Is There Ever a Right Time for Training?

by Andy Ghillyer

NMEDA DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION & TRAINING

In a speech in Cape Town, South

Africa in June 1966, Robert Kennedy said:

“There is a Chinese curse which says: ‘May he live in interesting times.’”

Like it or not, we live in interesting times.

The authenticity of the “curse” remains unknown, but given the havoc caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the irony of how attractive uninteresting times would be for most of us shouldn’t be understated.

At the best of times, seeing a training reminder email from NMEDA—either from the QAP team or an NCT expiration notice from me—can be a nuisance. Your technicians work on billable hours, and your salespeople have targets to meet. We understand that and do our best to provide training solutions that minimize downtime for your people. That being said, I continue to be impressed every day at the commitment of our members to carving out time for their people to take our training—whether it’s onboarding people who are brand new to the industry, or investing in time and travel expenses for refresher and certification training opportunities on the other side of the country that can keep them out of the store for days at a time. levels, temporary layoffs, or even longer-term furloughs as you struggle to cope with a major economic upheaval, training is probably the least of your concerns. Even then, our members have approached training as an opportunity to be grasped while business is slow. Rather than seeing it as a cost to be avoided when belts needed to be tightened, I was thrilled to see how many members have reached-out to get their people trained while some workers were idled. user in mind. The emphasis will be on maximum knowledge transfer in the most concise and interactive format possible, so that your people can maximize every minute they are away from the store. The second half of 2020 will be bringing significant changes to how we engage with our members. A new website, a new Association Management System (AMS), a new Learning Management System (LMS) that will greatly improve your learning experience, and the first phase of updated

...but it also sends a clear message to your people—that they are valued as an integral part of that commitment.”

“

That decision alone says so much about the commitment our members make to their customers as well as to their own people. Investing in training supports the QAP brand that we all work so hard to maintain, but it also sends a clear message to your people—that they are valued as an integral part of that commitment.

In recognition of the high value that our members place on training, we are continuing on our journey towards flexible, high-quality, interactive training content that is specifically designed with the endlearning materials to provide a more interactive learning environment.

In the meantime, please let us know how we can improve your education and training experience with NMEDA. If you have an idea for a module that would help you develop your people or help you reach your customer base, we would love to hear from you.