Why you should (not) train your employees, By Taiwo Obe
By Taiwo Obe
I remember responding to the above tweet soon after I saw it on 20 January. See:
I have been in the business of employing staff, technically since 1991, when I became a co-founder and executive director of a publishing company in Lagos, Nigeria. So, I have some credentials here.
From 1995, I co-founded yet another company – what we called a total-solutions communications company -but this time I was the CEO.
Fast-track to two nights ago: when I stumbled on the LinkedIn profile of a former staff of the company where I was CEO. I was delighted to see that he’s today “Head, Marketing & PR” of a company somewhere in Lagos State.
I was, however, bemused that he didn’t list our company, TaijoWonukabe Limited, as one of his previous places of employment.
I wore my glasses to be sure that I was not mistaking him for another person. No, I wasn’t. His name and photograph match.
I thought that, perhaps, the body of his profile would have the details of his work at TaijoWonukabe. This time, I was wrong.
More befuddling: the listing of his certifications contained at least four he obtained from training he was sponsored to by this same company he has refused to acknowledge.
Of course, I was livid.
This was deceit of the highest order.
I had a fair idea of what I could do, which could be detrimental to him, but I decided on “being nice” – I sent him a text, yesterday afternoon, which reads in part: “I shuddered that you didn’t include in your previous places of employment a company which sent you on training and obtained several of the certifications (you claim) and one where in your resignation of appointment you admitted ‘has been a veritable continuation of (your) training and intelligence.’ Is it a case of short memory or just plain deceit?”
He called me almost immediately.
He greeted me with “sorry, boss, sorry boss, sorry boss.” I told him that I had a good mind of writing his employers….Then he went again on his “sorry boss” song. He allowed that he was sent on FOUR training programmes. He neither had any reason nor excuse because the company was good to him and to a number others who passed through the company. We kept true to our policy to develop our manpower for our good and theirs. Whether or not they would leave tomorrow was immaterial.
He said he would correct “it” – he didn’t call it an error, by the way, or whatever, “in a week.”
Can you imagine: shouldn’t he have said “immediately”?
And, he is “sorry, boss?”
Now, what would you have done if you were in my position?
Question 1: Should employees’ training come with conditions, such as signing training bonds or not?
Question 2: Should you bother to train your employees, at all, because they will leave anyway – and, like this bloke, blot you out of their records?.
