Question

You are a manager and you want one of your employees to receive training. Anna is one your best workers and you believe one day she will have your job on her way to the c-suite. You know money is tight right now and if you don’t use your training budget (there is currently $2,000 left) by the end of the quarter the company will take it back. Also, you have heard rumors that the raise pool will be low this year. Currently, Anna’s annual salary is $41,600. With this in mind, you have two developmental options for Anna and the days conflict, so you can only send her to one of them. Which of the following options would you choose and why?

Option #1- A local professional organization is bringing in a national speaker you have always respected. The topic is how to become a more transformational leader. Currently, Anna does not supervise anyone but you think she will benefit from attending. You plan on attending yourself and have heard a couple of the company’s vice presidents will be in attendance. The cost is pretty minimal ($500), and Anna would only have to miss a half day of work (4 hours). This training could potentially increase Anna’s performance by $1,500 a year for the next 3 years.

Option #2-There is a two day (Thursday/Friday) conference in San Francisco. Your industry’s trade association is hosting the conference, and the topic sound like something Anna could use now. In addition, you know the meals and receptions are a good chance to meet people from other companies and learn about what they are doing. Looking at costs, you realize it will pretty much use up the remainder of the budget ($1,700). One personal thing you remember is Anna has family in the area that she hasn’t seen in a long time. This training could potentially increase Anna’s performance by $1,000 a year for the next 5 years.

Answer 1

Considering the options under various scenarios :

Some of the parameters that can be used to weigh in on the options

Cost : Directly looking at the cost , Option 1 seems beneficial for the organisation because of the low cost incurred and Option 2 seems to be less beneficial for the organisation because it could practically exhaust the budget.

Return on Investment : Option 1 though costs less , Provides a tremendous return on investment by contributing to Anna's performance by yielding $1,500 for 3 years , leading to a cumulative value of 4500 within a short span of 3 years (Directly calculating with no time value for money , We could assume that Anna gets a return as much as 15 times the value invested ). The option 2 costs $1700 and also provides a good return on investment but spread over a period of 5 years with $1000 per year with a cumulated value of $5,000(Directly calculating with no time value for money , We could assume that Anna gets a return as much as 3 times the value invested ).  

Absence at work : Option 1 will enable Anna to be made available in office for more number of hours whereas option 2 will take Anna away from working .

Looking at some analysis above option 1 looks like a better option , However few more important factors that could help in shaping up the decision are as follows .

The current scenario in the company looks bleak to provide for a pay rise . The current job which Anna is involved also has to be considered for the immediate usefulness in the application of the knowledge acquired through the training. The option 1 could provide inputs to Anna on how to become a transformational leader and also shall showcase some of the similar people who would come to the meeting to understand how it would be , It may not be immediately useful since she does not have anyone to supervise and there could potentially be sometime before she could put in use what is acquired . The option 2 consists of topics which could be of interest to Anna now and that could help her boost the performance on the current job in addition to the opportunity she would meet people from other companues and also gives an opportunity for her to visit the family whom she has not visited long time . This could be a good morale boost for Anna.

Considering all the above factors , Even though the cost , Return on investment and availability at work tilts in favor of option 1 . For the beneft of the employee and the money which would return unused , Anna could benefit more from Option 2 due to the immediate opportunity it provides to improve her current scope and also the valuable family time could potentially create a bond which is shown as care by the employee could help Anna to feel being cared for will provide a self satisfaction.

Based on the above consideration , As a manager , I would recommend Option 2.