Training Trends and Patterns

Last year 2013, we saw an upsurge of training activities. It looks like the trend will continue through 2014. Why the continuing focus on training and development?

                              

Training as Reward

Recently I met a talented young man, who just quit an interesting job. I asked him his key reason for filing his resignation.  He has performed well giving solid contributions to the company for two years, so why leave?  He felt his self- esteem has been eroded. He has not been sent to a single training program to enhance his development as a professional.  He took it as a sign that he was not valued much by the company. Indeed, today, training is not just a means to develop people’s skills but also to retain and keep talented employees.

Most organizations recognize that training and development is in fact a key to retaining, recognizing and rewarding human resources. Most talented people want to stay with organizations who ensure their development and reward their performance.

Training Content

In terms of training content, corporations continue to emphasize investment in managerial and supervisory training. Providing competencies to people who in turn “produce results through people” is perceived by leaders as priority.  Year round, our training center was doing training for managers and supervisors almost every week.

There is also growing attention to retail training. A rapidly growing industry sector is retail, where the customer takes center stage. Training is focusing on connecting with the customer through friendly and competent service. Good customer service, hand in hand with proper and intelligent   branding make for successful services. Today, training companies are moving towards helping companies educate their customers through the adoption of innovative customer education programs.

One area getting much attention is also culture training and development to include values and ethics programs, as well as safety and environmental compliance programs. Companies are recognizing that the orientation of young people, especially of millenials are critical to ensure continuity of service.  The alignment of personal and corporate values are key to building loyalty to companies and stronger organizations.

Training Methods

Training methods are growing in blend and variety, customized to the needs, attitudes and circumstances of participants. Beyond classroom training, that is merging education, entertainment and interactive methods is the inclusion of e-learning, on line classes, coaching programs, and self-driven learning programs.

Many companies are starting to blend in a  creative learning mix with percentages varying with the  audience among learning from on the job experiences, coaching, networking, mentoring and learning from formal courses like training programs, webinars or online courses.

Monitoring and Evaluation

Today companies are focusing on tangible results from training. Monitoring and evaluation is gaining ground as companies seek to optimize investments and move towards continuous improvement. Today, training professionals are expected to be open to assessment and feedback of their work and the extended use of training and development.  Leaders want to be sure that driving deliver results.

Greater Employee Proactivity

Employees will continue to exert proactive efforts to get into basic as well as advance training. Not only are they keen on building credentials, but they want to pursue the development of their careers. They know the secret is in acquiring competencies.

Training Academies

Last year, we had the experience of developing leadership academies for two companies. Companies want purposive, systematic and customized curriculum and programs for developing leaders at several levels.  They go through the elaborate and necessary process of competency identification and assessment before designing and developing programs.  Actually completion of programs for a particular level has become a requisite for promotion in one company.

Managing Change

More training programs are being run to help employees prepare for on-going or future dramatic changes that the company are likely to undergo. They range from “Developing a Change Plan”, “Change and Care for Leavers”, "Change and Care for Survivors”, “Developing Alternative Careers”, to “Getting Ready for Entrepreneurship”.