Training Tips, Tricks, and Thoughts
February 22, 2008 by Phil Gerbyshak
Filed under Business
“It’s better to train your people and have them leave than it is to not train them and they stay or they don’t get training and they leave.” – Phil Gerbyshak
OK, so it’s no shock I’m a HUGE proponent of training. I write at 3 blogs frequently (Slacker Manager obviously, Make It Great! and Joyful Jubilant Learning), attend as many conferences as I (and my day job) can afford, subscribe to about 300 blogs, 1 great podcast, and read as many books as I can, as often as I can.
In recent conversations with many other smart managers, we had a discussion about the importance of training, and I thought I’d share our conversation with you, and ask that you share YOUR thoughts about training in the comments below.
- NEVER enough training
- Just in time training is number one way folks get trained – have a need, get the trainin
- All people learn differently – need variety of methods to teach your folks
- In person
- Videos
- Hands on
- Online
- Reading manuals and documentation
- Observation with others on team
- Learning is a PROCESS not an event
- Use the building block approach – today builds on yesterday
- Must schedule the time or folks will multi-task and not pay attention, or just miss training altogether
- Knowledge base/wiki helps with the knowledge curve
Key to training: Put the skills into practice shortly after training or retention is super low (if at all)
What do YOU think?
Do you agree training is important, or don’t you care about having a GREAT team?
Photo credit to lnx
I believe that training is 100% critical to the success of an organization. It is sad how so many companies look at training as “overhead” or a “cost center” instead of understanding the investment being made into the people and how that will benefit the company down the road.
Phil,
Totally agree, training / development is crucial and it has to be offered in the ways you say so all individuals learning styles are catered for.
In addition, your key thought is spot-on.
One company I have worked at implemented a great approach to management training:
1. Break the training down into 8 or so modules across 12 months instead of 8 days one after the other
2. In-between the training you are obliged to put into practice what you had learned to make it a habit – if you didn’t you didn’t go on the next module
3. Then hired full-time mentors to help individuals put into practice what they had learned in-between the modules. The mentors pushed you, checked up on you and reported on your progress. It sounds a little ‘big brother’ but the individuals loved this approach.
Andrew
I am a trainer in a small organization and I totally agree with the importance of trainer but please give me tips on how to deal with the “training hours is waste of time” mindset that is currently ruling the operations. How can I help them understand that training will contribute to the revenue. Managers are extremely reluctant in having their team member spend even an hour in training. What do I do????
Phil,
I have chosen this post for my weekly GreatManagement Inspirational Articles – The Best Advice From Around The Web.
Andrew
I think it depends on the training that we’ll put them thru. Some training may be better off scheduled at a later time.