Re: AltInst: a "work spreading tax"

George L. O'Brien wrote,

>Tom Walker's discussion of the costing of "training" is interesting, but
>I remain rather skeptical. The studies I've read suggest that if anything,
>training costs are generally underestimated due to the poor tracking of
>learing
>curve costs. In a great number of situations, by the time the new hire
>becomes
>fully productive, the person either leaves or gets transferred to a new job.
>
>This turns training costs into a probability problem. What is the
>likelyhood that
>this person will work long enough at full capacity at this job to repay the
>costs of the trainer, added supervision costs, the below optimal
>productivity, and higher defect rate of the employee prior to coming up to
>speed?

It seems to me that the world of work is large enough for George's scenario
to apply in a great number of situations and mine to apply in a great number
of other situations. I've been looking at highly coveted jobs: unionized,
stable, high-wage jobs where current average seniority is 19+ years.
Presumably, those people have been there long enough to master several
learning curves.

Regards,

Tom Walker
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
#408 1035 Pacific St.
Vancouver, B.C.
V6E 4G7
knowware@istar.ca
(604) 669-3286
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The TimeWork Web: http://www.vcn.bc.ca/timework/

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Received on Sun May 31 20:06:29 1998