The Three "D's" of Training

Let's face it. Budgets are tight and the outlook, judging by the swirl surrounding the debt ceiling agreement and Wall Street's reaction, is not promising relief in the short run. If your organization is not one of the few flush with cash reserves (okay, if your organization isn't Apple) then your organization is not likely placing hiring at the top of the priority list. What should, however, be at the top of the priority list is employee development. The ongoing development of your employees is key to the continued success and growth of your business. Concentrating efforts on developing employees provides both short-term and long-term benefits like:

• aids in succession planning initiatives
• enables cross-training
• allows for lateral movement (crucial at a time where positions are being consolidated or moved due to restructuring)
• creates greater employee job satisfaction through greater autonomy and a sense of value to the organization

My organization has a separate department that is devoted to the development of our employees. The department offers in-house training, which is termed "in-service training". Employees can sign-up for either a mandated or self-initiated training via a self-service system that is web based. This is a vast improvement from our previous method - printing and distributing hard copy booklets listing all training offerings. Due to training and development having such importance now more than ever, I began to research how other companies transformed their employee development. I came across a video for a presentation by Martha Soehren, Chief Learning Officer of Comcast, who spoke about how Comcast transformed the design, development, and delivery (hence, the three "D's") of their program. I have included a link to the video Consolidating Multiple Technology Platforms to Bolster Learning Capabilities at Comcast Cable should you want to take a look. Here is a bit of what I took from the video (with my notes added):

1. Perform a task analysis of your present system, including a look at trainers' functions. Are trainers performing administrative tasks? How much time are trainers able to devote to actual training rather than administrative tasks?
2. Define your goals. Ensure the goals are quantitative as well as qualitative.
3. Create realistic timelines. Build in checkpoints and points where you will readdress components that are not working.
4. Train the trainers. This is an integral piece to any successful training program. How many of the trainers in your organization have received training on offering instruction?
5. Review tasks assigned to supervisors. These are your coaches and act as support for the new skills being practiced by employees. Are supervisors spending an inordinate amount of time mired in administrative tasks?

An additional point comes from a recommendation by the American Society for Training and Development: trainer to participant ratio should be at approximately 1:250. Remember, though, this is a guideline and may need to be adapted based your organization's particular needs. In the same respect class size will be dictated by training content and participant composition.