Training skills are absolutely vital in today’s global marketplace.
Instead of training being viewed as a reward or punishment, savvy businesses and their centers are very aware that training is a necessary function. Why? Because they know their most valuable asset is their people! Maximizing, that asset is what training is all about. Happy, well informed, empowered representatives lead to happy camper customers and a brilliant experience.
In order to be effective, training requires the mixing of a large number of ingredients. Do you have trainers who are both informed and able to deliver their knowledge well? Or, is hiring a third party trainer or training firm an alternative that would provide a better return for your organization? What will interest you trainees and still prove to be valuable, effective and fun? What results are your or your organization looking to ensure? And, if things aren’t working in your training program are you prepared to jettison it entirely and do something different? If you’ve answered “yes” to the first and last question, then you’re ready to tackle creating (or re-creating) your training program.
Complementary
Wouldn’t it be nice if all things in your center came with a guarantee, especially your training program? There can never be absolute certainty that the training needs you identify in a person or group will be solved by the choice of training. Even if you could design the perfect complement between needs and solutions, a person may still be unwilling to learn and the pairing will fail.
If a person needs leadership skills, is it better to send her off to climb mountains or arrange for a series of discussions with the Managing Director or other executive?
If a person needs confidence-building, is it better to schedule an Assertiveness course or coach him after each key interaction occurs?
If a person needs business skills, would a 3-week Management Development course be the best solution or would arranging assistance at one of the smaller locations or groups prove more effective?
It’s all about perspective and objective…
Training Objectives
There’s a difference between the direction of a course and targets. Direction is the way we want learning to take; e.g. “the purpose of the course is to achieve a better understanding of the new phone system.” Targets are the positive, specific, measurable outcomes we would expect a person to achieve in a given time, say, at the end of the training; e.g. “at the end of the training, attendees will be able to use the three main recall functions of the phone system.”
Charting a Course
When designing a training course, it’s helpful to think of the different needs that your trainees will have. These can be described according to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. They are as follows:
- Basic needs: rooms, restrooms, breaks, snacks, meals, expenses, pay, rewards, pens and paper
- Security needs: relaxed; open; confidential; low stress; healthy; safe; no surprises, no threats
- Social needs: the mix of people in the group; how well people are likely to get on; informal relationships; the relationship with the trainer
- Recognition needs: opportunities for groups and individuals to do good work and be praised
- Actualization needs: the deeper meaning the event has for the individual and his or her development.
Knowing Your Trainees
The trainees in your course are your raw material, your cheerleaders AND your customers. Get to know them well! Some things to think about are the size of the group, their background, experience, level of knowledge and current jobs; any differences in status, gender, and age; the reasons trainees believe they are present: their motivation and level of anxiety; what they expect to get out of the course. Focus on the end goal then plan accordingly.
Planning the Content
Every person who gets involved in planning a training course knows that no matter how well a program is designed and prepared, it rarely goes exactly as planned. Your training should have its own momentum developing in response to the needs of trainees.
Here’s how to keep a plan alive:
- Break the job down into manageable training chunks
- Sequence in the most logical order
- Prioritize the content into essential, desirable and nice to learn; concentrate on what’s essential.
- Continuously ask yourself how the content and what you’re doing helps to achieve objective
- Leave wiggle room for experimentation, intuition, creativeness, spontaneity and fun.
Breaking down the Job
A job or skill can be broken down into the following component parts:
- Steps in a sequence
- Facts, information, processes
- Helpful skills and shortcuts
- Tips, tricks and thoughts (visual tips are particularly great tools)
Tips, Tricks and Thoughts:
Techniques and tips are good ways to remember important information. Did you know that when first time parachute jumpers take their initial practice jumps, they’re told to keep their knees together when they land? One way to ensure they do is to ask them to imagine a coin wedged between their buttocks. It works! Find your own “coin: tricks. With the right visual tip, training occurs almost instantaneously. Now that’s success. How can you apply this same principle to your center?
Designing an effective yet stimulating training program is the first step to providing excellent service in your center. Service your people well, train them to success by empowering them, by believing in them. Take care of them and they, in turn, will take care of your customers! Use your training program to provide your own visual techniques and now not only are you training for success, you also know exactly how to land when parachuting. Good luck and remember to keep those knees together!
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