Free Workshop

HCC Center for Business and Professional Development is holding a free workshop

HOLYOKE The HCC Center for Business and Professional Development is holding a free workshop for business owners and managers who are looking for more effective ways to train their employees.

Sept. 13 is the deadline to register for the "Training for 21st Century" summit, which will be held Sept. 27, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at HCC's Kittredge Center for Business and Workforce Development. There will be free parking, refreshments, and information on how businesses may use Massachusetts Workforce Training Funds to defray the cost of employee trainings.

Registrants may use a 24-hour hotline to sign up for this summit: (413) 538-5817 or (413) 538-5815.

According to summit organizer Iraida Delgado, many business owners find that the money they spend on training is lost when their employees return to the drumbeat of their daily workload.

"Training is a process, not an event," said Delgado, business account representative for the Kittredge Center. "Trainings which try to force feed information fail because they do not integrate the new skills into the actual workplace. They are just theories that never get played out in practice."

The "Training for the 21st Century" workshop will introduce employers to a new training approach that utilizes real-life scenarios, follow-up sessions, ongoing contact with instructors, and actual homework for participants. According to Delgado, the new training model will be employed by instructors at the Center for Business and Professional Development, which is launching a series of employee training workshops in October. Participants in the Sept. 27 summit will have an opportunity to sign up for the workshop series, which will cover computer skills, marketing strategies and leadership development.