also offering a number of courses emphasizing skill development in coaching, accountability skills and even personal productivity.

At the graduate level, several new courses in advanced management and leadership being offered by UW-Madison Executive Education are particularly likely to resonate with today’s managers.

“Success under Duress” examines issues involving conflict management and negotiations. It also aims to help managers up their EQ, or emotional intelligence, in order to enhance their performance.

Another timely new course, “Gaining Commitment,” focuses on one of the biggest challenges facing managers: How can they get the most out of their employees at a time when tight budgets, limited opportunities for advancement and other obstacles restrict the usual options for rewards? This course aims to help managers assess the impact of motivation on performance, identify how belief systems influence behaviors and better understand people’s motivational hot buttons.

 “Transformational Leadership” helps managers make major change in their organizations or business units. Those who attend will have the opportunity to examine what inspirational leaders say and do to get the best performance out of people and receive extensive feedback on their own leadership styles.

At Edgewood College, Bartelt notes that the newest graduate-level coursework is a direct response to interest from the business community.

“With so many companies looking to ‘green-up’ internally, we’re now offering a Sustainability Leadership Certificate,” he says. “It’s a one-year program that will begin this fall.”

Another new program beginning at the same time is the Master of Arts in Adult Learning and Organization Development. Bartelt says that this program is being offered both as a stand-alone certificate and as a Master’s degree.

“We believe that there is a need for this based on the amount of internal organizational training that is going on,” he explains. “And that very well could be the result of the economy — companies haven’t been investing as much in outside training, and instead are relying on internal sources for that education.”

By Laurie Arendt

Laurie Arendt is editor of CRW. She can be reached at crweditor@crwmag.com

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