March 18, 2010 at 9:27 pm
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Finding Training
March 18, 2010 at 11:23 pm
It's sometimes difficult getting the Manager to pay for training....especially when based on a client site.
Every individuals career lenght and training path is essentially linked to the duration of the contract with the client..
When are you coming to South Africa to host a SQL Saturday? 😉
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This thing is addressing problems that dont exist. Its solution-ism at its worst. We are dumbing down machines that are inherently superior. - Gilfoyle
March 19, 2010 at 1:37 am
Ditto on when are you coming to South Africa 🙂
My company only generally attends one conference annually: Microsoft DevDays.
Interesting: its always been free before, but this year there is a cost.
I think its to make people serious about attending,
because often people would say they were coming, and then didn't,
frustrating for those who wanted to go but couldn't because it was "full".
Other than that, I have found an online resource that makes a whole lot of sense:
http://www.safaribooksonline.com
For a monthly fee you get access to, on the plan we are on, up to 10 books.
Considering programming/IT books are generally minimum $100 each in South Africa,
and they become out of date before you take another breath,
I think this service works really well.
Its cost effective, takes up no space on your self,
and can be shared by staff members,
and you can always get access to the latest books.
This is what we use for training, and it works really well 🙂
if you don't have the time to do it right, when will you have the time to do it over ?
March 19, 2010 at 2:25 am
I'm really lucky in that our company has a good policy on training and we generally have quite a healthy budget. The only difficulty I have is when I want to do some training for myself or for the guys in my team that is perhaps crossing the boundaries of our immediate remit of work. But if I can make a good enough case for the training then I can usually press on.
One of the biggest problems I have though is finding good quality training (which seems to be more difficult to find these days since the economic downturn).
March 19, 2010 at 4:24 am
Like Phil, my company has a healthy attitude to training; indeed it's an integral section of our regular formal performance reviews. That means, of course, that if either manager or employee spot a training need, it's documented. Come next review, if the training hasn't been forthcoming and has affected performance, that's also documented.
Semper in excretia, suus solum profundum variat
March 19, 2010 at 4:30 am
+1 on coming to South Africa! 🙂
March 19, 2010 at 6:28 am
I have had success by putting the request on an annual review. Especially if there is a section that asks what your manager can do for you.
March 19, 2010 at 6:35 am
I've also been lucky to work for a company that is pretty good about training (although that's changing a bit). But the one thing I do, any time I can, is point out exactly where I recieved a piece of information that helped the company. If I read a book that had information we needed, I point out that book. If a session I attended at PASS showed information that we used, I make sure everyone involved knows where that information came from. I can't tell you that works to ensure I keep receiving training, but it has to accumulate to show the use of training.
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
- Theodore Roosevelt
Author of:
SQL Server Execution Plans
SQL Server Query Performance Tuning
March 19, 2010 at 6:46 am
Henrico Bekker (3/18/2010)
When are you coming to South Africa to host a SQL Saturday? 😉
Silly question, but why does someone international have to come down here to organise an event?
Of the three people asking for Steve to visit, how many are based in JHB/PTA?
I've been nagging Steve to visit for years. He's scared of the flight. 😀
Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability
March 19, 2010 at 7:01 am
Those of you in SA, band together and work out a SQLSaturday on your own, that doesn't require Steve's involvement. I see at least three volunteers here alone, and know that there are more of you on the forums...
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March 19, 2010 at 7:09 am
Let's look at the case where there's no budget history of training or resources - and an employee wants to change that.
Work toward an eventual compromise. People don't like to say "NO" repeatedly - especially if they care about you as a person. So, you find expensive, relevant in-person training and ask for it straight out with the likely answer of "NO." Then you wait a couple weeks and ask for something less expensive - maybe online-based. The answer is "NO." Then ask for a good book. My three-year-old uses this persistence tactic on me and it tends to lead to an eventual compromise.
Chip away at the reasons behind the "NO." Ask your supervisor to "go to bat" for you and try to get you the resources that you feel you need. If the reasons have anything to do with your work quality or productivity, take solid steps to rectify the situation.
Bill Nicolich: www.SQLFave.com.
Daily tweet of what's new and interesting: AppendNow
March 19, 2010 at 7:38 am
One of the problems I've found that people face in getting some paid training is their own salary and position. Lots of salaried folks are underpaid especially if you consider how many hours they put in. The boss wants to keep these dedicated plow horses but may not be able to pay them more. Good training usually makes a person more valuable... especially to someone else who may offer a bit more pay and shorter hours.
As explained to me by several managerial friends, paying for training can be a real "Catch 22" for a lot of managers and companies. Right or wrong, their thought is "Train your people and they'll ask for more money or go else where to get it" and that thought is frequently justified by the actions of the employee. I wonder how many employees would be willing to sign a contract saying that if they left the company for another job within a year or two, that they'd have to pay back the training expense?
In other words, if you want some company paid training, you have to show that it'll be worth it to the company that's paying for it and, one way or another, that's the bottom line... what does the company get out of it? Companies will jump through hoops if the answer is "verifiable dedication".
Of course, that reminds me of a little parable... what's the difference between being "loyal" to a company and being "dedicated" to a company? The answer is that you have to think about a "Ham'n'Eggs" breakfast...
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... The Chicken was "loyal".... The Pig was "dedicated". 😛
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
March 19, 2010 at 7:43 am
To Bill: What if they don't care about you as a person? That seems to be a tall order in today's "people are just interchangeable as servers" IT workplace.
I work for a medium-to-large company that used to have what I felt to be a positive training budget/environment (one conference a year plus books and magazines), but the last few years have been hard for us just like so many other companies - and as is so often the case, training was one of the first things out the window.
How do you justify sending your remaining staff to training when you have cut people? Logical answers like "The remaining staff still have to be able to do their jobs" are not valid to our management unfortunately.
The answer we get back is "use the free training from the vendor" - SQLSaturday's and prerecorded webcasts are nice, but they are still nothing compared to the knowledge and other experiences available at PASS or Connections.
Other than looking for another job - HELP!
AndyG
March 19, 2010 at 7:49 am
I'd suggest starting by going to the free stuff you can get to, user groups, SQLSaturday's etc... Also, be willing to pay your own way to show that you value the training enough, and try to negotiate being able to go without using vacation days. Too often I think managers consider conferences and training like vacation and don't want to pay for it because of that, but if you can show you value it enough to pay for it then they may see it differently.
I work at a non-profit currently, that I know doesn't have a lot of extra money (neither do I, but I digress), so I've paid for certification exams, books, and travel. Now my boss is willing to spend some on those things.
Jack Corbett
Consultant - Straight Path Solutions
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March 19, 2010 at 7:54 am
In small companies a lot is dictated by how the business is going. If we have money it's because we're working a lot, so we don't have time. If we aren't working that much and have some time, we have no money. Right now we have no money. 🙁
I think training is great: above and beyond improved effectiveness and profitability for the company, it shows respect for the value of employees and interest in their development. That said, I'd rather have the pay cut reversed before any real money gets spent on training. (Maslow's hierarchy and all that: we had some money last fall but we spent it on increasing our SAN capacity. That was totally better than training.) But after fixing the payroll, my next priority would be for classes. It really improves the quality of work and the morale when people stop cutting corners and moving towards best practices.
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