Financial Training Ideas and News| Your Training Edge ®

As we move toward a new year, you will probably begin thinking about what you need to accomplish next year. But this list should be more than a set of objectives or goals – your plans for the upcoming year should take the form of a vision and strategy that can help your organization meet its goals. In order to do this, there are a few steps you should take during your planning process. The first step is to look at the organization as a whole and determine what the strategy will be for 2011.

As the economy emerges from recession, organizations are still slow to spend money or expand out of fear of the dreaded “double-dip.” Because of this, it is even more important that you start your strategy plans with the overall strategy of your organization. This may seem like a great undertaking, but if you approach it systematically it is manageable. First, determine who the strategic layers are or are going to be for the upcoming year. (more…)

We all instinctively know that learning and development within the corporate space is ‘supposed to’ make a difference.  Yet, far too often the programs (not necessary the people) fail due to the following reasons.  Some of these reasons are structural, but too many times it is just poor project management.

A primary reason many programs and courses fail is because there is no “Accountability”.  Learning and Development departments think that they provide accountability by counting the number of seats in the program, or talking about how and why this program is valuable. But they fail in the correlation of the program to the participant job or position. (more…)

With 2009 promising to be another economic trial, organizations are again looking for ways to streamline staffs and cut budgets while adjusting to new levels of productivity and progress. In addition, whether we like it or not, training is sometimes the first function to fall under scrutiny. We’ve talked about how to prove the training organization’s worth, but how can training function positively in a turbulent economy? Is there a way to use the economy to propel training and impact corporate success? In simple terms, yes, training can be a positive function in the turbulence and here are four ways to do it.

First, look at staffing and budgets across the organization. Most likely, there is less of both people and money everywhere you look. How can you propel training in that environment? Create training that creates cross-function. Many times training is geared toward one job or job group, with mobility only occurring within those groups. If you look at the overall picture of interconnectivity between organizational functions, you can determine which groups have the skills and knowledge to move into other areas, or at least take functions in those areas. When you revamp your training curricula, you can integrate these cross-functions and essentially create an “advertisement” for how associates can be utilized 100%. As associates are trained to take on multiple functions in multiple areas, they are creating a streamlined operation that will emerge from financial troubles in a better position – permanently. This new position can only create organizational success, especially when most organizations are trying to figure out how to move forward. (more…)

eLearning Image

During tough times, a learning organization may need to make a move into e learning – the cost is lower, the maintenance is less expensive, and the personnel requirement is lower, as well. If your organization is about to make this migration, consider vital elements in three areas before you move forward: preparedness, pre-migration, and migration.

Before you actually prepare to move your organization to e learning, the first thing you should do is analyze the current organizational culture when it comes to learning. Through this analysis, you’ll discover the organization’s level of preparedness for e learning. Is there even an “e” element in the organization? Are all levels of associates accustomed to email contact and basic computer usage, or do their jobs not require this kind of contact? If there is no “e” element, you may want to consider introducing e learning at a very slow pace to allow people to get used to the idea and the access. Of course, if your organization is tech-savvy already, this part of a migration is usually easier. (more…)

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