The New Face of Corporate Training and Development

By: Vince Crew

Word Count: 727 words
Time to Read: 2-3 minutes

Fact #1: The frequency of change and the demand for agile and responsive innovation will continue at a pace never-before-seen in our lifetime.

Fact #2: All corporations are revisiting everything about equipping their people with the tools, knowledge, and skills to improve customer satisfaction, profitable growth, process improvements, teamwork, etc.

As a lifelong student and adviser on leadership development and author of Keeping The Very BEST, I offer the following definitions from having worked over three decades in and with corporate, business, and nonprofit settings:

• Training incorporates the tactical skills necessary to accomplish today’s tasks.
• Development brings to bear the strategic skills and concepts to prepare for larger, different, more complex, and more often, future leadership tasks.
• Training typically is more focused on a specific company whereas Development focuses on the individual to produce/contribute in any company.

Today, everything from costs, content, delivery, and measurement is coming into play in companies of all sizes. The driving force is two-fold: sharpening people’s skills for on-going transition in today’s rapid changes and transforming people’s minds with the thinking and skills to anticipate and build for tomorrow.

Where have we come from? Over the decades options have been as simple as reading books and articles, attending public seminars on basic issues, taking a course at the community college, taking industry-specific certificate courses, attending CEU/CPE seminar-based conferences sponsored by trade and professional associations, enrolling in MBA and executive certification courses, listening to teleconferences from industry/subject providers, purchase audio/video recordings, up to today’s e-learning options. And for existing executives and those being groomed, external professional coaches (from a number of disciplines) have proven beneficial and has gained tremendous acceptance.

What has changed? Today’s demand is for blended solutions, customized for the company cultures, with periodic assessment and on-going accountability for working with people to achieve business goals. The hype over university/accounting-developed programming is waning. This is due in part to inadequacies and relevance of historical theories and case studies together with the sad reality that recent scandals and the current economic plight was designed and/or lead by, distinguished graduate school alumni. As far as e-learning - all of the hoopla over cheap, convenient, and sexy has run it’s course. Some things are just better in a dynamic, same room, setting. It’s no longer about cost but about changed behavior and improved performance.

Where do we go from here? Seek out external expertise to work with you in:

• facilitating internal discussions regarding company needs, focus, candidate appropriateness and conduct a gap analysis of where the holes are
• assist in identifying resources for content and/or developing content for a curriculum
• assist in developing methodology/modes of delivery, feedback, assessment, management, and modification to curriculum
• explore feasibility of executive coaching for select individuals in the company and identify professional coaches.

What 9 Skills Are REALLY Necessary for Strategic Growth?

Having said all of that, here are THE skills you and your people need:

1. Conflict Resolution with Bosses, Peers, and Subordinates
2. Effective Delegation: selecting, telling, and managing work through others
3. Communicating the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: telling is better than hiding
4. Quality Assurance in Everyday Work: ensuring better outcomes in whatever you take on
5. Time Management: how to prioritize the balls you're juggling
6. Creating Trust: regaining or building a culture of belief
7. Selling Ideas Up and Down the Company: practical considerations for success
8. Defining and Delivering Customer Service: what it means and doesn't
9. Strategic Planning, Critical Thinking, and making short AND long term focus work

And one other thing… ever notice when the power’s off or the computer’s are down, it’s tough for anyone to do anything? Well all of the aforementioned skills work regardless, because the power is in the people.

Is it Time to Update Your Corporate Training and Development for Real World Challenges?

What should you consider? Everything: who, what, when, where, and how. We have been assisting in the design, delivery, and effectiveness of developing today and tomorrow’s leaders for over ten years. Every employee needs to know something else in order to get more done or do something better. Training delivers. Every employee needs to see their employer investing in their growth. Training delivers. And when it comes to training and development – we deliver too.