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- Beyond Training:
Training and Development
- By Claire Belilos
- Achieving Results by focusing on the Human Factor
Training is generally defined as "change in behavior" -
yet, how many trainers and managers forget that, using
the term training only as applicable to "skills
training"? What about the human element? What about
those very same people we want to "train"? What about
their individual beliefs, backgrounds, ideas, needs and
aspirations?
In order to achieve long-term results through training,
we must broaden our vision to include people development
as part of our strategic planning. Although training
covers a broad range of subjects under the three main
categories (skills, attitude, knowledge), using the term
"training" without linking it to "development" narrows
our concept of the training function and leads us to
failure.
When we limit our thinking, we fall into the trap of:
a.Classifying people into lots and categories
b.Thinking of "trainees" as robots expected to perform a
job function
c.Dismissing the individual characteristics of people
and the roles they play
d.Focusing only on "what needs to be done" without
adequately preparing the trainees involved to accept and
internalize what is being taught.
We are dealing with human thoughts, feelings and
reactions which must be given equal (if not more)
attention than to the skill itself. We thus create a
double-focus: people development and skills training.
These two simultaneous objectives will give us the right
balance and guide our actions to reach our goal.
To clarify our training and development objectives, and
identify our criteria for success, we must ask ourselves
a few questions:
Do we expect an automatic, faultless job performance?
Does attitude count?
Does goodwill count?
Do loyalty and dedication count?
Does goal-sharing count?
Does motivation count?
Do general knowledge and know-how count?
Do people-skills count?
Does an inquisitive mind count?
Does initiative count?
Does a learning attitude count?
Does a sense of responsibility count?
Do team efforts count?
Do good work relations count?
Does creative input count?
Do we want employees to feel proud of their role and
contribution?
How can we expect such qualities and behaviour if we
consider and treat our personnel as "skills performers"?
However, we could achieve the desired results if we
address the personal development needs of the employees
involved.
When we plan for both "training" and "development", we
achieve a proper balance between the needs of the
company and those of the trainees. The synergy created
takes us to new levels, to a continuing trend of company
growth.
Our consideration of the people involved results in work
motivation,goal-sharing, and a sense of partnership. Not
only do the employee-trainees perform at the desired
levels, but they offer to the company and its customers
their hidden individual gifts and talents, and this
reflects itself in the quality of service. Customers
feel and recognize efficient performance, motivation and
team-work. They become loyal customers.
We can learn from the case of a small restaurant
operator who had become desperate at the negligent
attitude of his servers, resulting in customer
complaints. He decided to seek professional expertise to
help him replace his employees with "motivated, trained"
people fresh out of a waiter's training school.
Following some probing questions it came to light that,
besides hourly pay,he did not offer much to attract and
retain loyal and dedicated employees.Through
professional consultation, he came to realize that even
if he paid higher wages to new "trained" employees, the
problem would persist because employees want more than
wages from their work place. They want:
Organization and professional management
Information regarding the business and its customers
Recognition for their role in the company's success
Acknowledgement of their individual capacities and
contributions
Positive discipline / fairness
A say in the way the business is run.
The restaurant operator realized that until then he had
treated his employees as "plate carriers" and this is
exactly how they had behaved and performed. He was ready
to change his mode of operation: he diverted his focus
to the needs of his employees, re-structured his
organisation, planned new operational strategies, a
human resources strategy, training and development
guidelines, disciplinary rules and regulations.
He communicated and shared these in a meeting with his
employees and handed out the employee handbook prepared
for that purpose. He also reminded them of their
responsibilities towards the business, the customers,
and themselves (taking charge of their own training,
development, and work performance). They were more than
pleased when he asked them to express their opinions,
make comments and suggestions.
He was surprised at the immediate transformation that
took place. He began receiving excellent reviews from
his customers, the employees worked as a team, their
motivation sky-rocketed and he never had to replace
them! All this was accomplished by extending the
previous concept of training to that of training and
people development.
Training and Development represents a complete whole
that triggers the mind, emotions and employees' best
work performance. It is not only business managers and
owners who must do this shift in thinking, but Human
Resources Directors and Training Managers (whose title
should be "Training and Development" Managers). By their
actions, they should offer a personal example, coaching
and guiding all the people in an organisation to think
"beyond training" and invest efforts in people's:
Professional development
Personal development.
Contrary to what some managers think, people do not quit
a place of work as soon as they have grown personally
and professionally through training and development
programs - at least they do not do so for a long while.
They become loyal to their employer and help him/her
grow business-wise, which offers them more
opportunities. They chart their own course for career
advancement within the broader framework of
organizational growth.
Do we not call employees our "human resources asset"?
Whatever their positions, each expects to be treated as
such; when they are, they give more than their physical
presence at work.
All Rights Reserved
Copyright Claire Belilos
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- Claire Belilos is the founder of CHIC Hospitality Consulting Services. Her
background includes Hospitality operations. She specializes in solving people management
problems, organizational training and development, supervisory coaching, training of
trainers, designing effective job, training and evaluation tools, and training for
customer service excellence. For more information, please visit her website at http://www.easytraining.com or
e-mail: or
e-mail: or
e-mail: chic@easytraining.com
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