Who Are You & Where Do You Think You’re Going?

Now that we’ve looked how much profitability is wasted when an organization spends money on the wrong training, or even training that isn’t absorbed or applied, let’s get serious about an approach we can take to make sure we’re providing the right training for our team members, for their current roles as well as the roles they’d like to move toward in the future. While this isn’t all that complicated, it will not happen without intentional and focused effort; and that’s our responsibility as leaders! Before hashing that out, here’s one more piece from an article called 5 Ways Ineffective Training Hurts Companies that was shared by Walden University:

“While training initiatives are typically made with good intentions, they can prove ineffective due to hurried planning, poor timing, and a lack of follow up. Employees may be left wondering if company leaders and HR managers really understand what they need and the challenges they face on the job. And when training requirements are passed down from above, supervisors may also experience frustration with poorly planned programs. When training time feels wasted, no one is happy—and no one benefits. While it may seem that some training is superior to no training, the truth is ineffective training hurts companies in several tangible, far-reaching ways.”

After presenting a lesson I titled Increasing Profitability Through Clear Career Paths with a group of business owners for an industry peer group we support, covering the importance of providing targeted training and development as part of a recruitment and retention strategy, the CEO of the industry group asked me a question I’ve heard more owners and executives allude to than I can count (without actually asking it so openly). He asked, “Why should an owner invest in developing a team member who could take that training and get a better job with a competitor?” While I certainly understand the concern that’s based on, my reply was that “it’s better to risk that than to have a bunch of employees who aren’t training and never leave…” I went on to explain how making an investment into our team members shows value and earns loyalty. I also emphasized the importance of being very clear about how they’ll be expected to apply the training AND rewarding their progress - with additional opportunity and compensation; if we’re doing those things, can we really blame them for looking elsewhere?

With that in mind, we can’t just assume that forcing someone through any given training session yields results. As the author of the Walden University article shared, providing the wrong training comes with far more cost than just the time or fees - tying back to several of the other profitability killers we’ve looked at specifically leading up to this point. Without a solid plan to ensure our training fits the participants’ needs, we’re likely better off keeping them engaged in their day to day role… This is where we need to be able to answer the questions, “Who are you?” and “Where are you going?” for each of our team members!

Don’t miss my point… I’m not suggesting we ask those questions directly but, as leaders, we most certainly should be building relationships with our team members that are strong enough to provide us with answers to both those questions - specific to their career and to their life. When we have this kind of understanding about what they’d like to achieve, any training we do provide can be tailored to helping them do it. Then it’s as simple as determining who can most effectively deliver that training so that’s where we’ll pick up next time!