It has been weeks since I met with a former co worker. We discussed an important issue that seemed to hit me. Learning curve. In light of today's economic environment, these questions seem to beg answers (more so for project managers seeking employment):
1. Is your PMO willing to invest time and money to train a project manager, i.e., needed for more complex projects that require a more technical PM role ,
2. If yes, how much time is your company or PMO willing to invest time wise,
3. If no, why not?
4. How does one measure ROI in training a PM or a functional manager?
5. What is a reasonable amount of time to train a PM or any employee for that manner?
I remember a media article that companies nowadays are sitting on a pile of cash; that managers and executives are still wary of ramping up hiring to meet increase in business volume.
Having been in this role as well, I was leery of hiring someone not trained nor had the experience in my industry, nor someone who had done project management in the past. It becomes a catch 22 for most seeking employment. They won't get hired if hiring companies are loathe to invest in worker training nor see the value in hiring someone from another industry (and thus will not invest in worker training either for a new technology nor application). Further, I doubt companies nowadays still provide the benefit of tuition reimbursement (for employees working on a college degree or master's program).
Am looking, or most are looking forward to normalcy whereby employers see the benefit of worker's training, education, and employee retention. There's more at stake here but I will address them for later, e.g., business continuity, CRM, customer satisfaction, and plain workers sense of happiness at their jobs.
Or is this the new normal whereby no one sees the ROI on workers training and education?
1. Is your PMO willing to invest time and money to train a project manager, i.e., needed for more complex projects that require a more technical PM role ,
2. If yes, how much time is your company or PMO willing to invest time wise,
3. If no, why not?
4. How does one measure ROI in training a PM or a functional manager?
5. What is a reasonable amount of time to train a PM or any employee for that manner?
I remember a media article that companies nowadays are sitting on a pile of cash; that managers and executives are still wary of ramping up hiring to meet increase in business volume.
Having been in this role as well, I was leery of hiring someone not trained nor had the experience in my industry, nor someone who had done project management in the past. It becomes a catch 22 for most seeking employment. They won't get hired if hiring companies are loathe to invest in worker training nor see the value in hiring someone from another industry (and thus will not invest in worker training either for a new technology nor application). Further, I doubt companies nowadays still provide the benefit of tuition reimbursement (for employees working on a college degree or master's program).
Am looking, or most are looking forward to normalcy whereby employers see the benefit of worker's training, education, and employee retention. There's more at stake here but I will address them for later, e.g., business continuity, CRM, customer satisfaction, and plain workers sense of happiness at their jobs.
Or is this the new normal whereby no one sees the ROI on workers training and education?

As an example, we (with former director) tracked customer satisfaction for a very technical role project manager's customer satisfaction rating- the reports clearly showed a two-year learning curve. This PM's role was a very technical role, with heavy participation in RFQ and RFP responses, along with protracted user training. 2-years! Is your business willing to undertake that cost and risk?
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