S7 E29-32 Training is the answer to your People Problems- 'Engaging Your People for Success'- Lisa Askwith

S7 E29-32. (Engaging Your People for Success) Training is the Answer to your People Problems


Lisa Askwith- Engaging Your People for Success
IBGR.Network...The World of Business at Your Fingertips


Training is the Answer to Your People Problems- 4 Part series
INTRODUCTION- Part 1, Ep29- Training and the Future of Work- What you need to know now
If you enjoy this the following 3 parts of the series are;

Part 2- Training as an Employee Engagement tool- Step by step to a Learning Culture
Part 3- Low cost/ High Impact Training Solutions
Part 4- Leadership Team as Company Trainers- Drive engagement and Authenticity without spending anything

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Becoming a company that has a clear focus on developing a learning culture will put you well ahead of the competition, as your new generation of workers see this as one of the most valuable tool they want in the modern workplace. Training programs and how to structure them to give you a true learning culture are critical for your future business success. Plus they are a core part of your people engagement tool kit. Something you can actually utilize in many cases at very lost cost with a high level of positive rewards.
 
​Every business has some type of training need from onboarding, specific technical competencies, management, leadership, marketing, sales, communication etc.. Investments in talent development help to improve job satisfaction and retention by providing a path for personal and career development.  At the same time having open, inclusive and supported training programs will help to improve the culture in your business, as they lead to staff feeling valued and recognised, which in turn spreads to their work ethic and motivation. To really capitalize on this in your business, you then need to take things to the next level, and also provide training programs around organisational development. When this occurs you have the opportunity to fully engage your people and really increase the potential of the success of your business. However, this is a big mindset shift for many businesses, as it means training programs need to be valued as an investment and not seen as a forced cost. If you can shift your mindset here you will reap massive benefits.

To remain competitive, as the future of work constantly changes you must continue to invest in your people, especially via training and upskilling, not just your business. Don’t let your business suffer, let me help you make your business the best that it can be by utilizing your greatest assets, Your People!!!! 

"What if I train them and they leave?" well as W. Edwards Deming said "What if you don't and they stay?" 

​Key Issues - Employee Perspective:

1. Continue to gain skills for my current position and prepare for the next position.
2. Proactively look for opportunities to attend training that enhance technical and if needed soft skills.
3. Show your employer that you value your training by putting your newly learned or enhanced skills into practice.

3 Key training needs to be met to engage your people and be the future of work

1- Functional training
2- Training for career growth/ personal development
3- Training for Organisational change

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Most businesses and leaders need help to really see this key area with ‘fresh eyes’. If you have reached this point do contact me directly at lisa@apexbrs.com for a free no obligation discussion of just where you are and how we may be able to help.

Tags; strategy and culture, aligning culture and strategy, strategy implementation, strategy vs culture, culture and strategy, business strategy, strategic planning, strategy software, humantelligence alignment, organizational culture, cultural change, strategy cascade, strategy, culture, align team goals, objectives, technology, people, training

​Part 2 (EP 30)- Training as an Employee Engagement tool- Step by step to a Learning Culture

When it comes to getting the people right in your business and really capitalizing on your greatest asset, there are several areas you need to address to ensure your training programs are where they need to be to actually add the value needed. Not just to the business outcomes, but to the individual staff members, and culture of your company; you want to ensure maximum benefit, not just the possibility of good outcomes. This is a big mindset shift, as too many times in the past people felt forced to go through training programs or saw them as a waste of time. However your new workforce feels the opposite, and you need to capitalize on this to develop a sustainable business, using training as an engagement tool, not a punishment!

Michael Leboeuf in his book "The great principle of management" warns of the dangers of ignoring training:

"If you believe that training is expensive, it is because you do not know what ignorance costs. Companies that have the loyalty of their employees invest heavily in permanent training programs and promotion systems. "
 
This is simply because it actually works, and costs due to lack of innovation, high turnover and poor culture are removed. Not to mention better trained employees are more productive!
 
A recent survey by PWC, of millennials which asked what characteristics make a company compelling to work for, found that 52% values career development and 35% values excellent training programs, these were item 1 and 3 at the top of the list with good pay and conditions sitting at 2.

You need to have a strong focus on discovering just what your business and your people need, and then design programs or provide ones that support that. For your business to be the best it can be, these programs need to move beyond only covering today's technical skills, and provide more than soft skills. You need to look to the future and find training programs that meet your organisational development needs as well. When you do this, you not only future proof your business, but you also fully engage your people as you are giving them the opportunity to grow and succeed. This then all works together to give you the best possible outcomes.

10 Steps to setting up your training as an engagement tool
 
1. How do I determine my company’s training needs?
2. What are the intended outcomes of the training program? 
3. Make sure that your employee development needs are considered. 
4. What feedback have employees given on any knowledge or skills gaps?
5. How are you going to track your training?
6. Training needs should be incorporated into the employee evaluation and performance review process as well.
7. Develop a learning culture within your company.
8. Look at a career development from several viewpoints – technical, organizational, and individual. 
9. Develop people technically first - job of management is developing skill mastery, but do not forget to include the development of soft skills into your training program.
10.  Continue to develop their business skills to make competence complete.


This is the piece of the puzzle that most businesses and leaders need help with. If you have reached this point do contact me directly at lisa@apexbrs.com for a free no obligation discussion of just where you are and how we may be able to help.


Tags; strategy and culture, aligning culture and strategy, strategy implementation, strategy vs culture, culture and strategy, business strategy, strategic planning, strategy software, humantelligence alignment, organizational culture, cultural change, strategy cascade, strategy, culture, align team goals, objectives, technology, people, training


Part 3 (EP31)  Low cost/ High Impact Training Solutions

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You need career development, and proactive training as the workplace rapidly changes, but let’s drill down to give you the maximum benefit, and ensure you have this entire key area covered, you also need to ensure career development is not just a wish list, but is aligned to the company, the person and reality. In order to this you need to make sure your training has 3 key aspects, these are;
                                      

1. Technical, - the black and white required training, often the basics of every role. Remember not just new starters, but also as they enter new roles- you need to do this first!!!!
   
2. Organizational- planning for the future, allowing your people to really engage with the business of tomorrow and develop themselves as well.
   
3. Individual- Targeted at both job demands from a technical and organisational view point, but also employee needs and future growth that may not necessarily be a clear career path in the company. Adds to overall skill set, engages people and retains staff and improves culture.
   

 Once you have these identified, you can then plan your low cost high impact training programs.

They are just sitting there waiting for you to identify them, as they are your people, your greatest asset. Your business has a mass of subject matter experts just waiting for the opportunity to engage further, and potentially be rewarded or recognised for their skills and abilities. Use this wisely.

You can give your key people some external facilitation and training skills and then allow them to start to work on developing their programs. This can be started at management level and be seen as recognition for staff to be able to help train others. Simple ways are;

• Buddy or line training
  
• SME group talks adn e learning
  
• Cross functional working teams
  
• Regular team lead roles given out to run projets
  
• Subject matter experts given develop days to run as groups
  
• SUbject matter experts used as internal trainers and buddy’s
  
• Training through games and competitions
  
• Leaders as trainers
  
• Develop internal trainers in high turnover or specialised areas, and reward them
  
• Mentor systems
  
• Support internship and allow your employees at all levels to practice their mentoring skills
  
• Create a talent mobility platform to match skills of mentors and mentees
  
• Partner with government bodies that provide free training- such as health, welfare or finance etc
  
• Encourage and provide the tools for self directed learning
  
• Have leaders hold round table discussions on best practice
  
• Work with final year university students to develop e-learning packages
  

Your people really have all of the answers, but have you asked them the right questions? Are you able to utilise your greatest asset by allowing them to become more involved in the business? If not, you will fail.


Tags; strategy and culture, aligning culture and strategy, strategy implementation, strategy vs culture, culture and strategy, business strategy, strategic planning, strategy software, humantelligence alignment, organizational culture, cultural change, strategy cascade, strategy, culture, align team goals, objectives, technology, people, training


If you would like more information on any of these key topics I can be reached at lisa@apexbrs.com, where you can book a free discovery call.



Part 4 (EP32) Leadership Team as Company Trainers- Drive engagement and Authenticity without spending anything

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Good bosses matter more than you might think. Research shows that positive relationships with management are the top factor in employees’ job satisfaction—and, by extension, correlate with stronger corporate performance. But good bosses are also hard to find: 75 percent of Americans see their boss as the most stressful aspect of their job. And during the COVID-19 pandemic, both bosses and employees have been under more pressure than ever.
 
 
Is your leadership team focused on continual development- This is key, they need to walk the talk, to allow others to feel confident and access further training, but they also need to have their skills refreshed for your business to stay ahead.
 
1-     Develop you leaders as SME trainers and cross functional team leads
2-     Develop a Culture of Learning
 
Then focus on developing a learning culture- none of these are expensive, but they are all high impact, as your new generation of workers values feeling respected and appreciated and demands on going learning and opportunities.

Full process steps to developing your internal training programs

1. Review your existing training programs and processes that you already have in-place.  You must know your starting point.
2. Assess your organizational training needs.
   1. Are there key areas within your organization where you see a clear need for training?
   2. Are there market or technology changes that are driving the training needs?
   3. Is training needed as part of succession or growth planning? Or Developing a “deeper bench.”
3.  Assess your employee training needs.
   1. Engage your employees for suggestions on any gaps in technical knowledge or skills that they may be aware of.  Be sure to communicate that you are in the process of developing a formal training program and you want their input.
   2. Do your employees need to further develop their “soft” skills? 
   3. Get feedback from your leadership team on areas of need.
4. Develop your training program based on the needs of the organization and the employees.
5. Determine the best way for the training to be delivered (Group, Individual, remote or in-person.)
6. Clearly define the purpose and goals of the training program and individual training sessions.
7. How will success be measured organizationally as a whole, within each department, and on the individual contributor level.
8. Include training in part of the performance evaluation and promotion process. 
9. Coach your employees and managers on developing training plans for their teams and themselves.
10. Make sure your management team is on board with the training program as they will reinforce the everyday importance of training with their team members. 
11. Develop a learning culture within your organization, and focus on organization development training opportunities.

Tip- Exceptional leadership is the glue that will hold all of this together- without it you will not achieve the levels you desire.


Tags; strategy and culture, aligning culture and strategy, strategy implementation, strategy vs culture, culture and strategy, business strategy, strategic planning, strategy software, humantelligence alignment, organizational culture, cultural change, strategy cascade, strategy, culture, align team goals, objectives, technology, people, training


This is the piece of the puzzle that most businesses and leaders need help with. If you have reached this point do contact me directly at lisa@apexbrs.com for a free no obligation discussion of just where you are and how we may be able to help.
 
Shows
●Previous: Episodes 25- 29  Season 7- Build you Leadership Capabilities through Authenticity- Engaging your People for Success
●  Next: Episodes 33- 36  Season 7- Continuous Improvement- Make money while you sleep- Engaging your People for Success
 
Written by Lisa Askwith

Director of ApexBRS | ApexBRS, Regional Director of See Global Media, Chair of  EGN Singapore, and Associate Professor Cambridge Corporate University | At the Age of Change, providing the HR component of the Global Executive MBA and BBA. Lisa has worked for some of the largest companies in the world and successfully led restructures and change management programs in order to improve the bottom line through engaging the people for success, while developing exceptional leaders who can make a positive impact on Culture and long term business sustainability.

You can connect with Lisa on any of her platforms

LinkedIn Lisa Askwith - Director - Apex BRS
https://www.apexbrs.com/
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