Is your in-house training purposeful?

IECL’s approach to partnering with clients begins at what is called the Discover Stage. It’s in this stage that our Client Relations Team explores and navigates with clients their organisational landscape and the organisational change that they seek. Jen Wijono, Project Manager, shares the three things that L&D professionals should reflect on before embarking on a consulting conversation.

1. TRAINING IN SERVICE OF…

Has your organisation ever approached training headlong, without really considering why you’re doing it, until you’re deep into it and it’s too late to turn back? A clear goal makes all the difference in these situations, with training programs typically coming into being because of:

1. Mandates – typically related to legal responsibilities and requirements.

2. To solve a problem – related to performance issues not meeting business expectations.

3. Opportunities for growth – related to possibility for business advantage or development.

All of the above are valid in themselves, but for training to be purposeful, these cannot be the only reasons, or else training can become a “tick the box” exercise.

The question that truly needs to be answered is: How does this training serve your organisation’s vision and goals?

Unambiguity around this question gives much clarity to the decisions that follow; how progress is measured, who should training be created for, what will the training entail etc.

2. MEANINGFUL MEASURES

After defining the clear purpose of your training program, it can be very tempting to go straight into designing the program itself and what it will look like. However, the next question that often gets overlooked is: What will be different as a result of this training?

Without this question answered, it is difficult to measure progress and ultimately the effectiveness of the whole initiative. Other questions to consider are:

• What will my people be doing differently as a result of this training?

• What measures of success will be meaningful to the organisation and my stakeholders? 

3. ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS OF THE RIGHT PEOPLE

It is vital in the development of any training that the right stakeholders are being engaged and being asked the right questions. We need their contribution to the questions “What do you think is the purpose of this training?” and “What measures of success are meaningful to you and why?”

It is important to have the support and buy-in of your leaders where their people are being involved in the training. These conversations are the means by which you can effectively get their buy-in. Without their full support, it is almost guaranteed that the training will have little impact.

UNDERSTANDING YOUR ORGANISATIONAL LANDSCAPE: IECL’S CLIENT DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS CAN BE ONE OF YOUR TRUSTED ADVISORS IN THIS SPACE. THEY PARTNER WITH MANY ORGANISATIONS FROM ALL INDUSTRIES DAY IN AND DAY OUT TO HELP GUIDE THEM TO THINK THROUGH OF THESE QUESTIONS AND TO HELP THEM GET A PULSE ON THE CURRENT MINDSET AND BEHAVIOUR OF THEIR PEOPLE, AS WELL THE CULTURE AND SYSTEM BY WHICH THESE PEOPLE MUST OPERATE IN. MOST IMPORTANTLY, THEY WILL GUIDE YOU TO WORK TOWARDS THE ASPIRATIONAL FUTURE FOR YOUR ORGANISATION SO THAT THE TRAINING WE CO-CREATE WILL BE ONE THAT TRULY SERVES THE ORGANISATION, ITS PEOPLE AND STAKEHOLDERS.

AS PROJECT MANAGER, JEN WIJONO PROVIDES HIGHLY EFFICIENT SERVICE AND SOUND MANAGEMENT OF LARGE-SCALE PROJECTS, AND IS COMMITTED TO PARTNERING WITH HER CLIENTS TO SUPPORT THEIR GOALS TO BETTER THEIR PEOPLE AND WORKPLACE.