What do you remember from your last in-house training webinar? Have you taken time to review your notes, shared what you learned with others or actually made a change based on what you learned? As listening experts, we realize that most people forget 70% of what they hear if it isn’t reinforced and practiced within 24 hours.
With US companies spending an estimated $82 billion dollars on training in 2020, it is important for organizations to approach training investments wisely and with forethought and clarity of purpose. Consider for a moment why you offer training:
- To fulfill a mandate – usually address legal responsibilities and requirements
- To solve a problem – focused on performance issues not meeting business metrics or expectations
- To build capability, new skills and/or retain key talent – desire to engage, develop, fill gaps and advance attempts to support the business
Ask the Right Questions
While these are valid reasons for training programs, for training to be retained, it must also be purposeful for the participant. One question that needs to be answered is: “How does this training serve my organization’s vision and goals?” Clarity in this answer will help you establish how progress is measured, for whom the training is intended, what the training will entail, etc.
Establish Meaningful Measures
After outlining a clear purpose for your training program, you may be tempted to dive straight into designing the program itself. However, two important questions are often overlooked:
- “What will my team be doing differently as a result of this training?”
- “What success measures need to be put in place? How will we measure the impact and/or ROI?”
Without answers to these questions, it is difficult to design or offer a training program that will address the need or achieve your goals (and, ultimately, the effectiveness of the whole endeavor).
Ask the Right Questions to the Right People
While it is important to have the support and trust of both your leaders and decision makers for training, the most important stakeholders are the managers of the potential trainees. Most people assume that the success of training is dependent on the motivation of the learner or trainee. Yet, research consistently reinforces that the MOST important indicator of success of learning is the involvement, reinforcement and engagement of the trainee’s manager. Without full support from the manager, the training will likely have little impact.
Here are five questions for managers to consider before suggesting training for their employees:
- “What impact will this training have on the development of this employee? The department? The organization?”
- “How can I best set the stage and communicate the importance of the training?”
- “What would I like to see as a result of this training?”
- “What measures of success can be jointly defined with the employee?”
- “How might I follow-up and/or reinforce the training?”
How Innolect Can Help…
Innolect’s consultants are viewed as valuable trusted advisors when designing and implementing new training programs within client systems. With recognition for our award-winning programs, our team helps guide organization partners from a multitude of industries to:
- Think differently to answer critical questions
- Gain insight about current mindsets and development needs
- Identify positive and growth opportunities for culture change and to enhance the capabilities of individuals, teams and systems
- Design strategies, learning events and training that truly serve the organization, its people, and stakeholders. We make it both purposeful and memorable.
Contact us to schedule a consultation:
https://innolectinc.com/contact-us/
(803) 396-8500
innolect@innolectinc.com