As we hear rumors of the eventual upturn in the global economy, organizations are beginning to emerge after taking cover and taking drastic action during the downturn. Many organizations will never operate the same again, and many are looking for ways to absorb the lessons learned and move forward with new structures and operations. How can the training organization help during this time of stepping forward? There are several areas on which to focus and change training - and ensure that the organization continues to move forward. First, take a look at the new hire situation. Many organizations are on hiring freezes or may still be involved in layoffs. But some organizations are in constant need of new hire employees, especially on the front lines. If your organization has high turnover or simply continues to hire, look at the training that was offered for this group during the times before the economic downturn. How much of the information was truly "need to know"? Did the training integrate efficiencies such as e-learning and on-the-job programs? If not, take the time to revamp these programs to make them as efficient in delivery and subject matter as possible. Did the material focus on how to do the job efficiently? Try focusing the training itself on efficiency and see how well the new hires do. On top of this, remember to evaluate the new program in order to clean it up and keep it as cost-effective as possible.<!-more-> Next, have the organization’s leaders received training over the period of economic uncertainty? In many cases, the leadership pool has been hard at work trying to keep the organization together. Be sure to look at the formal training programs for leadership and start working on how to include them when the budget and economy allow. But again, look for ways to address the new shape and face of leadership going forward. How can the organization’s leaders provide a role model in the new environment? What has changed for them since the economic downturn? What leadership tools will be most useful for the organization and its leaders? Focus any formal programs on these aspects of leadership and you’ll be able to show efficiency. In addition, you’ll be able to prepare and retain leaders for the organization and how it is emerging in the new economy. As always, keep a focus on championing change, looking and listening for efficiency, and keeping an "open door" for subordinates. Third, consider management training. Most likely, there has not been a great deal of this while the organization was in a contraction. But how can the training department, when budget allows, tackle management training for the new environment? Focus programs on how to manage effectively and efficiently. Try to hone in on how managers can be on the lookout for new ways of doing things - and how they can manage from the perspective of the bottom line. As managers start working in this fashion, the people who report to them will also work in that fashion. The entire organization will be looking for ways to operate efficiently and with cost in mind. Fourth, look at how your organization is affected by compliance, ethics, whistleblowing, or regulation. Some industries are in a complete uproar where these issues are concerned, and some are not. But wherever your organization stands, get executive buy-in on programs that teach how to comply, what ethical standards are required, and how to report perceived ethics issues without fear of retribution. Many organizations did not focus on these issues, especially ethics, before the economic meltdown. And unfortunately a few unethical actions caused a great upheaval in the way the world does business. Training can help an emerging organization operate "above-the-board" in the new environment, along with efficiency and cost effectiveness. Finally, and again if and when budgets allow, focus some training on retention and career paths. Training can be a vital partner in teaching and retaining employees at all levels, especially if those employees are given a way to advance, expand their knowledge, and broaden their competency and appeal to other areas within the organization. Consider how to disseminate information on career paths and career tracks efficiently, such as through on-the-job programs, "brown bag" lunch programs, e-learning and Internet, case studies, and self-paced interventions. Make the requirements for career path and advancements available to all associates in the most effective and cost-efficient manner. You’ll find that retention may increase along with satisfaction. Organizations that are emerging on the other side of economic crisis certainly have an uphill battle. Training departments can focus on these aspects and partner with the rest of the organization during the difficult transition. Related Posts:Training for a "New Face"Coaching as a Training ResourceChallenging the Leadership Bench in Tough TimesRSDR 7: Leadership RetentionLeadership Amidst Chaos

<span lang="EN">Psychological and learning theories tell us that learning curves are a continuum of four basic competency levels. It may seem like a stretch to apply theoretical knowledge to your sales process, but simply being aware of the levels of knowledge and how they can impact your sales is a great place to start. Think of this as your own sales competency continuum, a way in which you can continually improve.</span> The first level of knowledge is called "unconscious incompetence". It sounds like a terrible label, but if you’re in this area you’re not really aware of what your knowledge deficiency is. The only way to move to the next level of knowledge is to watch someone else perform the skill, or explain it to you, so that you become aware of its existence. New salespeople may be in this stage in regard to products and services, but can also be unaware of various sales techniques. But with more experience comes the feeling that you cannot improve - which means you may be missing out on new or improved sales processes and techniques. Obviously, new salespeople will attend training and observe the pros to find out what they need to learn. But if you’re highly experienced, you can also take the time to observe others and discover some areas of unconscious incompetence.<!-more-> Once you’ve become aware of the knowledge you don’t have, you move to the next level of learning, which is called "conscious incompetence". In this stage, you obviously realize the skills you lack - or the skills you need to make improvements in your sales process or client handling techniques. With awareness, you might even practice a new skill or technique, because you know that practice will help you incorporate the skill into your everyday work. In the conscious incompetence phase, it is absolutely vital that you make the commitment to learning and practice - even if you are a highly experienced salesperson. Set a goal to attend seminars, read on the subject, and even to find a mentor who can help you improve. But becoming aware isn’t the end of the road on new skills. The third stage is called "conscious competence", in which you learn to practice the new skill or technique reasonably well. If it’s a new technique, such as remembering to research your competition before every sales presentation, you’ll start to roll it in because you’re constantly thinking about it. And even though you think about it, it’s still easy to forget because it’s not quite a "rote" skill that you practice every day. You may even be able to demonstrate the skill to someone else, but it’s probably difficult to pull the skill apart and explain it to someone who doesn’t yet have it. In sales, and many other professions for that matter, the best thing you can do in the conscious competence stage is to practice, practice, and practice. And only through practice can you move to the next new skill or technique, so make a commitment to deploy the new skill in your sales process every time you make a presentation. The final stage of learning is the "unconscious competence" phase, where your skills and techniques are second nature. Often learning theorists will describe driving, walking, and writing as unconscious competencies, because you can perform the skill without thinking. As the skill becomes more developed, you may even discover that you can teach it to others. But the main thing to remember about unconscious competence is that it does not exempt you from comparing yourself to new standards and consistently observing others to find even more unconscious incompetence. In sales, you can make a commitment to observation and to asking for feedback from others to evaluate yourself. In addition, with unconscious competence comes responsibility, because you can observe others and mentor them with your highly developed skills. It’s easy to settle into a sales process that works - and continue using techniques that always generate results. But when you consider the sales competency continuum, your skills should always be undergoing change and improvement - and will therefore improve your bottom line. Copyright 2009  Bryant Nielson. All Rights Reserved. Related Posts:Five Focuses For SalesA Roadmap For Creating Customer and Employee ValueSales AnalyticsTraining Best PracticesCFA Competencies

When organizational leaders are asked about their most valuable asset, they are most likely to say that their customers or employees, or both, are the most valuable. But recent studies show that only 54% of executives have a concrete strategy to build one-on-one customer and employee relationships. It’s not easy to go from awareness to execution, but here are four high level tips for leaders who want to create a value strategy. First, look at yourself and your own interpersonal skills. No matter how good you think your skills are, they can always use some improvement. And before a discussion of how to improve interpersonal skills, remember that the skills you display will be the ones that filter down into the organization - and out to its customers. To begin with, practice relationship building in your own areas. Leaders sometimes have "built-in" relationships with people in the organization because neither has a choice. But your leadership will excel if you find a way to build real relationships with all of those people. A much harder, but highly effective, method is to ask for feedback from colleagues, other leaders, and yes, even direct and indirect reports. And don’t just store the data you obtain - use it to make improvements. On the organizational level, analyze your own style of doing business. Do you smile and make eye contact? Do you attempt to avoid argument at any cost? Are you in the habit of using customer and employee names, regardless of their level in the organization or the customer hierarchy? Are you a "proactive responder" or a "reactor"? Do you always make the attempt to understand the needs and motivations of others, whether they are customers or employees? Once you start practicing these things, you can "push them down" into the organization - and make them part of the perceived value of the organization both internally and externally. Second, learn to develop relationships quickly and show their importance. Developing relationships quickly means that you have to find a way to interact with anyone in any circumstance. This becomes harder for leaders because they are not part of the "every day grind" in an organization. Find your common points, find a way to interact with the person (customer or employee), and start building a relationship right away. This will make you appear visible and accessible instead of high in a tower. Along those lines, learn to enunciate the importance of customers and employees as people and relationships, versus as simply a transaction or a job function. Be aware that customer transactions may start small and grow larger over time as you build your relationship. This also applies to employee relationships; an employee may currently have a small job function, but his or her bigger skills may lead to bigger responsibility and impact. The old "4 P’s" of marketing still apply to organizations both internally and externally, but remember to add "people" to product, price, placement, and promotion. Third, look for what Stephen Covey would call the "Win/Win Relationship" in both customers and employees. According to Covey, the "Win/Win" formula means that "all solutions are mutually beneficial" and "mutually satisfying". And you, as a leader, must look for ways to make that win / win happen with both your customers and your employees. Look for the "long term" in both: a small business starts small but may grow into a highly profitable customer, just as an employee with a small responsibility and high loyalty can become the organization’s best asset. Finally, create customer sales and employee retention through service and loyalty. This is easier said than done, but look at it from the high level. How can you increase sales through service and loyalty? One of the first things you can do is measure service levels - and ask customers to rate those levels. Find out what they felt like they missed. Discover how many products or services each of your customers has - and why they haven’t moved on to a broader range of products, services, or visits. Once customers find out you’re interested, they are more likely to become more loyal over time - especially if you do something with their feedback. With employees, create loyalty, and then value, through appreciation, empathy, and an understanding of motivations and drivers. This is by no means a complete list of ways to create value with customers and employees, but it is a good place to start. Make 2009 the year you focus on value - both internally and externally. Copyright 2012 Bryant Nielson. All Rights Reserved. Related Posts:Leadership Tools for Small BusinessName your best customersBuilding Long-Term RelationshipsLeadership Tools for Small BusinessThe 29 Costly Implications of Losing Customers

Production is at the center of all business.  Knowing exactly how much you’re getting from your managerial staff and the employees working under is imperative.  Under-performing sectors of the office can shed light on quarterly gains/losses, and it’s here where you might determine how understaffed or overstaffed your company is once the accountant comes calling. But sometimes it’s not about the size of the employees.  Sometimes it could be the structure of the business where, in some cases, it isn’t as uniformed as it should be.  Part of that could be from being a startup and not having immediate access to amenities such as a larger office space and/or top-of-the-line technology at their employees’ fingertips.  Mostly though, it’s a case of insufficient training for all parties involved…from the CEO on down to supervisors to entry-level employees. And that’s where sufficient training methods come into play.  The old saying, "you can’t make an omelet without cracking some eggs", can be a referendum for nearly anything, and in this case, employee efficiency. Here are a few ways that training procedures can work to lift employee production into even greater levels. Streamlined Processes If the conductor’s not in line, the rest of staff will fall to the wayside as well.  Having a competent HR department and highly-skilled supervisors can represent a better cog for their business when they have every process mapped out and coordinated to work effectively.  Whether that’s through off-the-shelf training packets for each individual to learn and grow from or having weekly progress reports instead of monthly checkups…there’s plenty of rewards waiting for the entire office if the higher-ups are sufficiently trained to deliver the message to the rest of the staff. Proper Training With Workplace Compliance This is a big factor for the staff because it can help alleviate any and all uneasiness or uncertainty of common workplace concerns or issues such as harassment or discrimination incidents, what signs to look for and whether these concerns should be reported to HR or somewhere else.  It’s imperative to have a chain of command for dealing with concerns that can have a great impact on business proceedings from both a legal stance and a financial one on the progress of projects and sales. The better your business is at informing and monitoring basic workplace compliance, the more comfortable of an environment the office can be. Pull Or Tighten The Reins When Necessary Being too overbearing on employees when it’s completely unnecessary can have a negative impact.  On the flip side, being too lenient can mask poor-performing employees.  Finding symmetry somewhere in the middle allows a company to run like a well-oiled machine for the simple fact that employees have an easier time knowing what’s expected of them.  Management doesn’t have to go around singing the praises of an employee every time they finish a product, but they shouldn’t be distant from their achievements, either. Conclusion When it comes down to it, any business that thrives does so not just because of their product, but in the way it’s marketed, analyzed and dealt with from a customer service standpoint.  And great customer service comes from efficient training and effective employees that work in tandem with their management departments above them.  It’s a process in and of itself, but without a focused process to begin with, the ship that is your business may have trouble keeping water from its barracks. Author Bio: Kyle O’Brian is a freelance writer and has covered a range topics on business, from leadership skills to business productivity measures and other similar avenues and has consulted for Ej4, an e-Learning company devoted to creating fulfilling training videos for the corporate field and beyond. Related Posts:Turnover, Turnover, Turnover3 C’s for SuccessDare to be DifferentWrite for: YourTrainingEdge ®Training Does Make the Difference

Many of us believe the "if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it" idea when it comes to our sales processes. Although this is a great way to keep a good thing going, there are some sales concepts you can focus on for the New Year that will not only keep your sales moving, but may improve them, as well. Some of these items may be part of your process already, but becoming aware of them and how you execute them can lead to progress. Make an effort to focus on these five sales elements in every customer interaction. To begin with, always go for the benefits. This may be elementary to some salespeople, but it’s sometimes easy to forget. While preparing your sales presentation, remember to ask how your product or service will benefit your client - and answer the question. Remember, the client is not concerned about features as much as they are about how the product will improve their lives, their bottom line, or their business. Put yourself in your client’s shoes and determine why he or she might need your product or service. Your presentation should focus on that aspect. Next, try spinning your sales language. The words and phrases you use every day become part of your rote usage, and it may be difficult to identify which ones could create a negative connotation for your potential client. And remember that clients are becoming more savvy, more aware, and more sophisticated every day, so words like sold, contract, and signature might be falling out of use. Instead, try words like acquire, agreement, and approve. So analyze your sales presentation for words that may not work anymore. The opposite side of this, of course, is to analyze your presentation for words that have a positive connotation - and use them where appropriate. To make this exercise work, you must again put yourself in your client’s shoes and think about the last experience you had as a client and not a salesperson. The simple act of redefining your language can bring new life to your presentation - and create a much more positive experience for your client. Third, try to get the best out of your prospecting process this year. Determine what your best prospecting method is by analyzing your response ratio in various mediums. Be sure to count every medium you use, whether it’s phone, email, direct mail, networking or face-to-face. It may also be beneficial to conduct a cost-benefit analysis on your prospecting, as well. For example, do the costs of direct mail far outweigh its benefits? If so, is there a way to take your direct mail to email and eliminate a majority of the cost? While looking at your prospecting methods, be honest with yourself and determine if it’s time to make additions to those methods. For example, do you avoid email because it seems impersonal? Try writing an email in a conversational tone - there’s no need to be completely formal just because you’re writing instead of speaking. Keep in mind that more sophisticated clients may be found in newer locations, such as social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. The analysis of your prospecting methods requires you to take a hard look at yourself and your methods - and make additions and corrections as needed. Next, regroup your referrals. Many of us know that referrals keep business going, maybe even more than prospecting. But look at your referral process to determine when customers respond best. In many instances, your customer may respond best right after the sale, when they are excited about the product or service. But, depending on the product or service, customers may need to try it out for a time before you ask them to refer. Once you’ve determined where referrals have the most "bang" in your sales process, try to add the referral request at that point every time. Finally, make this year the time to discover your competition. In many cases, we’re all offering the same products and services, with minor changes in product and major changes in brand and delivery. That’s no excuse to ignore the competition. Find out who the competition is, what they offer, and what makes clients likely to use their product. What do you perceive as the competition’s strengths and weaknesses? Use this information to handle objections and to explain the difference between you and your competition. Taking the time to get to know them will help you improve sales. Make these five activities a part of your regular sales review this year. Copyright 2007-2008 Bryant Nielson. All Rights Reserved. Related Posts:Account PlanningSales AnalyticsTelephone Skills for SalespeopleSales Performance AnalysisOpportunity Management

Summary: Continuing with our series on Sales Cycle Management, we now move to the second component, Sales Forecasting. Now that you’ve identified opportunities, a good forecast will allow you to realistically plan future sales. The second component of Sales Cycle Management (SCM) is Sales Forecasting. Many times, salespeople and sales managers do not take a realistic view of how many sales they can undertake during a particular time period. This view makes time spent on Opportunity Management less worthwhile, and makes a traditional sales pipeline stale. What are the benefits of Sales Forecasting? When you take the time to forecast, you’ll be able to analyze past sales, annual growth, and sales and growth as opposed to industry competitors. In addition to this, forecasting allows you to more closely analyze your price and cost structure, which means you have a better idea of where profit starts to kick in. In other words, a realistic sales forecast can allow you to virtually guarantee profit. When you look at the numbers, sales forecasting is a great way to look at the future from an objective standpoint. But how do you go about creating a sales forecast? The first piece is to have an accurate record of past sales. For some organizations, this is easy, but for others, record keeping may have been less than accurate. Collect the most solid past data you can, going back several years if possible. From the past and current standpoint, it’s a good idea to understand what factors, both internal and external, have acted on sales and continue to act on sales. Make a list of these factors, just to be sure they are understood. For example, external factors could range from seasonal demand for the product or service, general economic conditions, to the activity of competitors - and their product, as well as consumer conditions such as income and employment. But what about internal factors, such as labor conditions, the organization’s credit policy, and inventory? Are there changes in the manufacturing process, price, or production numbers at any point? Once you’ve determined what factors act upon your sales, you can ask further, more detailed questions about the sales forecast itself. First, what products or services are you going to be forecasting? Are they grouped or separate? In most cases, it’s a good idea to create at least separate product or service groupings for the forecast - this way, your forecast will start out as precise as possible. Next, ask about the time frame of the forecast. How far in the future can you realistically go? Third, consider frequency. What is the frequency of actually creating the forecast, and what is the frequency of review and/or revision? Finally, it’s a good idea to come up with an acceptable margin of error based on cost, expense, and profit. The margin of error is also a good test of the realism of the forecast. At this point in sales forecasting, you may have to take an analytical look at account records, financial statements, sales reporting, and post sale activities. For example, you’ll want to look at all of the activity that occurred up to the point of sale and after to get a good idea of cost and expense. These sales records should be part of your Opportunity Management system, anyway. As you move forward, you must finally determine if you’d like to see a qualitative or quantitative forecast. In simple terms, quantitative analysis takes into account all of the factors we’ve discussed and makes an estimation of sales based on those factors. The qualitative analysis will use a mathematical formula to create a numbers-based sales forecast. If your organization is smaller, you may want to try a quantitative approach first, as a realistic starting point. This is especially true if your financial staff is smaller. In larger organizations with a larger financial staff, a qualitative approach is possible. When looking at these approaches, keep in mind that a stable, consistent product can use a standard mathematical formula for forecasting. On the other hand, an unstable product may find a forecast in varied mathematical formulas. However you decide to move forward with your sales forecast, you’ll be taking a less realistic pipeline and rooting it to more realistic sales possibilities. Once you’ve created your forecast, you’ll be ready to move to the next component of SCM, Account Planning. Related Posts:Sales ForecastingSales Pipeline: Fact or FictionSales Performance AnalysisAccount PlanningOpportunity Management

How does one determine value when training? Does it seem possible that many of us have lost our ability to correctly assess the value of the programs that are delivered? I know, starting an article with two questions is not the ideal method for making an argument. Nevertheless, I am of the opinion that the value of ‘questions’ is greater than the value of ‘answers’. Therefore, I submit these questions for review A traditional method for determining value is in the ‘content’. Many programs are built around the training content. The belief is that the ‘content’ is of such great value that irrespective of the delivery, that the student will immediately absorb the material and be capable of mastery of the topic. (At least that is how many training departments are acting in today’s corporate environment.) I have seen training department after training department continue this error of value. It is interesting that many of these corporate training groups believe that they can take a 20-something trainer (please continue to read so that you get the point and not take offense at the example) and provide them with relevant material, and somehow that combination of inexperience and content will mix up a potent brew of high-quality-training! Could someone please explain how this mix of inexperience and content morph into elegant training? If the premise of this mix had any value to it, the argument could be extended to education in our universities. We all know that the professors at Harvard, Yale and other Ivy League universities publish a tremendous amount. The professors write books, articles and provide analytic case-studies that are available to just about any and everyone. How is it that with the availability of these valuable resources, that we still have great disparity of value attributed to our different university experiences? Why isn’t the local community college’s degrees of equal value to those of Harvard and Yale. If the material is the same, why should not the student come away with the same value? This leads to the crux of the initial question: how to correct assess value in training programs. If value is not determined by the content, then what DOES determine value? Simply, it is all in the delivery and presentation. In our university example, the professors at these esteemed institutions are just superior to those of your local community college. (In disclosure, I did not attend an Ivy League college.)These professors are at these universities because of all that they had done prior to arriving there. They were already on the forefront of the material they teach. They have been pushing the envelopes far beyond their peers in their fields. They showed that their grasp of the material was so complete that they could deliver a highly-engaging presentation to their students. In short, they could inspire their students with the material. This brings us back to corporate training. Value, it seems, is related to the ‘trainer as well as the material’. If we are seeking to take our staffs and elevate them in performance, knowledge and conduct, we have to seek solutions to insure those objectives. Doesn’t the trainer, sometimes, make all of the difference in the world? How many times have we found ourselves interested in the material to then experience a trainer who kills our desire for it? Conversely, how many times did we find undesirable subjects take flight when a teacher/trainer was there to elevate the material? Giving thought to WHO provides training should be of greater importance than to WHAT material should be delivered. Value is always determined by those who attend and then engage the material once they return to their jobs. Making the hard decision to deliver high-quality programs will never be easy. Nevertheless, it is the most sure way to guarantee that your training department and programs continue within your corporate walls. Related Posts:Between the Happy SheetsCorporate Training Programs Constraints6 Reasons Why Corporate Training Programs FailTraining Mojo: How to Measure Your Training DepartmentAbout Us

One of the most effective ways to engage training participants and ensure retention is through the creation of structured learning paths. Using a structured approach gives participants an idea of what their learning will look like over a particular unit or time period, and also allows their learning to build naturally from one subject to the next. There are several ways to create structured learning, but first and foremost remember that any learning path must be accurately recorded and communicated to participants.One of the first ways to create structured learning is to space classroom training alternately with "real-life" or on the job interventions. For example, bank account representatives can attend classroom training on opening basic accounts, such as checking and savings accounts. After the classroom portions, participants can be allowed to go back to their offices to observe and open basic accounts - but no more. This type of controlled OTJ training can enhance the classroom experience and prepare participants for the next series of more advanced courses. Obviously this sequence can take place over a period of days or even hours, depending on the size of the class and the organization. Another structured learning technique is to create self-taught learning experiences with strict emphasis on the sequence. For example, customer service associates may be required to read a book on customer service and answer a questionnaire afterwards. In this type of structure, it should be clear that participants should read the book after a certain group of tasks and before another group of tasks. It should be noted that taking the activities out of sequence could have an adverse effect on the student’s progress. With this type of intervention, students are given the opportunity to learn on their own, formulate their own ideas, and then progress to more advanced study. One of the benefits of this type of intervention is that students at certain levels will all have the same knowledge before progressing further. When combining various types of interventions in a structured path, don’t forget the benefits of including online training with classroom and OTJ. Just as reading a book can provide a base of knowledge, so can an online course. For example, flight attendant trainees may be required to take online training that explains the elements of a first-class beverage cart before they go into the simulator to work with it. This way, a base of knowledge is created before students are given the application. Alternatively, highly regulated companies such as banks or investment houses use online interventions for compliance rules - and then put students through a simulation in training where they are required to draw on the compliance knowledge. Structured learning can also involve a mentor program. Let’s suppose you’ve created new hire training for manufacturing associates. The students have been involved in alternating classroom and on-the-job interventions. When that segment of training is concluded, what happens to the new hires? Are they simply left on the doorstep of the manager or supervisor, or are they transitioned into their new roles via a mentor? The mentor program can be structured for both the mentor and the new associate. The mentor should be instructed on what tasks to show the new associate - and should not sign off on the new hire until they are convinced he or she can complete the tasks. Mentor programs serve as a transitional piece of a structured learning plan - and can be very effective in reducing the shock of returning to the job. Finally, training design must be evaluated as any part of a structured learning path. If existing courses are being used to create the learning path, ensure that courses fit a natural sequence of knowledge, such as easiest concepts to hardest or time related steps in order. If training is not organized in a natural sequence, it must be placed in one before it is used as part of a structured learning path. In addition, make sure that the sequence of training, both classroom and online, is in a natural sequence with the other interventions. In other words, don’t just place an OTJ intervention in the sequence because you feel the students have been in the classroom for too long - each piece should have a logical sequence and reasoning behind being present in the learning path. Using these techniques, you can build a structured learning path that allows knowledge to build - and gives students adequate preparation for the jobs or tasks they will be carrying out in the real environment. Related Posts:Use New Hire Training to Ramp Up QuicklyRole of the Trainer: EngagementEngaging Participants 6: DevelopmentSimulations in Online LearningThe Difference Between a Coach, Mentor, and Consultant?

Trainers can achieve engagement in many ways, from encouraging participation to sharing personal experiences and interactive activities. How the trainer encourages engagement is very important, but we can’t lose sight of the value this type of engagement brings to each training intervention. First, highly engaged participants will have higher levels of retention. It’s easy to impart knowledge to a group of participants in a factual, or even dry, way. Some adults do retain facts and trivia, but many do not. Using engaging techniques during training will create an intellectual anchor to the material being learned. When participants go back to the job and must use the information they’ve gained, that mental anchor will kick in because of the activity surrounding it. Engagement encourages increased participation. Again, when someone participates in a discussion or activity, a mental anchor is formed with the material. But increased participation goes further than each individual. As trainers, we can use increased participation to better transfer similar learning experiences from one participant to another. In other words, if we encourage participants to share their past experiences with the subject matter, participants without the benefit of past experience will also be able to create a bond with the material. Trainers may have "war stories" to tell during class, but they are limited in scope because they are limited to one person’s experience. By opening participation to other class members, the variety of experience will make connections with more people. Learner engagement creates a sense of ownership and accountability. This is especially true in longer-term learning interventions. For example, let’s say a course lasts one week. If participant engagement is encouraged and begins on day one, each person will develop a feeling of ownership toward the course and will feel more responsible for its satisfactory completion. Not only this, participants will feel a stronger sense of accountability - to each other, to the trainer, and to their managers. How does that work? When learners are engaged not only with the material but also with each other, they’ll become accustomed to helping each other out through the benefit of understanding or past experience. When the trainer encourages engagement, he or she is creating a bond of accountability with the participant - each person will feel more responsible for continued engagement as the class is completed. Finally, an engaged learner will feel responsible for learning the material, passing exams, and being able to apply the material on the job - this is a form of accountability with the manager. There are also more "feel-good" benefits of a high level of engagement. First, participants will walk away from training with a sense of time well spent and accomplishment. Think about it. If a participant has sat through a non-participatory, non-engaging course, he or she will probably feel as if the time was wasted. On the other hand, if the participants have been engaged in the learning process, they will more likely feel that their time was well spent - not only because of the engagement but also because they know they’ll be able to apply the material upon returning to the job. One of the best benefits of engagement is good advertising for the training department. Again, participants that have dragged through a boring learning intervention will probably not have anything positive to say. But participants who have been engaged and stimulated throughout the learning process will probably report more favorably. So what are some of the best ways to create engagement? One of the most basic engagement tactics for a trainer is to encourage participation in class. Shared experience will go a long way for both experienced and inexperienced participants. Activities that simulate the job environment are also great ways to engage participants - instead of being lectured on how to do tasks, participants learn through doing. Group discussions and activities are also excellent engagement tactics - for example, instead of creating a lecture format, have participant groups explain topics with the trainer as the mediator. This type of engagement stimulates all learning styles and leads to further sharing of previous experience. Remember that one of the trainer’s chief roles is to engage the participant. Through engagement, participants will increase retention, transfer knowledge, gain a sense of ownership and accountability, and have a sense of time well spent. Related Posts:Engaging Participants 7: Evaluating for EngagementEngaging Participants 2: Pre-Training EngagementEngaging Participants 3: Classroom EngagementEngaging Participants 1: Keys to EngagementEngaging Participants 6: Development

When determining the difference between a coach, mentor, and consultant, it is necessary to look at specific roles and functions. First, we must look at the focus or concentration - what is the specific focus of the person? Second, we should look at the type of agenda or role the person has. Third, look at how the relationship is chosen and or cultivated. Fourth, how does the person garner influence? Fifth, what is the expected return for the services of the person? Finally, we must determine the scope of the person’s work. Coaches appear in various forms, such as professional, life, relationship, and sports team coaches. All coach types share the same criteria. The focus of the coach is in specific performance - for example, an organizational coach is usually responsible for increasing or improving performance in a given area. The agenda for a coach, then, is usually fairly specific - improve batting average, increase sales, etc. A coach usually arrives in the relationship selected by someone other than the "coachee" - in other words, the relationship is not self-selected. Coaches also influence through their position, such as in the sports world. But what is the expected return for a coach? As we’ve already discussed, a coach is looking for performance and possibly teamwork. Finally, a coach’s scope is usually task-related. Mentors vary slightly from the coach. A mentor’s focus, unlike a coach, is typically on the individual and not on a specific task or performance. A mentor also takes a more general role to the individual, that is, there is usually a less-specific agenda. Many mentor relationships are self-selected - keep in mind that a coach is usually assigned to a person or a team, whereas mentor relationships usually spring from mutual interests, work styles, and histories. A mentor’s influence usually comes from the perceived value of the relationship as opposed to position. The person choosing the mentor also chooses to take the role of "mentee" because of the expected return. So what is the expected return of a mentor? Many times the return could be as simple as affirmation or learning. Simply having a mentor will not guarantee that a person can advance in an organization and may not even be recognized as an "official" relationship, like a coach. The mentor’s scope is more than likely a general one - for example, if a person chooses a mentor in his or her profession, the mentor will likely cover many facets of that profession, including knowledge, preparation, networking, and technical function. A consultant may take the form of mentors and coaches, but the primary difference between a consultant and coaches and mentors is that a consultant is usually paid for the specific task at hand. The focus of a consultant is usually not a specific performance or individual but a complete process or concept, such as customer service. The consultant works on a specific agenda, as determined by the organization and the consultant. The relationship between consultant and client is usually self-selected by the client and based on cost, word of mouth, or area of expertise. On the other hand, the consultant can influence the client because of the perceived value he or she presents, as well as based on the record of past accomplishment. Because a consultant relationship is usually paid, the expected return typically has a link to a monetary value, such as higher efficiency or monetary savings. Also, whereas coaches and mentors tend to be general or task related in scope, a consultant’s scope is defined by the consultant and the organization or client. There are obviously subtle similarities between coaches, mentors, and consultants. But when you look at the specific criteria of the relationship, you can see that the differences should keep us from interchanging terms. Related Posts:7-Steps to Creating a Mentor / Coaching Program - Step One: What Are Your Goals?When Coaching Fails7-Steps to Creating a Coaching and Mentoring Program Five: Changing Your ProgramRSDR 5: Development 2Coaching as a Training Resource

As a coach, you should always be aware of what other teams, both within the organization and outside it, are doing. It seems that Belichick did not want team members looking forward and outside the organization - and he took the Giants lightly because of the wide popular opinion against them. It stands to reason, then, that an effective coach will not underestimate the competition’s preparation and determination - even if they seem to be losing. Communication within teams is extremely important. Just as Coughlin created a communication strategy, Belichick could do the same thing in the next season. Each team member needs to know his or her role in the big picture, no matter how big or how small. When a coach takes the time to communicate this, either personally or through senior team members, the entire team takes on a new life of ownership and accountability. A coach’s ego has no place in a team. Belichick has taken quite a bit of constant criticism on his abrupt style and egotistical manner. Improvement to this situation should take on a balance between ego and non-ego, so that the public persona is not seen as an overly egotistical and unflinching person. It’s easy to become proud of a team that consistently performs - and as coaches we should certainly communicate our pride at all times. But when the pride turns into outright egotism, it’s time to tone it down. Big problems should be addressed right away. When Belichick became involved in the spying scandal in 2007, he gave a quick admission but then refused to deal with the problem any further, saying that it created distraction. Not only does this give into the ego issue, it also shows an unwillingness to deal with a large issue at the time - and move on. Sometimes we may underestimate the impact of large problems on our teams, so coaches should move to deal with these problems right away - address them, answer questions about them, and even admit failure before the problems have an opportunity to fester. Two of Belichick’s biggest issues can be detrimental to any coach and his or her outward perception. First, good coaches and leaders must have a total sense of self-awareness. In Belichick’s case, he may have self-awareness and just not care about the perception side of it. But what we have to remember as coaches, leaders, and managers is that perception is often a reality. With just a few seconds to go and a final play still to come, Belichick walked off the field at Superbowl XLII. Even though he gave a half-hearted hug to Coughlin, his breach of sportsmanship definitely sounded a negative tone. Simple acts such as walking off the field can cause major problems for others’ perceptions of us, so always be aware of how you’re being perceived by your team - and its opposition. In fact, poor choices that affect perception can expose any of you or your teams’ weaknesses. Coaches should be keenly aware of how they are perceived. The second big issue Belichick should deal with is a lesson for any coach, manager, or leader. One leadership style does not fit all. In fact, "bad" leaders are seen as people who consistently stick to one style, be it authoritarian, democratic, or laissez-faire. What Belichick can do, and what all coaches and leaders should learn, is to modify style based on the situation. A coach can do this through careful analysis and evaluation of both the problem and the team members who are involved. If the situation deals with a team member who has been known as a wild card, like Randy Moss, a coach or leader can react in an authoritarian fashion. On the other hand, if team members have a level of maturity, the coach or leader can allow some leeway by taking a more participative stance. Remember to be aware of the opposition, communicate and acknowledge each team member’s role, leave your ego behind, address big problems right away, be aware of perception, and practice a situational coaching style. When you do, you’ll find that a high performing team can transform into a winning team - and stay that way. Related Posts:The Difference Between a Coach, Mentor, and Consultant?The 7 Predictable Challenges of Evolutionary ChangesLeading High Performance TeamsLeadership Tools for Small BusinessLeading High Performance Teams

Sports team training is no longer limited to physical training only - corporate-type training is being used today for both professional and amateur sports teams. When we think of training and sports teams, we usually think of physical training - the intense workouts, simulations, and training camps that put athletes into peak performance condition. But sports teams, both amateur and professional, are turning to more academic training to ensure the mental fitness of athletes, as well. There are training centers springing up all over the world that cater to both physical and mental training for athletes. On the same lines, some corporate training programs, especially leadership programs, are bringing activities for sports teams into the boardroom. One of the common training elements is communications training. From the basic levels to the intricacies of game day communication, some sports teams are taking up classroom training to learn the art. Another area of focus for sports teams is personal development training, or mental training. It was once a wide belief that an athlete’s natural talent and hard work could propel him or her into the winner’s circle. Now, performance coaches argue that a big part of athletic success belongs to attitudes, beliefs, or thought processes - some of the very criteria standard corporate training programs are built upon. Through this type of personal development training, athletes are learning better focus, game-day composure, and self-confidence through mental strength. It would also seem ironic that sports teams need team building training activities, but they do. Just as in corporate teams, changes to pro sports teams make them go through cycles of building, infighting, and performing. Some team training consultants offer ropes courses, firewalks, board breaking, and outdoor survival-type training. And on the opposite side, corporate teams are taking part in the Olympic-style team sports games and survival activities that may have once been reserved for football or baseball teams. Change management is another traditionally corporate course that’s being used in the world of professional sports. Think about a football game and how each person’s decisions, from coaches down to individual players, can impact the entire game and the entire teams’ success. Teams use change management courses to teach quick decision making based on individual and group needs. Through this type of training, players learn to quickly assess the situation from what they already know and can see and then make decisions. The notion of "coaching" in the corporate world stemmed from sports coaches to begin with. The corporate world has taken coaching techniques and turned them into processes and models, such as coaching for peak performance or situational leadership. Coaches have begun to move back into the classroom to learn the new corporate techniques - peak performance can be used for athletes and employees. Because of the unlimited income potential for pro sports teams, many are building serious training programs for their employees, as well. Sales and customer service training has become popular for the concierge staffs, ticket sales, general management, and group sales areas for many pro teams. Owners and team managers see that the experience begins before the fans sit in their seats on game day. The next time you watch a team game, whether it’s professional or amateur, think about the types of training that may have been applied to put the teams and individual athletes where they are. Think about the similarities between your teams and sports teams - we can borrow training ideas from both sides. Related Posts:Leadership AnalyticsLeadership AnalyticsLeading High Performance TeamsLeading High Performance TeamsLeading High Performance Teams

Summary: It’s time to start measuring your training department. Start with these five items and you’ll get a good picture of what’s going on. Measuring training can be difficult, especially when you consider all of the "angles". You can measure for money, ROI, immediate success, or delayed success (or failure). When it comes to measuring your Training Department, there are five important ways to obtain a good picture of what’s going on and make corrections if necessary. First, you should measure immediate reaction to training. This measurement method is often referred to as a "smile sheet" - a quick measurement that may take into account the fact that the class is still smiling. After all, they haven’t been back to the job to really apply what they’ve learned, have they? The argument against immediate reaction is just that: you get an immediate reaction only. But think about what you really are measuring: do the participants feel good when they leave, or were they uncomfortable with the instructor, the material, or the training experience in general? Do they feel their time was worthwhile upon first glance? Do they feel that the material is appropriate on first glance? These are all helpful ways to determine how well your instructors and training developers are doing. A first impression is usually fairly accurate, so use immediate reaction surveys after each course, for both in class and online interventions. But don’t use this method by itself. After the "smile sheet", surveying should continue in the field. Application survey will help you discover if the participants are using the material on the job or not. Your response rate will probably be lower than the "smile sheet," after all, the immediate reaction is obtained from a captive audience. So wait 30 or 45 days and survey the participants based on the objectives of the course. Are they able to carry out the tasks they were taught? Are they using the product information and quick reference guides that were delivered in class? Do they feel that everything they were taught in class has been worthwhile in the field? Here’s an additional piece of application survey: touch the managers and supervisors, as well. You can even ask the same questions - can your employee carry out a certain task, are they well versed in products, etc. With application survey for managers and employees, you’ll get a good picture of what actually happened when the real world came back into play. While you’re considering surveys, think about random surveys of the training department’s customers. Create a few questions that explore how the population feels about the training department, its programs, its image, and even its instructors. If your training department is "in touch" with the population, you’ll be able to see it clearly. If the department has been branded an "ivory tower", you’ll also have an opportunity to see that. You’ll find that a survey to customers who have not recently been to a course will uncover new opportunities - and help you measure current attitudes toward training. Instructor evaluation should be a part of any department measurement. Your immediate reaction survey should have some reference to the instructor’s performance, but don’t rely solely on that measurement. First, determine the criteria you’ll want to measure. Some examples are professionalism, dress code, clarity of speech, presentation skills, adherence to training materials, and demonstration of the company’s mission and values. After you’ve determined your criteria, make a judgment on who should evaluate the instructors, preferably a senior instructor or indirect manager. Positioning of the evaluation is important as well - you should explain to the team that the evaluations are in place to help everyone move to the next level. Finally, you can measure your department based on budget. To do this, you should take your annual budget and break it down to controllable items, such as materials costs and cost per student. If you’re spending too much training new hires, examine the program for possible flaws. If your materials cost too much, find out why - you could have too many types, incorrect, or even unnecessary materials. Not only is this a good measurement for your training department, it also provides an opportunity for you to involve your staff in their measurement. Ask them for an opinion on why the materials cost is too high - you’ll get the best answers at the "grass roots" level. If you’re ready to measure your training department, start with these five items. You’ll get a good picture of your department, its capabilities, your courses, and your expenses.   Related Posts:Top 10 Training MetricsBuilding a Corporate University: MaintenanceTraining Mojo: How to Align Training Metrics with Company MetricsTraining Mojo: Developing a Culture of Training by Getting Buy-In From Stakeholders and StaffTraining Analytics

Summary: Training metrics are vital to your department’s operations, but if they aren’t aligned with the company, you’re creating confusion and an inability to measure. Follow five steps to help you align your department’s metrics with the company’s metrics. Measuring your training department’s performance and efficiency is very important. But, if your metrics do not align with the company’s overall metrics, how can you measure your department’s actual contribution? Once you align your department metrics with the company, you’ll not only be able to impact the business, but you’ll also be able to better calculate your department’s Return on Investment. Here are a few simple steps to help you align your metrics with the company. First you have to know what the company metrics are. It’s simple, but it’s surprising how many training managers really don’t have a connection to the big picture at the company. You can start by analyzing the company’s mission, values, and strategy - is growth in the plan? Are new products being introduced? Is customer loyalty the number one metric? Along these lines, be aware of how employees are measured throughout the company - are your frontline employees reviewed on length of time spent with a customer, production, efficiency, or error reduction? You must take the time to determine the company’s metrics - from the mission level down to the employee level. Next, determine which metrics you can follow - and how. For example, if one of the company’s key metrics is customer service, what are the specific criteria? Is there a customer survey you can analyze? Can you interview the front line to see how they guarantee customer satisfaction? Once you’ve seen these metrics, you can align your department with them. For example, if the company’s customer service employees have a set of criteria to follow in a phone conversation, consider using the same criteria for your department. People still call and email the training department - hold your staff to the same customer service guidelines. What if it’s more complicated, like operational efficiency? Obviously you cannot use the exact same criteria as the company level, but think through your own department’s operations. What criteria can you set to increase operational efficiency? Instructor evaluations, supplies usage, cost per participant, and post-training surveys are all examples of using your own metrics while aligning with the overall company. Third, it’s a great idea to get senior management’s buy-in. In many organizations, you can start an effective dialogue by informing senior management that you’d like to align your metrics with theirs. Not only can you show that your department is willing to get behind the whole organization, but you can also demonstrate that you’re willing and able to detail your department’s contribution back to the organization. Another way to get senior management buy-in is to ask them to help you prioritize. You’ve seen the high-level metrics, so which ones would senior management recommend you concentrate on? Most organizations’ metrics can be moving targets, i.e. 2007 may have required a focus on customer satisfaction, but 2008 must focus on operational efficiency. Asking senior management to help you align will simply get them behind you. Now you can create your metrics. You’ve probably already created some of your metrics during your investigation. Tailor those metrics to a training department. How are a training department’s customer’s satisfied? How is production efficient in your area? In what ways can you get your staff to concentrate on fiscal efficiency? Once you’ve thought through it, put it on paper - where possible, use the same rating scales as the company. But before you begin using the metrics, take the time to clearly communicate with your staff. How many times have measurements been introduced into an organization with no explanation, no reason as to why the staff is suddenly being asked to comply? The biggest part of the communication to staff is the explanation that you are aligning your department with the company. Be sure to discuss and highlight the benefits: i.e. better working relationships within the company, justification for more staff or better programs, and career development programs. Explain to the staff that you are trying to help them move to the next level in satisfaction and efficiency. Help them understand that in measuring them, you’ll be able to determine strengths and opportunities for each individual and each area of your department. Your communication of new metrics can make them or break them - so keep it positive, let them know how measurement fits with the big picture, and assure them that you’ll be there to help. Follow these steps to align your metrics with your company’s. You’ll find that the benefits will create new working relationships both internally and externally. In addition, you’ll be able to produce solid measurements of your department’s performance. Related Posts:Training Mojo: 10 Steps to Create Your Training DojoTop 10 Training MetricsAligning Performance with ResultsMeasuring Leadership EffectivenessMeasuring Leadership Effectiveness

Summary: Are you challenged with creating a new training department? Here are ten steps to help you create a Training Dojo, a place where employees go to learn about their jobs, progress to higher career levels, and discover how to become better managers and leaders. A dojo is a martial arts training center - the place where learners come to absorb technique and wisdom. You can create a Training Dojo in your organization, a place where employees come to learn about their jobs, progress to higher career levels, and discover how to become better managers and leaders. Follow these 10 steps to create your Training Dojo. One: Create a culture of development. Many organizations lack a culture that will allow training and development to grow. You must show the organization the benefits of training, from functional knowledge to career development. Explain that a training organization can lead to increased efficiency, lower turnover, higher retention, and a culture that allows learning to happen everywhere - not just in a classroom. Two: Obtain buy-in. Part of creating a culture of development is getting buy-in from other executives and stakeholders. In the same way you show the organization the benefits of training, break the benefits down for your executives. Try to find at least five benefits for each of their particular areas - relate the benefits to their business units’ mission and goals. Place a special focus on the financial officer - show him or her the financial benefits of creating your Training Dojo. Provide case studies on organizations that have effectively implemented training programs that positively impacted the bottom line. Three: Develop standards of excellence. Your Dojo should have a set of written standards. Don’t get into metrics just yet - here, determine the training department’s mission and values and align them with the company. Detail how the staff of your Dojo will have a positive impact on the company, its employees, and its income. Outline the standards that you and your staff will demonstrate at all times. Four: Determine branding and placement. Since you have a mission and values, you can focus on a brand and its placement. Obtain assistance from your marketing department to develop a logo or trademark for your Dojo. Develop a logo that can be placed on the front door, materials, and even casual Friday polo shirts for the staff. Your presence will be tangible and linked to the standards of excellence you’ve written. Five: Find an appropriate location and tools. For some organizations, developing a training department means new facilities. For others, it means taking over a slightly used space. Wherever your Dojo may be, make sure it’s in a central location and in an environment that invites employees to visit. Make a list of the tools you’ll want to have, such as projectors, simulated workspaces, technical and soft skills class areas. Consider colors, lighting, and workspaces. Prioritize your list and be ready to present business rationale behind each item. Six: Select the staff - carefully. You must look for a Dojo staff that not only has technical knowledge, but also an ability to make learners of all levels feel comfortable. Remember that a person with a fountain of knowledge is a bad choice if he or she does not mix well with others. You’ll want staff members who portray the vision and values of the company - and your Dojo. Seven: Establish a curriculum committee. Choose a mixture of executives, senior managers, front line managers, employees, and members of your own staff to sit down and discuss what programs your Dojo should offer. This group can help prioritize offerings, determine what can be learned on the job versus in a classroom, and whether you’ll need to offer learning in various medias. Your committee will help spread the word and propagate the culture of training. Eight: Determine program development goals. After you’ve decided what to offer, have the committee help you create the timeline. Look at your resources and go for the best timeline you can. Look for external or past courses that can serve as models for what you want to develop for your Dojo. Examine the benefits of each offering and translate them into business unit benefits. Nine: Establish metrics. You must decide how your Dojo’s staff will be measured. Align your metrics with the company’s metrics, but be sure to include evaluations of programs and instructors. Let it be known that your metrics are continuous and will lead to an ever changing effort to serve the organization. By doing this, you’ll prove that your department will be held up to the same standards as the rest of the organization. Ten: Visit your Dojo. If your office is located in the physical Training Dojo, be sure to visit the classrooms, drop in on training developers, and take the time to chat with training participants. If your office is remote, you must schedule time on a regular basis to visit the Dojo - your presence is credibility for every program you offer. By following these 10 steps, you can build a Training Dojo that gains respect and credibility, and offers programs that have a lasting and positive impact on the organization. Related Posts:Training Mojo: How to Align Training Metrics with Company MetricsTraining Mojo: Developing a Culture of Training by Getting Buy-In From Stakeholders and StaffCreating a Culture of LeadershipTraining Alchemy: A Path of Excellence for Corporate TeamsTop 10 Training Mistakes

Summary: Looking for a way to bring your training department to the next level? Create a training culture by obtaining buy-in from stakeholders and staff.When the training department is up and running and your courses are being delivered regularly, does that translate into your firm having a training culture? Without buy-in from stakeholders and training staff, you don’t. Here are some ways to create the culture by involving stakeholders and your staff. Your department’s stakeholders are often subject-matter-experts in the field - they could be the company’s executives, department managers, and even high performers. Far too often, training programs are developed and delivered without any input from this important group. To avoid that mistake, involve your stakeholders from the beginning, with the development of your training. Ask them what material should be covered in your courses. Obtain step-by-step procedures from the subject-matter-experts and stakeholders. Gain approval from the executives with a simple but clear explanation of what is going to be covered in a training course and program. Your benefit is twofold: first, you’re getting stakeholder buy-in. Second, you’re getting the most accurate, field-worthy information to include in your training. Now that you have stakeholders involved in development, don’t leave them at the door of the classroom. Involve them in the evaluation of your training programs. Let’s say you conduct an application survey of training participants at 30 or 45 days after class. Invite your stakeholders to analyze the results with you - that group may be able to provide a perspective that the training department simply doesn’t have. Invite your stakeholder group to make suggestions about the content or the suitability of the instructors. When stakeholders are constantly involved in training development and evaluation, you can maintain buy-in and create an effective working relationship. Identified stakeholders are an important group, but what about field managers and supervisors? Many people in these roles have great ideas for training programs and development, but do not want to make a career move because they like being in the field. Just as you involve stakeholders in development and evaluation, it’s a great idea to involve middle managers and supervisors, as well. Invite them to help you determine content for new courses and suggestions that might be made to existing program and materials. Have them explain how they came to answer your application surveys - what criteria did they use to judge an employee’s success or lack of success? Again, you’ve created, identified and communicated with a group of managers and supervisors that have a stake in training and development. What about the training staff themselves? Training managers make the mistake of "pigeon-holing" staff, that is, they see a good niche for an instructor or developer, and they leave him or her there. When the staff burns out, you lose their buy-in. Do not assume that they’re happy just because they consistently receive excellent evaluations. To create and maintain buy-in from your staff, be sure to accurately determine what their area of expertise is. An instructor may do a good job delivering certain courses, but is the course his or her true area of expertise? After you determine expertise, find out the staff’s area of aspiration - where does each staff member want to go with his or her training career? Some may be perfectly happy doing what they currently do, but some may want to design courses, manage functions, or move on to other areas. Don’t be afraid to sit down and have this conversation annually with each staff member. By showing your interest, you’ll maintain a training culture - and the all-important buy-in of all of the training staff. Finally, it is absolutely necessary to obtain buy-in with the key stakeholder, they are the money holders. Financial officers are sometimes the hardest to convince, especially if you can’t show metric analysis -supporting a return-on-investment for every program of training you offer. Obtain buy-in on the front end by showing what you plan to accomplish. Don’t simply say you’re going to develop 10 new courses in 2008. Tell the financial officer, as well as all stakeholders, exactly what courses you are going to develop, who the target audience will be, and how these program are expected to impact the bottom line, increases in production, decrease in turnover, or increase in customer satisfaction. This tactic may not win every time, but you are still going to create a more functional working relationship with these stakeholders who ultimately control your budget. By taking addressing these areas early and often, you can create and maintain a training culture with your stakeholders, managers, training staff, and financial staff. Related Posts:Training Mojo: 10 Steps to Create Your Training DojoGLD 6: Obtaining Buy-In in a Global EnvironmentTop 10 Training MistakesTraining Best PracticesTraining Mojo: How to Measure Your Training Department

Summary: You can stretch your training dollar by carefully analyzing and choosing both internal and external tools and programs. Training departments should always maintain a certain budget-consciousness - in both good and not-so-good financial circumstances. You can stretch your budget by examining needs and being aware that a mix of external and internal resources are available. Here are some ways to do that. Your first step should be to conduct a thorough needs analysis annually. Remember to get your stakeholders’ and senior managers’ input, as a part of the process. What programs or tools are going to be absolutely necessary in the coming financial period? Is it absolutely time to build that Learning Management System (LMS) or is a new product launch going to take precedence? Is there a need for recurrent training, such as compliance, that is always a priority from year to year? In your needs analysis process, be sure to divide the "must haves" from the "nice-to-haves". This way, you can prioritize easily and work toward the tools or programs you don’t absolutely need. Once you’ve determined your priorities, look at your current resources. Many training departments have instructors who double as course designers - if this is the case, do your instructors’ schedules permit them to take the time to design or redesign courses? If you need a Learning Management System, do you have someone that can efficiently take that responsibility? What about your current programs? Are they meeting the needs of the audience in their existing format? Examine your course materials thoroughly - do you have informational courses that could be transferred into an online course, a PowerPoint accessible by all employees, or a paper-based quick reference guide? In other words, are you bringing employees to the classroom when the same purpose could be served while they’re sitting at their desks? Examining your resources, both human and otherwise, is a great way to help you decide new ways to deploy them. Before you make a final decision, review your available external resources. In training and development, outsourcing can cover just about every need. You can hire contract instructors and course designers. If you need to purchase an LMS, providers will be more than willing to examine your set-up and make recommendations - and help you bring the system online in an expedited manner. Courses are also available for outsourcing - purchasing a "canned" course does not always involve customization. Many outsourcers provide specific courses for specific industries in compliance, customer service, human resources, management, and leadership - you simply have to search for them. Many of these courses run from the outsourcer’s website, so all your employees need is Internet access. In fact, some outsourcers offer classroom training, including design, delivery, and training for your instructors. A thorough search for external tools and costs will give you an excellent comparison of your resources versus the outsourcing channel. Now that you’ve created and ranked your list, you must come back to the reality of cost. A price tag is a good place to start, but the physical price of a course or an LMS should not be your only consideration. Let’s say you need at online compliance courses. Do your in-house resources have the expertise to develop the curriculum? What is the cost to have that person at the desk for the next few months to write it? Look at the person’s salary, down to the hour. If he or she is not teaching classes, what will the loss be in classroom training? How many classroom courses will you forego and at what employee cost? But don’t forget to look at long-term needs, as well. Once the compliance courses are written, who’s going to update them appropriately? If you outsource the courses, your provider will probably update them for you as part of the cost of the training. Is that cost worthwhile to your organization and its current resources? When you’ve fairly evaluated all of the criteria, you should be able to make a more informed decision about the effectiveness of internal development versus purchasing external tools or programs. You will have also determined what items are priorities and can focus on those. Remember to thoroughly examine your current resources, external choices, and cost for each decision - by doing so, you will be able to stretch your budget and meet the needs of your stakeholders and audience. Related Posts:eLearning: About External Licensing7-Steps to Creating an Effective E-learning Program Part 3:…Building a Corporate University: ResourcesTop 10 Training MetricsBenefits and Potential Drawbacks of External eLearning

Far too often corporate management and human resource departments confuse these two types of training programs.  While the objectives of both may be similar, the path that they each take is dramatically different. Corporate eLearning is focused on training and not necessarily education. The goal of eLearning is to transfer knowledge to the user in the most efficient way possible (i.e., performance improvement).  Adult education, on the other hand is not always performance based.  At the low end, it serves to bring up the bottom of the company staff.  Teaching basics like reading, writing and arithmetic.  It might serve as education on introducing basic concepts on computer use, or a how-to for computer tools like Excel or Word.  The goal of most adult education is not necessarily proficiency but basic knowledge. The course tools that are used may be similar, but the course structure for each have very different objectives.  Would you rather: watch a two minute simulation demonstrating how to configure a piece of software; or read some manual, book or  blog on the reasons behind why the software works and some of its uses? Many educational designers have concluded that the contextualization provided by simulations and animations result in more efficient and lasting knowledge transfer. Richard Mayer, Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has published some excellent empirical data over the years on the efficiency of ‘multimedia presentation training’ over strictly ‘written content’. Granted that it’s very performance-based objective but that’s what corporate eLearning is all about. Much of a corporation’s curriculum and training is: "here is the information that you need to know and how it is related to what we do as a company."  Much of it is information (e.g., new products and services), some of it is skills (e.g., how to use a tool correctly or safely), and some of it is value based (e.g., how best to act when working with people of different cultures). Consistency and dependability of instruction is a good objective. Simulations and visual training courses traditionally follow a standard set of presentation.  This consistency insures that the students of the training have a similar presentation and retention of the information or skill.  It also allows for a more immediate and measureable testing of retention and skill presentation. This is different from the alternative learning experiences in most adult education programs.  Most adult educational programs might provide a deeper explanation and development of a courses material; however, the retention of the material and application of the skills are often inconsistent. If the terminology is what defines the learning methods, and if stakeholders are resistant to the more correct use of the two terms, personally I would be fine referring to eLearning as ‘eTraining’.    I’ve never been comfortable with ‘eLearning’ or ‘blended-learning’ because, to me, learning is what the learner does. To me, training programs do not provide learning; instead, these programs provide a structured training environment to assist in the learning.  Related Posts:The Death of eLearningCorporate Training Choices ExplainedWhat Determines Value in Training?Benefits of Using Simulations6 Reasons Why Corporate Training Programs Fail

Being tasked with building or managing a training organization is a larger-than-life responsibility. Mistakes will happen - but here are the ten most common training mistakes and how to avoid them. Building and managing a training department is a difficult task. Mistakes can be made in many areas of training and development, but there are some common mistakes that you and your staff can avoid. Here are the top ten training mistakes - from development and delivery to funding. One: Setting up the expectation that each training participant will end up with exactly the same knowledge. Adults learn in different ways and focus on different material. When that happens, Participant #1 may have a different knowledge base than Participant #2 when the training is complete. To avoid this problem, provide your students a general outline of what’s covered in training and what they are expected to learn. Two: A lack of examples that illustrate the points. It’s necessary to show people how to learn by giving them examples during training. The examples must be pertinent to the material and should stay in the mind of the learner. If this is left out, trainees may have knowledge but may not be able to function in the actual environment. Evaluate your training programs for real-life, pertinent examples. Three: Lack of knowledge about the audience and their experience. Take the time to find out who the target audience is, what they may already know, and how experienced they are. Take a pre-program survey or visit the field, but do something to get to know them - before training is delivered. Four: A trainer fails to prepare for a regular presentation. It’s easy to become complacent, especially for trainers who deliver the same courses on a regular basis. Make sure the trainers are taking adequate time to review their material and run through their presentations - every time. When this happens, delivery will be fresh and full of new ideas, examples, and energy. Five: A trainer tells an audience it’s his or her first time to deliver a certain course. This can be a fatal, although totally honest, mistake in regard to credibility. Trainers should appear to be the expert - even if they don’t feel like it. Six: A trainer turns questions over to an in-class Subject Matter Expert (SME). If your stakeholders and SME’s observe training, make sure that trainers do not turn in-class questions over to the Expert. Have trainers keep a "parking lot" list of questions, find the answers, and report back to the audience. This way, your trainer maintains credibility. Seven: Developing training courses without a front-end analysis. You may get requests from managers for training in certain areas. Don’t build training until you find out what the people in the jobs are doing, what they’re not doing, or what they’re going to be expected to do in the future. Take a survey, visit the field, and interview line workers - but find out what’s really happening out on the job BEFORE development begins. Eight: Pulling trainers from the front line without preparing them first. Many of the best trainers come from the front line. But don’t place a new trainer in a classroom without giving them preparation in learning styles, training methods, and presentation skills. Put together an "orientation" for a new trainer, have them observe a more seasoned trainer, and then you can observe and oversee the new trainer in the classroom. Nine: Building a bigger organization than necessary. Don’t build an organization that suits an industry trend - build one that suits your audience. A "corporate university" may intimidate the employees of a small company. On the other side, a large company may feel there is not sufficient ROI if the training department delivers only a few courses. Again, obtaining an intimate knowledge of your audience and management’s expectation is the key. Ten: Forgetting to get buy-in from the person who controls the money - the stakeholder. In some organizations, CFO’s sometimes spend money on a training department and facilities without being asked an opinion. If this is your case, go to the money person and explain what you intend to do - and what the financial impacts may be. Get the stakeholder on your side - even if he or she is already signing checks. If budget money becomes tight, training programs are sometimes the first to be cut, unless you’ve taken the time to explain how training is a positive investment. When you’re aware of these mistakes and how to avoid them, your training program and department will be ten steps closer to success. Related Posts:Top 10 Training MythsRole of the Trainer: EngagementTraining Mojo: Developing a Culture of Training by Getting…What Determines Value in Training?Training Mojo: 10 Steps to Create Your Training Dojo

Is it time for you to measure the effectiveness of your training programs? If you’re not sure where to start, these Top Ten Training Metrics can help. Measuring the effectiveness of training is a very difficult task, for stakeholders, training departments and end users. If you are a training manager or company stakeholder looking for ways to measure the effectiveness of your programs, these ten metrics are a great place to start. One: Increased retention. Most Human Resources departments measure the rate of retention in all or various jobs. Many times, the front line, high turnover jobs are the ones that receive the most attention. If newly trained employees feel ill-equipped for the job, they are more likely to leave within their first 90 days. When you measure training success this way, higher retention points to a successful training program. Two: Increased sales. Many organizations can track efficiency based on sales. If training is heavily geared toward a sales or customer service force, an effective program will eventually increase sales numbers. You can also measure product knowledge training as part of a sales number - poorly educated sales people usually do not make the sale. Dollar figures and unit sales make good metrics, but be sure to balance any metric with other factors that can influence sales numbers. Three: Increased operational efficiency. In highly regulated or production-oriented businesses, managers look for more efficiency, which raises the bottom line. If your training programs teach skills, look to management’s efficiency metrics, as a baseline, before and after the training intervention. If you are building a new program or product, look at the efficiency numbers to obtain direction on training course content. Four: Customer service results. Any organization can link training to customer service, which can be both internal and external. Customer service is also one of the easier place to start: one well-written survey can identify a host of customer related issues that can be addressed by training programs. Remember that training may not be the only solution to those issues. If your organization already has a customer survey in place, use those metrics to cross check your programs. When your programs impact the survey items, you can correlate an increase in customer satisfaction back to training. Five: Company-defined scorecards. Training outsourcers tend to use client-defined criteria to determine training effectiveness. If your organization has a wide variety of possible measurements, sit down with management, and stakeholders, to create a custom scorecard based on expectations and the training programs that need to be in place. Six: Cost of training. This is an internal training department measurement. In high turnover organizations, lowering cost per student can be used as an effectiveness measurement. Cost of training could also relate directly back to retention - if you’re spending less on new hire training, your retention may be higher. Work with your stakeholders and the HR department to determine training costs and where you want those numbers to be. Seven: Return on Investment. ROI has long been a "catch all" metric. In some cases, it’s easy to define ROI, but in more cases it’s increasingly difficult. If you deliver soft skills training, it’s hard to put a dollar figure on the return. There are numerous ROI calculations available, so if you’re thinking about using an ROI metric, look for the formulas and plug in what you can. If you are part of a numbers-driven organization, you’ll be able to make friends with the stakeholders by defining and measuring concrete ROI. Eight: Revenue generation. This metric appears most likely as a combination of sales numbers, operational efficiency, and customer service. If an organization shows increased revenue, a solid training program can be part of that increase. If your organization is rolling out a new revenue generator, such as a product or service, that is generally the best time to use revenue generation as training metric. Nine: Instructor performance. Instructor evaluation is an important internal measurement. The results can come from student and manager evaluations, and must take into account the instructor’s presentation skills, knowledge of the subject, projection of organizational values, and adherence to instructional guidelines. The good part about instructor performance as a metric is that it can also be used as an external measure. When training is under discussion, training managers should be the first to praise their instructors for delivering quality instruction in every course - and instructor evaluations provide the supporting evidence. Ten: End-user satisfaction. Your audience can measure effectiveness quicker than anyone else, both immediately following training and after a given time period, such as 30 or 60 days. The immediate results, sometimes referred to as "smile sheets", can give you a picture of what happened in the classroom. The delayed results can tell you if the material is useful or not. Plus, end-user surveys are great tools for proving effectiveness with management. Remember that training metrics may take time to put into place and show results. It’s also important to obtain buy-in from your stakeholders while you’re determining how to measure results. Use these metrics to start with - and use them whenever you’re developing or revamping training programs. Once you can prove bottom-line effectiveness, your credibility will go a long way. Related Posts:Choosing a Training PartnerTraining Mojo: How to Align Training Metrics with Company…When Training Is or Is Not the AnswerThe 7 Predictable Challenges of Evolutionary ChangesMeasuring Leadership Effectiveness

Maintain high sales numbers and satisfy your customer’s needs at the same time by using these Top 5 Sales Commandments. There are many rules of thumb to follow in any sales process. As a salesperson, your ultimate goal is to maintain high numbers while satisfying your customer’s needs. There are five simple sales commandments that will help you do both - in every sale. One: Sell Relationships. There is no such thing as a single sale. Businesses have come to depend on repeat customers and word of mouth. So instead of selling a product, sell a relationship and trust. Let the customer know that you will be there the next time they have a need, and explain why your range of products can help them in the future. Your customer will come back - and they will tell others. Two: Sell value through benefits. At times it’s easy to lapse into a list of features for any product or service. It’s important to know the benefit of each product feature and communicate that to your customer. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes: do you really want to know the details of the feature? Customers want to know what’s in it for them, so set your presentation toward that goal. Show the customer how they’ll benefit from using your product or service - draw a mental picture of what they’ll look like, feel like, or be able to do once they purchase it. Three: Sell to emotion. People buy products and services for emotional reasons. One of the most well known direct sales letters asked a life insurance prospect who was going to fill his shoes if he was no longer around. Who would take care of his children? Would his family be able to stay in their home and pay their bills if he passed away suddenly? Think about your customer’s emotions and sell in a way that taps into them. If you’re selling a high-end sports car, you’re not selling the double-wishbone suspension system - you’re selling the exhilaration of cornering at 120 miles per hour. Four: Be subtle. People buy for emotional reasons but still do not like to be "sold", what they what to do it "buy". You can sell using benefits and emotions, but if your prospect gets one whiff of a "sales pitch" or a hard sell, he or she is going to run. So be subtle - use the benefits and emotions carefully. Talk to your prospect as if you’re friends having lunch or having a beer. Use everyday language but continue to show your prospect the benefits. Be personal - but maintain the subtlety. Five: Justify a sale with rationale. Your customers will buy based on benefit and emotion. But to avoid buyer’s remorse, strengthen the sale with a rationale. If you were selling a health supplement, you could recap all the benefits and then put the financial details of the sale on different terms, such as "… for less than $1 a day you can have increased stamina and better digestion". The insurance sales letter mentioned earlier used the daily price for peace of mind as the rationale for buying the policy. Whatever you do, make sure your customer feels like they’ve made a rational, beneficial choice. Remember these five commandments as you’re embarking on your next sales presentation. You customer will buy based on benefits, emotions, and rationale -and he or she will come back each time there’s a need. Keywords Related Posts:Five Focuses For SalesAccount PlanningThe 29 Costly Implications of Losing CustomersThe 29 Costly Implications of Losing CustomersSales Performance Analysis

Keep your training department and its customers knowledgeable by avoiding the Top Ten Training Myths. Training departments are sometimes viewed as being out of touch with the rest of the organization. Because of this, beliefs or myths about training, its functions, and its results tend to develop both within the department and outside it. To keep your training department and its customers knowledgeable, avoid these ten training myths. One: If training content is exactly the same each time, each group of participants will end up with the same knowledge. We can take every precaution to make sure training is delivered exactly the same every time - it’s a good practice and will maintain consistency. But remember that adults learn differently. Your learners will "hear" different things, focus on different aspects of the material, and lose focus at different times. Don’t promise managers that everyone will know the same thing. Instead, give them an overall picture of what is covered in the material. Two: Training is the solution for all business problems, including employee performance. There is a tendency in many organizations to blame the training process for organizational problems. Your job is to dispel this myth by conducting research when there is a problem. Some dysfunction could be related to the employee, a manager, or even a process. Determine what could cause your organization’s problems and be ready to analyze them - but don’t give in to the myth that simply by delivering training you’ll solve the problem. Three: All training results can be qualified in ROI (Return on Investment). If you need to prove your worth through ROI, start with the things that can be quantified, like reduction in errors or cost of training. When you deliver soft skills training, it’s very difficult to quantify the results in dollars and cents - and you should remind your stakeholders of this myth. Four: Any trainer can design training. There are quite a few myths related to who can actually work in training. To begin with, not everyone can deliver training effectively. In that regard, not all of your instructional staff will be able to design training courses. A potential training designer must have an excellent sense of order, appealing design, and understand adult learning concepts. When you look for this in a person, you will find it. When you assume that because they are a good trainer, they will also be a good designer, you will be disappointed. Five: Anyone can be a trainer. Just because an employee is a great salesperson does not mean that he or she will be able to teach others how to sell. A potential trainer must have an innate ability to teach and coach without alienating or making an employee feel uncomfortable. It’s not wise to blindly pull people in to deliver training - examine their true ability and you will pick the winners. Six: We do not need anything more than new hire training. Some industries have major turnover in frontline positions - in those situations, new hire training takes a very important role. But what about the people who stay? Do you offer them anything to help make the next career level? Do you offer recurrent training, other than what is required by the company or by law? The answer should be "yes". Develop programs that motivate and inspire the new hire as well as the balance of your staff and you’ll be able to retain those employees who’ve stayed with it. Seven: Elearning is a babysitter. Back in high school, reel-to-reel films, VCR tapes, and even DVD’s were sometimes used to "babysit" students. This is not the case with elearning. Elearning is a viable, powerful tool to reach employees. You’ll be surprised at the number of people who will retain new material from an elearning intervention. If your organization does not yet support elearning, promise them you’ll get results. With well-designed and well placed elearning programs, you will. Eight: Employees don’t mind taking training on their own time. Most employees, from the frontline to managers, do not like to take training on their own time. Managers willingly do it because that’s what they’re expected to do. Offer training during working hours, even if the hours are not a typical nine to five schedule. If you expect employees to take courses outside of their normal hours, be prepared to pay them. Nine: If you build it, they will come. A training center with state of the art technology is not enough to pack your classrooms. However quality training and good word of mouth is enough. Before you build or refit a training center, examine the quality of your training first. When all of your training is high quality, only then consider upgrading your facility. Ten: Elearning is going to put classroom trainers out of a job. This myth has two sides: trainers, who are afraid, and purse-stakeholders, who are hoping it’s true. Why pay trainers when we can deliver everything online? This is a dangerous myth. Elearning must deliver suitable material. It’s that simple. As long as real people are doing your jobs, you will need classroom training to establish relationships, coach, and give real-time examples. If you avoid and dispel these myths, your training department will gain credibility and your management will support what you do. Related Posts:Top 10 Training MistakesTraining Mojo: Developing a Culture of Training by Getting…eLearning: Developing Internally vs. Licensing ExternallyRole of the Trainer: EngagementTop 10 Training Metrics

When it’s time to coach a team member, these 10 Coaching Commandments can help you create an effective session that gets results. Coaching is an often underused but powerful tool. It’s underused because coaching is sometimes associated with negative situations, but you can also use coaching for positive behaviors. Coaching can encourage, set new direction, or establish authority. When you make the determination to coach a team member, here are the 10 Coaching Commandments that you should keep in each session. One: Recognize good work. It’s easy to forget that a coaching session can be a pat on the back - a reminder that someone is heading in the right direction. Be on the lookout for corrective coaching, but always remember to look for opportunities for coaching the good work. Two: Coach not-so-good work. This is an obvious commandment, but it’s too often overlooked! You may tend to stray away from coaching in a gray area - sometimes it may be easier to watch the employee make a mistake before saying something. Overcome your discomfort and take the time to coach - you may find that one session can point a wayward person back to the right path. Three: Coach in private. Have you ever watched a coaching intervention occur in a public or accessible location? This type of interaction can damage a manager’s credibility - not only for the person being coached but also for anyone who saw the exchange. Use an office, a conference room, or a room with one door for control, but make your interaction private. Four: Obtain commitment. It’s simple to explain why you’re taking the time to coach and then finish the interaction. By asking the "coachee" what he or she is going to do to improve the situation, you’re gaining a commitment. You’re also showing the person that you want their input on the expected improvement. Five: Beware of distractions. If you have to coach a negative, look out for intentional or unintentional diversions or digressions, such as bringing up what other employees are doing or using an emotional plea. As the coach, it’s easy to lose focus and to go along with the digression without even realizing it. Focus on the behavior that’s being coached and how the "coachee" can make improvements. Six: Focus on specific behaviors. This commandment applies to coaching for good work and bad work. If you say, "John, I’d like to thank you. You’re doing a great job", will John know exactly what he did right? Be specific: "John, I’d like to thank you for getting yesterday’s orders out on time with no errors." The same applies for negative behaviors. Seven: Be aware of your body language. Coaching a negative behavior can bring out the worst body language - the kind you may not even be aware of. Focus on maintaining eye contact, keeping your hands and feet stationary, and breathing normally. Combined with the right words, this tactic can create a positive environment for the coaching as well as a positive outcome for a negative situation. Eight: Recognize a "dead end". Coaching is effective only if it brings about a change in behaviors or attitudes. If you continuously coach without seeing results, you may have to face the fact that your "coachee" is not planning on or is committed to improving. This kind of "dead-end" should move into the possibilities of corrective action. It’s a good idea to consult with Human Resources when you’ve made several coaching attempts without results. Nine: Determine ability and willingness. Entire coaching programs are built on these two aspects. If you’re looking for a specific improvement, examine the "coachee" to ascertain his or her true ability to carry out the task. You must also look at willingness - is this person really going to commit or is he or she telling you what you want to hear? If ability is the issue, determine how to get the person to the right level. If willingness is the issue, explore the situation to find out why.  Ten: Believe that what a person does matters to you. This is the most important coaching commandment. You must believe in the contribution of every member of your team, in each person’s ability, and in the humanity of each person. If you do not care what the person does, he or she will know this. Show that what your "coachee" does is important to you - not only because of your business, but because you’re a leader who cares.  The next time you have the opportunity to coach, remember these commandments. You’ll be able to manage an effective coaching session - and make a difference to the team member. Related Posts:Top 10 Coaching CommandmentsWhen Coaching FailsCoaching as a Training Resource7-Steps to Creating a Mentor / Coaching Program - Step One: What Are Your Goals?7-Steps to Creating a Coaching and Mentoring Program Two: Design the Program

This past month has been a busy one.  I have found myself in discussions with a number of companies that are seeking a Chief Learning Officer (CLO), or the equivalent.  Many of the discussions have originated with the company’s need to move their internal training; up from some ad hoc structure into a more highly systematized educational system. What has surprised me is the hesitancy of the companies in taking the ‘step’ to a true training program, and hiring the CLO who would be responsible for it.  It seems that many of these firms [and their management] look at training as a ‘cost center’ and has minor or irrelevant impact on the profitability of the firm.   They could not be more mistaken. It has been my response to point out the four main attributes to a high-end training program.  These attributes are often overlooked and lost on management.  The reasons for the short-sightedness may be many, but seem to cluster around: 1) Rapid ramp-up for new employees — getting them up-to speed in dramatically quick fashion.  Far to many companies do not recognize or even tracking the value of taking new hires and fail to measure the value in  reducing the time it takes to make them proficient and revenue creating.  Far to many management teams treat this function as an HR program.  Wrong, wrong, wrong.  This is a sales and marketing matter.  Improving the time it takes to making an employee a revenue generating component is not only measurable but valuable to the bottom line. 2) Systematized and consistent training programs are almost none existent.  Most internal programs are thrown together by various departments.  These ad hoc programs have little or no metrics attributed to the training courses. Sometimes these are management by the HR department, but are usually slapped together by some HR person with involvement of the other departments (sales, customer support, development, etc.). By creating a consistent program, companies have the ability to cross-pollinate skills, successful attributes and actions, and best practices. 3) Linking training with business goals. Since most of these companies programs are not systematized, nor tracked, it becomes close to impossible to link the training with ongoing business goals.  A structured training program allows for true alignment between what is taught to the staff and their business and revenue objectives. Finally, 4) the employee development is just overlooked.  Most ‘act’ as if employee development will happened organically without any assistance.  What a shame it is that these companies fail to improve and enhance their single most valuable asset… their people.  A primary goal is for CLOs to encourage their employers to investigate what competencies will make them successful and then align development programs with their strategic objectives. The role and primary responsibility of a Chief Learning Officer is to manage these 4 primary responsibilities for the corporation.  By creating and managing the training program, new hire preparedness is rapidly improved and productivity is achieved earlier by a consistent and systematized program.  The CLO, by systematizing the training, will insure that every employee has a universally approved introduction to the company and to the culture that it offers. They work to insure that all staff  are equipped to perform their job functions at a base-line that is measurable and manageable.  By creating the metrics with performance and training, the CLO insures that training is aligned with the overall business goals of the company. The CLO position is NOT a sales management position, nor is it primarily a HR position.  It should be thought of as the compliment, ‘the training yang to the sales yin’.  One without the other is incomplete.  They feed and build on each other.  Once a company’s management understands this, the ability to take the step towards true growth, in people and revenue, are accelerated. Related Posts:6 Reasons Why Corporate Training Programs FailTop 10 Training MetricsTraining Mojo: How to Align Training Metrics with Company…Corporate Training Choices ExplainedLeading High Performance Teams