Why Making Training Personal Is Crucial In Workplaces
It’s the age-old problem - the more employees you have in a training programme, the less personal it feels. But it doesn’t have to be that way…
L&D professional Pulkit Srivastava joins us for a guest post to talk about his experiences of making training personal at scale.
At the workplace, delivering training is like choosing a wedding outfit: you don’t say yes until you find the one. And yet, companies arrange generic webinars in the name of providing training, and expect magic merely after attendance. But just like in life, at the workplace too, when the problems for individuals are unique, inevitably the offered solutions must be.
As someone who’s been in the learning and development industry for many years, I was once given a crucial responsibility to understand the training needed on the sales floor across the organization, and understand the reason behind the dip in numbers. The leadership just wanted the numbers up and suggested a week-long training plan in a virtual setting for everyone. But my boss (the Director of Training) and I knew it was not going to work. So we pitched another plan.
Rather than abruptly creating a training plan right away, our team decided to individually speak with the folks on the floor, and understand their individual problem statements. The outcome was astonishing. After doing a needs analysis over the course of a week, we were able to come up with several training pedagogies, and make changes that worked. For example, while the initial training ran for six days, we doubled it.
Merely two to three weeks after the training was delivered, the results were popping in. Various folks who had sold nothing for the last four to five months were doing wonders. Productivity was up, the sales were up, and of course, so was the revenue. And all this happened because we were able to take a personalized approach to training.
Individual Problems
So how do we take a personalized approach to training? Before engaging in any training modules, I make it a point to speak to the employees and enquire about their specific problems. While anticipating the dip in sales numbers and doing the TNI (training needs identification), I spoke with individual members of staff and tried to understand their specific issues, given I knew that the problems were different for different people.
For instance, some had an issue with product knowledge and wanted more info on that. They themselves did not understand the need of the products, the context of the leads they spoke to, and naturally their sales pitch sounded too generic, desperate and abrupt. For others, the entire process was a hassle. They did not understand the LMS (learning management system) we used, the calling software that existed, and wanted certain sessions delivering process training.
As per McKinsey, personalization is an approach to customer engagement — almost a philosophy — that focuses on delivering tailored, meaningful, and relevant customer communication. But the focus should not just be on customers - communication must be delivered with employees too. With a personalized approach, we created a cohesive learning objective which explained the product, the process, the competency our product delivers for clients, and why it is important for them to understand the needs of their prospects rather than abruptly trying to sell. With our learning modules, the learners were able to explain, and demonstrate what we sought from them at the end of the training period. Good learning objectives are performance-based and clear, sure. But only if they are personalized can the end result of the learning objective be measured effectively.
Catered Solutions
A personalized approach not only acts as a catalyst in figuring out the different problems people might face, but also helps in delivering solutions specifically catered to them. For instance, if an employee working in sales is having trouble in delivery, a soft skill training will do them good, while if there is someone else who is facing difficulties with bridging the gap between the product and how it fits into the prospect’s need, a specific product training and/or scenario-based training will suffice.
Our training plan included a mix of face-to-face sessions, online courses, and hands-on training. We made several batches and followed a track-based approach. The ones who had issues with generating the need of the product were given intensive product training, followed by ten mock calls where our team played the part of prospects.
Folks who struggled with delivery were given soft skills and facilitation training while the ones struggling with the CMS (Customer Management System) and other software like Ameyo were given more hands-on experience. With training solutions catered to specific needs, not only did the employees feel more fulfilled, but it also ensured the L&D efforts were closely aligned with business strategy and productivity.
Content Development
To get the most out of investments in personalized training programs and formulate an ambitious vision across functions, curriculum development too plays a significant role. A compelling piece of content when complemented with a personalized training approach not only engages the employees in an organization, but also encourages collaboration.
Before delivering training to the floor, our team brainstormed for about a week. Then, we collaborated with our in-house instructional designers to re-design the technical training modules, ensuring they were easier to comprehend, especially for people who weren’t necessarily from a tech background. The results were clear — with visually appealing and thoroughly-designed content, employees not only grasped the concepts well, but also retained and applied it on the floor.
While traditional L&D programs consist of classroom learning with no follow-up sessions, with well-designed virtual courses, not only is the learning enforced better, but follow-ups also become an easy job in case people forget what they’ve learned. Inculcating the element of a personalized learning approach, the learners can go through the content any time they deem fit post-training.
Assessments
In case the organization has a huge headcount, and it is not feasible to go through individual discussion to understand individual problem statements, pre- and post-training assessments can be the best saviors.
To develop a personalized training program, it is essential to first assess the individual's current level of knowledge and skills. This assessment can be done through tests, evaluations, or quizzes, and it can help identify the areas where the individual needs to focus more attention.
A pre-assessment allows a trainer to identify the skills, and competencies the company needs to achieve its strategic goals, and what is hindering employees from achieving them. It also helps the L&D function to help understand and divide the employees in batches after inferring which kind of training is required for individuals.
A post-assessment, on the other hand, helps the trainer understand the impact of the training on the individuals. For instance, if one of the learning goals of process training is to be able to use Ameyo and LSQ, and several employees who have attended the training return and ask for clarification on how to accomplish this task, this could mean that the training didn't work like anticipated. In this case, it is important to review the learning objectives and content of the training to ensure it’s more effective in the future.
By putting people first in training, trainers can create effective training programs that meet the needs of learners and help them achieve their goals. A personalized approach to training not just only benefits the employees, but also is thoroughly aligned with business’s profitability. With this approach, in the workplace, companies can expect to attract the best talent while keeping the current ones extremely motivated, productive and confident. As per Gallups, the modern workforce wants growth opportunities, and it’s not really growth if not specific.
Want to dive into some ideas on how to make your training programme work for individuals on a large scale? Why not get in touch with us for a free consultation? We specialise in tailoring learning programmes to be practical, inclusive and unique, to really suit as many individuals as possible.
