Software shouldn’t be static. The training market is constantly evolving and delegates have ever increasing expectations. It’s crucial to be confident that your Training Management System can keep up with trends and help support your future business growth. Read on to learn more about our latest system enhancements.     

A phrase many training professionals recognise is, "it did not happen if we cannot track it". While that phrase can induce deep sighs, there are reasons it is so common, and reasons why it is so very true. More importantly, there are ways to accomplish it while eliminating the sound of sighs.

Automating your business processes is like putting jam on toast; it just makes sense. Automation software is everywhere from finance to IT to customer relationship management but have you ever wondered what the benefits of implementing a dedicated course management system or LMS could be to your training business? We have created an infographic outlining the key ways it can do just that.   

Managing company resources is a necessary but time consuming and sometimes complicated task. It is easy to leave it until the last minute to draft in a trainer for a course or scramble around the store cupboard for a projector. Additionally, it can be difficult to allocate resources when it is unclear when venues are free or who is using what equipment. Is this way of working going to achieve maximum ROI?

In a previous post, I introduced the 3-Step model that you can use to improve training attendance. In this post I’m going to delve into one very specific part of the model that helps us to "AMPLIFY and spiral upward": ‘Making learning easy to share’. Why you need to "AMPLIFY and spiral upward" In steps 1 and 2 of the the DNA model, you’ll have created desire for your courses, and made people aware of them. If implemented, you’ll find that attendance has greatly increased. However, before you hang your ‘mission accomplished’ banner and break out the champagne, you can do a little more to greatly amplify your efforts -  decreasing the effort required to promote future courses, and increasing learning across the organization. This will enable the importance of L&D and value it delivers to the business to ‘spiral upward’. One way you can do this is to ‘make learning easy to share’. Why you should make learning easy to share Training courses are great. They provide an opportunity for people to take some time out from ‘doing’, learn the skills that enable them to perform better, and put them into practice in a safe setting. However, there are two issues: Training courses take time and resources, and tend to be run at a specific time that may not suit everyone The biggest challenge for L&D professionals is to help employees embed and apply what they have learned So, to address these we can encourage employees to teach others. This will help them greater understand what they have learned, and provide others with the opportunity to learn the content, even if they weren’t at the training session. How to make learning easy to share There are three (fairly quick) ways in which you can make learning easy to share: Get employees to share what they have learned as part of the course Provide course materials in a format that makes them easy to run as a mini-session with colleagues Drip-feed bite-size content after the course and encourage employees to share it 1. Get employees to share what they have learned as part of the course As part of your course, set actions / challenges for attendees to educate others on what they learned, after the training course. Ideally this should use their new skills in some way (e.g. presentation skills / writing skills etc). Don’t assume people will do this if it is just ‘suggested’ rather than a required action - people sometimes need the permission (and encouragement) to share with others, otherwise they may feel like they are being a ‘swot’! 2. Provide course materials in a format that makes it easy to run as a mini-session with colleagues You should package up the course materials in a way that attendees can use to train others (a bit like train-a-trainer). Provide these to the attendees at the end of the session, explaining that these are for their reference but they can also use them to train others. This will enable managers to run a mini-session with their team, spreading what they’ve learned in a cost-effective way. 3. Drip-feed bite-size content after the course and encourage employees to share it After the course, send out regular follow-up emails with additional bite-size content. This will help remind attendees what they learned, and enable them to share key tips / concepts with others. To make this most effective, provide bite-size content that is easy to share (such as videos, PDFs, ‘top tips’ etc) via drip-fed emails over 2-6 weeks. This can be automated using a variety of inexpensive software tools. Don’t forget to encourage employees to share it with others - they may not be sure whether it is appropriate to do so! For an extra bonus, link from these mini resources to your upcoming relevant courses, so that other people can register for in-depth training on topics they find interesting. In the interests of practicing what I preach, here’s an image that covers the three key points of this article - you can share on social media and with your colleagues . (Please do share it!):   Conclusion Many L&D departments see training courses as starting and stopping at the times specified in the course outline. In reality, you can extend learning far beyond this, both in terms of who can receive the learning, and when they can receive it. Use the techniques above to encourage attendees to share what they learn, resulting in: Attendees embedding what they have learned Others benefitting from the learning too More interest in your courses in future If you’d like to find out more about ways in which you can improve training attendance and organizational learning, subscribe to this blog and/or attend this free webinar. Jon Kennard (Editor of TrainingZone) and I will be co-hosting a free webinar on the 25th June 2015, where we’ll cover all 3 Steps of the DNA model and provide practical ways in which you can implement these in your organization. (Click here to find out more and register to attend).  

Developing, promoting and delivering awesome learning to employees has some huge benefits: Employees get access to resources that help them grow and develop, making them much happier Managers are able to help employees to  achieve more with the resources they have, making hem more successful Organizations benefit from higher performance, lower costs, and new innovation driven by motivated, enlightened employees L&D becomes more important, and gets the time and resources it needs to do what it does best You, as an L&D professional, become more happy in your role, as you become a more and more significant influence on the success of others But ‘providing training’ is not enough. If your training isn’t getting the engagement and attendance needed, you won’t get the benefits above. So you need to avoid letting low training and course attendance diminish the opportunities for employees to develop, and instead explore ways to significantly raise levels of attendance. You’ll then get additional benefit #6: training costs less when it is well attended (less rescheduling, fewer sessions required, fewer cancelled courses etc). How do you ensure high attendance on courses at your organization?

"Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is." - Isaac Asimov

Millennials (people born between early 1980s and early 2000s) are presenting a new challenge for HR and L&D professionals. Research suggests Millennials want faster progression, more development, and visible results. They are also keener to work in teams, form and join communities, work with technology and travel overseas. Of course there are some vastly differing views… Some articles have criticized this generation for being too ‘entitled’, unwilling to work long hours or even ‘deluded narcissists’. Some articles suggest Millennials are ‘just like everyone else’. So as this is a hot topic, I’ve been speaking to HR and L&D professionals to find out what they are experiencing (as they have a front row seat). Specifically, I’ve been asking: What do they observe about this generation, now that some are turning 30 and entering the talent pool of future senior managers and leaders? What new issues are they encountering with this generation (in terms of hiring, engagement, development and retention)? How are they dealing with these issues (and what works / doesn’t work)? What new opportunities and benefits have they seen from Millennial Talent, and how can organizations nurture these? How do they anticipate HR and L&D practices need to change to better engage and develop Millennial talent? What further research needs to be done in this area (what are the ‘unknowns’)? Over the next few weeks I’ll share answers to these based on my conversations, research and experience. In particular, look out for my next post in this series, where I’ll share a specific problem that one of my clients have had with the retention of talented Millennials, and a really interesting way that they’re addressing it. In the meantime, what do you think? What other questions should I be asking? What are your answers to the above? Subscribe below to get updated when new content is available: Subscribe We would never spam, and you can unsubscribe at any time

This article, written by Alexis Kingsbury, originally featured on HRZone.com. ‘Happy sheets’ (training feedback forms) are used frequently by training and L&D professionals to collect feedback about development resources. They are typically handed out at the end of a training session, and attendees asked to fill them in before they leave. However, when is the best time to use them and does it matter? The end of the session seems like a sensible time to ask for feedback - the attendees have learned all the content, reflected on how to apply it, and are hopefully starting to plan what they’ll do differently. However, this is also the time when they’ll be packing their things and trying to get out of the door as soon as possible. Completion rates tend to drop as a result, and quality of feedback with it. Does it matter? Well, let’s look at why we bother using them… What do we want from happy sheets? Happy sheets can be used for collecting: Feedback to improve the specific course / resource attended Feedback on how to improve resources provided by L&D more widely Social proof / testimonials to use when promoting the course to others Referrals / registrations for other resources 1. Feedback to improve the specific course / resource attended Getting feedback to evaluate and improve upon your development resources is crucial if you are going to improve the performance of employees, and increase the value that L&D deliver. Specifically, you can ask attendees: What went well / was most useful (and should be kept in future sessions) What didn’t go well / was least useful (so should be removed or replaced) How the session compared to expectations (and whether it lived up to the promised outcomes) 2. Feedback on how to improve resources provided by L&D more widely Feedback needn’t be limited to only the session attended - you can find out how to improve the resources L&D provides more widely, and how this session fits in. Specifically, you can ask: How this session compares to other courses / resources (and whether it should be learned from or improved) What other training or support is required or would be useful (either as a logical next step from this training, or would have been a useful prerequisite) 3. Social proof / testimonials to use when promoting the course to others Testimonials help employees evaluate whether a course is likely to be useful to them. Use them when promoting courses to other employees, helping you to increase training attendance. Specifically, you can ask attendees to reflect on: What they expect to think / do differently as a result of what they learned To what extent they would recommend others attend the training 4. Referrals / registrations for other resources If you want to further increase training attendance (a common problem for L&D, and killer of ROI), you can use this great opportunity to get referrals or registrations. Specifically, you can encourage attendees to identify: Who else would benefit from the training (broad groups & specific people) What other training / resources they’d be interested in next attending Phew! That’s a big ask of your attendees at the very end of a training session! So to ensure there is time and consideration given for these, I suggest you distribute and get attendees to complete the happy sheet earlier. But when? You want a significant amount of learning to have taken place first, but still have time to address any major gaps they identify… As a result, I suggest you get people to complete the ‘happy sheet’ just before the last comfort break (or before the last topic if you don’t have breaks planned). This works well because you’ve still got their attention, they’re still engaged to learn the next bit, and the break gives you a chance to review the responses. As a result: The happy sheet can actually help them reflect and think about what they’ve learned, what questions they should ask in the final part of the session, and how they will use what they’ve learned. You can review the answers in the break, to identify any big gaps you can cover before the session ends e.g. "I was hoping for more practical examples" or "I can’t see how to apply this to sales presentations". They will have time to give well considered answers, including useful feedback, testimonials and referrals that help you improve and support learning more widely. So, don’t leave happy sheets to the end, bring them out earlier and get a lot more out of them! Alexis co-hosted a webinar with Jon Kennard (Editor of TrainingZone) on 25th June on how to improve training attendance. Click here to watch the recording.

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