The current environment requires companies to increasingly higher levels of competitiveness. This competitive pressure requires us to constantly reinvent our proposals, by analyzing our value chain.
To face new challenges, we must develop new strategies and behaviors, since facing the present with methods from the past would be to mortgage the future.
As a consequence of the above, the need to regularly enhance the skills of our human team is obvious. In this context, training plays a fundamental role, good training is capable of enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of the participants, but in the adjective is the key to success. Bringing together a group of people in a classroom and teaching a program more or less tailored to their needs does not guarantee success. Poorly planned training can even lead to counterproductive results.
It is noteworthy, the increase in prominence that training is having in companies in recent years. Competitive pressure, subsidies, paradigm shifts in customer relations, new technologies, etc., are undoubtedly factors that have favored this increase in prominence. But the tendency to take action without investing the necessary time in planning, means that in many cases the result is not as desired. As I say many times in my classes;
"If we have five hours to cut a tree, we must invest one in sharpening the ax"
The "good" training involves taking into account a number of factors, which will help us achieve the desired results.
In every improvement process there is always a before, an during, and an after. So I will classify the influencing factors in this order.
BEFORE
1. If we want training to act as an engine for change, we should not see it as something specific and isolated. This should be integrated into the company's strategic plan. The training manager needs to have all the necessary support and resources. For this, training must be part of the company's own culture.
2. Actions must be designed taking into account global, departmental and personal needs. Clearly identifying the current situation and the desired situation will greatly help us select the resources necessary for change. To carry out a good needs analysis it is essential to measure how we are doing it, in many cases this measurement is not carried out or is done incorrectly. Tools such as quality audits (external or internal), interviews and performance evaluation tests, direct observation, evaluations of the quality of customer service (mistery phoning, mystery shoping, surveys, etc.) meetings with recipients, etc.. are actions that will provide us with very valuable information on how we are doing it (current situation),and about how we have to do it in the future (desired situation). This information will be essential for identifying areas for improvement and for the subsequent design of the training program. In this phase, the participation of the recipients in the design of the program is essential, since if we train for change, we will need to have the involvement of the people who have to change, and there is no involvement without participation.
3. Good training is what makes positive changes: »If you want new results, do different things». In reality this is the great challenge, to get people to change. Getting people to get out of the comfort zone and change our routines and behavior strategies is something that requires the utmost professionalism in the people in charge of carrying out the design and delivery of the program.
The increase in prominence that the training is having is due, in large part, to the creation of funds for the subsidy of the plans. These grants have brought out like mushrooms a multitude of companies that "sell" training with a philosophy, which in many cases could be defined as that of "take the money and run."
Good professionals invest many, many hours in their training; courses, books, specialized magazines, national and international congresses, conferences, preparation of materials, etc. All this represents an investment of time, effort and money that these types of companies are not willing to pay. Their own ambition and the short-term entrepreneurial short-sightedness of the business prevents them from investing in true professionals in performance-oriented or change-oriented training.
Therefore, it is essential that companies that subcontract training and want to obtain positive results, analyze in detail the quality of the provider. This is the only way to verify that "good" training is not a useless expense, but a necessary and profitable investment.
DURING
During the delivery of a training program for change, there are many areas to consider, detailing them here would entail monopolizing the content of this book, the entire book, so I will only address some general lines to keep in mind.
Based on the assumption that the design of the program is based on a correct diagnosis of needs and an adequate selection of resources. The next factors to consider are:
1. In the initial moments, we must direct our actions to create a climate that facilitates learning (before planting, we must prepare the land). This happens through the achievement of an environment that fosters the confidence and openness of the group (you cannot learn what you already think you know). This first objective is essential for establishing the necessary level of communication between the trainer and the participants.
2. It is essential to tune into the group, empathize with their concerns, internal state, beliefs, attitudes, etc. This will allow us to position ourselves on the "starting line", to begin training in tune with the group.
3. The training methodology must be able to generate authentic learning experiences for the participants. Let us remember an axiom of formation that tells us the following; I hear and forget, I see and I remember, I do and I learn.
Therefore, the immersion of the participant in learning experiences will be essential for the understanding and subsequent implementation of what has been learned.
These experiences should be designed taking into account their working environment, in order to bring the training situation to the maximum of the participant's daily life.
4. The «Socratic» system or use of the questions, allows the monitor to expose the different concepts, involving the participant in the search for answers, which implies a better acceptance and understanding of them.
Questions direct the listener's thinking, so presenting our key points using questions makes it easier to achieve our goals.
5. The trainer must seek effective feedback, so it is essential to be clear that feedback information will allow us to verify the level of understanding and acceptance of the different concepts. To be clear, you have understood, etc., it is NOT an effective feedback. At the key points of our presentation it may be necessary to access the deep structure, through questions (language metamodel) or exercises that allow us to verify the achievement of the objectives and clarify any doubts.
6. The goal should never be to complete the program on time at all costs, flexibility is necessary to adapt the pace to the participants. It will always be better to develop 80% of the planned program effectively, than to try to "endorse" 100% at all costs.
7. The work rate must also take into account the Sheldon curve or human performance curve. Short but regular breaks (every 60 or 90 minutes) are highly recommended. In them we can take the opportunity to review some partial evaluation (see section "after" point 2).
8. Good training is fun. A program can be very serious in its technical approaches, however, this does not prevent its implementation from being fun. People learn better and faster in relaxed and pleasant environments. For this, the trainer may use group dynamics, metaplan, exercises, dramatizations, simulations, music, etc. These resources foster enthusiasm and good humor in the participants.
9. In any change-oriented program, it is necessary to consider how to facilitate the transfer of what has been learned to the workplace. For which, during the training it is necessary that each participant is working on her own personal improvement plan. This document will reflect the areas of change in the form of objectives (GOALS), as well as the identification of possible obstacles and resources to use. This plan must represent for the participant, a commitment with himself in the achievement of the objectives.
Example of acronym for a correct specification of objectives:
M - otivator
Specific
T - emporized
A - achievable
S - eguible
AFTER
At the end of a training action, it is often said that the course does not end now, but actually begins now. It is a fact in which we all agree, but the actions are not always consistent with this principle. We will see some considerations that will facilitate the implementation of what has been learned, and the profitability of the investment made.
1. When we finish a training program, we usually think quickly about how we are going to evaluate the action, which is correct, but we should not forget that we have some participants whom we have "invited" to leave their comfort zone or habitual behavior, to implement changes. So if we want to see these changes reflected in the form of positive results, we must design a training follow-up plan, possibly in combination with the trainer who has carried out the action. This plan will be in charge of providing the necessary support to the participant, verifying progress and providing the necessary help in overcoming possible obstacles. The participant, the manager on whom it depends (which plays a fundamental role) and the trainer himself must be involved in it.
2. The person responsible for the follow-up must be prepared to facilitate the support that the participant needs. Your abilities should allow you to “coach” not only at the level of environment, behaviors and abilities, but also at the neurological level of beliefs. It is at this level that the true power of personal change is generated. The «coach» must identify possible limiting beliefs and know how to adequately challenge them. Enriching the participant's mental models and facilitating the generation of driving beliefs.
"Whether you think you can or think you can't, in both cases you are right"
Henry Ford
3. It is important to highlight that in the processes of performance improvement, a culture of praise or recognition must be promoted. This affirms the person and motivates him to continue advancing in the process of change.
4. In the aspects related to the evaluation, we have the five classic levels; satisfaction, knowledge, transfer, organizational impact and return on investment (ROI). To these five I would add another, in my view essential; partial evaluation. The partial evaluations are those that the trainer must carry out during the development of the program, these evaluations allow us to know if we are maintaining the intended course, or if on the contrary we are deviating from it. They will also allow us to make corrections "on time". To carry them out, we can use the metaplan or a short questionnaire designed for this purpose.
All of the above is necessary for a training program to be a success, and although the design and implementation of some of the proposed actions require more time and effort, we must not forget that we will not be valued for what we do, but for the results obtained.
»The purpose of training is not knowledge, but action»
