12 March The Purpose of a Business (...two...)

[Paul Terlemezian]

Why does a corporation decide to invest in the creation of the training function?

 

I am fond of saying that there are only three motivations for a CEO to make a decision:

 

1. The decision makes money for the corporation

2. The decision saves money for the corporation

3. The decision keeps the CEO out of jail

 

The corporate training function may have been created to keep the CEO out of jail - and in doing so is expected to do it at the lowest cost.

 

The corporate training function may have been created to save money. Internal training may be less expensive than the same training purchased externally.

 

The corporate training function may have been created to make money for the corporation. Does this mean that its work must in some way impact the customers of the corporation? What if it could be proven that the corporate training function can create new customers or keep existing ones?

 

As a corporate learning leader would it make a difference if your conversations with C-Level executives always included an agenda item titled: "Innovative ways to attract and retain customers and how the corporate training function will increase the effectiveness of doing so?"

[Paul Terlemezian]

Drucker asserts that the only purpose of a business is to create a customer and the only two functions it needs to do so are marketing and innovation.

Which of these two functions do you prefer training to be considered?