A Lifetime Return on Investment - Make It Happen Tipsheet

Make It Happen Tipsheet
Career Management and Life Balance

A Lifetime Return on Investment

Recently I was a speaker at an international gathering of HR professionals. For three days, participants walked through the trade show, sat in conference rooms learning new ideas, and met other folks in the business.

The wonderful thing about all this education and training is that once you learn something, the knowledge is yours forever. It can be used to get that promotion, serve your customers better, or win that big deal. More importantly, it can keep you intellectually sharp - a key skill in today's workplace.

Often, however, we don't take personal responsibility for our professional growth.

For example, what workplace training have you attended over the last year? Are you working towards a recognized certification? And what non-work seminars have you attended recently? Many people are a bit embarassed by how little learning they do once they've left "school".

We delegate the responsibility to our employers, on the assumption that they will "remember" the importance of it to us. Of course, the best organizations DO remember, and invest heavily in their staff - but even in this case, it is our responsibility to plan (and advocate) for our ongoing professional development.

This week's action item: Set training and educational goals for yourself. It can be as informal as reading a trade magazine each month, or as formal as registering for a professional certification. Remember that an investment in education will yield a lifetime return on investment - and the sooner the investment is made, the bigger the return. The 3000 attendees at this conference recognized it - and so can you.

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