Finally! Meaningful Training Measures
Finally! Meaningful Training Measures
Just a few short years ago trainers and their managers were still lamenting the absence of meaningful ways to measure the value of training. Many long and detailed studies were produced. Most of them required an intense effort to prove a direct link from training programs to outcomes. Those efforts were usually tied to proving the value of internal training departments which, at the time, didn’t have enough of a business linkage in the value chain and pecking order of a company. Training was the typical first budget cut of the old accounting management regime. Internal training departments, in the face of technology investments and cheaper out-sourcing, were trying to make a case for their own existence.
Almost overnight it seems that things have changed, at least in ideas and approach. Operationalizing them in most cases is still ahead. It has become the work of the hour.
Companies are now budgeting for training again.
What did it take? Quite simply a column shift. Training was an expense. Now it is an asset, a human capital investment. After that, we shift from the ambiguous term performance to the concept of proficiency. In accounting terms proficiency means what does an average performer generate, sales $, time, business results, not necessarily the same for each position set. When proficiency is below that, there are measures, day-by-day that add up to a lot of time, potential losses or gains, and high value output. Now this is measurable easily. The bottom line becomes “What is the cost of training versus the cost of not training?” On the business value side of the equation the latter is typically more expensive and definable.
The “cure”, as a form of training, is highly variable and can often be more economical than we thought given the realm of time and training options to choose from. So there is the opportunity for a double magnum increase at the cost level and again in determining the right cure. No longer is a company developed classroom curriculum the solution. It could be a simple 8-hours of cross-training, a short presentation, blended learning with classroom and e-learning components, combined with a new policy, follow-up supervision and interim coaching. Of the cost, maybe 50% is built into the business as operations activity. The rest is likely a savings of 60-80% over the typically classroom developed program. The result is more precision, more direct knowledge transfer, and more impact.
Thinking back to when Canada was in a manufacturing economy in the 80’s I am reminded of the “time-study guys”, as the industrial engineers of the day were called. Every production change, every slowdown or as a scheduled operational review in large manufacturing operations, they would look for ways to cut production time, paring down repetitive work tasks to the minimum number seconds, screws, reducing the processes, introducing new tools and so on. It seems we are moving now towards the same thing but with a knowledge economy or even an integrated manufacturing/knowledge economy as a hybrid facsimile.
But there are huge differences. Yesterday’s production was mechanical and fairly predictable. Today’s operations environment is complex. It involves mental fluidity, information manipulation, management processes and support, staff skills capabilities, individual motivation and attitude, gratification, reward, interpersonal, and creative opportunity. Even task loading and staffing levels go into the mixture.
Though our work is still ahead of us, there are several companies leading the way who can teach us a lot by their example. Here are some. Source is Training Magazine, Top 100 North American companies. For more visit www.trainingmag.com, March 2005 issue.
IBM (IT) – created a learning program for their “major deal makers” pursuing contracts from $100 M to $5 B. Program focused on selecting deals, increasing win rates, profitability and customer satisfaction. Result: $799 M in new deals and 2B increase in existing deals.
Sprint Corp. (tel-com) – Started leaders program for better retention practices.
Result: Improved customer satisfaction and one-call resolution rates, up to 40% reduction in staff turnover.
Lockheed Martin (aerospace/defense) – After astronautics business experienced frequent mishaps on flight hardware, they created a 6-month error-prevention training program for employees. Result: 67% error reduction.
Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. (hospitality/service) - Established a School of Excellence for external customers who want to benchmark R-C’s practices. Result: Generates $1.5 M in revenue which offsets internal training costs for employees.
General Mills (food manufacturing) – Rolled out 1-day train-the-trainer sessions and new safety training materials on hand safety. Result: Serious hand injuries reduced 80%.
Ohio Savings Bank (banking) – Reduced a Customer Service Training course from 70 classroom hours to 47 with 23 hours of self-study. Results: 3 days of saved class time allowed bank to serve 1,162 more customers.
BMO Financial (banking, Canadian) – Measures diversity progress and workplace equity since 1992. Result: 9% increase in number of female executives, 13% increase in female senior manager positions.
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals (pharmaceutical) – When ad agency budgets spiraled they trained product team members in best practices for ad agency management. Result: $77 million in savings.
Finally Meaningful Training Measures - To learn more about this author, visit Arupa Tesolin's Website.
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Copyright May 12, 2005
Just a few short years ago trainers and their managers were still lamenting the absence of meaningful ways to measure the value of training. Many long and detailed studies were produced. Most of them required an intense effort to prove a direct link from training programs to outcomes. Those efforts were usually tied to proving the value of internal training departments which, at the time, didn’t have enough of a business linkage in the value chain and pecking order of a company. Training was the typical first budget cut of the old accounting management regime. Internal training departments, in the face of technology investments and cheaper out-sourcing, were trying to make a case for their own existence.
Almost overnight it seems that things have changed, at least in ideas and approach. Operationalizing them in most cases is still ahead. It has become the work of the hour.
Companies are now budgeting for training again.
What did it take? Quite simply a column shift. Training was an expense. Now it is an asset, a human capital investment. After that, we shift from the ambiguous term performance to the concept of proficiency. In accounting terms proficiency means what does an average performer generate, sales $, time, business results, not necessarily the same for each position set. When proficiency is below that, there are measures, day-by-day that add up to a lot of time, potential losses or gains, and high value output. Now this is measurable easily. The bottom line becomes “What is the cost of training versus the cost of not training?” On the business value side of the equation the latter is typically more expensive and definable.
The “cure”, as a form of training, is highly variable and can often be more economical than we thought given the realm of time and training options to choose from. So there is the opportunity for a double magnum increase at the cost level and again in determining the right cure. No longer is a company developed classroom curriculum the solution. It could be a simple 8-hours of cross-training, a short presentation, blended learning with classroom and e-learning components, combined with a new policy, follow-up supervision and interim coaching. Of the cost, maybe 50% is built into the business as operations activity. The rest is likely a savings of 60-80% over the typically classroom developed program. The result is more precision, more direct knowledge transfer, and more impact.
Thinking back to when Canada was in a manufacturing economy in the 80’s I am reminded of the “time-study guys”, as the industrial engineers of the day were called. Every production change, every slowdown or as a scheduled operational review in large manufacturing operations, they would look for ways to cut production time, paring down repetitive work tasks to the minimum number seconds, screws, reducing the processes, introducing new tools and so on. It seems we are moving now towards the same thing but with a knowledge economy or even an integrated manufacturing/knowledge economy as a hybrid facsimile.
But there are huge differences. Yesterday’s production was mechanical and fairly predictable. Today’s operations environment is complex. It involves mental fluidity, information manipulation, management processes and support, staff skills capabilities, individual motivation and attitude, gratification, reward, interpersonal, and creative opportunity. Even task loading and staffing levels go into the mixture.
Though our work is still ahead of us, there are several companies leading the way who can teach us a lot by their example. Here are some. Source is Training Magazine, Top 100 North American companies. For more visit www.trainingmag.com, March 2005 issue.
IBM (IT) – created a learning program for their “major deal makers” pursuing contracts from $100 M to $5 B. Program focused on selecting deals, increasing win rates, profitability and customer satisfaction. Result: $799 M in new deals and 2B increase in existing deals.
Sprint Corp. (tel-com) – Started leaders program for better retention practices.
Result: Improved customer satisfaction and one-call resolution rates, up to 40% reduction in staff turnover.
Lockheed Martin (aerospace/defense) – After astronautics business experienced frequent mishaps on flight hardware, they created a 6-month error-prevention training program for employees. Result: 67% error reduction.
Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. (hospitality/service) - Established a School of Excellence for external customers who want to benchmark R-C’s practices. Result: Generates $1.5 M in revenue which offsets internal training costs for employees.
General Mills (food manufacturing) – Rolled out 1-day train-the-trainer sessions and new safety training materials on hand safety. Result: Serious hand injuries reduced 80%.
Ohio Savings Bank (banking) – Reduced a Customer Service Training course from 70 classroom hours to 47 with 23 hours of self-study. Results: 3 days of saved class time allowed bank to serve 1,162 more customers.
BMO Financial (banking, Canadian) – Measures diversity progress and workplace equity since 1992. Result: 9% increase in number of female executives, 13% increase in female senior manager positions.
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals (pharmaceutical) – When ad agency budgets spiraled they trained product team members in best practices for ad agency management. Result: $77 million in savings.
Finally Meaningful Training Measures - To learn more about this author, visit Arupa Tesolin's Website.
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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John AlexanderJohn has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center. I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander's Website |
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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