Train- Not Drain Them!

Real Life scenario

HR department in XYZ ltd had a separate Training Division to cater to the needs of the training and development of such a large work force. Under the supervision of their HR Director, the Sr. Manager Training started doing the Training need identification for all the managers, as at that point they just wanted to cover the Manager level only, which itself had more than 60 managers for a 2500 workforce.

The Sr. Manager who was working with the organization for the past 7 years once asked the Director HR that, what was the need of TNA, they could just go through the appraisal forms of the previous year and plan the training calendar accordingly, which was not such a bad idea but while going through the forms they all realized that it was a waste of time, the better option was to get the questionnaire filled from the Managers and their seniors for TNA.

That is how all the steps were followed properly to organize the training for the managers for that particular year.

During the process, the newly appointed Director HR faced a lot of problems and aversions from many people, including the training division. And the reason was, that the trainings will be planned and delivered, but the requirement need not matter…

This is the situation in many organization now, training for them is just a status function, which means that if a competitor is providing training, so even we should do it and more so from the same vendor… amusing, isn’t it?

And if this is not enough, most organizations have nothing to do with calculating ROI on training and finding out how effective the training had been for their employees. It is just a way to utilize the budget not really investing.

And if you speak to the employees in such organizations, most of them like to attend trainings as it saves them from day to day work, some attend to pass their time and for the food they get, some don’t attend at all and take leaves, some make excuses that training is just a formality, their work is more important. But have you guys as an HR professional ever thought why people think like that for trainings?

Reason lies in the paragraphs narrated above, yes; we actually do not train them but Drain them to never come back again.

Training being such an important function needs to be taken very seriously, it is one function which if methodically done can bring lot of benefits not only in productivity/performance but also in a person’s outlook and attitude. What can be done to make training more effective and employee friendly? read on….

Training can be effectively measured and the ROI can be calculated with just a little bit more time by the HR department and the line managers in coordination.

Evaluating training can make it more fruitful and yes you can design better programs in future for the employees, once you know how much they have benefited from such programs already.

# Obtain a feedback session after at least 3 weeks from the date of finishing the training program. Bring them back, ask questions, evaluate their performance and always tell their Line Managers to send their pre training performance ratings and post training. No, no, my dear friends, the results will not show so early but the symptoms will. :)

# Give them a clear cut action plan while in training so that they all can learn about their own shortcomings and how to overcome them after returning to their jobs. The action plan will showcase to them their future course of action which can be discussed with their immediate superiors and who can help them in initiating the changes and make the training worth.

# May be for the next 6 months to one year depending upon what kind of training is being provided, the review meetings at regular intervals need to be organized with the Immediate Senior, Trainer and the Department Head to achieve the desired results accompanied by the supervisor’s observation.

# Compare the findings of training need analysis and identification and the effectiveness, and this actually works as a factual report not just for the candidate who attended the training but also for the trainer, who can boast of his/her achievements in the next program.

Training is such vast topic that it may need many more articles to complete the entire procedure, process and methodology and of course the effectiveness…but for starters or for people finding difficulty in evaluating training, this write up can help.

So guys…HAPPY TRAINING AND HAPPY LEARNING

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The path less traveled

The elevator to success is out of order. You’ll have to use the stairs… One step at a time said Joe Girard. Success comes when we opt for the path where not many people have traveled, as a substitute of taking short cuts. Life in the corporate teaches many such lessons when you chose a short cut road or stumpy, hard and overgrown corridor.

Superfluous reference: Social networking sites often give an opportunity to connect with people they have never interacted with before and undoubtedly it has a positive impact, but demanding reference from people who have no idea about you, your profile and your career goals, asking for orientation at some company or may be their own company is asking for too much. I have come across many such people on networking sites who would add you just to open the door of opportunities. Referring some one is not bad, but not knowing the background may land you in trouble and people who are ready to hire some one just by virtue of their face value may then keep a distance from you too. Success is all pervasive but such tactics may end up in closing all gates to heaven, one may obtain a job by such procedures but can only protract it with sheer hard work and meticulousness.

Jaspal Bhatti’s sumptuous Promotion feast: Lol..so nostalgic, still remember the comic King Jaspal Bhatti’s 90s saga, laughing our heart to his plain simple dark comedies based on all important areas of life, be it corruption, electricity theft, stealing of ration and what not, one such episode was based on treating the boss with a scrumptious meal to get a promotion and believe me the scenario hasn’t changed much, many of us still get involved in such activities with trips to famous Pataya beach, booze parties, and what not. Resilience is the most forgotten word in the corporate world and people look for many shorter routes to stay away from hurdles….But you don’t get roses without the thorn!

Face the bull by its horn: Storms will come but the wise people will cut the stream and clear the channel and not flow with the stride. Creating a conduit different from others may take a longer time but eventually will end up at a dream destination with your feet dug down in to the earth…Struggling to get what one wants is the real success,Michael Jordan said about his journey…. “I’ve missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot . . . and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

So no shortcuts, no frills and fancies, not going askance are the keys to achieve desired success.

Slam the sham: Fake experience certificates, phony degrees, forged documents and what not, many queries are asked on the forum about such things, one such query is- “Can I show fake experience as I’m not getting any job? Friends are asking me to show fake experience to land a job.’” Hello!! If friends are suggesting such things then foes are much better. It takes me back to an incident which happened a few years back, a Vice chancellor of a famous University was snatched off his degrees at the age of 56, and his one folly was, that he had forged his PhD thesis, and many things were just copied and pasted. He enjoyed many years of success but in the end what remained was just sheer agony because of one mistake.

Braving the Malady: The truly successful measure of one’s success is not based on numbers but passion, determination, and the will to help people. Choosing a less traveled path may bring about roadblocks and pot holes but be assured it is just to keep you grounded with realities and not gliding with frivolous triumphs of life.  Loyalty also comes when we are striving for success while being grounded and not just attempting to direct without actually furnishing the tasks.

Revising the entire system will take time, but with each step that we take we  negate each point and move ahead. Let us all gather to create some more success stories without gratuitous short cuts. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” — Mark Twain

So what is your success story, decant your thoughts here, the ramp is designed we are just waiting for your performance :)  Hop on the bus of creativity and get started…

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