I just came from speaking at a conference in New Jersey and I had so many lovely conversations afterwards about “training.” I don’t know why I never really loved that word, and bristle when someone asks if I do it. “Of course” I say, but I know that when companies don’t look at the “whole” picture of training, they could be wasting their precious budgets and time! So let me muse on this for you!
Whether you are using an outside trainer, like me, or are doing your training internally, in order to make training “stick” it must be PROACTIVE.
“P” – It must have a purpose. You must understand why you are doing it, what makes it important, and how it fits into the business’ long-term goals. Ask yourself, how does it fit in with our overall strategy and our customer and employee experience strategies? (You do have them don’t you?)
“R” – There must be Reward and Recognition and Reinforcement. Understand from the beginning what new behaviors you will reward and recognize – after all what gets rewarded gets repeated! And what gets repeated gets remembered.
“O” – Outcomes. Have specific and measurable goals for your training. Are you looking to increase something (like customer retention) or decrease something (like the number of calls that come into your customer service department)? Specify the best you can what you expect to happen as a result of the training. And I am the first to admit that is tough to do with “soft skills,” but do it anyway, I promise it will open your eyes.
“A” – Applied and Relevant. Make sure the knowledge is not just conceptual and theoretical. Link the training to circumstances specific to your business and your customers. Make sure the knowledge can be applied on the job. Use concrete examples.
“C” – It must take place in a Committed Culture. Customer Care and Leadership training needs to take place in a culture that will support it. Does your internal environment support what you are teaching? If you want people to care they must feel cared about, if you want people to respect, you must respect them. If you want people to trust, you must be trustworthy. I’m sure you catch my drift.
“T” – There must be time to learn. Free people up so they can learn and practice what they have learned. Don’t expect people to just “fit it in.” Schedule regular and follow up sessions as you schedule your staff. Make time for learning as a regular part of the job. Have enough staff so that training is part of the job.
“I” – My favorite – Inspiration! Inspire people to excel by connecting them back to the Purpose of the training. How is it you want your customers to feel as a result of doing business with you? Tell them over and over again why their jobs are so important and why they are so important to the success of the whole enterprise. Let them know they make a difference!
“V” – Verify that the training is being used properly. Verify that the skills are still applicable over time. Check back in and see what they have learned well and where they may need follow up training or skill practice. I’m amazed at how many people don’t plan for reinforcement and follow up work on their training. They expect their humans to “get it” the first time out. Follow up is EASY today.
“E” – Uh-oh, here’s that “E” word again! Empower people to USE the skills they have learned. Make sure that people have the authority and the responsibility to do what you have taught them to do. There is nothing more frustrating than having a new skill and not being able to use it.
If you want more information on the training programs we do – you can go here https://returnonhappiness.com/
Hope this information is helpful as you plan your training (you ARE continuously training aren’t you?)
Until the next time,
JoAnna
PS – the program I just did for several hundred managers at the conference is called “8 Ways to Become a Magnetic Manager.” They loved it!
