What Happens If We Teach Them...?

We attempt to address two challenges that face organizations and consultants who offer high quality competency development programs. Both are covered in the Red Couch Talks Videos.

You know the famous debate between the CEO and the CFO about training and building the capability of the staff; The Financial Guy warned the boss:

What happens if we teach them and they walk away?

and the CEO answers back what if do not and they stay?

In one case, an organization hired a provider to teach the PMP, but asked them not to encourage their employees to earn the certification!

So what would you do in your organization; Keep them ignorant and outdated with you, or get them competent and leave?

There are thee approaches in such a case:

 1. The LET-GO approach

2. The TIE approach

3. The GOODWILL approach

1.  The LET-GO approach: Teach them and let them go away. How many business owners approve? You think none? Reconsider. I have met the most amazing leaders who think not of their own benefits, but rather of their colleagues, community and nation. They debate that when their fellow citizens become better, more professional and more competent, this helps them, their families, the profession, and the community as a whole. Of course you need to be an institutional leader or a patriot more than a businessman to think like that. To be frank, that was a minister.

 2.  The TIE approach: The second is the one who would teach their employees and sign a contract that mandates they pay back the cost of training if they leave within a period of time. How efficient is this? Perhaps it helps the CEO settle the argument with the CFO, but in fact it does not do much. When someone is so good, and feels not appreciated, they will leave at whatever cost, and in some cases the new recruiter will help recover the costs, which is much cheaper than teaching them.

 3.  The GOODWILL approach: The third is borrowed from Richard Branson: We will teach them so they can leave, but we will treat them so well that they want to stay. Now this is something quite interesting. LinkedIn has several statistics showing that over 90% of employees will stay if they feel they are appreciated and the employer invests in them.

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Now for the second challenging question that an external consultant asks, specifically when they are required to offer the "secret of the trade" to locals:

What happens if we teach them and they take our place?

Let us review the power of knowledge and learning through the story of Zaher;

Zaher attended a PMP – Project Management Certification course that was offered based on his request to a group of around 20 engineers in his own company. After some months, the bad news no one submitted the exam except him, but the good news, he passed from the first time. Zaher loved going back to learning after over 12 years of working as a professional, so he decided to join a reputable project management post graduate diploma program, and studied for around a year. He graduated the first on over 120 persons, and found his learning benefited his company a lot, so he decided to enroll to the EMBA in project and program management at SKEMA Business School in France and studied for another year to graduate as the valedictorian.

What happened to Zaher? He became addicted, not to drugs, not to alcohol, but he got infected with ADVISORS’ passion for knowledge and learning and sharing, so he is now doing more higher studies, perhaps even to get a doctorate. This is the case of one man, who captured an opportunity, so what about 10, 100, 1000, 10000, a 100,000 more men as well as women?

PMI uncovered in their Job Growth and Talent Gap in Project Management 2017 report that the demand for Project Managers is estimated to around 2.2 Million annually until 2027.

When we look at Vision 2030 at Saudi Arabia, or Vision 2021 in Emirates with several more in our region, they are all based on initiatives, projects, programs, portfolios and PMOs – all types of PMOs. This is why there is an even higher demand for qualified Project Engineers, Project Assistants, Schedulers, Planners, Project Controls Professionals, Project Managers, Program Mangers, Portfolio Managers and of course PMO Managers.

The critical question is where do we get them?

Localization, local content, Saudization, Emiratization and similar strategies cannot be fulfilled in a complete manner based on expatriates alone. They should be based on capacity building for the locals, and this raises an important question: what would expats and external consultants do?

Offer knowledge Transfer. Instead of doing, focus on enabling locals to do.

This is a huge opportunity, and one that is needed badly. In fact the higher the knowledge the more is the need, so the future of consultants and experts will be solely based on capacity building, mentoring, training and knowledge transfer. Accept that, and expats will have yet another golden decade. Your role is not to do anymore; it is to enable and qualify locals to do, and should keep on this until they are able to do it as much as you can, or even better.

One might argue what if we teach them and they take our place?

This is not true.

There are simply a lot of practical knowledge to teach and too many who are hungry to learn how to succeed in all industries. Sharing Knowledge is like the zamzam well, it is very generous and very blessed; the more you give, the more you get back. Irrespective which approach you decide to adopt, the most important role for a PMO is to spread knowledge, train, teach and build capacities and capabilities.

Check all the 8 episodes of The Red Couch Talks:

1. The Magic Pill A PMO is no magic. Requires assessment, clarity, stakeholder identification, management, spreading awareness and getting everyone on one page. Identify challenges, prioritize and address them according to client needs.
2. Honey Who is Driving? What comes before the software or the process?
3. The Communication Hero Who Knew Nothing! A case showing the vital role of communications in the success of mega projects
4.  Fixing a Plane in the Air! Never over-promise your client, and when faced with a crises, use upfront, open and honest communication
5. The Not-Me PMO Manager! What is more important for the success of the PMO, policing for compliance to the methodology or supporting the project managers and their projects?
6. The PMO Spiderman! Can a PMO Manger learn agility from Spiderman? This episode lists the three competency domains essential for the agile PMO Manager: 1.Organizational-collaborative, 2.Functional-Interpersonal, 3.Service-Technical. Is it easier to headhunt and hire such an agile PMO Manager or just go and hire Spiderman?
7. What If We Teach Them And They Take Our Place? The role of Consultants and Experts should shift from delivering to enabling locals to deliver without the fear of losing their contracts or jobs. There is a huge need for capacity building, and the more experts generously offer their experience and knowledge, they wil be rewarded with great engagements.
8. What If We Teach Them and They Walk Away? Some organizations are afraid of developing their talent, as they will earn more exposure, and receive higher packages and eventually leave. They think it is like shooting one in the foot. This mentality cannot prevail in our disruptive time and a better approach is proposed based on Richard Branson's.

Do you have a suggestion for a new Red Couch Talks episode? Please make a comment or communicate with me directly on [email protected]