Tweet

Turning a Cinderella Training Course Into a thing of Beauty

Guest post by: Ben Nash

Article Overview: Too many learners leave training programs as wise as when they went in! Some participants take away a few nuggets but frequently forget them in short order. This is particularly true in “soft skills training”. So if this is the case, why do organizations spend so much time, money and effort in providing employee training programs?

Turning a Cinderella Training Course Into a thing of Beauty

Too many learners leave training programs as wise as when they went in! Some participants take away a few nuggets but frequently forget them in short order. This is particularly true in “soft skills training”. So if this is the case, why do organizations spend so much time, money and effort in providing employee training programs? To get real about organizational training, think of learners in three categories:

• Category 1–Engaged Participants: about 10% of the class are there to learn. Their motto is, “Hey this is good stuff”
• Category 2–Vacationers: about 80% of the class are mentally on vacation. Their motto is, “This beats working”
• Category 3–Prisoners: about 10% of the class feel trapped and really do not want to be there. Their motto “I have a lot of other things to do”

Some tips for the trainer:

• Try and maximize the number of engaged participants early in the program by making the opening engaging and fun (icebreakers, attention getters, personalized exercises, etc.)
• Mix up the engaged participants in group work with the vacationers to try and spread their level of energy and engagement
• Identify the WIIFM (what’s in it for me) factor for the group ahead of time so you can link the training to current issues in to organization—this may capture the interest of some of the vacationers and prisoners.

By applying some of these approaches you may just turn a Cinderella training course into a thing of beauty.

Related Articles
  Cinderella and Passive Behavior
  Beauty Franchises in the UK
  Educating Yourself for Work from Home
  Looking Beyond the Short-Termers
  Beauty salon franchises
  Are You Cinderella or The Ugly Step Sister When It Comes To Your Career?
  What A Beautiful Year
  Effective Beauty Tips for Work at Home Moms
  Lesson #5: Have a Message
  The Fountain of Youth.
  Beauty Keeps You Young
  5.1 Insufficient investments in Africa have hindered the deepening of diversification: Economic Report on Africa 2007
  Parking Lot Power
  Internet Home Based Business - What To Look For In A Quality Leader
  Beauty supply franchises
  Estee Lauder Biography
  Estee Lauder Bonus
  Nail salon franchises
  Take a Risk Like Tammy Faye- How To Do Business With Color
  Strategies and Answers

Article Tags: employee learning, employee training, human resources management, soft skills



Related Forum Posts
7 words or less for Structogram - Some "7 words or less" (more or less) for Structogram for your comments: Training to get your message across(6) Secrets to get your message across (6) Training so people will listen to you (7) Helping you get your message across (6) Training to learn to get your message across (8) Communications training for yourself and your team (7)
Re: Hi everybody - Statricks has joined! - Welcome Beauty! Congrats and good luck with the new startup!
Re: Just Joined Today! - Hi David and GT! I know you both from my time with the PIPS & PPG forums. I am making an effort to expand the forums I attend as I want to benefit from as much wisdom that is shared in these places as possible. It was in the PPG forum that I first found out about Evan Carmichael and I promptly made my way over here to sign up and see what else I could discover. As for more about myself (since David is sooooooooo inquiring!), I do have a fulltime job in the television industry, working primarily in the Southern California region. I took up Internet marketing to help offset some recent expenses - my daughter had a Cinderella wedding 4 months ago! Along with her college expenses, I just thought there had to be another way to add to my income so I turned to the Internet. I started with SFI, then discovered PIPS, and that's where I am today. I look forward to having more questions and discussions with the fine people I've encountered!
Budget. - I believe the biggest barrier is related to budget. Training tends to be a normal practice for a big company. But I have to consider it seriously as an entrepreneur.
Re: pitching - Friendliness is closely related to the concept of "permission marketing" as articulated by Seth Godin. The subtitle of his book says it all: "Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers into Friends and Friends into Customers." The old method was "interruption marketing" where you suddenly get an ad in your face whether you want it or not...


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

12 Principles to Spark Innovation

Make Small Commitments. Get Big Changes.

Looking for an Easy Online Business Opportunity?

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.