Management training cannot be ignored if you want your business to be successful. A large portion of training success is obviously dependent on your training provider, but steps can be taken internally to ensure that you do not waste mountains of cash. Disengaged learners are all too common – dispense with detachment, here's how:
(1) Know Thy Worth. Stirring your managers into a state where they want to learn is the foundation for any solid management training. It is critical that you relate how the content of the training will personally benefit your managers and not just the company.
Stress management, delegation and assertiveness training are just a few areas from which managers can garner personal gain. Soft-skill courses such as these not only benefit the business but the employees personally. Relating this to managers will fire their desire to train.
(2) Avoid Hypocrisy Make sure managers know they will be able to apply what they learn and be supported in doing so when they are back at work. If you send a manager on an assertiveness course you should be secretly pleased if under appropriate circumstances they say 'No' to working late.
Fostering a transparency with your managers means they are more likely to gain the contentment that comes with open communication. In turn there is a greater likelihood that they will feel safer experimenting with newly acquired skills that training will offer them. The result: your staff will be more adept, happier and your business matures through retention of valued employees.
(3) Time and Tide Ever tried to build a sandcastle when the tide is coming in? If you understand the importance of timing about timing you will appreciate the previous comparison. Pick your training dates carefully. If your managers are pre-occupied with external or internal pressures, they are less likely to attend training, let alone internalise the information they are receiving.
(4) Anyone for a hors d'oeuvre? People judge books by their covers. You can have remarkable course content but if your training facilitator is dull and monotone the information is lost. The delivery is just as important as the product.
Natural charisma in a facilitator will make the experience richer and the content digestible. Ask your provider if they offer tasters so you can gauge their style. If they are serious about acquiring your business and confident in their product they should be willing to let you experience an appetizer.
(5) Insist on Being Served Feedback Let your staff know that they may need to demonstrate what they have learned. If they are expecting a post-training exercise, or a feedback session, you automatically make an implementation of learning more likely.
Look at all the details and be sensitive to factors that can promote or detract from retention of new material. Through careful consideration of these factors you will have the opportunity to watch efficiency soar as your business harnesses greater skill retention through the strength of management training.
About the Author: This article was written by Edward Alan Fisher. To discover how you can tailor management training to suit your company's needs try http://www.you-unltd.co.uk/training-courses.asp
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