In spite of the changes in business world, training is still viewed by many small businesses to larger ones as an unnecessary expense. Yet, if a company or even an individual truly wants to grow to reach that next level of success, then training and development should be the number one item budget instead of the last one.

These 7 tips may help you to keep training as the number one line item on the budget.

1. Think about training dollars as being an investment not an expenditure.

2. Understand that training is learning a specific skill or to acquire knowledge while development is about enhancing and strengthening current skill levels.

3. Be able to answer the following question: After everything is said and done, what results do I want?

4. Assess the situation to make sure that the training intervention is not covering up a symptom of a greater problem.

5. Deliver training in shorter segments (no more than 2 hours) with time in between to allow for application and feedback. HINT: Remember the brain only absorbs what the butt will endure.

6. Include audio reinforcement to provide numerous opportunities to the learning event. HINT: One time exposure to a learning event leaves 2% cognitive retention after 16 days, but 6 times to that same event results in 65% long term memory. adage