The Two-Manager Model is Necessary for Professional Development and Organization Stability
According to demographics, three out of every four employees in the workplace will be a Millennial by 2025. That's ONLY ten years off, which means there is a lot of skill development required for Millennials to be prepared to lead our organizations- at any level.
Unfortunately, a recent study by EdAssist (a tuition assistance management service provider) showed that nearly three-quarters of millennials feel their schooling didn't give them the preparation they needed to enter the workforce. This leaves most professional and skill development to be accomplished on the job.
Given that organizations have downsized and right-sized so much in recent decades, and understanding that most managers are working managers and not solely dedicated to manage others, The Training Doctor proposes a two-manager model going forward.
Each individual in an organization would have two managers who would guide and develop them as they entered and grew within an organization. The Training Doctor has observed the inordinate amount of training of managers to provide them with soft-skill managerial-capabilities such as giving feedback, performance appraisals, coaching and the like.
The two-manager model would break off these soft-skills responsibilities to one manager and the second manager would be the individual that ensures quality work outputs. For example, Susan joins a public accounting firm as an entry-level accountant. Her manager, Cameron, would be responsible for her technical and skills training, including how to participate in client meetings, how to use the firm's software, ensuring adherence to IRS regulations, etc.
Jacqueline would be Susan's developmental manager. She might sit in on meetings with clients and offer feedback on the way in which Susan presents herself or participates in the meeting. Jacqueline would also help Susan to identify or understand her career path and help her to make the right choices in terms of personal and professional development opportunities within the company [SHRM's most recent Employee Engagement and Satisfaction survey also shows that Millennials value professional development and career advancement and will jump companies for a developmental opportunity, so this second managerial role would also help to ensure retention].
Jacqueline and Cameron would meet regularly so that each had the big picture of Susan's abilities and accomplishments as well as future aspirations, and they could collaborate on developmental opportunities for Susan.
This two-manager model would take a large burden off the mid-level manager as it currently exists. It would allow someone to be solely dedicated to the professional development of individuals within an organization while another manager is dedicated to on the job performance, accuracy and mastery.
Marketing the Training Function
If your company already has an internal newsletter, speak with the editor about writing a regular training column. If no such newsletter already exists, you can easily begin your own e-newsletter using your internal email system.
Ensure that anything sent from the training department is engaging and helpful in performing one's job. Don't just send a calendar of events. Training tips might be about software applications, management practices, or on-the-job-skills that are unique to your organization. Keep the tips short and how-to oriented so that recipients clearly see the value of reading your e-newsletter. You can start with a helpful tip, and then provide a calendar of upcoming events. This format helps to ensure that your messages get opened (because one never knows what this week's helpful tip will be) and once recipients begin reading, your hope is that they will read the entire message, including the calendar of events.
Here's a "tricky" tip: Consider having a "for manager's eyes only" tip - which of course everyone will read. You are subtly training future managers.
Why Utilize a Virtual Classroom?
Book Excerpt from "Tailored Learning":
The ability to interact with experts and peers in real time is a comfortable and familiar environment and eliminates the isolation that often comes with asynchronous technologies. Often a participant requires live interaction with an instructor or an expert, but that interaction does not need to be face-to-face.
For example, medical students observing surgery would, arguably, benefit from being physically in the operating room or a surgical observation area. However, those same participants do not need face-to-face interaction to ask post-operative questions of the surgeon. Questions can be asked and discussed among all of the participants via a virtual classroom. If a recording is made of the synchronous discussion, all the participants can go back and review the recording, at any time, to ensure that they understood the answers. One of the most common reasons for organizations to implement a virtual classroom is an audience that is dispersed across a large geographic area (oftentimes worldwide). Compared with traditional classroom delivery, the money saved in classroom costs, travel, and time away from work quickly becomes apparent. In addition, organizations may choose to deliver content that they never would have scheduled in a more traditional (classroom) setting. For example, an update to a computer system may only take one or two hours to teach, but an organization would rarely convene a training program for such a short period of time because it would be cost prohibitive. The virtual classroom makes this type of content easy to distribute.
As organizations become more global, and the need to collaborate across a distance is becoming more important, a virtual meeting place can help close the distance gap by providing a forum through which employees collaborate in real time.
Why Your Onboarding Training Process Matters
According to a survey of 1,000 employees by BambooHR: 1 in 6 reported they had quit a job between the first week and the third month of starting the position.
Are Participant Training Materials "Necessary?"
We recently had a lively discussion with a group of trainers regarding this statement: Participant "materials" (workbooks, job aids, infographics, etc.) are "nice to haves" but people rarely use them back on the job. The group unanimously agreed that rarely do participants use these items on the job, and, more often than not, they are left behind "in the classroom."
This lack of respect for training materials is quite detrimental to adult learning for a number of reasons:
Most people are visual learners
80% of Americans are visual learners, which means they "understand" information better (and retain it longer) if it is presented in a visual manner. If 80% of your audience spoke "in another language" wouldn't you present in that language? And yet, we often completely ignore providing tangible, visual elements that complement our training offerings.
Seven-to-ten days after training, people remember only 10 - 20% of what was taught them in a training class.
If your "training" consists of providing information, with no reference materials, how can anyone be expected to remember what was taught? Back on the job, it would be helpful to have a job-aid or infographic to refer to in order to do one's job or refresh one's memory about the proper process / sequence / tasks.
Temporal contiguity
Brain research tells us that it is better to present concepts in both words and pictures than solely in text format. Typically, about three days later, text-only information is recalled at a rate of just 15%, but the same information, when presented in both text and visual (a'la an infographic) is recalled at a whopping 65%!
Muscle memory
Muscle memory is not a memory stored in your muscles, of course, but memories stored in your brain (although its origin is related to physical fitness). Providing workbooks or worksheets in which participants actually work (answer questions, complete diagrams, underline pertinent facts in a case study) aid in retention because the body is also physically involved in the learning process.
Solution?
The "problem" is not that participant's don't see the value in the learning materials you provide, but rather, the problem lies with us trainers who do not show people how to use these materials while they are in the training. The solution is to utilize the training materials at the time of teaching. Don't teach a process and then say "Here is a job-aid to take back to your desk," but rather teach the process as participants follow along using their job aid.
The solution to participant materials being "left behind" is to utilize them during the training process so that their usage becomes part of the learner's muscle memory.
Adobe Connect Tip: Polls and Chat Pods
If you are setting up your classroom in advance, and you'd like to bring in a poll or chat pod to place over a share pod (rather than going to a new layout), you can open, size, position and then hide all your pods in advance. When you then again pull them up from Pod > type (e.g. Chat) they will appear where you "last left them" - avoiding you having to maneuver them around the screen while learners are watching.
Who is responsible for job readiness? Colleges or Businesses?
According to a research study done by the University of Phoenix and EdAssist of 501 managers and 533 workers from diverse industries:
93% of managers believe college should teach soft skills such as how to think, learn, and communicate - and 75% of workers agree
96% of managers felt that technical training and job-specific skills training was the employers responsibility
Leaders Lack Critical Coaching Skills
In a recent study, Driving Workplace Performance Through High-Quality Conversations, Develop Dimensions International's (DDI) analysis of thousands of assessments confirmed that experienced leaders lack critical coaching skills, including:
99% are not effective at checking their understanding of a situation before moving on to address an issue
More than 50% are not effective at encouraging involvement from others
89% are not effective in demonstrating interpersonal diplomacy
Also 89% are not effective in conveying performance expectations and facilitating clear agreement
95% are not effective at openly disclosing and sharing their thoughts and feelings with others
The research also identified an increase in reactive coaching (providing advice after the fact) and a lack of proactive coaching (offering assistance before someone takes on a difficult task or assignment)
Jim Concelman, Vice President, Leadership Development, DDI
Why You Don't Want to Train Your Employees
There are plenty of surveys of late indicating that training is crucial to employee engagement and retention - but there are also plenty of reasons why you don't necessarily want to do training. Here are just a few of those reasons:
When memorization is a waste of time
Either mental or muscle memorization. For instance, if your content changes too quickly, or is used too infrequently. The Training Doctor once worked with a client for whom we were assisting in implementing a new, computer-based financial program. One of the tasks that this program would conduct was end-of-year issuance of W2's. We were implementing and training on the software in the summer months - there was no reason to teach people how to do the steps involved with processing W2's when there would not be a need to conduct that task for at least another five months. In this case a "job aid" (reference material) was much more appropriate.
When there is no immediate way to apply the new knowledge or skills on the job
Adults want their learning to be relevant to their real life and immediately applicable. This is not only an internal need but also a practical approach; if individuals don't have the ability to apply their new knowledge or skills on the job immediately, it simply fritters away.
A large, independent, broadcast organization which was switching to Microsoft Outlook for its email platform concocted the idea of conducting training before the software was ever loaded on people's computers. The IT-trainer visited one floor of the organization per-day and gathered people together in the conference room to conduct a demonstration of how Outlook would work "someday when you got it on your computer."
As the training progressed up the 11 or 12 stories of the company headquarters, attendance at the "training" dwindled, and the IT department wondered why. Answer: because nobody was able to apply that knowledge on the job in an immediate way, so why bother to attend the training?
When facts and figures won't change behavior
Very often training consists of providing information and techniques to individuals with the expectation that they will practice them on the job. Too often, however, actual implementation on the job eludes the learner.
For example, teaching customer service standards is not the same as embodying them. A standard of always answering the phone by the 3rd ring may not make much of an impression when it is delivered as a "rule" during training. However, out on the call-center floor, when a new hire sees his fellow employees always answering the phone by the third ring, or making arrangements for backup when they are overwhelmed and know that they won't be able to answer the phone by the third ring, is a much more powerful "training" than ensuring that people have memorized a rule.
While it may seem odd for an organization which is in the business of designing training to tell you that you may not want to do training, there are often valid reasons for bypassing a training option when you want your employee's behaviors or beliefs to change.
Before designing or delivering training, think through: is this the right time? is this the right method? You might find yourself saving a lot of time and being much more effective in your role!
Why are we not training managers?
Managers are the most undertrained and under-appreciated employees in corporate America according to a study conducted by Kelton Research and Root Inc., of 205 Training / HR executives.
Among other findings, the survey respondents report that less than ¼ of their training budgets, if any, are currently allocated to manager training.
You can view the full report here.
Marketing Your Training Offerings Through an Internal Conference
If your organization has a “catalog” or prescribed curriculums, a wonderful way to engage with potential attendees is to hold a yearly “internal conference.”
Schedule a day which mirrors a professional development conference and invite all employees to avail themselves of the informative, free training sessions. Establish tracks, such as technology, leadership, service, etc., and within those tracks schedule one-hour previews of the various courses to give potential students a taste of what attending the full-blown offering might be like.
In order to determine what content to highlight, think about the “ah-ha” moments in each class. Impress your internal conference attendees with things they may not know (wow, I need to take this class in order to find out…), interactive and engaging topics (this seems like it will be a fun class to attend), and previews of how their on-the-job performance will be enhanced (I really should learn more about financial reports if I want to move in to management).
As participants leave the preview, ask them to complete an evaluation form, just like you would at a professional conference. On that form ask them if they would like more information about the topic, if they would refer a colleague to take the class (and that person’s contact info), and of course ask them for their own contact information.
Now you have accumulated a “marketing list” of interested and engaged employees for future class offerings and you’ve also determined what topics are most in-demand in your organization, for the coming year.
Colleges are not teaching what businesses need
According to a research study done by the University of Phoenix and EdAssist of 501 managers and 533 workers from diverse industries:
93% of managers believe college should teach soft skills such as how to think, learn, and communicate - and 75% of workers agree
96% of managers felt that technical training and job-specific skills training was the employers responsibility
Managers want training in using virtual tools; in order to do their jobs better
While 87% of managers say that online meeting tools such as WebEx and Lync are mission critical, only 10% say they're competent and confident using those types of tools.
Source: Virtual Leadership - Closing the Distance, in Training Magazine, May/June 2015
Recent and Upcoming Speaking
We recently presented a workshop on Adult Learning Theory to the Kubota University Summit
Next up: On October 6 we'll be presenting at the Online Learning Conference in Denver on the topic of Achieving Optimal Learning Outcomes via Virtual Learning Platforms
L:ater this fall, in November, we will be speaking at the Brain Matters 2015 Conference: Pushing the Genius Button, debuting our new whitepaper linking leadership development to thinking skills
The Value of External Alliances when You are a One Person Training Department
In an earlier post, we talked about the value of creating internal advisory committees in order to help you to determine and prioritize what training is needed in your organization. In this excerpt, we continue in that vein, discussing the value of external alliances.
Relationships with people who are external to your organization are valuable because they will look at your situation in a different light and undoubtedly offer a different perspective. One excellent source of peers who are external to your company is through industry organizations.
Industry organizations are where you will get the most accurate information and feedback about how your industry is implementing training. You'll be able to ask other training professionals in your industry segment about the results they achieved when they implemented training on a particular topic, and in addition, you'll get a sense of what the industry overall feels is important in terms of developing the workforce for the industry.
For example, Maintenance Solutions, the trade publication of the facilities management industry, includes a semi-monthly column regarding training needs and priorities. The October 2004 edition included an article titled "Training Spotlight: Electrical Systems, "which states, "Safety training is a continuous effort that is best done with frequent, short, job-related meetings," and continues, "Safe work performance begins with each technician knowing the personal protective equipment (PPE) he or she should wear and how to adjust and wear it correctly." If you work in the facilities management industry, you don't have to identify what training is essential or even what content should be covered in the training. Your industry is doing it for you!
In addition to having knowledge about the training needs of the industry, joining industry groups and having contacts within the industry may save you from having to reinvent the wheel. Of course, you'll want to validate that an industry need is indeed a need for your organization as well.
Belonging to an industry organization will provide you with a kind of support that you will not receive anywhere else. You can find industry organizations by using a search engine. Type the name of our industry and the word association into the search field. For example, a search on telecommunications association returned, among many others, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, and Industrial Telecommunications Association.
Funky fonts in WebEx? Try this tip...
If your organization has its own "branded font" (and this is especially prevalent when using branded PowerPoint templates), you will often find that WebEx will display odd things on your slides such as words falling out of tables, headlines breaking where they did not break in the original PPT, etc.
The best fonts to use for smooth WebEx integration are Helvetica and Arial. Rather than muddle through each slide, simply go to your master slides and change the fonts there. You may still have to do some refinements, but it is still a much faster approach than editing each slide individually.
Online learning is gaining in "popularity"
Interest in online learning is growing rapidly, while interest in traditional education is waning. From 2012 - 2013, distance education enrollment rose 1.8% compared with a drop of 4% in overall higher education enrollment according to the US Department of Education.
What does this mean for us? As trainers? It means our new hires are coming to us already equipped to be successful while learning virtually.
Train Managers? Naw, they don't need it.
Managers are the most undertrained and under-appreciated employees in corporate America according to a study conducted by Kelton Research and Root, Inc. of 205 Training / HR executives.
Some survey highlights include:
32% of respondents don't feel their company views managers as critical to success (who DO they think is critical, would be The Training Doctor's next question)
Reducing overhead and making technology upgrades are prioritized over manager training investments (57%, 48% and 28% respectively)
69% of respondents believe their organization's senior leaders don't believe there is a strong link between effective manager training and business performance
83% of respondents report that less than ¼ of their training budget (if any!) is allocated to manager training
*
At the World-Changing Ideas summit in 2014, Google's vice president, Alfred Spector, pointed to research showing that even average students can reach the top 2 percent of their class if they have a personal tutor to adjust lessons to individual learning needs.
Source: Chief Learning Officer Magazine, May 2015, Your Brain on Learning
Adults Learn Best Through Experiential Techniques
One of Malcolm Knowles basic premises is that adults learn best through experiential techniques. In other words, hands-on, active engagement in the learning process produces better results.
Sometimes this is not an easy thing to achieve. Since so much of today's work is knowledge-based, how does one teach that in an experiential way? Here are some ideas from designs we have created for our clients:
Teaching a Multi-Faceted Process
This manufacturing client wanted its assembly-line workers to understand how the product was "created" long before it arrived on the factory floor to be assembled. From the inception of an idea in the R+D department, through creating a design + prototype via CAD/CAM, on to requisitioning, provisioning, ordering, acceptance of components, kitting and, finally, arrival at the assembly area. Since many of these steps were esoteric, the design of this content piece was quite challenging. In the end and entire process was re-created in a role play manner, using Legos as the component parts and teams at each stage in the process. We even added in a QC check for good measure.
Teaching Product Knowledge and Service Skills
A retail organization was introducing a new product line which required salespeople to be experts in knowing the particulars of the product. At the same time, the client wanted to beef up customer service and selling skills. The client did not want these taught as separate concepts (e.g. first product knowledge, then customer service skills). The resultant training was in the form of a game-board-grid, with product knowledge along the vertical axis and customer service / selling skills along the horizontal axis. Participants would chose a grid on the board and the trainer would explain how the two intersected or complemented one another and then the learners were challenged to demonstrate how the two might "sound" on-the-job.
Teaching Financial Analysis
A global insurance brokerage firm needed an elite group of salespeople to be able to understand financial documents in order to sell to the C-Suite. Rather than simply explaining the different types of financial reports (profit and loss, cash flow, 10K, etc.) and hoping the salespeople could translate that knowledge to their accounts, the participants were tasked with bringing the annual report for two of their clients. Then, as the instructor taught about each type of report and what to look for as "red flags," the participants looked to their own reports to interpret information that was pertinent to their clients / their work.
When tasked with designing training, always ask yourself, "How can I make this more experiential and participative? How can the learners really engage with this content?" This is not an easy task but is always worthwhile (nay, essential) for better adult learning outcomes.