Corporate Training: Make the Leap to Success

Does it strike you as odd that while many companies will reimburse college tuition if employees receive a B or higher grade, they balk at potentially failing participants in internal training and development programs.  Mere attendance is typically enough to qualify as having “been trained.”  Think about that….

One of several possibilities exist, it seems to me….

1. Organizations perceive the quality of the education to be higher if it is provided by an accredited organization
2. Companies are more willing to recklessly throw away more frequent, yet smaller amounts of funds for poorly quality experiences
3. Provision of internally provided (or even contracted training programs) is simply paid lip service by organizational leadership

Go ahead and pick the most appropriate excuse for this financial irresponsibility.  Really, it makes no difference.  All provide the same result, subpar learning experiences that lack interactivity, accountability, and any more than cursory thought.  Throw on top the amount of time (and associated productivity) lost when employees are in these training programs.  What a waste….what a shame!

Although in still frightfully small numbers, the past several years have seen a growing trend toward companies insisting upon actual learning assessments (substantive ones, i.e., ones that truly drive the bottom line, not simply satisfaction with the learning “experience”).  It makes sense, after all, to demonstrate the ROI of development dollars, particularly as these allocations become more and more stretched.

Chief Learning Officers seeking substantive and effective training programs would be best served to judge candidate programs using the following criteria:

• Measurement Instrumentation – Any program worth its weight in gold should be developed around metrics and a clear understanding of how success is to be determined.  It’s critical that this be a customized measurement approach, speaking directly to the unique situation and conditions of the organization.  Off the shelf solutions typically lack this specificity.

• Assessment Process – Just as you wouldn’t like favor an educational system for your children that only tested them in kindergarten and again upon high school graduation, quality training and development programs incorporate high-quality, on-going assessment and feedback into their structure.  It’s not enough for individuals to be able to simply regurgitate information back at the end of a course.  Their thought process and comprehension throughout the program is critical.  And if individuals aren’t cutting it, they won’t complete the training.  It’s just that simple.

• Facilitator Quality – Too often corporate trainers are those who have struggled themselves as operators, sales people, leaders.  Yet, rather than refit them to better opportunities, organizations make them trainers.  Worse yet, they take the best operators and leaders and make them trainers, with little concern over whether the individual have the competency to be skillful facilitators of other peoples’ learning.  Ensure those providing training are the best you can find, whether internally or contracted.  They need to understand adult learning principles, a variety of teaching methodologies, and have a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter.

• Ease and Convenience (without sacrificing quality) – One of the biggest costs of modern training programs is in direct travel costs and indirect lost productivity.  webinars, webcasts, and recorded training programs are all the rage as a way to combat these costs.  Yet, because they lack the aforementioned measurement, assessment, and (often) facilitator quality, they are low on the effectiveness scale, as well.

Now, imagine if one could find a training program that (through the creative and interactive use of technology) brought together the measurement and assessment pieces, where facilitated by college professors, and didn’t carry $5,000-$15,000 price tags.  Well, such programs do exist, and at unbelievably affordable rates (for example, ~$40/hour per participant).  But organizations need to know to do their research before grabbing onto the training program du jour.  Be diligent about insisting on the four aspects of training, and the outcomes of your training programs will be apparent.  Skimp on these four, and your lack of outcomes will continue to be obvious.

Online Education: No Longer the Red-Headed Stepchild of Development

Teaching is in my blood, always has been. The rush of helping another understand a concept. The mutual connections and intellectual stimulation that flows both ways and creates a collaborative learning environment. Gone are the days of one-way learning, the professor professing and the student passively absorbing.

Oh sure, those environments still exist on many college campus and in even more corporate classrooms. But what a waste of effort, intelligence, and opportunity!

My own learning paradigms have shifted remarkably over the past decade, particularly with the rise and ease of technological innovations in learning.

Eight years ago, I took the leap toward on-line learning, enrolling in a blended MBA program at a reputable university. Given the need to be working full-time and with a family and kids in the picture, the option to study online, at a place and time of my choosing, was intriguing. It was a disaster.

Lectures were simply posted into an online learning management system. Discussion threads were started by the professors, but allowed to quickly peter out. All in all, it was exactly what many had warned online learning would be.

In the years since, however, I’ve gained a completely different perspective, thanks both to my own involvement in providing online education and to a vastly improved experience as a doctoral student in a primarily online degree program.

Done right, online education gains all the advantages of traditional classroom learning, with significant areas in which it actually may exceed the “brick and mortar” approach. The keys to this happening include:

• Instructor Availability – A surprise to many traditional faculty is the time commitment necessary to successfully instruct in an online environment. Instructors must avail themselves to students by being overly responsive and by providing frequent and on-going feedback.  This is the single-most unexpected time commitment for online instructors, but it’s the most critical for ensuring a high-touch educational experience.  And it’s where traditional webinars, webcasts, and video and audio lectures fall short.

• Community Building – Because online education typically lacks face-to-face interactions, instructors must include activities that build community between learners.  The bonds between online learners are not difficult to establish, but they do take some creativity and innovative use of collaborative online tools.

• Leveraging Technology – If posting PowerPoint presentations is your idea of “online teaching,” you will fail. Instructors must incorporate the latest technology tools and activities into the learning process in a way that exceeds what can suffice in an live classroom.  Leveraged effectively, technology can move online learning into a much more dynamic learning environment than many learners have ever before experienced.

• Required Interactivity – Online learning benefits most from the quality and frequency of dialogue between peers, as well as between student and instructor. Forget about students “hiding” in the back of the classroom. In the online environment, a key component of learning is insistance on frequent (and substantive) interactions in the virtual classroom.

• Continuous Assessment – Forget the “butts in seats” model of many corporate or brick-and-mortar classrooms. Online instructors must be skilled and diligent about creating on-going assessments of both individual learning and the overall climate of the classroom. Tweaking approaches as a course unfolds is as critical to online teaching, if not moreso, than in traditional classrooms.

It’s time to erase the stereotypes of online learning. The fumbling of early adopters has been replaced by highly effective, increasingly affordable, and innovative virtual learning models that will shape the emerging new paradigm in corporate and post-secondary education. Those that get onboard with this paradigm will find hidden competitive advantages to drive success over the horizon. Those who don’t….well, they just may not exist beyond that horizon.

Reading: A Critical Habit for Leaders (or Anyone)

Call me a snob. Call me a nerd or a geek. Reading has long been a passion of mine. At any given time, my nightstand is cluttered with two or three half-finished books. Shelves can be found in nearly every room in the house, a mixture of novels and professional works stacked neatly. Call me an intellect. Trust me, I’ve been called far worse!

In several national columns lately, the topic of reading as a key leadership activity has been discussed. From the New York Times to the Harvard Business Review, Forbes to Inc., one never finds leadership experts disparaging the habit of reading. Quite the opposite. This activity is touted as a source of creativity, open-mindeness, continuous development, and meditative reflection. If this is true, why then do so few leaders follow this practice? Why is reading viewed as such a second-class citizen in the world of business and for development purposes?

Within a Fortune 500 company, I formerly worked on a team that was required to read a book each quarter and subsequently discuss its merits at a half-day team meeting. Each quarter, the presentation of the next required reading was met with groans, grumbles, and abject despair. Yet, each book (the good and the not-so-good) yielded fantastic discussion and faily deep insights at the next quarterly meeting.

Let’s face it, most of us have lost the ability and desire to read. In a society so driven by instant access to mass entertainment, the habitual practice of reading has slipped from its place of prominence. It’s become a symbol of over-intellectualized brainiacs, a practice for those foolish enough (and with adequate free time) to merely philosophize and theorize. After all, those who do have little time or effort for such frivolities. Right?

Recently, I’ve been spending a fair amount of my professional life conducting psychological assessments on future leaders. As such, I find myself increasing amazed (and then worried) by the paucity of “readers” who envision themselves rising through their organizational ranks.

Perhaps because I’m a reader myself, I am admittedly biased toward those with similar interests and dedications. But just maybe, the benefits I have seen and experienced from firsthand exposure to the written works of so many great writers, not to mention business experts and leaders who have so graciously shared their stories and words of wisdom, have made me understand the importance of reading for leadership.

Does one have to read to be a creative, innovative, reflective, and thoughtful leader? Of course not. But reading has been found to enhance these qualities in individuals, and it profoundly points to an individual’s continuous improvement mindset. That in and of itself, should be reason enough for leaders to make a concerted effort to read.

So, if you’re a leader, or aspire to leadership positions (or really anything more than you currently are), carve out some time and pick up a book. Make it a goal to read at least a book a month. You won’t regret it…and those you lead will thank you for it.