Explore is a team of senior learning and development professionals, who migrated from their jobs to do what they believe and specialize in – help you achieve permanent, measurable improvement in performance and a positive impact on the business outcomes.

 

Training needs analysis

EXPLORE

 

Explore has considerable experience of successfully employing the accepted techniques applied to the development of training systems, including the Systems Approach to Training

Basis TNA we provide you the blueprint of your exact needs including

1. Recommended learning outcomes,
2. Content they “need to know” and “need to access”
3. Guidance for training design and delivery,
4. Ideas for training evaluation,
5. If a non-training solution is a better alternative and
6. Organizational factors that will likely facilitate or hinder training effectiveness.

 

In one of the programs we had hotel managers attending a two-and-a-half-day management training program. We found that managers’ organizational commitment and perceptions of support and recognition predicted pre-training self-efficacy (i.e., the belief that they can perform the task), which in turn was related to their motivation to learn.

In another organization we found that online learners had a higher motivation to learn when they perceived environmental conditions such as time and Internet access as learning enablers (rather than as barriers).

The results of the organizational analysis are used to decide how to best position training within the organization to maximize trainee motivation and training success.

Person analysis. with limited resources, training can be targeted to those with the largest gaps between actual and needed competencies.

We involve encourage supervisors, mentors, and team leaders to have effective conversations with trainees prior to training. These individuals should be involved early in the needs assessment so that they understand the need for training and can provide accurate, motivating information about the training.

conducting a person analysis: Determine who will most likely benefit from training and whether training content or methods must be adapted for particular learners. In particular, older learners will likely require self- paced or well-structured training to maximize learning gains.

In sum,

At explore, TNA is a must. It is the first and probably the most important step toward the design and delivery of an effective training.

The learning climate

We believe in giving advance notification of forthcoming training program to participants that highlights “follow-up” but never oversell or create false expectations. Training that is described as an “opportunity” rather than as a “test”.

We provide participant’s supervisors with information they need to (a) guide trainees to the right training, (b) clarify trainees’ expectations, (c) prepare trainees, and (d) reinforce learning objectives.

What will help ou relax before a speech?

Q: To help you relax before making a speech, should you:
(a) have an extra Scotch;
(b) revise your notes; or
(c) try to yawn?
A: According to the book by Diane DiResta (Knockout Presentations) the correct answer is - Try to yawn. It's a physiological thing.

Proper preparation prevents poor performance

 

But what does it take to do that?. Here are 4 points:

Fact Finding

There is a big difference between knowing a subject and preparing for a class. Do you know the participants’ existing knowledge level, their immediate interest, and their top 2 problems at work? 

Can you specify 2 things that the participants will do after the training that they are not able to do now but are important for them as well as for their supervisor? If you simply show up without preparation, you haven’t even reached the craft level, much less a professional one.

Understand business

Your participants are expected to use this learning to solve business problems at work. What you’re teaching them has to relate to their business issues. Do you have the first hand insight of the business challenges? Is their supervisor your partner in the pre and post training action?

Content Review and Preparation

Research has shown that the participants make up their mind in the first 5 minutes if they want to learn from you or not. What is it that you will do in these 1^st 5 min to get the participants attention and trust? “I hear, I forget”; “I see, I remember”; “I do, I understand”…Socrates. 

Does your session plan allow time for the participants to practice – again and again? Does it have time for you to provide feedback? How much time is there for discussion on execution details post training? Support required back on the job? What’s the fun element? What will anchor new learning to emotions such as pride, determination etc?

Housekeeping

This is different from preparing the material. This is preparing the room and the class time. Does your training room look exciting? Is the seating arranged, as you would like it to be? Do you have all the handouts on the desks when the trainees arrive, or do you waste valuable instruction time giving out papers? 

If there is a form required, do you have enough copies made? Have you checked the LCD projector or student computer? Do you know where the break room is, where the bathrooms are, where a phone is?

Who is responsible for determining learning and talent development needs?

A third (33%) of respondents believe it is the main responsibility of senior managers, and three in ten respondents think it is the HR department or line managers’ prerogative (30% and 29% respectively).
Employees/learners are also expected by more than half (54%) of organisations to have some involvement in determining the learning and talent development needs of the organisation.As per the annual survey report 2010, by CIPD, over half (53%) of respondents agree that learning and talent development specialists have primary responsibility for determining learning and talent development needs.

How A Young Insurance Agent Got Started

When I started in the life insurance business, I was only 23, and a young looking 23 at that. I knew when I started that it was going to be a problem getting any mature person to talk to me seriously about his financial affairs.

So I decided to apply a principle that I've used many times since, and that is to find some way to turn a liability into an asset and then capitalize on it. I would say something like this to each new prospect: "You know, Mr. Prospect, tremendous changes have taken place in the past few years in life insurance; changes that involve new techniques, new methods of using life insurance to help men to

solve their tax and other financial problems. I realize that I am still very young and relatively new in the business, but strangely I find this is a great advantage both for you and me. It permits me to learn these new methods. It is easier for me to learn these newer techniques than it is for some of the older men who have to unlearn the obsolete methods before they can show you how to adopt the new methods."

The statement sounded good, and it worked. What it did was to keep me from being put on the defensive, and it made me work hard to live up to my promise that I knew how to use the new methods.

Another thing I did was to go to older men in the agency for joint work. I found I could always talk glowingly about the other man's ability easier than about my own, because I could talk about someone else without running the risk of sounding conceited.

It took me five years to discover that production could be made the result of a mathematical formula, the factors of which were in my control, and I learned that at the time when I had the opportunity to work for seven weeks in the summer of 1931 with Clay Hamlin, one of the real greats of our business who had set records for more than a decade and up into the twenties. I remember exactly when and how the concept first struck me of controlling my production by controlling the factors that went into the formula.

I was riding on a subway in New York City on a hot day in August of 1931. Hamlin had talked to me about it and had given me some material in writing which I was reading while on my way downtown from Grand Central. Here was the formula:

Number of attempts X Percentage of efficiency X Average sized case = Production

It hit me like a flash! I knew what my average size case had been. I could very soon find out what percent of the cases I had tried to close were closed.

If there was anything that was in my control for sure, it was how many attempts to close I would make. Nobody could stop me from stepping up my effort and making a certain number of calls every week.

Of course the formula was working, whether I had realized it or not. But all of a sudden I knew I could take control, and that instead of having my production be just a great big question mark,

I could set my goal and know what it took to reach it.

That was what put me in the Million Dollar Round Table, even thought it was four years later before I first qualified. Why did it take me four more years (making 9 years in the business in all) to get up to my first Million Dollar year in 1935? There was something going on that they called a depression. That was the time when life insurance once again proved itself, and that was a time when writing life insurance in large volume was tough to do. Things were tough all over!

What was really happening was that business was off at least 50%. I was setting my goal each year to write a million, and as a consequence, I was doing one-half million. But the half million dollar colleagues in my company who had not yet learned how to use the production formula were ending up by doing only one-fourth million because they just didn't realize until it was too late how much effort had to be stepped up if they hoped to stay with their production of prior years.

But because I was following this formula, watching it like a hawk, I knew month by month how much I would have to step up my effort - and by doing so, I stayed even instead of having my business cut in half or more.

So my work pattern was geared to do a million, and when ratios began to improve, suddenly there it was - my first million dollar year.

My faith in the formula had paid off - and I sincerely believe it will pay off for you.

Goal Setting Instrument for your team of Trainers

TRAINER Goal Setting

Introduction

As a HEAD OF TRAINING do you believe in the value of developing mutually agreed-upon written goals with each of your TRAINER? Goals assist you in identifying and communicating the performance you expect from your training managers. They benefit from goal setting by having a voice in establishing their own levels of excellence and by influencing the standards against which they will be measured.

The successful goal setting processes begin with the training manager setting his/her own goals. The next step is to develop goals for each of the people who can contribute to the accomplishment of the goals you’ve set for yourself.

Individually, both the training manager and his/her training managers should develop a list of goals. Once they have completed their individual goal statements, they should meet, share what they’ve written, and jointly select three to four goals that the training manager will accomplish.

Goal setting is the cornerstone of effective leadership. Remember as an training manager leader, your job is to create an environment in which people can motivate themselves. Clear, concise, and mutually agreed-upon goals give you and your managers the opportunity to “Catch each other doing something right.”

Goals: What is the person’s job?

Step 1: Setting Up the Pins

List three goals you want your training manager to accomplish. Try to include those goals that encompass the most important activities you want this other person to accomplish. Think in terms of a three- to six-month period. Use your own shorthand and be specific, yet brief.

1.      _____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

      ________________________________________ (Date accomplished by)__________

2.      _____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

      ________________________________________ (Date accomplished by)__________

3.      _____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

      ________________________________________ (Date accomplished by)__________

Priorities: Which goals are most important?

Step 2: Setting Priorities

Once you have listed the three goals, go back and prioritize the goals in order of importance, using the parentheses to the left (1 being the most important). Also, make sure each goal has a date by which it is to be accomplished.

Indicators: How will you know if the person is doing the job?

Step 3: Measurable Indicators

Now that you have listed the goals you want your training manager to accomplish, ask yourself, “In order to reach that goal, what are the two or three things within the employee’s control that must be improved or changed?

How will I know if progress has been made?” Use your own shorthand and be brief. On the following page, list two indicators for each goal.

Standard

Goal # 1                                                           Outstanding             Acceptable             Minimal          

Indicator            _______________________            ___________            ___________            ___________

Indicator            _______________________            ___________            ___________            ___________

Standard

Goal # 2                                                           Outstanding             Acceptable             Minimal          

Indicator            _______________________            ___________            ___________            ___________

Indicator            _______________________            ___________            ___________            ___________

Standard

Goal # 3                                                           Outstanding             Acceptable             Minimal          

Indicator            _______________________            ___________            ___________            ___________

Indicator            _______________________            ___________            ___________            ___________

Standards: What does outstanding performance look like?

Step 4: Standards of Performance

With respect to each goal, ask yourself these questions: “What would outstanding performance look like? What would acceptable or minimal performance look like?” Think in terms of timelines, quality, quantity, and cost.

Now go back and list a standard for outstanding, acceptable, and minimal performance for each goal.

Incentives/Benefits: What will the person gain by doing a good job?

Step 5: Incentives for Goal Accomplishment

In order to increase the probability of outstanding performance being reached and sustained, you need to examine the incentives that your training manager might derive from goal accomplishment. Incentives do not always have to be money. They could be things like increased autonomy, flex time, new experiences, interesting work, etc. Identify incentives for two of the three goals you identified for this “other” person.

Factors Influencing Performance: What could get in the way?

Step 6: Obstacles to Goal Accomplishment

Some goals get accomplished, others do not. Sometimes a goal is not accomplished because there are factors that are beyond the other person’s control. Other times, it is the person him/herself who stands in the way. Some of these factors will be real; others imagined. Reflect for a moment on the goals you’ve set for your TRAINER, and list any conditions or obstacles that you think may prevent goal accomplishment. Do this for the same two goals you worked on in Step 5.

Goal # 1                                                                      Goal # 2

Obstacle l.                                                                    Obstacle l.

Obstacle 2.                                                                  Obstacle 2.

Action Plan: What steps will the person take to accomplish the goal?

Step 7: Action Steps

Any goal, of course, can be accomplished in several ways. First, you must deal with the obstacles. Next, you might want to consider whose help and support the person may need. Decide on a plan that seems feasible. Keep in mind that this action plan might be modified after discussion with your training manager.

The amount of detail you include in these action steps would vary from individual to individual. You would be less specific with a competent, confident employee; more specific with a new employee or someone learning a new task.

Goal # 1                                                                      Goal # 2

Action Step l.                                                                Action Step l.

Action Step 2.                                                               Action Step 2.

Action Step 3.                                                               Action Step 3.

Action Step 4.                                                               Action Step 4.

Consequence Management: What happens when the goal is accomplished?

Step 8: Praisings/Rewards

You have just taken the time to plan, prioritize, and set standards for the goals of a specific individual you work with. Strange as it may seem, many training managers do not think of showing sincere Trainerpreciation for work well done when a goal is accomplished. The key to a motivational environment is recognizing progress toward the goal as well as actual goal accomplishment.

List the praisings or rewards you might give your training manager for the completion of their goals. Remember, sometimes you have to praise progress or Trainerproximately right behavior. Rather than waiting until the goal is totally completed, you may also want to consider how you will praise the person for completing an action step or for making progress toward goal accomplishment.

Goal # 1                                                                      Goal # 2

Reward/Praising for                                                     Reward/Praising for

Goal Accomplishment                                                         Goal Accomplishment

Reward/Praising for                                                     Reward/Praising for

Action Step                                                                   Action Step

Reward/Praising for                                                     Reward/Praising for

Making Progress                                                          Making Progress

Consequence Management: What happens if the goal is not accomplished?

Step 9: Reprimands/Redirection

A training manager should examine when a redirection or a reprimand is in order.

Examine the flow chart on the following page. This chart is designed to help you anticipate possible consequences to the performance of the individual you are working with. When a person performs well, praise. When your training manager does not perform well when you know he/she has the skills, reprimand. But, if someone does not accomplish a goal because he/she doesn’t have all the skills needed to accomplish what he/she set out to do, redirect. Go back to goal setting with him/her to reset the goal and review the action steps. Then, have your training manager start over. He/she will benefit from the redirection.

Extra

Now that you have taken the time to set goals for your training manager, scan the list of questions below and use them to check the goals you set for clarity, feasibility and possibly unanticipated problems.

A. Are the timelines you have established realistic? Will other competing demands cause delay? Will your training manager be able to overcome those demands to accomplish the goals you’ve agreed to on time?

B. What will your training manager think of the goals you have identified for him/her? Will he/she think the goals are central to his/her job? How central are the goals you have set to the long-range goals of your department?

C. Will the goals you have set for your training manager get the impact you want from his/her efforts?

D. How will these goals help to move the G.O. ahead? Are the goals in keeping with the prevailing direction of the organization?

E. How will these goals help your training manager develop new skills? How will these goals help him/her build confidence? How will he/she feel if he/she fails? Could he/she accept a reprimand if his/her goal is not met?

Some Fundamentals