Year-End Spending Frenzy

Wow! This is the time of year when I remember stressing out because management wanted me to “make recommendations” for how we were going to spend the year-end money. For those of you who don’t know, at the end of the fiscal year (FY) in the federal government, there is a spending frenzy. Many offices look for ways to spend what’s left in their budgets before the FY ends. The last thing they want is to have unspent money because it could negatively impact their budget in upcoming years. As a result, many agencies find “creative” ways to spend the money which is often used to train employees who’ve been asking for developmental opportunities during the year. (In another post, I’ll share how this year-end frenzy is a result of poor planning.)

Keep a Watchful Eye

Here’s where you can start. Look out for those training vendors who will give you ineffective, poorly designed, and awfully delivered training to make a buck during the year-end spending frenzy. I must admit that as a federal training manager, I was able to get some amazing training during this time of the year.

More often than not, I was stalked by some really bad training vendors (I’ve actually written several previous articles about some of those experiences.) Please re-read my post on Beware of Imposters to get a better idea of how to spot those bad actors.

Also, be sure that you are basing year-end spending on training that will lead to desired results and based on a comprehensive learning strategy and needs assessment.

Plan for Next Year Now

Now is the time to start planning your learning strategy for the next FY, so that you’re not in this same position next year. Trust me, I’ve been where you are. For this reason, I strongly encourage you to partner with management, build relationships, and learn how to conduct a thorough needs assessment to prepare for next year’s spending frenzy.

Complimentary Learning Strategy Call

To help you with this year, I am offering a complimentary learning strategy call to help my colleagues, who are in the position that I was in last year, to show the value of learning in government. Here’s the link to schedule your FREE call. http://bit.ly/2lGcf5X