Oh, so you think the gift giving season is over? For corporations it has just begun.
January marks the start of renewed focus on results, productivity and efficiency. It also begins the yearly cycle of training.
Companies give training and expect employees to give back through improved revenue and decreased expenses. But are we getting the best return on investment? Could we do better in this Corporate Giving Cycle? Yes! The key is to create and facilitate training that is broad based and lasting.
Broad based training is learning which applies to a variety of situations. Does your training incorporate a wide variety of situations and scenarios in which participants can apply learning?
- Communication skills training and customer service training can be combined to apply to communication with co-workers as well and customers, to internal and external customer service. Think about it-the skills really are the same.
- Leadership skills can incorporate communication skills, which apply to…you guessed it.
- Process skills can incorporate customer service skills.
- Ethics can be woven into communication and customer service courses.
Create lasting training by incorporating past learning into current courses. Learning lasts longer if it is used frequently, so incorporate rarely used but essential learning from past courses into current ones.
- Include a little used process in a scenario teaching a new one.
- Design complex practices that incorporate both previous and new learning.
- Develop learning that targets new information and emphasizes weak areas of performance:
- Practice a new process with a time limit that will improve low productivity results.
- Role play a scenario that includes completing a form that is currently a quality issue.
Apply the concept of broad based and lasting training in a way that participants can use some of the techniques in their outside-of-work life.
- Provide examples of how to use conflict management skills with friends or family.
- Practice negotiating skills with the participant as a customer as well as a service provider.
- Link the process focus of quality and productivity to situations outside of work that affect participants.
When people understand that training can make their life better, not just their work better, they have a better buy-in into the training.
Providing broad based and lasting training results in a better return on investment. More importantly, when a company invests in people, rather than their employees, it is corporate giving at its best. Everyone benefits.
© Linda M. Farley 2010 www.LMFarley.com
Follow Me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/LindaFarley
Email: LMF@onr.com
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