L&D Target Training

L&D

Tag Archive for: L&D

Without boundaries – Why I believe the digital learning experience represents the future of L&D

in Business English, Hybrid solutions, Soft Skills/by Guest Author

I work for a leading global engineering company (one of the largest) extending its profitable global business over the past 150 years with offices across America, Asia, and Europe. It is recognized for its innovative, digital working environment, passion for its brand and customers and as a place where talented people are inspired and challenged to release their full potential.

hbspt.cta.load(455190, ‘3c442819-7f59-4039-bc15-472ccbbefef5’, {});

A transformation towards the power of the individual

Originally coming from Silicon Valley to Germany in the late nineties, I have been able to grow professionally by overseeing a variety of HR initiatives in attracting, developing, engaging and enabling talent all along the HR landscape. For the past fifteen years, my focus was heavily on building talent management strategies which helped enable and retain people.

Today, I am experiencing for the first time a major transformation in the marketplace towards savvy social employees whose choices and opinions can have a dramatic impact on the bottom line. This shift to the power of the individual is transforming the relationship between workers and employers. Corporate training is undergoing a total transformation, and the concepts of “evaluation and assessment” are being replaced by better engagement, interaction, empowerment and quality learning.

Building a learning experience to meet the challenge

With Industrial 4.0 and the digitalization of our workforce, we are seeing a fast-growing new marketplace for tools and providers which should help us meet this challenge. In a highly competitive climate, I believe it is imperative that L&D professionals develop strategies to continue to close the skill gap while ensuring an even greater employee experience. To tackle this challenge, many L&D leaders are moving towards building a long standing learning experience.

This shift requires a transformation in how we handle future L&D initiatives. As the economy picks up and companies are competing for people again, businesses want

HR technology that directly drive employee engagement, help improve employment brand, and platforms that harness and reach out into the internet.
learning software that builds a compelling self-directed digital learning environment,
goal management tools that are agile, easy to use, and help people develop.

3 goals for harnessing technology to boost inspiration, collaboration and learning

Technology has the ability to boost inspiration, collaboration and learning and I believe technology will have a key role in helping empower L&D professionals to do a vital job. Employees today are already using an array of digital devices outside of work, so it makes sense to make the most of them in every learning environment.

Our focus should be on turning learning environments into connected centers where training is delivered in collaborative, interactive and creative ways.
Everything from mobile devices, online learning solutions and interactive platforms should give employees the chance to access what they need, discover something new, and then share it instantly with their peers.
Employees can work with each other on projects, get advice, discover new sources of information, and generate and discuss ideas.

This approach will make the learning experience richer, more productive and enjoyable without boundaries.

3 questions to ask your existing training providers

in Business English, Hybrid solutions, Soft Skills/by Guest Author

I work in an organization where there’s really little rotation in our training suppliers. I’ve inherited most of them, and this means I have some specific issues. Actually I had something yesterday with a supplier.My first recommendation for questions to existing training providers would be a very open one. Just say:

hbspt.cta.load(455190, ‘0377217d-6395-4d26-a5fc-d32a69e484a5’, {});

From your point of view what do you think we could do to allow your trainers and your training to have more impact within our organization?

Existing suppliers should be in a good position to share ideas. “Groups should be smaller… we should make it longer … team leaders should follow up after the training” or whatever. Basically you just take it from there and see what makes sense.

Now, obviously beware that they don’t try to just push the answers towards more training days. On the other hand I would be very wary of any training providers who have been working with us for a while and then tell me everything is fine and there’s nothing to be improved. This means that they’re not paying attention. Typically the trainer will have some ideas about constraints which if removed would make the training offered more effective. Or, if not constraints, then extras that could easily be added.

The second question to ask from existing training providers is:

What have you learned from our participants during their training?

This is useful for you as an L&D manager or coordinator because actually training isn’t a one directional interaction. Information should go both ways and very often you’ll find that people tell the trainer things that they wouldn’t tell their manager, or wouldn’t tell their HR manager! I want to be clear here. I’m not saying we’re interested in who said what, we don’t need names. But we’re very interested in what is being said. So for example my interpersonal skills trainer comes back and says that people in the training get the concepts and everything, but there are scared of speaking out because there’s too much pressure from above. Now that’s very useful for you to be aware of, right? So use the existing trainers as a means for taking the temperature. Learn from them.

And then the third question is a bit more of a challenging question, and a very practical one. I don’t really think it makes sense to ask existing trainers provocative questions like “Why are you better than the competition out there?” because you should know that! You or your predecessor selected them. The third thing to consistently ask is

How can we make this more efficient?

Is there any way we can make this cheaper? How can we train more people with the same effort? Or how do we train the same number of people with less effort ? And by effort I’m speaking about budget, administration, time away from work and so on. One example is why does the trainer necessarily have to travel around so much? Aren’t there parts that we can deliver online or in a blended approach? Can we do other things to just upgrade our format of delivering training?

Basically the question is, do we need to continue to deliver this in the same way we would have delivered it 50 years ago – you know – one trainer, one flipchart, 12 people in the room etc. OR is there a more fun, a more modern way of doing this? And what you’ll find very often is that these changes are appreciated by the participants, it’s interesting for the trainer and it’s cost-effective for your company!

Those are the questions I use.

Who is this month’s Secret L&D manager?

The Secret L&D manager is actually many L&D managers. They are real people who would prefer not to mention their name or company – but do want to write anonymously so they can openly and directly share their ideas and experience with peers.

This month’s Secret L&D manager is German, aged 45-55, and works for a global engineering company. He has worked in training and development for over 17 years working as an L&D manager, a training provider and as a trainer. He speaks 4 languages and has an MBA. If money allowed, he’d work for a charity, contributing to their success by organizing and delivering great training. He agreed to write anonymously so he can openly and directly share his ideas and experience.

How do your training skills compare to Fred Flintstone and his car?

in Business English, Hybrid solutions, Intercultural, Soft Skills/by Guest Author

Wouldn’t it be easier just to walk, than to walk and carry a car made of boulders?

As a training organization we train our clients as you would expect, but we also develop our trainers. Our trainers are observed regularly in the training room for two reasons. Reason one is quality management: Does the training meet client expectations? Reason two is professional (trainer) development: How can the trainer improve their training skills? From time to time, I get puzzled by how hard some trainers make their own lives. I was discussing this recently with a colleague, and she compared the situation to Fred Flintstone and his car. Do you remember that car? The one which he gets into, lifts up, and walks with? The car is a tool that is supposed to make his life easier. But the way he uses it can surely only make life harder.

What, you might be asking, has this analogy got to do with training? It’s a bit of a stretch but just like Fred, some trainers stop thinking logically about which way of doing something would be the most effective. They end up making some basic training errors as a result. Let’s look at five common training mistakes and some ideas for what you can do about them so you can a) make your training more effective for your participants, and b) easier for you.

Free eBook

1. Confusing training with presenting

As a trainer I’ve often worked with participants who had to train people in something specific. In preparation they wanted to check their powerpoint slides with me. We reviewed the English on the slides, and that was it. This was a shame. Training is not running through a bunch of slides. Don’t you tend to switch off after 5-10 minutes of slides filled with text while the presenter talks you through them? I certainly do.

Effective training is interactive and experiential. Get the participants to talk about their experiences and come to conclusions themselves or with the help of colleagues. This means standing back, setting up tasks which make them talk, facilitating these activities, and giving feedback. Allow participants to learn from each other.

2. Talking too much

This is closely related to the first point. Successful training does not involve a trainer standing at the front of the room lecturing the participants. In a one hour training session, what percentage of time do you think the trainer should be talking for? As a general rule: the less the trainer talks and the more the participants are doing something, the better. That makes life easier for the trainer too.

Some trainers feel that if they are not talking, they are not in control, and that the participants will feel they can’t manage the training room. This is absolutely not the case. Aim to talk less – a lot less. If you’re not sure how much you talk, then film yourself, and watch it later. This can be a really valuable, eye-opening exercise.

3. Giving unclear instructions (and failing to check they’ve been understood)

I’ve been teaching and training for around 20 years, mostly with adults. A while ago in Spain I had to teach 6 year olds. Before this I hadn’t thought too much about how I gave instructions. I did some training before taking these kids on. One of the things that was stressed to me there was the importance of carefully planned out instructions. I started planning what I was going to say, and more importantly how I was going to check that everyone had understood what I needed them to do. This was a bit of work at first, but it was worth it in the end. Have you ever tried to get thirty kids into four groups by giving them the letters A, B, C, D?

Think your instructions out very carefully and make sure you are concise. Find a way of checking that people have understood what they have to do – this can be as simple as asking one person to repeat it back. This may sound silly, but it will save a lot of time and help clear up any problems in your instructions. After all, what is clear to you, may really not be clear to others, especially in an international audience.

4. Keeping things predictable

Variety is the name of the game. If everything is predictable and routine, it is boring. If it’s boring, no learning is going to be taking place.

How can you shake things up? Make sure you vary what you do. Look for variety in pace, activity types, groups, materials, and feedback methods. People learn in different ways, so try to cater to different learning styles.

5. Failing to explain aims and transferability

Sometimes when I am observing a class – fortunately not too often -, I have little idea what the trainer is trying to do and why he or she is trying to do it. If I don’t know why, then I doubt very much that the participants do. If you were taking time out of your day for training, wouldn’t you want to know why you were there and what you were going to get out of it? Luckily this problem is easily remedied.

Share your aims – write them up at the start of the session and cross them off as they are achieved.
Explain why you want people to do things. Generally most of us are prepared to do things if we understand the rationale behind them. All you need to do is say for example “We’re now going to ….. so that…..”

So, think about it. Can you make yourself a little less like Fred Flintstone and his car? What mistakes have you made when training? What have you learnt from these mistakes? Why not share your experience with us?

70-20-10 model: Why we MUST apply it to Business English training

in Business English, Methods & Tools/by Scott Levey

I recently outlined how the 70-20-10 model can be applied to Business English training solutions. By applying the 70-20-10 philosophy to Business English training and integrating on-the-job and social learning alongside traditional approaches, companies can comfortably overcome the challenges they face:

the challenge of urgency – training needs to deliver tangible improvements quickly
the challenge of availability – taking people out of the workplace for training is becoming increasingly difficult

Put simply, time is money and the sooner your employees can perform the required tasks to an appropriate level, the greater the benefit to your company. This means that learning has to be engaging, relevant, and above all easily transferable to the workplace.

Obviously, on-the-job learning (the 70% guideline) is as relevant and transferable as possible. Without the traditional training (the 10% guideline), the informal learning may never happen – but the key is to make this 10% a “multiplier”. Explicitly connecting this on-the-job and social learning to traditional approaches is essential. You should expect that traditional training becomes increasingly relevant and transferable by using the on-the-job learning as a springboard. What have you seen on-the-job that also needs attention away from the job ? Following the 70-20-10 philosophy means that speed of performance improvement increases due to training at and in the workplace.

How the 70-20-10 model,when applied to Business English training, can save time and money

As we all know, time is a precious commodity in today’s workplace. Traditional training approaches mean time away from the workplace. Whether it be technical, management, IT or language training, this time away from the workplace is costly and limited.

The issue of availability is compounded even further when we look at how much time language training can eat up. The training time and investment required to develop language skills is truly daunting. Industry guidelines talk about 150- 200 hours to move from a CEFR B1 to B2 level. Relying solely upon a formal classroom-based approach (face to face or virtual) just takes too long. For example, if a learner has one “class” per week of 90 minutes, and they consistently take part 3 out of 4 times (an optimistic target for most busy professionals) the learner will need at least 3 years of continuous training to “move up a level”. These figures are quite rightly shocking to any manager and to their budget! Traditional formal training alone cannot be the answer. This is where the 70-20-10 model becomes invaluable.

By setting up a more holistic approach and supporting, nurturing and creating opportunities for social and on-the-job learning you can reduce both the time and investment required – while at the same time building motivation and engagement amongst the employees. The ratios do not have to be strictly followed – rather each of the three approaches needs to be encouraged.

Next time we’ll look at some proven practical tips for integrating the 70-20-10 philosophy into your Business English programs. Let us know if you have any experience with the 70-20-10 model in the comments area below. Want to learn more about how we use the 70-20-10 model in our training? Click here.

70-20-10 Model: Does it transfer to Business English training?

in Business English, Methods & Tools/by Scott Levey

In a nutshell, yes it can – and language training beyond the traditional approach is key to making an impact on performance. The 70-20-10 model reflects the increasing awareness that learning is not just about “traditional” training. The model concludes that successful managers learn in 3 different ways:

- 70 percent of learning comes from real life on-the-job experiences, tasks and problem solving
- 20 percent of learning comes from feedback, working with and observing role models
- 10 percent of learning comes from “traditional” formal, classroom training

In more detail…

Although the ratios are debated, most training professionals agree that the philosophy is valid. As Charles Jennings highlights, “It’s important to be aware that the 70-20-10 model is a reference model and not a recipe. The numbers are not a rigid formula.” Just consider your own professional development for a moment – to what extent have you acquired the knowledge, skills and behaviours you need to perform your jobs through actual experience? Through watching and talking to others? And through courses and seminars? Everyone can agree that all three aspects play a role, and that courses and seminars are not the “be all and end all” of an effective learning and development program. Most learning happens as part of a broader workflow and not just in an “away-from-work” classroom situation.

The model was based on research at the Center for Creative Leadership into management and leadership development. Today, the 70-20-10 model has been extended to other types of professional learning and development – and can be applied to corporate language training too.

How can the 70-20-10 model be applied to Business English training?

Language training is traditionally at home in the “10% zone” (learning through formal classroom-based training). Your own language learning experiences probably reflect this. Perhaps you took part in the standard “weekly classes” approach with a teacher coming into your company, or joined intensive seminars. More recently e-learning and blended-learning have become a key component in most corporate solutions.

This formal classroom-based approach will always have a clear part to play in helping employees boost their language skills – and is essential for many learners at a beginner or intermediate level (CEFR A1 – B1). Learning through exposure alone may work for young children but sadly not for busy professional learners. What is surprising, however, is that many companies still rely solely on traditional classroom training (face to face or virtual), despite it being both costly and administratively challenging. There are other effective ways of learning a language which mirror the urge to integrate informal social learning and real-life on-the-job-training into any learning and development program.

Learning Business English through “On-the-job” experience

“Learning by doing” through real-life on-the-job experience is obviously beneficial. Not only does it provide an opportunity to transfer what has been learnt in the classroom to the workplace (multiplying the impact), it also creates new opportunities to learn from partners (vocabulary, phrases, listening skills – the list goes on).

If the “learning by doing” is supported by a trainer offering on-the-job support and feedback, the impact is multiplied. Similarly, a trainer shadowing the performance and giving feedback strengthens the learning. Finally, social and on-the-job learning help employees see a reward for their efforts which in turn helps to build a sense of motivation (or a sense of personal urgency). With the right framework in place, this renewed sense of motivation can make the formal training even more effective – and the efficacy of the training program quickly snowballs.

On-the-job and social learning can be applied to business English training. In fact, they MUST be applied if we take into account the cost and time pressures that most HRD departments work with.

These conversations are essential as the 70-20-10 model depends on L&D working closely with line managers, and on line managers communicating with their staff. Managers need to be aware of the pivotal hands-on role they play in developing their staff, and employees need to appreciate the context for new decisions.

The 70-20-10 model has proven to positively impact organisations in enhancing their learning and development programs. Now that you know a little bit more about it, next week we will discuss why it is a MUST to apply it, and how to implement it, in your Business English training. Let us know if you have any experience with the 70-20-10 model in the comments area below. Want to learn more about how we use the 70-20-10 model in our training? Click here.