Dag: 31 mars 2017

Guest post by Michael Haas originally published on MDI Management Development Institute

Maybe you ask yourself if a simple blog entry about a learning transfer platform is able to keep the promise given in the headline. And if you think of me as a sales consultant for this very learning transfer platform you might expect mere sales and marketing packed in some nice words explaining the benefits you as a company might gain from Promote. Well, you will read a little bit of that. But first and foremost I’d like to explain why I love my new role as a sales consultant for the platform and which renovations I see by using the learning transfer platform.

Since 20 years I’m occupied with planning, design and implementation of learning and development processes within organisations. In doing so I had both the internal and external position twice, so I genuinely know the perspectives and challenges on both sides.

 

What happens after the training?

Talking polemically but nevertheless to the point I’d like to say what we all experiences from time to time: A single training shot often moves little. Those “happy sheets” (pay attention to the word!!) evaluating a training are nice to have but often the well-meant resolutions get killed by the mighty forces of persistence. Only one or two out of twelve participants succeed in effectively applying what they learned in the training. All the other try, meet internal or external resistance, give up, fail. It was a nice training. Mission complete.

But there are implementation agreements! And the line managers are on board, that improves both quality and results, you might think. That’s right. But that’s the snag. I don’t want to know in which drawer, or using more modern words: in which sub-sub-folder, all those agreements, formally signed, disappear. Out of sight, out of mind. Nobody will notice. And the trainer is just an onlooker. Until HR remarks that nobody applies the trained contents there are new programs ready to start.

 

Changing the learning culture

Changing learning culture means taking huge strides. And that’s the hour of Promote. Entertaining and easy to understand a video shows how it works. Use the chance to watch the video and learn how development processes may be displayed in a motivating, result-oriented and sustainable way. By the way, this would be the perfect shortcut for the very hurried readers.

And now I’ll say goodbye with my personal “sales arguments” for the learning transfer platform: With Promote I discovered a practicable way to manage learning and learning processes in an easy and effective way. One of my favourites is the possibility of the (very pragmatic and little time consuming) way to integrate line managers as learning coaches. At any time during the process HR has a perfect overview, sees the individual learning progress of participants and has the chance to intervene. Promote is a tool encouraging a dynamic learning culture focussing on practice and application and simultaneously using the communication forms and rules of social media in a very smart way.

So that’s why I am motivated and why I spend all my efforts and know-how on Promote in order to find new ways in terms of learning effectiveness. The only remaining question is: Why didn’t they hit on it earlier?

 

Sincerely,

Your Michael Haas, MDI

PS: PROMOTE is developed by trainers for trainers and HR.

Probably not.

To do so, would be to blunder. An error one doesn’t need to make.

How best to prepare then? For example, what might you be willing to invest?

Time? Money? Commitment? To name but three.

And so to a journey of another kind. A business journey and getting started with Promote. Possibly one of the most important journeys your business will ever make. It’s not hard to start using Promote. It’s really rather easy. But given it has the potential to add a completely new dimension to your business, we understand this sometimes causes circumspect.

We’ll wait for the perfect business case to come along before investing in Promote, we hear you say. More blundering.

And here’s why:

• Do you really want to be introduced to Promote at the same time as your client?
• You’d be full of trepidation
• Will this work, or won’t it, you simply wouldn’t know
• Anxiety builds, where you could have smoothed it away
• A new program, wanting to do your best
• All made possible by having a meaningful business case of your own
• You know Promote, you’ve experienced the benefits, for yourself
• By doing, you are competent and confident
• You’re going to sell it well

 

Why not hit the ground running instead?

Here’s a more seamless approach, from beginning to end:

• Select a training program that you run often and are already familiar with. Doing so will allow for a clear comparison between old and new and thereby, the difference that Promote will make. You might also want to consider working with a client that you already have a good working relationship with
• Select a program starting no earlier than 4-6 weeks from the point of signing the license agreement (allow a week for us to technically create your own version of Promote, two weeks for the online certification process although this could be done in a day, if you had the time, and lastly, a week for when we help you build your first program, to ensure you have absolute confidence, before going live)
• Make sure someone in your organization has completed the online certification program. In advance, pinpoint “system users” (e.g. one or two consultants and whomever is likely to be responsible for administering Promote)
• Start using Promote straight away, because the more experienced you become, the greater your confidence in using the system and in selling it onto your own clients

Do not wait until conditions are perfect to begin. Beginning makes conditions perfect.

Imagine: 416 learners from 52 stores. 18,174 mandatory on-the-job assignments completed, 1,143 of those reviewed and approved by the learners’ managers. 15,086 written comments on results and learning shared among the learners’.

Imagine you’re on your way to a senior management meeting. A senior management meeting where you’re the HR representative. Imagine that ten minutes ago you got a report from your L&D guy. A report stating the figures above. The same L&D guy you gave the responsibility to “get that sales programme up and running” one year ago.

This after struggling with the business area managers’ somewhat adverse attitude towards sending their people on courses. You had an idea of the importance of being able to answer their never ending questions about “what’s in it for me?”, “it’s just another three days away from the store” etc. You remember how annoyed you used to be when handling these questions armed only with smile sheet evaluations about how the actual training days were conducted. The coy smiles from the business area managers and the standard follow up question; “oh great, they had fun. But what’s in it for me?”

Then you met with that training vendor that basically wasn’t interested in talking about “what and how” before you agreed to spend some time agreeing on actual business needs for the training, how to involve the store managers in coaching the learners before and after actual training. And most interesting of all; they said they’d be able to visualize what learners and their managers actually do after the training, in real time and aggregated at the intervals you want. They smiled when you said that you already had an LMS and then a great discussion on what learning transfer really is and where people actually develop in their work roles followed. This ending with them introducing their Learning Transfer Platform, designed for just that. You ended the meeting in agreement of what’s important and went forward from here working as partners.
Even if your L&D guy is officially responsible, you know the buck ultimately stops with you when it comes to delivering results.

You now want to see how those figures relate to the latest bottom line ones for each store. Your experience tells you that these KPI’s, or at least early indicators must show for something. Then you need to capture some shining examples to create and spread success stories as best practice. Finally, a course where your line managers were seen as much as a participant as the learners. Actually; finally a course being a proven investment instead of a cost!

Imagine this feeling going to a senior management meeting next time there’s L&D topics to be discussed.

416 learners from 52 stores. 18,174 mandatory on the job assignments completed, 1,143 of those reviewed and approved by the learners’ managers. 15,086 written comments on results and learning shared among the learners.

Actual figures from a retail sales training initiative run by Promote Partner Mindset AB in Sweden.
The initiative was run over a period of 11 months in 2013 with 52 individual programme starts. The HR representative’s inner thoughts are pure fiction of course 😉

According to Dr Robert Brinkerhoff’s research, traditional training only creates 15 % learning transfer, meaning that only 15 % of the people we train actually apply something when they come back to the workplace. According to the same research, the common denominator for these 15 % is management involvement.

Knowing the importance of management involvement, not only from the research of Dr Brinkerhoff, but also from own experience, we always talk about the importance of this subject with potential and existing customers. Often in our customer meetings, we ask the customers to guess what the common denominator of the 15% who apply something is. To some clients, it’s crystal clear that it’s management involvement, but not for everyone. And very often when we talk about this, the clients start to get uncomfortable and very often they say “our managers do not have the time”. Really? Ok. Let’s start over.

What do we mean by management involvement? The bottom line of management involvement when it comes to training is setting goals, following up on progress and coaching the employees to new or improved behaviours. Sound familiar? Getting involved in the employees’ progress and development is probably one of the most important duties there is for a manager.

One way or probably the best way to handle the objection “they don’t have time” is to ask a question like “What do you want your managers to do?”. In almost any case, the clients come to the conclusion that it is (surprisingly enough!) goal setting, giving feedback and coaching their employees. With this conclusion in mind it is fairly easy to get the clients to start elaborating around the subject of management involvement and what they have to do to get their managers involved in the training.

So, the assumption that the managers don’t have the time is not true. When they are getting the chance to be involved and know what to do, they enjoy it. Give managers a chance to do their job and let them get involved in the training and development, and you will see great results.