Recession: the economy has been a brutal test for American companies—and their training departments. Here's who came out on top, and how they did it

T+D, Oct, 2003 by Chris Taylor

During economic slowdowns, most companies tend to cut training. By not following that trend, Southwest Airlines, Viacom, Dell, and Guardsmark are standing tall during the current recession.

Southwest, like most airlines, was hit hard by 9/11, but the company kept cool with a series of savvy fiscal moves, like investing more in employee training. Because hiring plans were scaled back, orientation programs slowed. But the number of classes needed grew--from dealing with new security measures to coping with the emotional devastation of 9/11. By having trainers venture into the field more often, the company reduced the funds needed to bring everyone to a central location. In addition, training now focuses more on front-line supervisors.

Taylor explains how similar training investments made by Viacom, Dell, and Guardsmark yielded great results and how all of these companies impart a lesson on the criticalness of training to survival.

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Everyone knows the story of TV's Survivor by now. A bunch of competitors gather together, each week the weakest member is voted out of the tribe, and the eventual winner gets a cool million bucks. But who knew corporate America would be put through a similar high-stakes competition? The recession, 9/11, the rash of corporate accounting scandals--those have made for quite an economic gauntlet, which few companies have managed to come through unscathed. Think of it as Survivor: the Wall Street Edition.

That means training departments have also been put through a few survival tests of their own. "There's so much pressure in turbulent times," says Andrea Nierenberg, president of consultants The Nierenberg Group in New York City. "Whenever there's economic duress, companies tend to cut advertising and cut training. But those are exactly the two things you need: advertising to let people know you're still there, and training to hold onto your people and update their skills," she says.

Some standout companies have exemplified that ethos and come out of the recession as winners. Southwest Airlines, Viacom, Dell, and security experts Guardsmark have in large part defied the economy and are standing tall even after the challenging times of the past few years.

So, how exactly did they do it? And how did they handle their training and development programs over the same timeframe--a period when many companies were slashing training to the bone, either by choice or by necessity? To find out how they pulled off this magic trick of great performance during the worst of times, we went right to the source: the companies. We learned some valuable lessons.

Chris Taylor survived Dengue fever in the Sumatran jungle and is now devoting his energy at work to "exchange-traded funds. Please hold your enthusiasm." His shower curtain is flowery, bought by his girlfriend.