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.