Hello,
I'm in the process of reviewing our policy and procedures and seeking opinion on when you would put in place a learning agreement?
At present we don't have that clearly defined - just when we feel it would enable that person to go off and get another job. So, my questions are:
- What sorts of training do you include in your Learning Agreement? Just qualifications (Degrees, Diplomas etc.) or skills enhancement (Sales Techniques for a Sales Assistant for example).
- Do you put an agreement in place if the training cost is over a certain amount - regardless of what it is?
- How strictly is this enforced, is it set in stone in your policy or is it left to Manager's to decide when they feel it is necessary?
I know there's an argument that if you show you are prepared to invest in someone, they would have greater loyalty and therefore not leave. We are very process and policy driven here so don't think we are quite ready for that approach!
Thanks in advance,
Ceri
Replies
Hi Ceri
Thanks for posting I have had lots of interest in these recently from clients who want to put in place agreements to protect their investments.
Bearing in mind these are SMEs they generally:
1) Apply to all training, skills and qualifications excluding mandatory training
2) Have a run down by % based on length of time post training e..g 100% within 6 months, 75% 6 - 12 moths upto a maximum of 2 years but it depends on how long it would take the Company to get ROI e.g if its an MBA or Professional Qualifiucation you could argue for longer but it has to be reasonable.
3) I encourage consistent enforcement as this introduces unfairness and we all know what that can do to the psychological contract. ;-)
4) We ask learners to sign an agreement I am currently advising on cases where the learner is refusing to sign the agreement!
I hope this helps
All the best
Sarah
Thanks for the info Sarah, really useful to know what others are doing.
I initially posed this question to find out if the terms we were thinking of were stricter than other companies - but from this and other responses elsewhere I don't think that we are!
Kind regards,
Ceri
Hi Sarah,
I have started coming across quite a few people who are refusing to sign agreements for training and wondered how you are handling this with both employees and their managers?
Thank you,
Liv