Many managers wonder about the best criteria to use when selecting an individual, group, team or department for training. The reasons for sending people for training could include any or all of the following positive or negative reasons...
Positive reasons:
- You feel that the person has earned the right to attend training- as he or she is, for instance, prepared to take responsibility, may show initiative, is hardworking and loyal and you acknowledge that by sending them for further skills development.
- You may see potential in a person and feel that training could help unlock some of this potential. You believe that the training is an investment in the person and that both the company and the individual will benefit.
- You may believe that a person has been previously disadvantaged and you wish to give him or her an opportunity to gain knowledge, for instance, to better understand themselves and others. In South Africa this may also benefit the company given the current incentives associated with skills development and the opportunity to claim a refund from the Skills Development Levy.
- You may wish to prepare a person for a new job or position and you believe that training will help prepare the person for the new work environment.
Negative Reasons:
- You send somebody for training because you do not know what else to do with him or her.
- You may send somebody for training because they show “problematic” behaviour and you hope the training will change this.
When sending people for training it may be useful to keep the following in mind:
- Be fair and consistent when selecting people for training.
- Be realistic about the outcomes of the training. Consider a phased or modular approach to training where there is reinforcement of learning over time.
- Keep in mind that a person, after a training intervention, more often than not returns to the same workplace. This could, if it is a toxic environment, very quickly and effectively neutralise any positive training experience.
- The development of employees should be a strategic decision that will benefit the company. A culture of learning and development will have positive consequences for the company and its employees.
- The appropriateness of a training program should meet the needs of both the organisation and the individual or team. It should therefore be given serious consideration.
- Make sure that you distinguish carefully whether you need a generic training program for the information it carries, or a custom made one where learning takes place within the specific company context.
The Learning Link offer:
- Learning Link offers you a wide variety of modern and continuously expanding training courses. Some of the courses are generic but they can be adapted to be company specific by adding a company logo, appropriate case studies and context appropriate information. New and original training interventions can be developed.
- Our business manager and experienced facilitators prefer to spend time on defining the scope of any training program to ensure that the organisation’s needs are adequately addressed. Offering training programs that are context appropriate allows for information like organisational history and culture, power differences, functional levels or interpersonal dynamics to be considered. The purpose is to ensure that individuals can flourish whilst organisational goals are still achieved.
- The experienced facilitators use training material that is continuously updated to reflect the most current thinking on the subject.
- It is possible to add the benefit of appropriate psychometric assessments and reports to training courses to enhance the benefit of the learning experience.
- Our facilitators are able to provide feedback on how each candidate participated in the training.
- Feedback and follow up after the program help in providing evidence as to the value of the program and to what extent the expected outcomes have been achieved. We can evaluate your return on investment (please refer to the ROI tab on this site).
The Learning Link training programs are structured to provide optimal exposure to knowledge , experiential learning, insight and application. Tweet !!
