Good training opportunities hard to find

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/tight-budgets-may-squeeze-out-training-for-some/2012/08/09/9515617e-e269-11e1-98e7-89d659f9c106_story.html

Unfortunately, in times of tight or declining agency budgets, funding for training and professional development often is cut first.

In February of last year, the Merit Systems Protection Board released our most recent report on training, “Making the Right Connections: Targeting the Bhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifest Competencies for Training.” (Mer it Systems Protection Board site at http://www.mspb.gov./)

It’s recommended reading for anyone interested in this issue. In order to mitigate the effects of reduced training budgets, employees and organizations — in both the public and private sectors — might emphasize “knowledge competencies,” or what you need to know to do your job, which are highly responsive to training.

Moreover, there is an abundance of free training and professional development opportunities available through any number of Web sites, organizations, businesses, etc. Given the inclusion of training as one of the nine Merit System Principles upon which our federal civil service is based, we believe it’s in the interest of every employee, supervisor and executive to provide training and professional development opportunities both for themselves and their staff, even in difficult times.