While it appears that some aspects of the economy are experiencing some positive signs, we still remain in a largely ‘at risk’ situation for the short-term future. The aftershocks of the revolutions in the Middle East and Africa, the tsunami and flooding in Japan, and the still-prevalent effects of economic strife in the United States have many organizations mired in indecision and hesitancy when it comes to the development of their people.

Despite that fact that organizations are still holding back on reinvesting their resources for the improvement of human capital, and fewer dollars are available to invest in training, a better question than that posed in the title of this article might be, “How can we afford not to develop our people?” We suggest three possible actions that any Training/HR or organization can take to ensure that training isn’t ‘hurting’, but is in fact helping organizations survive and even thrive in these difficult times.

First, ensure that you really know the training and development needs of your organization. There is an old “sheep-dipping” analogy popularized in the nineties that explains this. Ranchers who noticed lice, ticks, or mites on a few sheep would “dip” the entire flock in a liquid formation of insecticide and fungicide in order to correct the problem. This became both labor and capital intensive and was very expensive. Too often we do the same thing within our organizations. We see a few problems, and assume it’s an organizational epidemic, and so focus all of our resources and materials on that singular issue. Rather than that approach, a targeted analysis is the key to success in training. Before the proper training can be delivered, it must be clear what and where the specific needs are. There are many tools that can be used to identify what skill (or behavioral, or material, etc.) gaps exist. Some easy-to-use tools may include:

• SWOT – This is a simple needs analysis document based on four quadrants: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. The SWOT may go a long way in helping to clarify and articulate key processes and issues that exist at the different layers of the organization.
• LDPs – Another tool is to analyze the existing Leadership Development Plans and find out what the needs of the leaders might be. Reviewing the LDPs of several different leaders may help identify trends within the organization. These plans may be used from a high level approach to illuminate where the leaders should focus as well as where strengths may be leveraged.
• Interviews – A final approach may be to interview managers both vertically (from executive to low level) and horizontal (across departments) and ask them simply what they feel the needs of their people are. Remember to ask the fundamental questions: “What’s happening that should not be happening”, “What’s not happening that should be happening?” and “What’s happening that we need to keep on doing?” This may be classified as the ‘Start, Stop and Continue’ approach.

Secondly, organizations (and training departments) MUST build stronger relationships with internal managers and ‘champions’. There is truth in the phrase, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” We have found that the best training classes are those in which the participants and their managers know and trust us because of a series of interactions that have built a positive relationship. A training department cannot be successful if it doesn’t have champions throughout the organization, and strong relationships across levels and departments. This trust can be built using many methods, but one of the simplest is to merely spend time with existing peers and other employees. Similar to the MWA management philosophy (“managing by walking around”), you can better-manage your training relationships by just getting out of the workstation or office and walking around! During the time spent with individuals, information can be exchanged and shared. It’s a great opportunity to actually discover the needs and strengths within the organization.

Finally, focus on what is already available and share it. Try not to worry about what you DON’T have. Most organizations have a large library of purchased and custom built training developed internally. It’s been our experience that most training departments aren’t fully aware of the materials they have at their disposal. This is the perfect time to inventory existing materials including instructor led courses, eLearning courses, games, reference materials, and other kinds of development activities. There are books, guides, and videos that have accrued over time in most organizations. Further, the tacit knowledge that exists within the heads of SMEs in the organization can be tapped and extracted to provide additional materials and insights. This informal knowledge can be identified during the first two methods identified above and then made available to the organization at large through social media venues (existing blogs or wikis) or job aids and online reference tools. All of this information can then be inventoried and linked with specific needs. Using these materials can provide immediate benefit to targeted learning audiences.

The bottom line is, when deciding how to best leverage training with reduced resources it only makes sense that you do the following:

1) Have a solid handle on the needs of the organization
2) Build strong relationships with line employees and managers who can be training champions
3) Document curriculum of existing materials within the organization
4) Understand and use informal networks and processes to further training

By undertaking these steps now, the dollars spent in the future will provide significantly more benefit to employees, and those employees will in turn drive the organization in achieving key strategies and targets. If we ignore the employees and their needs during the down times, we will notice the negative effects when things pick up again. Now is the time to improve performance with a focus on employees’ learning needs. It makes both dollars and sense.

Use the links below to print out a sample template for the SWOT Analysis, an LDP and an interview sheet.

Some of the latest trends that truly do make learning more interactive include story telling, simulations and scenario based learning. All of these can be done both through instructor led as well as eLearning (and we could even say mLearning //show link//). Scenario based learning presents specific and targeted situations that a learner is regularly exposed too during work processes. The learner then applies knowledge gained during the interaction to further experiences and situations. The best scenarios are not linear in nature (what in life really is?), but instead allow learners to make mistakes as well as have successes to reinforce the learning opportunity.

Continuous feedback is a key part of any scenario based learning. It doesn’t exist in a vacuum or closed system, but is best presented in an open and live environment where various pieces of information and experiences are input so that it simulates a true scenario. However, there are key objectives that a learner should accomplish during the process and at the end of the course. It may be a part of the course or class, or it may constitute the entire duration.

Scenarios are integrated at appropriate times and places in our training here at impact Solutions. We believe that the more varied and experiential we can make each experience with our courses, the better our clients will see the benefits that come from using training as a performance driver within their organization. Scenario based learning is one of those steps that can help the scenario of a profitable and sustainable organization become a real life example.

In the world of performance based objectives, a key to writing them and including them is to bring some of language used by Bloom into the picture Bloom’s Taxonomy. Bloom introduced very active words that allow us to leverage very specific actions from learners who participate in development and other educational activities. With this as a basis in building, creating and sustaining training, it becomes much easier then to evaluate the success of not just the training, but the impact that the training will have throughout the organization.

The creation of PBOs must be done as the training is being built. Thus, all information, actions and processes introduced and utilized during the experience become focused on these key objectives. Further, the training may then be validated by showing the link between the objectives of the training and the key performance measures of the company. It becomes easier to draw people to the training class where then can tie in how it will help them improve their performance in very specific areas. If employees know that the class/course is not just to pull them off the job, but to improve a specific area of their skill sets that will in turn improve their results, they are not only more apt to attend, but then integrate what they have learned.

At impact, we come into organizations trying to understand the performance measures of the company and how those measures are linked to the training we are being asked to do. If we can create strong ties, we need to spend more time and effort to bring that to the front. Our success and the success of the company are much more likely to happen when, just like chocolate and peanut butter, two great things come together.

This scene captures the essence of information learning. Oftentimes, this is the learning that can’t be found in any of our books, training materials, classes and sometimes not even our leaders. It’s the learning that occurs just from experiencing a situation or an event. Sometimes it’s the most powerful kind of learning. While some of the learning may be found in books, oftentimes, it’s best learned on the job, or through another informal process. These informal learnings in our lives aren’t subject to the academic test or other rigorous methodologies designed to measure the impact, it is the powerful attributes that drive our behaviors that in turn may drive our actions.

Jake Ross Informal Learning. gives some nice information about how informal learning can help us and what can drive it as we move forward looking for new ways to innovate training in our organizations.

At impact, we strive to identify the informal learning networks and opportunities within organizations, and then to leverage them as we work through formal channels in developing people and processes in organizations. By combining the synergy that can occur through both formal and informal leaning, the opportunities for improving productivity and results in an organizational are limitless.

The basic concept of social learning was initially introduced by a psychologist Albert Bandura who prorogated a social learning theory Social Learning Theory. In essence, this theory posited that people are able to learn and develop to a large degree through observation, imitation and modeling. While no one claims that this is done in a vacuum, I think we can all attest to this as we look at our own families. Many of my children (and I have 7 of them), have learned things in our home because of their observation of their mother and myself. Some of those things are good, such as when it comes to saying please and thank you. Some are not so good (and I won’t share examples of those).

In adults, this type of learning is by no means diminished. In fact, we would argue that it is augmented. Remember, learning means is not only that you learn to DO certain things, but that you learn NOT to DO certain things. Thus, we observe behaviors, processes and actions that we don’t want to then use. This type of social learning has increased with the advent of so much social media including the use of phones, ipads (and other tables) and personal computers. Applications like Facebook, Twitter and others have produced a social cornucopia for us to observer and learn from.

At impact, we look to leverage social media to increase our clients’ reach and penetration with their employees. As we can bring social media into the ways our clients learns, we will be able to achieve the objectives of our clients and ultimately drive their results and productivity to new heights.

Penetration of the cell phone in several of the Middle Eastern markets is over 100% and most people have a couple of phones, and many even have 3 of them. Now, a lot of this is due to the amount of money in some of the countries, but even when going to the poorer African countries, there are incredible penetration rates. Once again, most folks there have a couple of phones. They use phones for everything including banking, working, emailing and lately training has come into play.

Mobile learning is something we’re just starting to realize the potential of. At impact, we strongly believe this going to be something that each and every organization wants to be on the cusp of in the future. We are looking at ways to integrate mobile learning (or mlearning) into the way we are doing business. As we venture into offering our services in the MiddleEast and Africa, this will bring a much stronger vvalue to organizations over there where the cell phone is more ubiquitous than the book or even the computer.

by Carole Nicolaides

The rules for succeeding in business are changing daily. Yet people are still asking for the magic formula that contributes to a successful organization. Is it talented, knowledgeable people plus innovative products? That’s a great start, but something vital is missing from this equation.
More and more corporations around the world recognize that, in order to gain a competitive advantage, they also need to make sure their people know how to handle themselves at work and how to relate with their customers and peers. From showing empathy and optimism to extreme self-awareness to knowing what’s going on around them, these vital competencies are an integral part of a progressive organization. They fall under the umbrella of Emotional Intelligence (EI).
These soft-skills, or emotional intelligence skills, revelations open the door to a lot of discussion. The western civilization and our traditional management theories tend to lead us in the direction of individualistic promotion. They display our strengths rather than the demonstration of our humanness. These ideas have been so tightly woven into our leadership mentality that they can be challenging to break.
Unfortunately, most graduate schools don’t teach you how to cultivate your soft skills. While courses such as Business Writing and Public Speaking are offered, I have never seen a course entitled, “The Effective Art of Listening to Your Customer.” We live in a society that measures intelligence through quantifiable metrics. A professor will give you good grades once you know XYZ, but he or she will not increase your grade for being able to deal with a difficult situation, showing compassion, or solving an unexpected problem. Yet most compliments that you or your employees receive deal more with the use of soft skills than with your actual knowledge about a particular situation. Most customers appreciate a “willingness to help” and the fact that “she listened to my complaint.” The use of these skills is what elevates your organization above the competition.
You don’t compete only with products anymore, rather with how well you use your people. Too often we focus on what employees need to “know” when evaluating and hiring them instead of “who they really are.” I will illustrate this with an example.
John was promoted to Technical Project Manager at his consulting company. Some people wondered why John had risen to this level of management. His educational level was lower than others in the firm and his degree wasn’t in an area that pertained to consulting. However, one of the strengths that was nowhere on his resume was his ability to be positive in all situations and to naturally motivate people. He was quick to smile and see the positive side of every project. He was generous in praising people and was consistently happy. These were his strengths – his natural attributes. They made up the sum of who John was. These soft skills are just as important as what John knows.
The challenge nowadays is to introduce a program that will allow your leaders to learn and capitalize fast on their soft-skills competencies. Soft skills are important and always have been. It seems we have laid them aside and opted to emphasize too much on expertise and credentials. Let’s get back to our values and the basics of good internal and external customer service.
Soft skills are the underlying principles that trademark a company for professionalism and excellent customer service. They provide differentiation between all the cookie-cutter look-alikes and play a vital role in customer loyalty. In today’s working environment, where customers and employees are demanding more, instilling the use of soft skills in your team members is something you simply can’t survive without.
When it’s time to focus on soft-skills training as a tool to improve performance, leadership potential, and bottom line organizational success, consider the following:

1. Start Slowly – Instead of getting a large number of people in a room and preaching to them about their soft skills – move slowly. Introduce the concept with an informative and fun workshop. The program should also be designed to enhance their skills.
2. Involve Your People From the Start – Involve as many employees as you can on the decision to create a program, what to include within the program, and how to maintain the program. People support what they help create. Engage them, give them the possibility to make changes with your training curriculum, do a pilot program with key people, and use the pilot program as an introduction to the group.
3. Hire Expert Help – Coaches and Organizational Consultants are experts in building rapport and establishing the right culture for these initiatives. With the right culture and the appropriate training, managers can continue the task of training and cultivating good relationships.
4. Recognize Individual Achievement – There is so much talk about teamwork today that we forget to emphasize how important it is to praise individual achievement as well. From time to time praise your stars. Recognizing personal contributions to the team is an excellent morale booster.
5. Discover the Group’s Soft-Skill Identity – All people are not the same, so their soft skills and strengths are not the same either. Once you know who you have on your team, leverage their strengths and differences because these are the facts that will help distinguish you and your organization from the competition. Illustrate how they can leverage each other’s strengths inside the team to develop a new group “identity.”

The essence of your business is your people. Making soft-skills development a priority will bring your team to a new level because it focuses directly on them. By allowing the human aspect of your employees to shine through, you are encouraging them to do what comes naturally to them. Don’t overlook these all-important skills when evaluating areas of improvement for your team. Find a way to incorporate soft skills into your leadership development programs and see results immediately.

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