Learning & Development-recent trends

by Fluid

July 2010

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Contents3-4 Introduction to Fluid5-9 Evaluation of training10-11 Train to retain12-15 Real-life example16-17 Make training memorable18-19 Financial advice training20-21 Exercise A22-25 Training older people26-29 Developing future leaders30-32 Managing career development33-34 Re-invigorating the enthusiasm for training35-36 Main causes of skills gaps37-39 Main skills lacking where skills shortage

vacancies were identified40-41 Literacy and numeracy42-43 Soft skills44-45 Exercise B46-47 Case studies48-49 Exercise C50-51 Conclusion and questions

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Introduction

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Introduction to Fluid

• Fluid Consulting Limited (Fluid) is a specialist human resources consultancy headed by Tim Holden MCIPD

• 10 years in banking

• 10 years in Human Resources consultancy

• Fluid trading since 2006

• The core services provided by Fluid are:- Retention

- Selection

- Attraction

- Remuneration & Reward

- Outplacement

- Training & HR consultancy

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Evaluation of training

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Evaluation of training 1 of 4

• FACTORS FOR MEASURING SUCCESS

• Co-operation from line managers

• Senior management backing

• Efficient processes and tools

• Careful planning

• Buy-in from trainees

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Evaluation of training 2 of 4

• EVALUATION METHODS USED

• Immediate post-course questionnaires

• Gain feedback from line managers

• Employee attitude surveys

• Monitor appraisal results

• Follow-up questionnaire (weeks after event)

• Pre-training questionnaires

• Monitor qualifications gained

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Evaluation of training 3 of 4

• EVALUATION METHODS USED

• Assess training action plans

• Customer surveys

• Monitor test results

• Observe participants at work

• Focus groups

• Interviews with participants

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Evaluation of training 4 of 4

• DIFFICULTIES HAMPERING SUCCESSFUL EVALUATION

• Lack of time

• Poor buy-in from line managers

• Inadequate tools/processes

• Poor buy-in from organisational leaders

• Lack of know-how

• Lack of funds

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Train to Retain

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Train to Retain

• RECOMMENDATIONS

• Conduct a skills audit

• Initiate individual employee development plans

• Put new skills into practice

• Accommodate needs

• Keep up-to-date with statutory training requirements

• Buy in external help when needed

• Appoint people who have the potential to grow but who

do not currently have all the skills required in the post

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Real-life example

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Real-life example 1 of 3

• ABOUT THE ORGANISATION

• Maybourne Hotel Group is luxury hotel group that owns and manages The Berkeley, Claridge’s and The Connaught.

• THE CHALLENGE

• To implement a customer service training programme designed to communicate and support the development of a new service culture called ‘Intuitively Maybourne’.

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Real-life example 2 of 3

• WHAT THE ORGANISATION DID

• A training programme was designed called ’The Maybourne Cycle of Service’

• The programme consisted of different activities to encourage employees from all parts and levels of the company to take responsibility for what they did every day

• 800 employees completed the training in just four months

• All managers attended a workshop called ‘Leading the Heart of Maybourne’ to give them the tools and techniques to apply what they learned at the training programme. Non-managerial employees attended the ‘Heart of Maybourne’ workshop.

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Real-life example 3 of 3

• BENEFITS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

• Set the standard of service required across the Maybourne Hotel Group.

• Identified the challenges employees are facing every day and helped them to think of solutions.

• Created an opportunity for employees to meet their colleagues from other hotels, to network, and share best practice.

• Helped the group to achieve recognition as one of the 100 Best Workplaces in Europe and one of the top 50 companies to work for by the Great Place to Work Institute.

• Saw an increase of 1.5% in profit for the group compared with the same quarter in the previous year.

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Make training memorable

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Make training memorable

• Conduct a training needs analysis

• Supply delegates with course information beforehand

• Make pre-course work relevant and not time-consuming

• Keep groups small-around six to eight per session

• Back up theory with real-life scenarios

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Financial advice training

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Financial advice training

• Improved engagement and retention

• Creating a more open business environment

• Minimising risk

• Fostering a greater sense of responsibility

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Exercise A

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Exercise A

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Training older people

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Training older people 1 of 3

• Assess the skills and knowledge required

• Adopt a strategic, organisation-wide approach to managing and developing a flexible and diverse workforce

• Draft robust and appropriate contracts of employment

• Adopt proactive communication systems

• Measure outputs against targets

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Training older people 2 of 3

• QUESTIONS TO ASK

• How can you identify and measure the current and future benefits to your organisation of retaining and developing older workers?

• What are you going to do to persuade your older workers to work longer?

• How can you address their specific needs without discriminating either for or against them as individuals or as a group?

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Training older people 3 of 3

• QUESTIONS TO ASK

• What sort of training and development support will you provide and why, and how will you ensure that older workers participate, profit and learn?

• How will you address complacency and resistance to change to achieve maximum engagement?

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Developing future leaders

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Developing future leaders 1 of 3• Encourage your leaders to actively engage in development

processes. Doing so helps sustain the processes and sends a message to talented employees that they are valued.

• Ensure there is greater organisational clarity on the capabilities that underpin successful performance. This ensures the development processes are aligned against a common goal of growing the right capabilities to achieve and sustain organisational performance.

• So you know where tomorrow’s leaders will come from, focus on the transition you are looking to help individuals make. Be clear about the specific challenges that particular groups of functional experts will face once promoted, and focus in assessing and developing these. Make sure individuals truly want to make the transition and that they are ready.

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Developing future leaders 2 of 3• Continually reviews and re-evaluate the process; what is

working, what could be more effective, how well engaged business sponsors are, and how the programme benefits the organisation and individuals.

• Put in place processes to enable ongoing development. Mentorship, action learning and specific ‘on the job’ experiences are particularly beneficial.

• Involve your leaders as assessors. The skills they apply and hone during the process are invaluable in building the wider leadership capability of the organisation by developing leaders as coaches.

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Developing future leaders 3 of 3

• MANAGING LEADERSHIP TALENT STRATEGICALLY

• Understand the key elements

• Ask yourself ‘ so what?’

• Know your talent pool

• Grow your talent

• Make talent flow

• Don’t lose focus

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Managing career development

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Managing career development 1 of 2

• Identify what the problem is and areas for improvement. Use employee surveys to cover whether employees feel enough is being done to help them move forward in their careers.

• Make sure the reality lives up to the perception. Be careful if you create the impression at the beginning there are lots of opportunities when that is not the reality, as people will become disillusioned and quit.

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Managing career development 2 of 2

• Assemble cross-disciplinary user groups to feedback where they think the organisation is going wrong.

• Use a career mapping tool to give employees a sense of control over their career development, especially the self-diagnostic section if one exists.

• Once a system is in place, make sure the budget allows for promoting it fully to employees.

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Re-invigorating the enthusiasm for training

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Re-invigorating the enthusiasm for training

• Spend time working with creative people

• Raise people’s curiosity about training

• Create an appetite for learning

• Create an attractive environment for learning

• Establish a dialogue

• Ditch the technology

• Let learners be your ambassadors

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Main causes of skills gaps

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Main causes of skills gaps

• Lack of experience/recently recruited

• Employees lack motivation

• Failure to train and develop

• Inability to keep up with change

• Recruitment problems

• High staff turnover

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Main skills lacking where skills shortage vacancies

were identified

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Main skills lacking where skills shortage vacancies were identified 1 of 2

• Technical or practical skills

• Oral communication skills

• Customer-handling skills

• Problem-solving skills

• Team working skills

• Written communication skills

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Main skills lacking where skills shortage vacancies were identified 2 of 2

• Management skills

• Literacy

• Numeracy

• Office/administrative skills

• IT professional skills

• Foreign language skills

• General IT skills

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Literacy and numeracy

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Literacy and numeracy

• 6.8M people aren’t functionally literate

• 5M people in the UK have serious difficulty with numbers

• 38% of Jobcentre Plus customers lack functional literacy

• 45% of Jobcentre Plus customers lack functional numeracy

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Soft skills

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Soft skills

• Think past the traditional approach to appraisals

• Get feedback from customers and clients

• Involve employees in the design of their appraisals

• Have a conversation with people about the objectives of the organisation

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Exercise B

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Exercise B

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Case studies

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Case studies

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Exercise C

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Exercise C

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Conclusion & Questions

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Conclusion

• Summary

• Questions