INVESTING IN LEARNING // TRAINING & EDUCATION
Investing in Learning T R A N S F O R M AT I O N A L T R A I N I N G A N D E D U C AT I O N
BY JOHN HARDY
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n many contemporary industries and workplaces, training and education upgrading is no longer an extra, as much as a vital necessity.
Academic institutions like SAIT and Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business, as well as employers agree. Industrial training helps develop skills in the application of theory to practical knowledge and helps develop skills and techniques which are directly relevant to desired workplace goals. It also increases responsibility and good work habits. Industrial training and education exposes students to real work in an industrial environment and, at the same time, enables them to gain knowledge through hands-on experience and job execution. Employers and academics are unanimous. Industrial training helps develop work integrity, project management, time management, communication and other useful skills.
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AUGUST 2022 // BUSINESS IN CALGARY // BUSINESSINCALGARY.COM
In the past five years or so, there have been many changes in industry, as well as training. Pandemic lockdowns and disruptions of the past two years have had a tremendous impact on training and education, primarily with the transition to online learning, emerging technologies and new ways of doing things. The supply and demand for programs is being re-defined as are the requirement of workplaces and the expectations of students. “There has been a move to highly tailored, customized programming that fits the needs of organizations and individual,” says Tanya Verhulp, director, Executive Education at the Haskayne School of Business. “There is less desire for off-the-shelf programming. If an organization is going to invest in learning, they want to see a behaviour shift as a result. Business training now – as opposed to five years ago – is all about return on investment.
