 Express to Maximum Value
Today, many
companies have, or are in the process of establishing, their own training
and organizational development unit or learning center. With that decision
made, the question now becomes: how should the learning center operate so
that it adds maximum value? The analogy of a commuter train illustrates how
a learning center should operate. The rails, the power lines, or
catenaries, the passengers, and the crew all work together to form an
effective, high performance system. Their interaction provides a model for
the best practice of operating a learning center.
The Rails
The train symbolizes the learning center. Your learning center, rides
on a set of tracks. This track consists of two rails - one rail is the culture of the company and
the other is the company’s business. Knowing and understanding the business
and culture of your company is paramount. Knowing one without the other or
taking either for granted will cause your learning center to derail quickly,
regardless of your knowledge level or experience.
Becoming familiar with the rails requires keeping abreast of your
company’s latest business trends, regulatory requirements, board
priorities, corporate goals, and financial conditions. Simultaneously, you
should establish and maintain open and candid relationships with employees
at all levels. Track insight comes from being a good listener, showing
respect, demonstrating that you know the business, and asking factual and
thought-provoking questions. The condition of the tracks can change daily.
Your train could encounter “slippery rails” causing it to have difficulty
stopping and starting.
The learning center itself must be reliable, flexible, and visible
with easy-on, easy-off access. Today’s corporate learning center has to be
able to provide high quality, “just-in-time” services. Management and
employees alike expect the train to be there when they want it and take
them where they want to go, with a minimum amount of inconvenience. This
requires your learning center to be well organized and offer a wide variety
of services. Training programs should be held on a regular basis, on topics
that are meaningful (preferably suggested by employees and management), and
kept to within one hour or one and one-half hours.
Organizational development work should follow a similar pattern.
However, this type of work will require having a series of short sessions
on a regular basis. From time to time your learning center may receive
requests that are not within the realm of training and organizational
development. Some will want to substitute training or organizational
development for strong supervision. In such cases, you will have to thank
them for considering your learning center and refer them to employee
relations.
The Catenary
The power line above the train, the catenary, represents the
learning center’s source of power. This power source is knowledge. This
knowledge includes training know-how, organizational development expertise
and general human resource understanding. No matter how well the rails are
prepared or how well organized your learning center is, it will not move or
travel far without power.
Power is training and organizational development/human resources
knowledge. This knowledge comes from a variety of sources including reading
the current training and organizational periodicals, understanding the
basic academic concepts and knowing when and how to apply them. It also
comes from regularly tapping into training and organizational development
professional associations.
Taking the knowledge from the high power line of theory and
transforming it into energy that will move your learning center and serve
your passengers requires transformers. You must be able to adapt the theory
to the organization rather than insisting that the organization adapt to
the theory. For example, this may mean consolidating a ten-step concept or
process into two or three steps. In addition, when you use consultants who
traditionally market two- or three- day programs, insist that they reduce
it to no more than two hours. Single, full-day programs should be the
exception. The idea is to provide constant service not semi-annual
vacations.
The Passengers
The passengers who use your commuter train consist of your
company’s management, departments and employees. However, they are more
than passengers, they are ambassadors. They may come to you as individuals
seeking coaching, skill building (ranging from technical to interpersonal),
or wanting to obtain new information. Additionally, they may come as a unit
wanting you to help them work more cohesively. Regardless of how or why
they come to you, when they leave, they become your spokespeople. You
depend on them not only for repeat ridership, but also to encourage others
in your company to make use of your services. Therefore, it is important to
understand what your passengers want and constantly strive to exceed their
expectations. It is imperative that you understand your passengers’
business and be on a first name basis with them. Knowing your passengers
will enable you to identify subject matter experts who could assist with
certain trainings.
The Crew
The effectiveness of your commuter train ultimately depends on its
crew. This crew, the conductor, assistant conductor, and engineer are the
learning center’s staff. They should be comprised of high-energy, fun
loving, creative, hardworking, and risk taking individuals. Their
individual skills/abilities should vary, as well as their diversity in
gender, race, and age. This multi-faceted and versatile crew will be able
to operate your commuter train at maximum efficiency and relate to all your
passengers.
This crew must be able to plan and execute both short- and
long-term objectives. Your conductors have to be skilled at performing
informal needs assessments with your passengers so they are able to provide
just-in-time training and organizational development services. The
conductors must have high visibility in the company in order to receive new
ideas as well as informal feedback. Conductors also play a critical role in
keeping the train operating on schedule.
The engineer keeps a constant eye on the tracks and operates the
train. Passengers and crew rely on the engineer to draw the appropriate
power and to maintain a safe speed during all parts of the journey. The
engineer must be familiar with all aspects of your learning center. Both
engineer and conductors stay alert for sudden changes and potential
problems so that together they can develop solutions.
Fun is this crew’s secret ingredient. They have to be able to enjoy
and have fun working with each other and create an atmosphere of fun among
the passengers. This fun translates into increased professional
development, stronger leadership, higher productivity, cost reductions, and
increase in business.
A learning center that adds value operates by first knowing and
understanding its company’s business and culture. Next, it must stay
connected to the latest training and organizational development trends and
appropriately apply them. The success of a learning center will ultimately
depend on a highly skilled, flexible and fun-loving staff. A learning
center with these components will consistently be viewed as a necessary
part of the organization. Such a learning center will be regularly
called upon to provide tools and techniques that will enable employees and
departments to work smarter and more effectively in a fast-paced business
environment.
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