How to Avoid the Drive-Thru Experience with Your Training Programs
By: Rachel DiGiammarino
To a consultant's delight, the first quarter of the calendar year can be quite busy from a sales perspective as existing clients and prospects are heavily engaged in matching their organizational needs to a training firm's offerings. A company's budgets, goals, and other internal and external factors drive the process. Key personnel from relevant parts of the organization get involved to facilitate buy-in.
Often times, the process becomes more of a drive-thru experience where components are quickly selected from a plethora of menu items without enough thought as to what goes together, how to pace, and what happens afterwards. The result - hurried and unsatisfying, and possibly some other unpleasant ramifications.
So, the first lesson in building a legitimate training program that will have lasting effects is to consider the type of training firm you will work with based on the desired outcome for your employees and the company:
Choose:
(A) Training Vendor = fast food drive-thru
or
(B) Training Partner = fine dining experience
When your company picks (B), you are choosing quality with a focus on a meaningful experience where every component matters. To begin your search for the right partner, your company may conduct an internet search, ask for referrals, embark on an RFP, etc. Keep in mind, while it may go without saying, as much as training firms have to answer all your questions and demonstrate the value of their offerings, you also have some pre-work to do.
During the selection process, your company should be able to articulate:
who your audience is
what are the factors driving the need for training
what are the objectives to be accomplished
Armed with this information a credible training partner would be able to match their available programs and provide a level of customization as needed. It is important that both sides are listening to ensure the solutions match the goals. There are critical decisions to be made about the length of the program, the delivery format, the preparation of the participants, the content modules and the appropriate depth of each topic, and so on. While budget and timelines should not be dismissed, be careful not to diminish quality and the associated benefits that are crucial to the main objectives.
Reinforcement
Since training of this caliber is meant to have lasting impact, it is also valuable for your company and chosen training partner to outline a reinforcement plan before the training is implemented. Like any new skill, practice makes perfect, repetition breeds confidence, and new skill sets are more likely to become ingrained into the company culture.
A valid reinforcement plan may include:
Applying the concepts and tools from training in real-world situations
Creating opportunities for individual coaching
Ensuring managers of participants are trained to evaluate the application of new knowledge & skills and to coach their direct reports in implementing the new skills
Integrating concepts and methodology as a common language in the organization
Measuring and sharing results across the organization, and most importantly with participants
Offering a refresher and/or advanced level training for participants
These recommendations are intended to move you forward to get the most value out of your training investment by thinking about all the phases of planning and execution well before you get there. Still, it is important that while following the process, you and your training partner are nimble and responsive when the circumstances warrant adaptability or change in course.
All that said, I understand that fast food drive-thrus were developed to meet unmet interests of convenient, predictable, simple offerings, such as when you're on the highway 5 hours into a 10-hour car trip to your family's annual vacation and you are starving and want familiar choices. It's just my experience that today's learners require more sophisticated, distinct, and strategic outcomes and "fast food" may not fit the bill.