Training Industry Magazine - Winter 2023 - 31

The same holds true for managers.
As leaders of their team, they need
to be informed about specific and
relevant training opportunities that are
designed to help their team achieve
their goals. If managers understand
what's in it for them, they will be more
inclined to encourage and support
their team members in getting trained.
In Tanya's case, there were no
stated learning requirements for the
management role she was promoted
to. She relied on the assumption that
prior experience would be enough to
help her take on a more demanding
job and any gaps would be filled by
learning while doing. What she failed to
understand was that her new manager
would not have time to help fill in those
gaps, and instead expect her to quickly
get up to speed. Tanya felt pressured
to " fake it 'til she made it. " She knew
she was in over her head, but without
a supportive and integrated learning
culture, she didn't know where to turn
for help.
INTEGRATING LEARNING INTO
THE ORGANIZATION
Formal learning opportunities are
just one part of the equation. A truly
effective and integrated learning
program includes structured activities
to help learners apply their new
knowledge to their job. A simple way
to facilitate this is to include learning
and development as an agenda item
in every one-on-one meeting. This is
a great opportunity for managers and
team members to discuss how new
skills can be applied to ongoing and
future work. By carefully documenting
these conversations, you can collect
evidence on the ROI each training
initiative is generating.
It is important for team leaders to
work closely with L&D to identify the
intended outcomes for each training.
This will ensure that the organization is
able to take full advantage of the time
and money being invested in upskilling
its workforce. In Tanya's case, if she
had been a part of an integrated
leadership development program,
she could have had opportunities to
audit senior leadership meetings, lead
special projects and even work with a
senior-level mentor before she took
on a management role. This would
have helped her to make the transition
smoother for herself and everyone
else involved.
Some organizations are on the right
path. They have done their due
diligence to align training and business
goals and they have gotten leadership
on board to prioritize training as
a key measure of success in their
organization. However, they are still
struggling to get their team members
involved. In this instance, there may
be a disconnect for the employees on
how they will personally benefit from
completing the training. Here are a few
ideas to help show the WIIFM (what's
in it for me) to the employees.
▲ Create
a
performance
goal
specifically for L&D. Allow the
employee to indicate what they would
like to learn more about and how they
would like to engage. For example, if
you have a team member who enjoys
managing projects, perhaps they
would benefit from pursuing their
project management professional
(PMP) certification. Discuss the
timeline and include this certification
as a performance goal for their endof-year
review. This will help keep the
employee accountable and motivated
to complete this learning experience.
In addition to adding value to the team,
the individual will also get a nice resume
boost from the PMP designation.
▲ Invite your team member to conduct
a teach-back session. After a training
event is over, give the team member
10-15 minutes at the next team
meeting to present the key takeaways.
Encourage them to select one topic
from the training and teach it to the
rest of the team. This is a great way to
showcase the knowledge (and provide
a confidence boost) of a team member
and give others the opportunity to
learn something new.
▲ Create a learning path that leads to a
promotion for a team member. As we
saw with Tanya, preparing to take on
a more senior role requires on-the-job
experience as well as training on how
to handle their new responsibilities.
It can be helpful to create a stepping
TRAINING INDUSTRY MAGAZINE - WINTER 2023 I WWW.TRAININGINDUSTRY.COM/MAGAZINE
A truly effective and
integrated learning
program includes
structured activities
to help learners apply
their new knowledge
to their job.
CONCLUSION
Research shows that employees
consider learning opportunities to
be a key factor when considering
whether to leave their current position.
At the same time, U.S. companies
have increased their L&D spending
significantly. We have the right
ingredients to take full advantage
of L&D as a key business driver. We
simply need to communicate a clear
picture of how the employee and
the organization will mutually benefit
from their efforts. By working closely
with leadership, we can support and
encourage learning for employees
at all levels, so that we prepare our
talent today to serve as the leaders
of tomorrow.
Daila Boufford is the training manager at
eMoney Advisor, a financial technology
company. Email Daila.
| 31
stones document that identifies
specific projects as well as training
opportunities that will help prepare the
individual for their next role.
▲ Consider a high-potential talent pool.
Managers are invited to nominate
team members to be included in the
pool, and if accepted, these individuals
have access to specialized leadership
development opportunities. They
will receive prioritized consideration
for promotion and special highprofile
projects. To be nominated,
an individual must demonstrate high
levels of engagement in the company,
exemplify company values and be
committed to team success.

https://www.gartner.com/en/articles/employees-seek-personal-value-and-purpose-at-work-be-prepared-to-deliver https://www.forbes.com/sites/markcperna/2022/04/12/why-learning--development-is-now-a-competitive-differentiator-and-how-to-get-on-board/?sh=29232cfc30ff https://trainingindustry.com/magazine/may-jun-2021/upskilling-and-reskilling-is-the-future-of-ld/ https://trainingindustry.com/articles/strategy-alignment-and-planning/upskill-and-retain-your-workforce-with-personalized-learning-5-tips-to-get-started/ https://trainingindustry.com/magazine/may-jun-2021/upskilling-and-reskilling-is-the-future-of-ld/ https://www.trainingindustry.com/magazine

Training Industry Magazine - Winter 2023

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