News Release
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Universities Coming to the Corporate Campus
Employers, distressed that their employees lack critical knowledge and skills
to perform effectively in a highly competitive, fast-moving marketplace, are
looking to colleges and universities for help. Executives are inviting
professors to come to the corporate offices to teach executives and managers.
Supervisors are being trained in their work settings, as well as on campuses
of universities and community technical colleges. While this practice is not
new, the intensity and level of activity will grow substantially.
Current research suggests that more companies will utilize local educational
resources in the employment environment much more aggressively in the years
ahead. This approach will save employees time away from work, will enable the
instructors to focus on issues faced in the specific company's circumstances,
and will provide opportunities for one-on-one coaching to supplement the
classroom work.
In a number of industries, leaders are discovering the impact of the long-
term practice of hiring from their competitors instead of bringing new people
into the field. Their companies are now populated with highly competent older
workers who are not as familiar with new technologies. Some of these older
workers want to retire, often to shift to a different kind of work or a more
flexible lifestyle. Younger workers have not been attracted and nurtured, so
these companies face an age-gap in their workforces.
Instructors who can facilitate the vigorous exchange of information and
experiences among members of a diverse employee population will be in high
demand. Also, these professional adult educators, many from the academic
setting, will "upskill" the younger workers and retrain (often in new skills)
the older ones..
There will be advantages for all concerned. The learners will gain knowledge,
skills, time, and convenience. The employers will gain a more competent
workforce and opportunities to take advantage of the education resource in
their communities. The educators will gain by greater engagement with the
corporate community. By holding the classes on site at company facilities,
the colleges reduce the need to build more classrooms. In addition, they can
use the up-to-date equipment in manufacturing facilities so learners are
prepared to become productive more quickly.
From "Herman Trend Alert," by
Roger Herman and Joyce Gioia, Strategic Business Futurists, copyright 2004.
(800) 227-3566 or www.hermangroup.com.