All Managers Are Trainers

Above: Conducting in-house sales training with ClarkMorgan Corporate Training. Suzhou 2008.

In my last post I discussed the importance of implementing training from the top, to improve managerial behavior, and allowing the improvements to filter down from senior management to the middle management and beyond.

Before I continue my analysis of "Why (Most) Training Is Useless: Start Developing Skills; Stop WASTING Time." By David H. Maister, I’d like to expand upon my previous article. I’d like to extend the idea that a company should use managers to spread the word on best practice within the workplace by stating that ALL managers ARE trainers:

All Managers Are Trainers

If you manage other people within your organization, then you are a trainer. Whether you are an effective trainer or not is another question. Effective managers put people into a position to succeed and provide them with the skills and knowledge base to do so. Ineffective managers set people up for failure by failing to provide the necessary training, and then complain that they can’t find effective employees. The success or failure of any business depends on the skill, confidence, and motivation of the employees. However, the skill, confidence, and motivation of these same people depends on how well their manager trains them.

Improve consistency with trained employees

Even though tasks are completed using varying techniques from organization to organization, it is important that tasks are completed in a consistent manner in each individual company. Consistency improves labor efficiency and can improve company performance.

Consistent efficiency is achieved by establishing a standardized routine and then training should be used to ensure that all employees actually perform the routine in the same way every time. If a standardized routine and an effective training program are not in place, it is almost certain that working practices will vary from one person to the next. This variation means that with some employees, resources are being used less efficiently.

Training increases confidence

Employees need to clearly understand their work and how they can do a good job. Training is an effective tool for managers to orient new staff and to help current employees adopt new practices or technology. Training activities should always give trainees skills that they can use immediately within their job. Effective training will help workers to recognize when a job is completed to a high enough standard and make them feel confident in their ability to produce good results.

Training is an effective motivational tool

Managers need to make sure that they and their staff have the right attitude towards training. The right attitude can only exist in a company that believes improved performance benefits everyone, including the employees. An employee can then understand that training to enhance performance will ultimately benefit him or her personally. This creates an environment where employees will feel motivated to take advantage of opportunities to improve performance.

Managers should train their team to have a feeling of ownership in their work. The best way to do this is to ask employees to constantly look for ways to improve work processes. In-house training is critical to successfully incorporating new practices, but there is no way to determine if a new practice is working without unless the practice is consistently used. Managers need to help employees understand this concept.

Employees will then appreciate that training is not only as a means for improving skills, but also as a means for implementing the ideas and decisions that they helped to make.

So, there it is; my full argument as to the importance of implementing training from the top down. Please forgive my digression from my original topic for today, “Training is a waste of time and money if what is taught is never put into practice.” I will cover this topic in my next article.

Until then, happy training!

Emma

If you would like to discuss anything within this article or previous posts, please contact me on eharradine@hotmail.co.uk or leave your comments for me here.

1: Changes At The Top

Above: Spark09 – Shanghai. An event hosted by thought leaders and attended by future thought leaders. Coming soon to Hong Kong and Beijing!

“True long-term changes in any organization need to begin with changes at the top - in managerial behavior.”

As I mentioned in my previous post, it is common for organizations to use their training budget as strategically as they would their coffee break budget.

The multinational company I spoke about previously, invested in inspirational speeches for the masses in the hope that theoretical training would be enough to change employee work habits, but as we all know, knowing is not the same as doing. They wasted their valuable training budget, at a time when waste is not an option, on ineffective methods and an untargeted audience.

So what audience should they have targeted?

I can give you three good reasons why, within any organization, long-term changes need to begin with changes at the top – in managerial behavior:

Firstly, training must always be linked to management behavior and organizational strategies, and who understands the strategies of an organization better than top management. When the management trainee can see how the improvements will benefit the whole organization, and the connection between the skills and the company’s goals, they are more focused on applying the newly learnt behaviors.

Secondly, managerial ideas tend to filter down from senior management. Training ideas developed at a lower level are less likely to be adopted by the senior management and will, in turn, become obsolete in a short period of time. However, if a results-oriented manager demands improvements from all staff, employees are far more likely to jump to attention.

Thirdly, changing workforce demographics and the war for talent mean that organizations are seriously suffering from a lack of talented middle management capable of becoming higher management. Companies must, therefore, build from within their ranks. It is an enormous challenge for HR to retain potential talent and maintain their leadership pipeline, but using strategically planned training as an incentive for talent to remain within the organization is mutually beneficial.

In addition, managers achieve a deeper level of skill development when they are expected to teach others and to know the ins and outs of their newly acquired work practices. When put on the spot to practice what they are now preaching, managers feel the need to rise to the challenge and develop their skills to the next level; therefore adding value to the initial training.

Finning Ltd., the world's largest Caterpillar dealer, has the right idea. Finning’s executives are not only first in line for service and quality training, but they are also the trainers delivering sessions to their employees. The perfect example of adding value to training and therefore maximizing training budget!

Okay, so, I gave you four good reasons instead of three, but you can’t go wrong with delivering more than your clients' expect. So, no complaining!

I’m sure you’ll agree with me that all four points are valid reasons to begin with changes at the top, and therefore focus your training budget at managerial behavior.

Tomorrow, I’ll cover point number two from "Why (Most) Training Is Useless: Start Developing Skills; Stop WASTING Time." By David H. Maister:

“Training is a waste of time and money if what is taught is never put into practice.”

Until then, thanks for reading,

Emma

Please contact me with any thoughts or questions on eharradine@hotmail.co.uk or leave your comments here. Thank you.

How to Ensure Training is Worthwhile

Above: Andy Clark, Co-founder of ClarkMorgan Corporate Training, conducting a highly interactive 'Train the Trainer' seminar in Shanghai earlier this year.

How to Ensure Training is Worthwhile...

I have been shocked and dismayed at one training trend I have noticed over the last six months, and I’d like to talk about this today and over the following few days; training for training's sake.

HR and Training Managers have, in general, been provided with a lower training budget over the last few months; you would therefore think that needs analysis and well-targeted training would be of utmost importance during these times. Efficiency and communications skills must be of a priority, as well as training and motivating those with leadership potential.

However, I have noticed a huge increase in completely untargeted training, of little immediate use, with no incentive for future improvement, and extremely ‘stand-alone’. I’ll give you an example:

I know of a corporate trainer who was recently employed by an extremely well-known multinational corporation. This company wanted training once a month for an unlimited number of staff and they didn’t want the employees to interact with the trainer in any way. They insisted that they needed the trainer to ‘lecture’ for two hours at a time about any relevant business topic, such as finance or sales. The lectures were, of course, used as a reason for employees to excuse themselves from normal work and produced no improvement in efficiency or effectiveness. No matter how many times the trainer tried to discover the real needs of the organization or find the underlying reason for the company needing training, the answer was always the same: You. Lecture. Two hours. No interaction!

T&D magazine published a fascinating article titled "Why (Most) Training Is Useless: Start Developing Skills; Stop WASTING Time." By David H. Maister. Although this is a rather negative title, I would like to add my own positive spin on this and write an article for each of his reasons why ‘most training is useless’, and tell you how to ‘make your training useful’… In fact, more than useful: highly productive and highly effective.

Tomorrow, I’ll begin with point number one: “True long-term changes in any organization need to begin with changes at the top - in managerial behavior.”

Many thanks for reading,

Emma

For more information on corporate training and seminars, or to provide feedback, please contact me on eharradine@hotmail.co.uk

The Changing Landscape of Corporate Training

In July 2008, Bersin & Associates published a Corporate Learning Factbook. The paper made some salient points about the changing landscape of corporate training. Key points included the following:

• Training budgets and staffing are continuing to grow, but at a slower rate.

• Per learner spending is essentially flat, primarily because organizations have more employees to train.

• Organizations are spending the largest percentage of their budgets on leadership development and management/supervisory training.

• Cutting-edge groups are utilizing new approaches to better address the learning needs of younger workers.

• Learning is being integrated with performance and competency management initiatives.

• Chief Learning Objectives are aligning closely with overall corporate strategy to increase effectiveness.

As 2008 progressed and we entered 2009, it became clear that these points were no longer relevant. Training budgets were frozen or reduced; many organizations had fewer employees to train; and the reduced training budget was being used to motivate the masses rather than develop potential leadership.

If you had asked me my thoughts on these key points at the beginning of this year, I would have pessimistically predicted that every point would be rendered obsolete by July 2009

However, as we approach the middle of 2009, I am energized by the need to alter my predictions. I now believe that by July, corporate training research will produce almost identical results to 2008. So, even though multinational companies and the training industry have not evolved to the extent hoped, there has been no devolution either; which cannot be considered disappointing in the current economic crisis.

This, in turn, proves that Corporate Training is a vital component to the development of any company wishing to develop its employees and expand its business.

Many thanks,

Emma

I'd like to know your predictions for the rest of 2009. Will your company increase corporate training levels by 2010? Do you believe the 2009 report will unveil identical finding to the 2008 factbook? Feel free to leave your comments here or email me at eharradine@hotmail.co.uk. Thanks.

Training Cuts

In the first article of my new blog I touched upon my optimism that corporate training within multinational companies is on an upswing. High-level managers are becoming wise to the fact that severe cuts to training might save large amounts of money now but will cost substantially more in the future.

I recently read a report titled, “Knowledge- the New Commodity,” by Cognisco, which makes the case that investment in training is tied to global competitiveness, not just annual survival.

Emerging markets, such as China, are not cutting employee development to the same degree as America and European countries and will therefore be in a better position when the economy recovers, according to the Cognisco report.

However, as a Corporate Training Professional, it has been my role to convey this truth despite the tightening budgets of multinational companies. Training Managers are, understandably, afraid to invest large sums of money when the future is so unclear, and therefore ask the question, “why does training matter?”

Well, this is a simple question with a very simple answer… If you want to do business effectively, training DOES matter.

My experience of corporate training is predominantly within Asian markets and from business meetings and industry research it has become evident that an inadequately trained workforce is the most difficult obstacle for high-level managers doing business in an emerging market. Whether the employees lack presentation skills, engineering knowledge, or communication skills, lack of training can only amplify the effect of these obstacles and lead to an inefficient workforce.

British research analyst IDC, reports that 19 billion pounds (190 billion Chinese Yuan) was lost in 2008 because of employee misunderstanding. With a figure like this, can your company afford to cut training?

Increasing your internal training now might cost less than you imagine (some corporate training companies have very competitive prices right now) and the enhanced efficiency of your employees will ensure your company has the competitive advantage when the recession becomes a distant memory.

Thanks again for reading,

Emma

For further information on corporate training or seminars, please do not hesitate to contact me on eharradine@hotmail.co.uk

Welcome To Corporate Training

I’d like to start the first post of my new blog by welcoming my new readers as well as those following me here from my original blog: Hotel Booking Systems.

As a professional within both the training and hospitality industry, I have focused much of my attention over the past six months on the hospitality element of my business life. This was for a number of reasons:

Firstly, the hospitality industry within Asia has been affected by the economic crisis much later and with less impact than within other industries and other parts of the world.

Secondly, I have been working closely with booking software developers and hoteliers to discover the best hotel booking system on the market. This is an ongoing quest, as systems must be ever-evolving; however, I have seen an enormous improvement in both customer service and product offerings over the last six months. Therefore, I am now able to devote more time to my second passion in life; corporate training.

And thirdly, the demand for corporate training within multinational companies slowed dramatically at the end of 2008 and into 2009. In January of this year, I wrote an article on my Hotel Booking Systems blog titled, “Hospitality Industry Training”, it was here that I applauded the hospitality industry for their ability to see the bigger picture. Hotel owners and GMs had increased the training opportunities for their employees, knowing that business would soon be slowing, employees would soon have more time available to them for training, and that customer service was more important now than ever.

However, I am optimistic that the requirement for training within multinational companies is increasing. I have spoken to a large number of GMs and HR Directors this month that, like the hospitality industry GMs, can now see the bigger picture. These industry leaders can see that without training, when the economic situation improves and business increases, they will be left with unmotivated, poorly trained employees with little time on their hands for improving their skills.

It is for exactly these reasons that now is the perfect time to dedicate more time to the training industry, put new batteries in my PowerPoint controller, and share some training expertise with the world.

And it is on that positive note that I will end the first article for my new 'Corporate Training' blog. I am excited by the prospect of sharing some inside news and information about how to get the most from your corporate training and business skills seminars.

Thanks for reading,

Emma

I’d like to hear any feedback or thoughts you have with regards to corporate training; if you have any insights or questions, please contact me on eharradine@hotmail.co.uk. Thanks.