Organisations (and individuals) have responded to the current downturn by cutting costs wherever they can, and all too often training and development budgets are considered easy targets for budget cuts.
This provides a challenge for those of us who value our continuing professional development but it’s also an opportunity to consider new ways of keeping up to date and maintaining our networks.
In the current climate it’s worth considering the resources and support on offer from our professional bodies such as CILIP , The SLA and other networks for example, our own Connect.
The SLA offers its members access to Click University and free webinars, in addition to face to face meetings and networking opportunities; CILIP provides members with access to newsfeeds, blogs and discussion groups as well as membership of special interest groups. Membership of these bodies is relatively inexpensive and, if you make the most of the resources on offer, is very good value for money.
I also find the free newsletters and listservs I subscribe to and the discussion groups I belong to really good sources of information and support. The current surge of interest in social networking sites like LinkedIn has meant that activity in discussion groups is high. It is possible to keep up to date without spending a great deal (or anything at all).
I also found it very impressive that so many of the delegates at the SLA’s 2009 conference in Washington were self-funding - these people value their professional development and networks so highly that they are willing to invest their own time and money.
Of course, there are occasions when only targeted training will provide us with the necessary knowledge and skills needed for particular projects and initiatives but it is worth remembering that by using free resources for more general development needs, you can be better placed to make the business case for investment in more focused commercial training and development.
Melanie Goody
Director of Consultancy
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