Talent Management – Training and Development – 5th in a Series

In the previous Talent Management Blogs, we defined “Talent Management” as a set of integrated organizational HR processes designed to attract, develop, motivate, and retain productive, engaged employees. Hypothetically, we have created the job requirements, determined that we need someone to fill a role, recruited and hired a great new employee. We need to spend a bit more of the Company’s money to Welcome the new employee (On-boarding) and provide the proper skills and knowledge (Training and Development) to provide every opportunity for the individual to be successful. Historically, On-boarding only focused on new hires, but if an organization is transferring current employees from one location to another or from one group to another, an effective start in any new role has a high ROI. The faster they get up to speed the faster they start delivering results. A Fast Start On-Boarding system covers:

• Welcome to the Company (Vision, Mission, Culture, etc.) and the organization
• Procedures to ensure all needed tools and materials are present BEFORE the new employee arrives.
• Orientation to the new role and department
• Completion of required paperwork; I-9, Benefits, Compensation, etc.
• Key early Job Training and pairing the new person with a Mentor/Buddy to ensure the “informal training” as well as formal training is completed.

Most organizations lump Training and Development together. In most cases, that is effective as the objectives and delivery methods are very complimentary. However, understanding the differences and tweaking delivery methods will delivery overall stronger results from your work force.

• Training has come to be known as – imparting knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA) to an individual. This is something an organization provides TO an employee. There is an inferred contract that says “We provide you the KSA and you return our investment thought being more effective and efficient.”
• Development on the other hand should be viewed as a joint effort that delivers long term benefits to the employee, organization and the company. The employee is striving for added responsibilities and promotions while the company is grooming their future talent to “deliver future results.”

Training and development is a massive industry. Training Magazine reported that US industry would spend $61.8 Billion on training in 2014. Click here to get the report. This covers internal trainers, consultants and training companies. The scope of a blog is insufficient to cover Training and Development in any detail, however, there are certain requirements that must be followed to deliver benefits from your investment.

1. Develop a process to determine which training to deliver to whom and how to deliver it. Many companies utilize some variation of the ADDIE Model (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation).
2. Determine the business objectives and outcomes of the training. WHY are you delivering the training and how will the company benefit?
3. What is the optimal method to deliver the training? In-person instructor, training manuals, social media, Computer Assisted Training, On the Job Training, etc.
4. How will you measure the success of the training and then improve the effectiveness for future training?

Now that you have hired the best employee, on-boarded them and provided optimal training and development, it is now time to receive the benefits from this investment. Group50 focuses on Training and Development strategies for our clients so that companies can maximize the ROI on Training and Development. The next blog will discuss the tools and systems to optimize employee performance.

Click on the following link to complete this simple HR Self-assessment. The free self-assessment takes only a few minutes and your results will be sent to you immediately along with information on how your company stacks up against benchmarked best practices.

About the author:
Bruce Dougan is the head of Group50’s Organization Design and Development Practice. Bruce and the Group50 team are all former executives with well-known manufacturing and distribution companies who understand what it takes to design, train, develop and motivate organizations to successfully implement a company’s strategic plan. Group50 has designed a series of strategic assessments, workshops and strategic execution tools that optimize your organization. You can reach us at (909) 949-9083 or send a note to info@group50.com.

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