When you approach a training development company with an organizational frustration that needs to be addressed, it’s easy for most vendors to say, “Yes, we can fix that.”
At Tortal Training, we probably can solve your problem, but we never start with that assumption. We dig deep to identify root causes, and consult with your team to create an effective solution. The resulting training programs then become part of a larger sustainable solution, and a powerful asset that can dramatically increase performance and profitability.
A good strategic partner will ask you important questions before going to work on developing your training initiative:
1. What are we trying to accomplish?
This question goes to the root of all the bull. Training is a vehicle to accomplish something, so why not go to work creating the most direct solution for delivering the best results? And why not do it in the most efficient way possible?
We once worked with a large company in the sports entertainment industry who told us that they wanted to enhance the experience of every person that came out to the event. It was easy to brainstorm about little things that could be done to make their experience more memorable, but the big breakthrough came when we realized that in order to enhance the fan experience, we had to enhance the experience of the staff and volunteers. After all, you can’t put the fans first if the people responsible for their experience aren’t properly equipped to do so.
So the important metric for us — the thing we needed to actually accomplish — was to create a thriving environment for staff and volunteers where they had all the tools and information they needed to serve the fans.
2. How might we do that?
It’s easy to immediately think “inside the box” when it comes to training initiatives. Can’t I just sit my people down and explain to them what they need to do?
The honest answer to that question is almost always: “No.” There are a wide number of ways to go about delivering the information that your people need to learn, and the right delivery mechanisms make the difference between wasted resources and genuine effectiveness. Learning studies show that classroom style learning is not easily absorbed by most learners. Most people can memorize information long enough to “pass a test,” but rarely does the content actually stick in a useful way.
By spending the extra time to understand who your learner is, how they learn, and the best ways to help them to absorb the information, you can create a training initiative that has sticking power — one that won’t end up costing you further down the line.
3. What else?
The pressures of the modern business environment often cause us to stop at the first solution. Sometimes the thing you need to teach is as simple as it sounds. Let’s teach our people how to clean this machine.
However, it’s always important to ask, “what else can we do?” A good strategic partner will take the next step to help you dig deeper and consider all of the best ways to achieve your objectives faster, and often for less money. It’s a good practice to simplify training as much as possible. For instance, sometimes you only need to train your people on the most critical 40% of the information they need to know, rather than try to cram 100% of the information into their heads.
4. Are you tracking your training using a modern, full-featured Learning Management System?
If you’re not, you should be. Tortal’s state-of-the-art LMS is something that can be used across all your training activities. What can a strong LMS do for you?
- Keep track of all your learners wherever they are to know whether they have enrolled in your training, which programs they are taking, how much of their training they have completed, and more.
- Organize and control which employees have access to which of your training programs. You can even allow certain members of your training team to strategically edit different training programs so they are appropriate for certain groups of employees.
- Import older training programs with your new programs, to enjoy benefits like the ones we outline above.
