Management Information |
Increasing the Return on Your Training Investment
Insightful leaders and organizations recognize that training is a valuable tool for personal and professional development and therefore set some sort of an annual training budget. Most everyone I've ever talked to has been to both excellent training (hopefully ours!) and training that was, well, not so good. In a perfect world we could connect the best training experiences with the best application back in the workplace. This would make the equation easy - pick great training, insuring that people would apply what they have learned, and the result would be a tremendous return on the investment for those funds spent on training. As a deliverer of training and as one who has helped hundreds of people become better trainers through train the trainer programs, I wish the equation were that easy. Unfortunately, it isn't. It takes more than good training to ensure a good return on the money (and time) invested. What organizations and individual leaders need to do then is look beyond the training event alone to find ways to increase the return on investment. They need to take some responsibility themselves. Here are 6 ways to increase your return on this investment: Align training investments with business needs. Some organizations use training as a perk for good performers. This approach of "training as a reward" can motivate some people (especially if the training takes place in someplace desirable) but in the big picture this usually isn't the best way to invest these dollars. Have a plan that ties the skills that are needed to be developed to the strategic plan for the group. Make sure the participant knows why the skills being learned matter to the group and the organization at large. With this context, the participant has the chance to be more focused and will treat the training as a serious business activity and not a vacation from work. Invest in good training. Once you have decided to spend money on training, spend it on the good stuff. While this isn't the only success factor, look at testimonials and materials to determine that the training focuses on important skills and delivers those skills in an effective way. Usually this means training in smaller groups with more interaction and practice time, and therefore higher cost. In training like many other things in life, you get what you pay for. The cost increment is typically not significant when compared to the possible improvement available from the experience. Facilitate pre-training conversations and set expectations. As a supervisor or manager your job doesn't end when the training is identified or scheduled, it has actually just begun. Sit down with the employee that is going to training. Have a discussion about why this training can be valuable to them and to the business. Have them think about their goals for the training. Recognize that the first few times you do this people are going to look at you like you are crazy. They may not have an answer and that is ok. Be patient and help them identify a goal or goals for their attendance and have them write it down and take it with them to the training. Then schedule a meeting for after the training event to review what they learned and how you can support them in reaching their goal(s). Encourage partnerships. If you have more than one person attending the workshop, encourage them to partner up upon their return. A "learning partner" gives people support and some peer coaching and support when they are back at work. It helps people hold themselves accountable for doing something with what they learned. If you are sending just one individual, encourage them to "make a friend" in the training and form this partnership with that person. Have a follow-up meeting. People should return from the training prepared for their follow-up meeting with you. Sit down and go over what they learned. If they haven't yet come up with a specific action plan for trying and/or using what they learned, help them build this plan in the meeting. Make sure this conversation ends with a defined action plan with a timeline. Expect (and inspect for) results. People now have a plan, and it is your job as a leader to help them hold themselves accountable for that plan. Schedule follow-up meetings, check in or do what ever you can to support and encourage them to follow through on their plan. Notice that five of these steps require no additional monetary investment. The investment they require is time, thought and energy. These additional investments are the activities that will transform the dollars spent into real organizational improvement. All of this is true because training is an event, but learning is a process. To maximize the return on your investment you must invest in more than the activity or event, you must invest in the learning process. Kevin is Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group (http://KevinEikenberry.com), a learning consulting company that helps their Clients reach their potential through a variety of training, speaking and consulting services. Go to http://www.kevineikenberry.com/training/training.asp to learn more about our customized training services offered or contact Kevin at toll free 888.LEARNER.
MORE RESOURCES: Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting |
RELATED ARTICLES
Selective Job Cuts Often Benefits Firm More Than Broad Layoffs Over Long Term It is difficult to pick up a newspaper or listen to a business news broadcast without being greeted with the announcement of another massive corporate layoff or cutback. The economy catches a chill and, as a result, the corporate world catches a profits "cold. Twitch Speed: Reaching Younger Workers Who Think Differently Every parent, educator, and manager knows that "Nintendo children"--those born after 1970 and raised on video and computer games, Walkmans, the Internet, etc.--are different. Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Creating a Culture of Empowerment This article relates to the Culture & Climate competency, commonly evaluated in employee satisfaction surveys. AlphaMeasure defines climate as the effect an organization has on the employees, while culture refers more to the acceptable behaviors, attitudes, and habits of the organization as a whole. Small Business Checking Accounts ACCOUNTING AND BILLINGCHECK BOOKSWe recommend that you maintain a business checking account in addition to a small business credit card merchant account so that you can take credit cards from purchasers. This way you will know exactly how much is going into your merchant account and how much of your volume percentage is being done through credit card usage. Building Bridges of Communication Building a 'bridge of understanding' between parties is fundamental if your business communication is to succeed. If you are a consultant to a client, or a salesperson attempting a closer relationship with your customer, here are five techniques that help achieve just that. Difficult Employees-Poor Performance - 10 Tips for Dealing with it in the Workplace I personally struggle with the term 'managing people' - because I firmly believe that people cannot be managed - only processes and systems can. How many times have you heard it said - "Why won't my employees just do as they are asked?"Despite all our best efforts at 'managing', we have very little control over other people's actions, including the people that work with or for us. Creativity and Innovation Management :- Thought Leadership Leadership is only sustainable when leaders consistently come up with good ideas - when they are dependable thought leaders. It follows then that leaders would be more effective if they knew how to manage creativity and innovation. How to Fire an Employee One of the most difficult tasks you will face as a business owner will be firing employees. Employees who consistently break the rules, do not perform the functions of their job, or cause difficulties for your business can be a strain on the work environment, your cash flow, and even disrupt your business from thriving and performing as expected. Preparing a Budget Ok, you say, I know I need a budget, but how do I prepare one? The most common budget period is one year, but this can vary depending on whether or not your business has seasonal or cyclical fluctuations. For example if you run a Christmas decorations shop, or a costume shop your business is going to peak during certain times of the year. Executive Performance -- Whos to Blame for Incompetent Managers? A recent article in the Wall Street Journal raised the question: Who's to blame for inept managers?The answer, of course, is the superiors who hire or promote them -- but not because they intentionally select or retain poor performers. Every leader knows that his or her own success depends on putting the right people in the right positions. What Makes A Good Media Story? Media relations can be difficult, but also rewarding. And the lessons we learn from working with newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and online publications should increase the effectiveness of all our communication initiatives. Service Level Agreement (SLA) Boot Camp Service Level Agreements, or "SLA's" are tricky but useful mechanisms for managing the risk of an on-going relationship with IT service providers. Unfortunately, most SLA's that show up in service contracts as worthless, cosmetic paper additions. Performance Appraisal - Ten Stupid Things Managers Do To Screw It Up Performance appraisals aren't fun. But a lot of the time they are agonizing because managers do really dumb things, ending up destroying a process that is important to everyone (or should be). The New Five Truths of Employee Motivation Motivation is a term that is so widely used, yet many managers know little about how it really works. But it doesn't have to be confusing-in fact, it's quite simple. A Man and His Razor It is vain to do with more what can be done with less. William of Ockham This is Ockham's famed Razor. Outsourcing Problem Analysis As an HR professional, you have responsibilities in several broad areas that have a significant impact on your company's bottom line, directly contributing to the corporate return on investment. The outsourcing choices you make are critical decision points that affect both your employer and the HR community at large. Understanding Every Aspect of Your Organization GET TO KNOW YOUR ORGANIZATION: If you don't understand an aspect of the organization or a procedure within it, ask. If you still don't understand, ask again. If You Build It, Investors Will Come When you begin to write your business plan or a section within it, you probably ask yourself, "What should I talk about? What key points should I bring out that are important to potential investors?" The best way to answer these questions is to put your business plan trial. That's right. Quick Tips On Bringing Out The Best In People Want to bring out the best in people?Edward W. Smith, motivational speaker, author and TV show host, who specializes in quick tips on how to move your life ahead even faster, offers the following advice. Firing Someone Without Resentment Firing, sacking, letting go or terminating people is unpleasant. There are ways to minimise resentment, but why bother? Because most legal action and unpleasantness stems from dissatisfaction/resentment about the way things were handled - about how rather than what happened. |
home | site map | contact us |