危 wēi  danger

Sun Life Financial, the Toronto-based insurance and financial services provider, has felt the downturn – in both its share price (down 70% between ’08 and ’09) and in its P&L.  With similar results many of its competitors have been reducing ‘non-essential’ budgets in order to improve their bottom line in the short-term.  Staff training is often the first to go.

机 jī opportunity

Sun Life has done the opposite and launched a 4-year, $15m training programme in February ’09.  By the end of the programme, which is co-run with Duke Corporate Education, it is expected that 2,500 Sun Life staff will have attended.  The course aims to identify talent and prepare staff for the upturn (when consumers are likely to exhibit radically different behaviours versus pre-recession).  In addition, many of the staff have pointed to the level of commitment from leadership as a signal of trust and intent.

how about…

• using downturns (or just quiet spells) to build skills ready for the upturn
• adapting training programmes in light of changing market conditions