On Tuesday, October 13th at 2:00 p.m., my manager and the Director of HR walked into my office and handed me my walking papers. I was completely blindsided since all of the feedback that I'd received indicated that upper management was happy with my performance. In fact, after a company-wide survey was completed, employees indicated a 20% increase in satisfaction with the company's training department. I was the training department.
My layoff had nothing to do with me personally. There were 14 of us that were let go that day. I was with a construction company whose backlog is dwindling. As a friend of mine stated: I was a luxury item and right now they can't afford luxury.
I agree that for the company I was working saw a Training Coordinator as a luxury item. I am of the mind that a training component to any business is necessary for a successful business. But, my heart wasn't in it.
My heart is in technical writing/instructional design. I enjoy taking difficult, technical processes and breaking them down into understandable, usable blocks of information. A successful technical writer is able to take a competent employee and turn her into a successful professional. Procedural manuals are a technical writer's bread and butter.
Instructional design though: that's where the magic happens. That's when information becomes knowledge. Effective Instructional Design can turn a successful professional into a business asset.
