Negative Transfer of Training

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I recently upgraded my computer to a Gateway with an Intel Quad core CPU running the Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit OS.  Here is what I’ve learned:

  • Parallel ports aren’t supported anymore.  I can’t use Old Faithful, my ancient laser printer.
  • A number of my older software programs won’t run on a 64-bit OS.
  • The meaning of the phrase “negative transfer of training”

My primary machine got nailed with a nasty virus a few months ago and I’d been working with my hot spare backup.  Just as I was getting used to working with Windows XP I am now having to learn how to use Vista.  I began having a negative transfer of training experience.

It’s been a few days and I’m better now.  I like my new computer.  One major plus is the computer came with a set of recovery disks.  I used these to configure my old machine which now becomes my hot spare.  Same setup as my primary machine.  When I need to use it, I’ll load up my programs and data and I’m good to go.

Note I said “when” not “if”.

Outsourcing is Not a Four Letter Word

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I read this online Business Week article and I thought I was reading about myself.  If I were to add my thoughts, I’d add:

  • Live where you want to live (provided you have a decent Internet connection)
  • Enjoy flexibility of schedule
  • No corporate politics or non-productive meetings
  • Meet and work with interesting intelligent humans
  • Enjoy a different kind of stress.

Outsourcing Benefits U.S. Workers, Too – BusinessWeek

For the project workers who log in to oDesk every day to create their own job with decent pay, outsourcing is a wonderful thing—be it in Wyoming or New Delhi. Some have been forced from full-time jobs but many simply prefer to go it alone or to work with small groups. Scarred by a barrage of layoffs in recent years, these workers like the control over their lives and diversity in the source of paychecks.

Employer Provided Training – What Training?

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Copied shamelessly from Workforce Training Management e-newsletter.

METRICS
Formal Training Hours Consumed per Learner, by Industry, 2007 and 2008
Bersin & Associates reports that the drops in formal training hours from 2007 to 2008 is not necessarily a bad thing. “For smart companies, this means that they are cutting programs that are generic, low value and under-utilized,” analyst Karen O’Leonard writes. “We have talked with several organizations that are now carefully scrutinizing the value of their learning programs, some by employing cost-benefit analyses to their initiatives. Their analyses have led them to cancel some programs that were costly to run and offered relatively low value.”
Industry

2007

2008
Pharmaceuticals 35.3 25.2
Banking/finance * n/a 20.2
Manufacturing 29.4 19.5
Business services/consulting n/a 19.1
Telecommunications 31.7 18.9
Banking/financial services & insurance * 28.0 18.8
Insurance* n/a 16.8
Retail 14.0 15.3
Technology 21.9 14.3
Health care/medical 24.0 14.1
* In 2007, small sample size required that insurance industry results be combined with those of banking and financial services. For 2008, there was a large enough sample of banking /financial services and insurance companies to break them out. The individual industries’ data are shown, as well as the combined category.
Source: “Corporate Learning Factbook,” 2009, Bersin & Associates