Financial Training Ideas and News| Your Training Edge ®

Summary: Every business has to reinvent itself, even in small ways, over time to stay competitive. The Corporate University must take steps to reinvent, as well. Here are some things to look at when considering a fresh, new approach – even after a short period in business.

The reinvention of the Corporate University should occur, even in small measure, regardless of what you’ve discovered in an assessment or re-evaluation. You’re not looking to change the overall brand, because you want that to stay indelibly identified with the organization and its University. But you do want to make small changes and publicize the successes or coming successes of the University.

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Summary: After any maintenance phase for the Corporate University, you must take the time to re-evaluate all aspects of the program. This re-evaluation is bigger than an assessment, so let’s look at how to accomplish it.

First, you must take the information you’ve gained in the assessment and analyze it. Are courses being utilized, both online and in the classroom? Are additional resources, such as Quick Reference Guides, being accessed and used as well? From the course assessments, you should be able to determine if the course materials and content are useful and appropriate for the job functions, especially if you surveyed participants and their managers after thirty or forty-five days. You can also determine if the online course deployment strategy is working. In addition to the courses, you must determine if the staff is being used appropriately. (more…)

Summary: You’ve built the University, opened it, and now it’s up and running. It’s never too early to look at the maintenance of the University and its programs, so let’s decide which areas should have your focus.

The first area you should look at is the evaluation of the learning programs themselves. Your evaluation of the programs should start at the basic level, with immediate reaction surveys. These surveys, sometimes referred to as Level One on Fitzpatrick’s scale of evaluation, measure the participants’ responses immediately following training. Did they feel they learned new skills? Did the instructor have the appropriate professional outlook and enthusiastic presentation skills? Were the materials useful? All of these questions will give you an idea of how courses are immediately perceived. (more…)

Summary: When it looks like the Corporate University is ready to go, it’s time to think about marketing and promotion. The University must be promoted like any other part of a business, so let’s look at some of the aspects of making this happen.

One of the first considerations to make in advertising and promotion for the University is the “nuts and bolts” of marketing: logos, branding, and color palettes. This is another time when you’ll need the assistance of the internal marketing department or the external consultant. Think about branding in general. Your organization probably has a “look and feel” that is both internal and external. For example, when you walk into a popular chain restaurant you usually know where you are just because of that “look and feel”. Is this something you want the University to reflect? Many Corporate Universities, just like traditional universities, create a logo that goes on all materials, both online and in print. This furthers the look and feel and ensures that when someone in the organization uses an online reference, a quick reference card, or a course manual, they know they are accessing the University’s knowledge base. Logos can also be used on business casual clothing for instructors. Along with branding comes a color palette, a definition of the colors and color combinations that can be used in all University materials, both online and print. The marketing department can help you come up with all of these great tools. (more…)

If you’re ready to build your corporate university, one of the next best practices revolves around creating sponsors, obtaining buy-in, and building a marketing plan. This is an important best practice, as a corporate university with no traction is basically going to be a training department in an ivory tower. The idea here is to get people involved, get them talking, and get them excited about what the corporate university will have to offer. And you can do all of this with a well-planned marketing campaign.

The first step is to create sponsors, or the people who will drive the corporate university’s public face. It’s understood that your Learning and Development department will be a major sponsor, but we are talking about people outside of L&D. This group of sponsors can be your stakeholders, learners, and executives, and preferably a mix of all of these groups. But how do you “create” sponsorship? Show each group how the corporate university will benefit their departments, the organization, and their careers. Tailor this message based on the group you are courting. For example, career benefits are perfect talking points for learners, because the discussion starts on a personal level. When you line up sponsors who will “talk up” the university, you’ll see how the news catches on. (more…)

You’ve planned, analyzed, obtained buy in, and even wrestled with a budget for your global leadership development program. But before you move forward with implementation, you need to determine how the program will be managed effectively. As you have moved through the challenges to global leadership development, you’ve probably realized that with each challenge comes a separate program component. Each component will need to be managed, and managed closely in the first stages of the implementation of the program. Let’s look at this challenge from the process standpoint and discuss some best practices for managing the global leadership development program.

First, take a good look at all of the components for your program. At the high level you’ll probably have separate components for training, coaching, succession planning, and operations. Is there a person or group who will naturally manage each one of these components already? If not, decide how each component will be managed. For example, training and coaching most naturally fall to the training organization. Will you outsource the training function or keep it within your organization? What about succession planning? Do you have a talent manager within the training or organizational development functions, or is the talent manager part of human resources? Or are you the de facto talent manager because of your sponsorship and management of the leadership development program? Operational components, such as scheduling and travel, are also a factor. Do you have an admin staff that can handle the added responsibility? (more…)

All of your best plans for the creation of a global leadership development program may be meaningless if you do not obtain the buy in of key individuals or groups. Any organizational development program needs this buy in and approval, but a truly global program is probably going to require more work on your part; after all, your key individuals and groups are probably just as diverse as your program itself. Let’s look at the best process to use when looking for buy in from those key groups.

First, it is absolutely necessary to define the individuals and groups from whom you need to obtain buy in or approval. Before we move on, let’s look at the difference between buy in and approval. You’ll need to obtain buy in from any individual or group who can push your global leadership development program forward. This could include line managers, key organizational leaders, executives, and even various work groups. The concept of buy in also includes approval, but try not to forget the people who need to approve the program before it can move forward. Divide the key people and groups within your organization and determine which ones should “buy in” and which ones should “approve”. Tailor your presentation to each group, keeping in mind the cultural differences you may encounter within the organization and its regions. Most likely, you’ll come up with an executive group, a stakeholder group, managers and front line supervisors, and key business leaders throughout your system. And each group will require you to “sell” the global leadership program from a different perspective. (more…)

One of the biggest challenges to any training program is budget. In today’s environment, training budgets have been slashed and it may be difficult to obtain further funding. And in those budget cuts, sometimes only the most essential of training programs can continue to be offered. So the challenge for a global leadership program may be obtaining a budget, much less obtaining more money to complete the program. One of the first considerations in the area of budget is simply whether or not the budget can support a global scale leadership development program. If the answer is questionable, you may have to work hard to obtain buy in, which we will discuss in the future.

To begin looking at your budget possibilities, you probably will want to determine how you will create your leadership bench, as well as how you will train and coach those individuals. If you have made this determination, consider creating a matrix of training and coaching methods, as well as network and group meeting costs. Tailor your matrix to your optimal situation and then work your way down the list, eliminating the areas that prove to be too costly. When you take the time to complete this exercise, you’ll know exactly what to ask for-and how to explain the costs of the program. (more…)

Now that you’ve determined how to build your global leadership bench, you must make the determination of which coaching and training methods you’ll use-and begin the process of developing the program. As with any program, there are a wide variety of options available in terms of development and delivery. But since your leadership development program is to be truly global in scope, your choice of training and coaching methods could be a ‘make or break’ for the program and its participants.

First, consider all of the options available. For leadership development, the possibilities may be endless. In person, classroom training is always a good option. Informational pieces can be delivered via the classroom, independent study, or even as online learning interventions. Networking for leaders can also occur in person, but also via web conference, blogs, or moderated discussion boards. The coaching and mentoring aspects of a leadership development program are often best in person, but what’s to stop you from testing out the effectiveness of a web cam if the members of the program are geographically diverse? (more…)