Author
James Donovan
The fact that training is fundamental to developing skills and enhancing employee abilities and productivity is old news. Most managers today agree on the benefits and investment in training. Challenges, however, lie in the perceived time/resource drain that training will have when margins are tight and all must be productive for revenue.
In the modern infrastructure world, differentiation is hard to come by, and the risks of incorrect design and implementation can be catastrophic to all types of networks. As a result, education must be seen as a motivator to engage employees and a tool to set your company apart.
While securing management buy-in is a key factor when it comes to the success of your company’s training program, it is a challenging and continual process. Before approaching management, you must know what your organization’s strategic business goals are and how the training program will continue to help meet them.
It is also important to know which members of the management team already support the program. Having a champion will strengthen your case with other executives. By doing your homework and being prepared, you will establish credibility and generate trust with the management team.
When promoting the value of investment in training:
DO:
- Establish how the training program will help achieve business goals
- Use success stories and case examples
- Identify more immediate, short-term results
- Show value
- Propose solutions
- Explain how results will be measured
- Share information in small, easy to digest segments
- Listen carefully to any feedback and incorporate what management really wants into your future communications
- Deliver anything that is requested
- Give ongoing progress updates
DO NOT:
- Ignore prime business goals
- Give ultimatums
- Be unreasonable
- Overdo the use of abstracts, charts, and diagrams that may confuse the issue
- Oversimplify
- Offer insight alone (Management wants proposed solutions and demonstrated results)
Looking to boost your evidence and support your case for investment in training? Read this case study example to see how CommScope’s Infrastructure Academy training can lead to success.
How have you tried to implement training for your technicians?
