In my last blog I was ruminating about the industry’s perception of training and whether it is viewed as an investment or a cost. I was with another training provider a few weeks ago who told me that he believes 2 or 3-day ‘classroom’ based training is becoming less relevant because it doesn’t meet the needs of modern businesses – they can’t afford to ‘lose’ staff for this period of time. This viewpoint fascinates me and I’d be interested to know if you agree or disagree?
My question is this – how do you equip your teams with the skills required to give you a competitive edge if you’re not prepared to invest in their development? Does online learning really give a person at the sharp end of the business any demonstrable skills or does it simply increase knowledge? How much learning can actually take place in an hour on site with the distraction of the business happening all around?
I’ve run eleven 2-day workshops with Service Advisors so far this year, helping them to sell more VHC red work, overcoming objections and delivering a world-class aftersales experience. There has been a seismic improvement in attitude and confidence over this time – On the second day we spend all day practicing real-life scenarios and the delegate feedback at the conclusion of each programme has been overwhelmingly positive.
More than that because we create a true simulation of a customer visit by using an actor we show a tangible outcome to the training and the delegates are able to demonstrate their ability. I could not have achieved those learning outcomes without my client understanding that they needed to ‘lose’ some members of their teams in order to gain a long-term benefit.
In addition, the training incentive has been supported and attended by all of the key stakeholders in the business from the top down – that way everyone knows what behaviours and actions are required and the managers are able to coach and support their teams in achieving the KPIs. The financials so far speak volumes and the training has paid for itself many times over in the 6 months since it started.
So is there a place for ‘bite-sized’ learning when it comes to equipping your teams with demonstrable skills that will increase the revenue of the business? Can e-learning achieve the same results as a classroom-based activity where the participants are given time to carry out safe practice?
A final thought for you: If an airline made a commercial decision that training pilots in a simulator was too costly because of the time they spend away from the cockpit and they’re better off ‘learning on the job’ and/or through personal study modules would you fly with them?