training Archives - Page 2 of 3

19
Apr 19
-

Training Cost And Other Expenses

Tags : cost culture leadership training turnover

Have you evaluated the training cost? Have you evaluated the cost of not training? What about the time commitment, is that stopping you?

There are plenty of excuses why organizations shy away from training. Some popular excuses relate to budget, time commitments, and occasionally someone will mention a lack of need.

Measure Costs

What are the true costs associated with a lost customer? What are the costs of poor decisions made by supervisors, managers, and other workplace leaders? Employee turnover, what does that cost?

I’ve been told, “When we have a choice to ship the product or sit in training. We’re always going to ship the product.”

It is a statement that is hard to work with, yet it is a mindset that is associated with higher costs of doing business.

Shipping the product today matters. Conceptually it matters more than training. I should say, “More than training today.” Shipping the product without training is a short run game. It works while it works, until it doesn’t.

Training Cost

Most organizations deepest interest is to grow. Increase revenue, share the mission objective, touch more people, change lives, impress investors, and build, grow, build, grow.

In most businesses or even the non-profit, the long game matters more. A three-person company can ship the product efficiently, a three-hundred-person company may be different.

The infrastructure costs could be a few million, or rent or lease, is multiple tens of thousands per month. Salary and benefits, they are likely the largest item on the income statement.

Marketing and advertising, they are often paid months in advance of the collection of the accounts receivable from a possible sale.

Will you do all of that without training? That is just on the surface, dig deeper and you’ll discover more. What will shape your culture?

Every dollar invested in training accounts for many more dollars you’ll save somewhere else.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

08
Apr 19
0

Developing Middle Managers – PSU

Tags : certificate leadership management supervisor training

Developing Middle Managers

Learn key managerial competencies in planning, communication, decision making, and more in five full days of this highly interactive classroom experience complemented with online resources. Completion awards a Professional Certificate in Functional Management, 3.6 CEUs, and 35 SHRM PDCs.

Dennis Gilbert and Mary Kay Williams will be serving as faculty for the Penn State Smeal College of Business, Executive Programs.

This is a 5-day program starting on April 8, and concluding on April 12, 2019.

For additional information please contact Sue Greene:

Smeal College of Business
The Pennsylvania State University
484 Business Building

University Park, PA 16801

Telephone: 814-865-6341

27
Sep 18
-

Great Value Is More Meaningful Than Price

Tags : cost leadership price training value

We know better, but we still do it. Every time we are about to make a big purchase we excruciatingly get stuck on the price. Great value is what we should really be assessing.

We may grab a snack from the convenience store, a coffee at the trendy shop, or feed a dollar or two into the vending machine and think nothing of it. Bigger ticket items often cause us to pause.

Value In Action

Yesterday, I joked with some friends on social media about buying a new Range Rover. The most consistent part of several threads across a couple of days was price.

Price can be an easy way of saying “no.” Why is that so easy? Often because no one is considering the value.

What are you or your organization buying? What are the big-ticket items that have your attention? How will you prepare your personal or departmental budget for the coming year?

Price, although often negotiable, is very apparent. We see the numbers and analyze the fit. Is it affordable? Will it work?

The CFO or your CPA may choose some deeper analysis. What is the anticipated life, the costs associated with ownership, and what will it do, if anything, to the balance sheet? Smart people.

Great Value

All these things matter, but many of them are more connected with price than value. Is value important?

Truly the Range Rover should be about value. The purchase of a personal computing device should be about value. Our home, our furniture, about value.

In the workplace when we bring on a new employee, about value. When we invest in employee training and development, about value. That large capital equipment purchase, it should be about value.

Beyond the technical or mechanical evaluation of price, there is often the intangible part of value.

One thing is certain. Be cautious of low price, it is often not connected with great value.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and corporate trainer. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

11
May 18
-

Interesting Story, Now I Get It

Tags : buy-in change learning purpose training

People have told stories for thousands of years. Is story telling the way we learn, grow, and become more successful? Do you have an interesting story?

Story Value

Go to any museum and you may wonder about the story. The artifacts are there, they are clearly visible and on display. We can often read a short version of history on a plaque or push a button to get an audio version. This helps us connect, but we still don’t always know the story.

If we are shopping for a used car, we may want to know the story. When we go to a new small town, or a mom and pop restaurant we may wonder, “What is the story here?”

Better yet, watch an episode of American Pickers or Pawn Stars. When they buy something, they want to know the story. Often you’ll hear the stars of these shows ask about the story and declare a perceived value based mostly on, you guessed it, the story.

Interesting Story

In the workplace, our connection with purpose, why we do what we do, is meaningless without the story.

When we are in training seminars or workshops the value of the training is increased with the story.

You’ve likely heard of death by PowerPoint. You’ve witnessed the endless slide decks that could simply be displayed while the participants watch and read. There is not really a need for the so-called, presenter.

When you want buy-in for your change. When you want your employee teams to learn more, be more, and connect more, you may want to consider the story. Most employable people can talk about or read a slide deck.

When you attend the meeting, go to a seminar, or take a seat in the grand ballroom at the conference the question you really want to know the answer to is, “Do you have an interesting story?”

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a five-time author and some of his work includes, #CustServ The Customer Service Culture, and Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

10
May 18
-

They Need Training, As The Leader I Don’t

Tags : assessment change fear leadership training

More common than you may think, the finger is pointing the wrong way. It seems pretty silly, but authority often gives the power of the point. Pointing to this, or pointing to that, and proclaiming a lack of change is the problem. Does your organization need training?

Adapt or Change

One often forgotten part of training is that training means change. Sometimes the boss will point out who needs training, but in his or her mind that means everyone else needs to adapt to their style and way of doing things.

This could be a great idea. It could also be a voice that screams divide and conquer. Conformity under duress is not consensus.

Scorned Employees

Many organizations have scorned employee teams. Employees who have been punished for trying a new way, expressing a different thought, or not abiding by the directions of the boss. Certainly, this may be a balancing act for any employee, and for their boss.

The best path, the one that feels safe, is the path of not too much or too little, just the right amount.

Why are employees sometimes punished for trying to make things better? Is it fear that causes the punishment?

Fear of Inferior

I will never forget the boss who wouldn’t participate in the playful online IQ test. The boss who shared with me how he will have to, “knock her down a few pegs,” because she spoke out of turn in a meeting. And a boss who advised your only role in the meeting is to listen, not contribute.

Another all-time favorite for the list are the bosses who want assessments for the team but are absolutely not interested the same assessment for themselves.

There are countless times that a business owner has recommended training when the front-line team is not the only place that training is needed.

Need Training

There are so many ways to engage, to inspire, and to lead. The small business owner, the boss, or the otherwise noted workplace leader should recommend training and be open to employee development. Not doing so would be such a waste.

One question the leader should always ask, “Are WE getting better?”

Training applies to everyone.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a five-time author and some of his work includes, #CustServ The Customer Service Culture, and Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

19
Apr 18
-

Are You Training Customers or Is It My Imagination?

Tags : customers emotions punishment service training

Marketers, account managers, and brands all have something in common. They want to achieve more sales, build the brand, and make the most of their high value customers. Are you training customers? Do you realize what you are teaching them?

Our professional business interactions are driven largely by emotion. As people we act and react to joy, pain, and adversity. Many business people will suggest that everyone should remove the emotion, but the act of trying removing emotion is driven by emotion.

Businesses and organizations everywhere are conditioning their clients and customers for future interactions. As people of emotion and habit, we learn to adapt to situations. What we learn leads us to make decisions and choices that our connected with our past experiences.

Training Customers

Our restaurant is closed on Monday. Later the restaurant wonders why business is off. Monday is a business day and people want lunch. The people don’t remember what day, they just know that they are not always open.

Every weekend we have a sale. Why go there on Tuesday, just wait to see what happens on the weekend. Otherwise, you’ll pay too much.

We will email you sixteen times before the sale ends. No need to act now. I will be notified repeatedly. Maybe something else comes along and I don’t act at all. I also don’t trust or understand the deadline.

When I call, I can get a better rate. (Hotels) Don’t use the online registration system, they charge more there. Continue calling a staff that is untrained and unavailable since the hotel strategy is to move reservations to the online system.

You: I want to cancel my subscription. Vendor: Wait, I can give you a better deal. Punish the auto-renew or higher lifetime value customers. Who cares, they are not planning to cancel.

Punishment

Do you believe your business or organization has a customer centric focus? Do you have a culture of service? How are you training customers?

Are you training them the right way or punishing them to fit your agenda?

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a five-time author and some of his work includes, #CustServ The Customer Service Culture, and Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

09
Mar 18
-

Simulation Experience, It Is Not The Real Thing

Tags : change leadership pivot simulation training

Are simulations and real life experiences the same thing? When we want to change or transform an organizational culture, can we do it through simulation? Do you have simulation experience or the real thing?

Real or Simulation

In our organizations, we can experience safety training, productivity training, or be warned of what is, or is not, harassment.

We may also get training about culture, leadership, and the importance of delivering exceptional service.

I can play a fifty-nine minute video on my sixty-inch television that looks like a fireplace burning. This is a simulation. Sure I can turn up the heat and put on some ambiance music and make it all seem pretty cool. Is this the same as the real deal? What have I just experienced?

Is the video game, the scary movie, or reality TV show the same as real-life experiences? We sometimes like to think so, it gives us an experience but that experience exists within a safety zone. It is not real. The consequences are different and as a result so are the experiences.

Simulation Experience

When people have had a close call, a near to the real experience, experience, it may be enough to alter behaviors. It seems that the key may be to simulate as much as possible to create the feeling of reality. This is still, always, simulation experience.

So when we want to transform an organization. When we want to deliver a better sales experience, better customer service, and have a culture of growth and inspiration. A simulation may not be enough.

We can’t live within the comfort of safety that is provided by the simulation. The real thing has to occur. Sure, we may get inspired or motivated to attempt a positive change, but until we actually experience it, it is just a simulation.

The simulation experience provides safety. It shields us psychologically from the real thing.

That makes it pretty easy to turn off the transformation and go back to the comfort of our safety zone.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a five-time author and some of his work includes, #CustServ The Customer Service Culture, and Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

08
Feb 18
-

The Incredible Power Of Momentum

Tags : engagement momentum organizational development training

Jokes often center on New Year resolutions. We hear about the fitness program, the special diet, or the financial savings program. Correcting our bad habits, our vices, and even the worn out tradition will stand a better chance of success with momentum.

Incredible Power

One of the best metaphors for momentum is what I call the train story.

The story is a nickel placed on the track in front of the wheel of a train before it starts moving will make it very difficult to get started. However, a nickel placed on the rail long in advance of the on-coming train and the train will crush it as if it isn’t even there.

Momentum is powerful. Get things rolling and sometimes they are hard to stop.

Momentum does require some energy though, and often care. You have to care enough about the fitness program, the special diet, or financial savings.

On The Job

The same is true for the momentum of anything in our workplace. This is especially true for organizational development endeavors, things such as training programs, coaching, and other developmental activities.

Imagine if we exercised only once every two months, or imagine if we insisted that we were on a special diet but only followed it one day a week. What would our results look like? Simple right, the results would be less than desirable.

When people think about career development, it isn’t a one and done. Anyone progressive is always continuing to learn, practice, and grow. The same is true for employee development.

Momentum

Sure, we can send someone to the workshop or seminar where all the tips and techniques are carefully delivered by an expert. However, if the employee doesn’t practice, doesn’t follow up, or doesn’t commit to continuous improvement not much changes for the long-term.

So many people and organizations treat training and development as an information source. The idea is that we need the information, so tell us. This is often true, and results do occur. Often great results. The biggest struggle though is not the knowledge transfer, it is the continuation of the effort.

We should remember that the power of momentum is not so much about knowing, it is much more about doing.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a five-time author and some of his work includes, #CustServ The Customer Service Culture, and Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

15
Jun 17
-

Onboarding and Training Recent Generations

Tags : generational differences hiring onboarding training

The workforce has quite a few frustrated supervisors. Often they are frustrated by onboarding and training recent generations. Do we sometimes have to give to get?

The frustration with those representing the youngest in our workforce is not uncommon. It’s why there is so much chatter about the generations. We hear many comments about the millennial and generation Z population and their presence in the workforce. Often they are comments connected with frustration.

Can we all get along? Is there a happy medium, a space where our values and believes can happily work side by side?

Training Recent Generations

Here are a few things to consider if you are frustrated by the most recent generations in your workforce:

Expect change. Everything changes and being too forceful about keeping your organizational culture exactly the same might leave you with an average employee age that continues to climb. Worse, it might not mean a future for the organization.
Culture is not process. You may have a way that you assemble the widget or pack it into the box. Certainly, that is always a consideration for efficiency. However, your cultural values, not the process might be the real problem. Understand what should be different.
Values and beliefs are drivers. The youngest generations might not want a big house payment or a high priced car. Their view of success might be maximizing their free time, traveling, and living small. That doesn’t make them wrong. It might mean you need to understand their personal purpose.

Hiring the right people from any generation can be challenging. Hiring people who don’t fit your culture might not end well. Expecting that you will hire and then change their values and beliefs is probably unrealistic.

The organizations that figure out how to shift will get the best results.

It means you’ll have to give in order to get.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a four-time author and some of his work includes, Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce and Pivot and Accelerate, The Next Move Is Yours! Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

21
Feb 17
-

Leadership Development: How Do You Know If It Worked?

Tags : leadership measurement metrics ROI training

People always have questions, but they often aren’t asked. When it comes to leadership development, how do we know if it worked?

Leadership Development

Leadership development might be a catch all phrase for supervisory, managerial, or leadership training. There are many competences that may be involved in leadership development and it always depends on the target audience or participants.

Some slight variances might exist from industry to industry, and variances definitely exist with level of responsibility or organization size. While the basic leadership skills for front line supervisors might have similarities to the concepts of leadership in the C-Suite the total package of competencies likely has at least a few differences.

Organizations often invest in leadership development training. Many believe it is a very wise investment, but how do we measure the success? What is the ROI (return on investment)?

Metrics and Measurements

Here are seven possible metrics or measurement criteria:

Employee Turnover. Turnover ratio for any business or organization might change for many reasons. Leadership has a direct impact on the culture of the organization and turnover could be a valuable metric.
Satisfaction Survey. Satisfaction surveys can help point to the success of leadership. This can be an employee satisfaction survey or it could even be a customer satisfaction survey.
360 Assessments. The 360 assessment is a valuable tool for understanding leadership competencies from the perspective of others within (or sometimes outside) of an organization. It can also be administered to entire teams for group results.
Sales Revenue or Profit. Depending on the areas of focus for the leader an increase in sales revenue or gross profit might provide evidence of success in training. It also can be an easy number to measure ROI.
Relationship Portfolio. How big or what is the depth of relationships? How many contracts, entities, or service agreements are active under management?
Business Growth. Is the business or organization growing or if it was in decline has it stabilized, right-sized, or otherwise improved? This might be measured in numerous ways.
Unique Metrics. Last on this list but certainly not the least there are many other ways to determine ROI. You might consider something as simple as a pre-test followed by a post-test. You might have metrics for quality, productivity, waste, and many others.

Knowing It Worked

Perhaps one of the most important things to consider is that you should always determine the method of evaluation in advance and understand your baseline or starting point. Evaluation can, and likely should be, measured through both metrics connected to monetary values and those that are intangible.

Also important but sometimes forgotten is that training success is contingent upon changed habits or behaviors across time. It is easy for any individual or team to show short time signs of improvement only to default back to old ways when under duress or as measured across longer periods of time.

Can the success of leadership development programs be measured and improvements maintained?

I say yes, what are your thoughts?

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a four-time author and some of his work includes, Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce and Pivot and Accelerate, The Next Move Is Yours! Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

Tag Archives: training

Apr 19

-

Measure Costs

Training Cost

Apr 19

Sep 18

-

Value In Action

Great Value

May 18

-

Story Value

Interesting Story

May 18

-

Adapt or Change

Scorned Employees

Fear of Inferior

Need Training

Apr 18

-

Training Customers

Punishment

Mar 18

-

Real or Simulation

Simulation Experience

Feb 18

-

Incredible Power

On The Job

Momentum

Jun 17

-

Training Recent Generations

Feb 17

-

Leadership Development

Metrics and Measurements

Knowing It Worked

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