What do you understand by aligning training objective with the organisation objective

One of the best kept secrets in modern management is how to align the training program with organizational objectives, and how to measure the alignment. Traditional methods fail flat, because they focus on what "The Manager" (or The Teacher) wants. They ask: Why do you want to train your employees? The answer is simple, but not useful: you invest in training because you expect a reasonable return, but training is expensive, and its ROI is difficult to measure. Throwing money out of the window is expensive too, but we have learned not to do it because there is clearly no return on this action. The problem with training is that even if we are not getting any results, but we continue to send employees out to be trained. Some training program managers are happy to state that they bought and delivered the budgeted amount of training hours, and that’s it. Let them be. They won’t understand. Let’s focus on the managers that want to get results, and ask them why they send their employees to training. Most of the time I get answers like: - "To award prizes to deserving employees." - "To motivate them." (whatever that means) - "To comply with policy/law/regulations." - " To find out how to solve a specific problem." - "To comply with law, a quality model or corporate policy." - Or, "To earn a certificate (and maybe get a contract)."

After some conversation on the importance of training and its impact on the organization, most managers will complain that training brings too few significant changes back to the organization. Aha! So they are expecting employees to change through training. Now we’re talking. It’s only one more step from there: Defining what kind of change they expect. Managers want to see an improvement, of course. They want to give their customers something cheaper, faster, simpler, bigger or smaller. But if you don’t know what you are buying, there is no way you can measure ROI. Only once you know that you are shopping for improvements do things become clear— although not necessarily easy. [eventPDF] It is common knowledge that the organizational training program (when there is one) should be aligned with organizational goals. Once those goals have been stated, a weak alignment means low effectiveness, high costs, low morale and lost opportunities. Common knowledge it may be, but it’s also useless: simply knowing does not stop managers from happily throwing their training dollars out of the window (only to wake up next day with a strong headache and a desire for solitude and quiet). What can they do about it? The answer is easy: focus on learning more than on training. Let me describe a simple model that I have found useful: Suppose knowledge is not something you can push from the teacher’s head into the student’s, as if you were charging a battery pack. Suppose knowledge is developed by the individual, and it takes a lot of energy. This suggests that there’s no such thing as teaching. There is only learning, and if we are to learn, we have to be open to revise and change our mental models. We need a reason to believe that learning is good for us, and we need plenty of resources: mainly time and energy. To learn, one must be open, willing to change, and have access to enough resources. Many managers don’t see it that way. They may need to learn a few things themselves before they can help others.

Of course, you need to know what the organization needs so you can communicate it to me. But if I am to learn, you also need to convince me there’s nothing to be afraid of. Give me a reason to learn and make resources available where I can use them.

Let me summarize:

1. Training is a way to develop skills and competencies, not a way to award sticks and carrots.
2. Training is a process. If we don’t understand the purpose of the process, measure its performance, and plan for improvement, then we will not be able to assess the benefits of a good training program. If you don’t focus on the improvements, you will only see the cost.
3. Focus on improved performance, rather than on training activities. Ask the employees what kind of training they need and how they will measure their own success. When they answer, listen.

Just like pulling is not the same as pushing, teaching is not the same as learning. Managers cannot push knowledge into the employee’s head, but they sure can help the employee know what he/she is looking for, and support the search.

Every company seeks training programs to transform its employees in terms of knowledge, skills, and even, attitudes. Indeed, a company can reap several advantages in the long run when it aligns its corporate training to the company vision, brand, and strategic goals.

Looking For An Extra Mile?

A training program is usually aimed at increasing the employees’ knowledge and skill levels, which in turn results in increased productivity. However, you soon realize that this is only a short-term benefit. The productivity increase soon tapers off, employee morale decreases, and attrition levels increase. You start wishing for your engagement and training programs to go an extra mile…to go beyond imparting knowledge and skills, and to influence your employees’ attitudes and behaviors.

A training program that not just informs and teaches, but also inspires, motivates, and builds a relationship between your employee and your company! Seems like a dream? Well, it can be your reality…just read on to learn how!

What’s The Bigger Picture?

When you align your custom learning with your company’s vision, brand, and strategic goals effectively, you actively engage your employees and help them "work for you" rather than "work with you".

For a company, the brand represents the company’s core beliefs, values, and practices that it promises to uphold. Great care is taken to create a company brand. Employees play a vital role in maintaining the company brand.

Employees must imbibe the brand values and corporate beliefs in their everyday work routine. Management must also reinforce their commitment to the brand values through their actions. Aligning training to strategic goals is one example of such an action.

When you are planning to bring about a change within the organization, for example, introducing a new software, you can deploy a training to help the employees adapt to the change faster. Usually, change is met with resistance of the employees who fear they may lose their jobs or become irrelevant to the company. Providing a training will not only ensure a smooth transition but also endear the company to its employees, who will realize that the management is committed to safeguarding its employees’ interests.

Use of the company’s branding colors on the training materials can help the employees build an association with the company. Video messages from the CEO welcoming the learners or a video message from the CTO highlighting how the adoption of a new technology can help the company become a market leader add credibility to the training.

Best Practices

You can align your custom learning to your branding and vision by following some best practices. These are enumerated next:

1. Identify What Your Most Important Objectives Are

Break them down into the specific training steps you need to achieve the objectives.

2. Discuss With Learning Strategists

The learning strategists can provide insights on the optimal training program appropriate for your company. However, it is important that you agree with how training program is aligned with your corporate strategy.

3. Prioritize Training Programs

Those that have a greater impact on brand and strategic goals need to be deployed at the earliest.

4. Provide Relevant And Appropriate Training Programs

Training aimed at employees should help them adapt their behavior to the brand. Provide rewards that encourage employees to align their attitudes to the company brand. Issuing a certificate at the end of a training program is one example.

5. Project The Company Image Onto The Learners

This can be done by adding various elements such as a mascot or a mentor as well as video messages from top management or experts. In addition, handy job aids can be added to the learning experience and connect with the learners.

6. Measure Effectiveness And Reassess Training

If you do not evaluate the impact and effectiveness of your training program against your strategic goals, you may end up wasting your employees’ time. Develop clear and measurable metrics to evaluate employees before and after the training program.

5 Key Benefits Of Aligning Training To Company Vision

Here’s a snap-shot of the 5 key benefits that can be accrued by aligning your custom learning to your strategic goals:

1. Increase In Productivity

Reach the desired productivity level sooner than expected and sustaining the growth. An example from one of our customers' success story is employees resolving a number of technical problems and proactively acting to prevent recurrence.

2. More Return On Investment In Training

Short-term gains in terms of increased knowledge and better skills of resources to long-term gains by way of transformation in employees’ attitudes. This ensures that employees are more loyal, committed, hard-working, and involved in their work thereby reducing attrition.

3. Decrease In Errors/Cost/Conflicts

Adopt new processes faster and achieve more savings. An example of this is that employees make fewer mistakes; get rewarded by pay hikes, bonuses on a profit-sharing basis and ensure they are more motivated and a happy workforce.

4. A Decrease In The Number Of People Required For The Job While Increasing Their Competencies

Organizations achieve balance by improving on resources utilized. Further, employees can perform new roles. An example of this is that employees are free to take on more responsibilities as well as develop their competencies and skills.

5. Increase In Effectiveness Of Training

Metrics and data can be used to evaluate how effective training is in achieving strategic goals. Example of this is that employees find training content relevant and transfer their learnings to the job effectively.

What Next?

It is not enough to be in awe of the long-term benefits of custom learning. Ensuring that your custom learning delivers these benefits, requires careful deliberations and possibly discussions with ID Strategists. Consider some questions:

• How to reap the long-term benefits of custom learning, but don’t know how?
• How can you be assured that your training is aligned with your company’s goals?
• How to ensure your new hires remain loyal to your company?
• What if you wanted to measure how much your custom learning contributes to your company reaching its set goals?

Conclusion

Aligning your training to your company vision and goals ensures that you are not just providing them with knowledge and skills required for the job, but also influencing their attitudes and behaviors to make them more effective. As a result, your employees will be more empowered, closely involved, associated with the corporate brand, and loyal to the company. The more the training programs are aligned with the company goals, the more successful the company will be!

At Tesseract Learning, our ID Strategists have been working with Learning and Development Managers and SMEs for our global customers in developing optimal Custom Learning solutions. To know more, please get in touch with me at