Recipe for a Successful Training Program

Anybody can create training. First, open PowerPoint. Second, add text, a few graphics, and a catchy title. Lastly, upload it into your training system and assign it with a due date. What’s the big deal? Well, Mr. Smarty-pants, did you ask yourself the following questions?

• Does the training explain what’s in it for the learner?
• Is now the right time to assign the training?
• Who will learners contact for help?
• How will you know if the training was effective?

If you did not consider even one of these questions, take heed – there are 50 more you should have asked. This article is not going to help you create better training. The point of this article is more important than good training…it’s about setting up the foundation for a successful training program.

I’ve been developing and managing training in diverse industries for nearly 20 years. The lessons and examples in this article were born from my experiences and continue to be influenced by the pharmaceutical environment in which I currently work. Regardless whether your work is compliance training, the foundation of your program must include five essential ingredients. They are: Champion, Culture, Creativity, Compliance, and Consequences.

This recipe for success is timeless. I call them the Five C’s. There are no surprises here, yet many teams lack one or more of these ingredients. From my experience, a training program can be successful if these five elements are present in your organization. I was once part of a team comprised of multiple personalities who struggled to get along, yet we achieved great results. The team dynamic was unstable but we succeeded because the Five C’s were strong. Without the complete recipe, a good training team will only be “getting by”. They’re all interconnected. Each one affecting the other. A culture can’t be strong without a champion to set the tone; creativity is wasted in a culture of apathy; you can’t enforce compliance without consequence.

You are probably familiar with the philosophical question – “if a tree falls in the forest and nobody’s there to hear it, does it make a sound”. I propose this variation – “if a developer creates training but there’s no [insert any of the Five C’s] to support it, does it make an impact”. This question is worthy of consideration regardless of the “C’s” you insert. Now let’s explore how each ingredient contributes to a successful training program.

1.      Champion

“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.” L. Frank Baum (1900). The Wizard of Oz

We often credit the success of a training program to the designers, developers and project leads yet pay no attention to the executive behind the corporate curtain. He/She is our champion. She sets the course and the norms. We need direction – i.e., someone or something to follow. I’ve been led by good and bad champions; and for a short time, by none at all. Years ago, a good champion helped my organization thrive. She transformed the training team’s reputation from a necessary evil to a vital partner. Her successor, however, was a bad champion. He did not emphasize the importance of training. He did not give time to people or ideas. In the presence of a bad champion, or the absence of one, the training team’s influence on compliance deteriorated.

Senior leaders must support the training program. Here are three actions the good champion does well. 1) Deliver critical communications on behalf of the training team, 2) Sponsor training projects, and 3) Engage in dialogue with members of the training team regardless of their rank. A good champion knows that training connects employees to policies, job functions, goals and company philosophy which leads to motivation, productivity for employees, and higher profits for the business. The champion must be willing to spend money on training tools and technology.

“Leaders don’t have to be bright, they have to be clear. If you’re clear, your team will make you right.” - Marcus Buckingham (2005). The One Thing You Need to Know

In a recent article, Google noted that a climate of “psychological safety” must be present to build the perfect team. It is this safety net that allows us to take risks without fear of reprisal. A good champion will not completely prevent risk but rather make it safe to take risk. That is the first takeaway action of this article.

2.      Culture

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.“ Marcus Buckingham (2005). The One Thing You Need to Know

Culture drives employee engagement which drives bottom-line results. Employee engagement correlates with an organization's success.

The Culture says “drink the Kool-Aid; it’s sweet and it’ll make you feel good. Everyone’s offering their own flavor of Kool-Aid so why not drink ours.” The culture and the champion are interconnected. The champion is a leader who models behavior, instills values, and sets the culture. If she does not drink the Kool-Aid, then there’s little chance anyone else will. The champion can make or break the identity of the organization simply by her presence. She must breed a culture of compliance.

Training needs to be taken seriously at every level of the organization. Leaders and managers must model the behavior they want to see in their staff. We often hear the phrase, “It takes a village.” If the villagers do not understand why the training is important, if they do not buy into the behavior the training requires, then the villagers will rebel by simply “checking the box”. There needs to be a direct line of communication between learners and the training team. This is one step towards earning the learners’ trust and getting them to feed the culture.

I am also a learner. If I needed help where would I go? Who could I contact? While one point-of-contact is efficient, there needs to be more than one way to get there. With each new team I join, I ask the following questions: Do we have a centrally shared mailbox? Does it have a name that indicates what we do and can it be easily found in the email directory? Do we have a web site that provides a one-stop-shop for all our services? Is there a dedicated team member responsible for its maintenance? Beyond the intermittent training assignment, do we communicate to our learners such as through a seasonal or quarterly newsletter? It’s important to have a two-way relationship with our audience. People are more willing to listen to someone they like.

The 2nd takeaway action: Know your audience; refer to them as “learners” not “users”; keep them informed; tell them “why”.

3.      Creativity

Creativity is combination of two or more existing elements that result in a new concept. - Paraphrasing Stan Weston, the creator of the first action figure

Creativity does not mean you must program a cutting-edge website or paint a masterpiece; we can be creative with the language we use and the message we send. Be memorable. Connect learners to something they’ll understand. Many self-proclaimed trainers build training courses with disconnected information, thus feeding the “check-the-box” mentality. It’s all guts and no story. Trainers often feel there is not enough time or resources to make every course a four-star film. They sometimes feel compelled to focus only on “more important” issues.

I can paint and build websites but I’ll admit these skills do not benefit my organization. I must first put myself in the learner’s shoes, or seat as it were. By assessing the needs of the learner and connecting them to business goals it is easier to determine what is effective and sustainable.

Creativity can be about having options. Generating more solutions than problems. Making incremental improvements. Modeling your work on those who went before you – e.g., Inventors, Training colleagues, Doctors/Nurses, the Fire Department). Many ideas and inventions were derived from existing tools and products. For example:

• The fire department combined a hammer, axe, pick, and crowbar into a single tool (i.e., halligan bar)
• Ancient civilizations melted copper and tin together to make a strong metal (i.e., bronze)
• The Jamaicans revolutionized our drinks by mixing chocolate in milk and the Reese company re-invented candy by combining peanut butter with chocolate;
• Super glue was designed for guns during WWII but was used to seal battle wounds
• Pharmaceutical companies develop combination products like the Epinephrine injection pen for allergic reactions
• Only a decade ago Apple integrated a phone with the internet and a camera. Voilà! The smartphone was born.

The 3rd takeaway action: Take two existing, dissimilar things and combine them to make something new.

4.      Compliance

Compliance establishes standards and best practices. Compliance training, some might joke, is a necessary evil. However, it helps our organization avoid unwanted costs and harm to workers and customers. Staff must follow the regulations of the environment, the company, and the country. This leads to better risk management and transparency, which then increases efficiency and productivity of business.

Of course, you don’t need to be lectured on this subject. We can all distinguish between good and bad behavior. The behavior we chose is influenced by the information we receive through training, by the example of our leaders, and by the culture that embraces both. Training often gets assigned without answering the important question, “Why”. If learners know why they’re being trained, then perhaps they’ll pay more attention and not be quick to “check the box”.

A good compliance program wouldn’t be complete without a robust and flexible Learning Management System. It must adapt to the technology of our courses and handle the high demand for reporting data. The LMS must provide flexible options to assess learning retention. The LMS must be error-proof. That’s asking a lot from our LMS but it’s not unrealistic. There are many choices out there, but I have yet to see one that serves all our needs. I wish someone would take the best parts of each and combine them into one superior system. Wouldn’t that be creative!?

The 4th takeaway action: Tell users what the expected outcome is of each training then measure the results.

5.      Consequences

Nothing we do is worth doing without expecting and accepting consequences. Without consequences, people are less likely to comply. It guides us, forward and backward. Consequences drive our actions and direct us where to go.

Training statistics must be monitored. Overdue training must be reported to supervisors. Metrics must be reported to senior leaders on a regular basis. Failure to comply with required training must be handled appropriately. I was part of an organization that incorporated an individual’s training compliance history into their yearly performance objectives. If a learner was overdue more than 10 days on a given course, or more than 5 courses in a year it affected their performance rating. You might call this the “carrot and stick” method – i.e., reward and punishment. Initially, it is more effective to withhold the carrot than to introduce the stick. But keep the stick handy. Bad behavior can weaken a culture if compliance is not enforced by strong leaders, good training, and realistic consequences.

The final takeaway action: Report overdue training to supervisors so it can be handled appropriately.

Conclusion

Developing an effective training program is vital to the long-term success of the business. If you write a list of everything a training program needs, it would be an extremely long list. You might have wondered why I didn’t include Communication in the Five C’s. That’s because it is a characteristic inherent in all the ingredients. Maybe I’ll write another article illustrating what the local pub’s “happy hour” can teach us about good communication. In this article I’ve highlighted five underestimated, sometimes neglected, but always essential pillars of a training program: Champion, Culture, Creativity, Compliance, and Consequences. Whether or not your training is effective, consider the Five C’s and try some of my tactical recommendations. They’ll make a big difference yet cost very little.