| The
Case For Coaching Intensive Training©
The Implementation Factor
The three primary elements
involved in training and development are:
- Teaching - to give
instruction to; to cause to understand
- Training - to make
a person efficient in some activity by instruction and repeated
practice
- Implementation - a
thing or person serving as an instrument to carry into effect.
The fundamental flaw in most corporate "training"
is that they do not implement.
Most of today's training programs consist
of traditional paper-based systems delivered in the classroom using
a method known as Instructor
Led Training. Those who use such
systems pay for instructors, participant materials and shipping
costs for materials, as well as travel and entertainment expenses.
Actual implementation, which includes one-to-one support, instruction,
real time application and follow up does not occur. Most
trainers consider "implementation" as rolling out the
program i.e. conducting the class itself.
As a result of the lack of reinforcement and support following
training classes about 90% of
trainees revert back to their original way of doing things.
Furthermore, with an average 30% turnover rate among sales and client
management people involved in "complex" sales and customer
relationship management, after a few years, training is all but
forgotten and any potential lasting benefit is lost. These numbers
indicate that this kind of training is not a good investment of
time or resources.
The problem is not that the training systems are bad. Most of the
systems organizations invest in offer sensible and comprehensive
methodologies. The problem is that once
participants leave the classroom, the lessons are forgotten.
There are reasons that many training companies and users do not
provide strong implementation following training:
- The companies who deliver Instructor Led Training use a profit
model known in the training industry as, "butts
in seats". This refers to the fact that a minimum
number of participants are required to make any training "event"
profitable. The focus is therefore on the training event itself
rather than the implementation of the behaviors and methods being
taught in the classroom.
- The purveyors of such systems make so much money in the classroom
they are not inclined to change their model. They
consider individual follow up and coaching a low margin activity
because one-to-one contact is much less rewarding than the one-to-many
classroom scenario.
- The cost of T & E is significant. Companies spend so much
of their money getting people to and from classes there is little
or no budget left over for support or implementation. An average of 40% of the cost for training goes toward other expenses
such as, travel, meals, accommodations, entertainment, instructors,
shipping of materials and meeting space.
These factors force providers and users
to concentrate on training "events", but reduces their
willingness to perform follow up, individual instruction or reinforcement.
Management often buys new programs out of frustration because the
intended audience does not use what they have learned. The answer
however is not in the quality of the program. The
problem is that there is a lack of implementation beyond the classroom
due to the absence of training expertise and qualified support resources.
Here's an Example
- One of the largest ERP software companies
in the world has bought and/or developed a new sales training
methodology every two years since 1990. None
have been successfully implemented. They
are still using an Instructor Led Training solution that does
not provide follow up support for their users. This same company
also implemented a Sales Force Automation system, but this has
also failed to provide the necessary support for training to take
root. In fact, their sales automation system supports a different
training methodology than the one the company uses.
Whether training is delivered in the
classroom or using technology, focusing
on implementation following instruction greatly enhances the potential
for creating behavioral change resulting in observable performance
improvement.
Coaching Intensive Training©
is an approach that uses technology to address the biggest
draw back of any training system: the fact that people do not use
what they have learned. This approach uses
the Internet to provide instruction and support to individual
users by connecting them with a Professional Development Coach©.
This Coach is not only a content expert in the methodology but is
able to help users apply its use
in actual situations at the time they occur.
Focusing the use of training and development
resources on insuring behavioral change in turn, solves
the one problem common to all other training solutions: the adoption
by users of the methods they are taught. Coaching Intensive
Training© provides this critical element.
This approach also removes the
burden of behavioral change from line managers and places it in
the hands of the methodology experts where it belongs. Line
managers are not trained to perform certain aspects of the follow
up function since they are not content experts nor are they usually
experts at the implementation of behavioral change. Line managers
are responsible for administrative duties and delivering results.
Our experience has demonstrated that the type
of coaching we are talking about is not the same as the support
that line managers provide. In addition, line managers lack the
time to get involved at this level because of the time restrictions
imposed on them by their other duties.
With Coaching Intensive Training©
line managers are relieved from the responsibility to implement
training, yet they are provided with valuable support resources
and timely data about their employees. This enables managers to
make informed decisions in regard to the capabilities and potential
of their employees. Coaching Intensive
Training© provides a pipeline to management about the progress
of individual users throughout the training cycle and beyond.
Increased contact directly with users also creates the opportunity
to document client specific success stories and case studies that
can be documented and added to future training programs. Furthermore
Coaches can observe, first hand
whether needs exist for additional skills development on the part
of any individual or the overall group or client organization.
In short, the coach becomes a highly valuable performance management
resource for the client.
Coaching Intensive Training©
also provides extra value to the client by working directly with
the field.
- Using this approach, one Business Partner organization of a
major application software company increased sales by 50% overall
in 1997 (compared to an overall company average of 30%). 75% of
the Business Partner's sales force exceeded quota. In the first
quarter of 1998 they experienced a 276% increase in sales over
the previous year. In addition, they were awarded the honor of
being named Business Partner of the
Year and credited with selling
more of the company's new product than any other business partner
or direct branch in the entire world. The CEO directly
credited Coaching Intensive Training© as one of the primary
reasons for their success. According
to the CEO of this organization "Our success was the result
of the right people, the right products and the
right methodology".
Most importantly, clients will
experience better results, because the focus on implementation means
that the behavior of user changes. Rather than buying more
training classes, clients are
investing in structured behavioral change and measurable
results. The focus of professional
development shifts from training to performance management.
Today's market demands effective and
cost effective professional development. Organizations want
the best return from their investment in training along with measurable
results. Coaching Intensive Training©
offers the first solution that gives Clients the one thing they
can't get from any other training provider: a
resource on call that can provide one-on-one instruction and support
direct to the user when he or she needs it.
"Rolling out" classroom training
is not implementation! It is instruction and knowledge transfer.
Without Coaches serving as instruments
to carry into effect what is learned, implementation does not take
place. Coaching Intensive Training© is the only methodology
available in which the training provider accepts this responsibility.
Welcome to the next generation
of professional development!
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