Selecting a training company
Globalization has also increased the realization among senior management that there are a variety of tools available to build stronger teams and improve executive performance. Executive coaching and other attempts at bringing 'business psychology' into the workplace are among the most recent innovations. On the other hand, training is also changing and evolving rapidly.
The constant 'business services' industry change, and the constantly changing business needs of companies, beg two questions:
• What should management keep in mind as it selects a training organization?
• Which approaches work best for my company?
Some of the most important things to keep in mind when selecting a business partner in these areas are:
1) People development is notoriously soft and very difficult to systematically connect to business results. Make sure that you connect the training or program to particular outputs whether these are the reinforcement of mission and vision (a very soft goal), to the acquisition of a specific skill to improve performance or the needs of an individual in order to grow (or perform his/her role efficiently).
2) Training in particular should be part of larger processes. It is much less effective when there is no evaluation/performance management system in place. Equally training does not solve organizational conflict.
3) Training is only as good as the trainers. For instance, someone training specialist staff in a multinational in Eastern Europe should have relevant experience/exposure, especially in areas where there are fairly substantial cultural differences/expectations. Sometimes expatriate executives are surprised to learn what is modeled as a 'best practice' communication style in their local businesses in the region.
4) Check references carefully before hiring a business psychologist/mentor or related organizational advisor. A lot of professionals in these areas lack relevant training or experience. On the other hand training and 'references' are also not enough. Take care to understand that the specific experience and style of a partner provides a more relevant indicator of success than a client list. Remember that training is not usually a one-size fits all proposition.
5) Training goals and plans should be communicated clearly to all participants. The relevance and structure of an event is an important element to participants. Employees (especially in the mid-level) start to resent 'unnecessary' training, especially integration meetings and junkets because they want to be able to spend/enjoy their free time away from the office as much as possible.
6) Finally training programs are a lot like exercising. It has limited value if not done regularly and over a long-period of time. In this respect it is better to establish more moderate, but regular goals than to be too ambitious and not follow-through.
The Warsaw Business Journal's Careers Expert, Matthew Tebeau, is the managing partner of Ray and Berndston Poland , Ukraine and the Baltic States. Here he looks at the dos and don'ts of hiring a trainer.
