Tips for training: where to turn to help employees learn new skills.

• Author: Held, Shari
• Position: Workforce Development

Keeping employees up-to-date on business skills makes good business sense. Recent research from the American Society for Training & Development shows that per-employee training expenditures by employers increased in 2001 and are likely to increase this year as well.

"We are beginning to see companies become very smart and economical about their training investments. It is extremely expensive to take employees off the job, but Indiana companies understand that you have to keep training people, especially when the economy is tight," says Amy Warner, executive director of the Community Learning Center at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

The good news is that employers have a multitude of options available to fill their training needs. There are also government resources that help businesses develop training strategies and obtain grants.

Skills 2016, (www.in.gov/skills20l6), a partnership between the state Department of Workforce Development and the Department of Commerce, is an umbrella of resources to which Indiana businesses can apply for funds. All training, whether apprenticeships in industrial trades, technical or other specialty fields, must have a positive economic impact on Indiana's economy and result in a "portable" credential (nationally recognized certification program, associate degree or college credit) for the employee.

For example, companies which are expanding and need to train new or existing employees should check into the Skills Enhancement Fund. If the training involves technical skills, the Tech Enhancement Certification for Hoosiers Fund (TECH) is the appropriate place to begin.

All Indiana businesses are eligible to apply for the Incumbent Worker Training Fund, but preference is given to applicants within high-skill/high-demand occupations. The Department of Workforce Development is currently focusing its efforts on advanced manufacturing, information technology, life sciences and high-tech distribution areas.

The Department of Workforce Development and 16 Workforce Investment Boards oversee more than 20 full-service WorkOne offices and additional WorkOne Express offices that provide services to employers, including assessment, training and recruiting.

Most companies still foot the bill for training themselves. "If you look at the total dollars spent on training, employers spend a tremendous amount more of their own dollars than what is provided by federal and state grants," says Brian Burton, vice...