How do you align your training strategy with your company's vision?

It's quite simple. Let's take the vision statement of Sephora: To become the Diversity, Inclusion, Equity and belonging champion in the beauty and retail industry. Every learning experience that Sephora provides should get each employee closer to becoming a diversity, inclusion, equity, and belonging champion. For example, if Sephora provides a technical training on how to apply makeup to clients in store, the training should include how to handle different skin types, skin complexions, makeup styles, as well as cultural and religious considerations related to makeup. It's not as complex as it seems; it just takes some forethought.

Your vision should be future focused and paint a picture of what the organization seeks to advance. The vision will reflect your organization’s ideal legacy. Goals should be measurable but not so rigid they cannot evolve or adapt.

Doing a deep dive into this area can be challenging when there is a lack of knowledge. In my experience, team managers may not always have a thorough understanding of individuals' skills and therefore struggle to identify gaps. This ultimately reflects the skill and experience of the managers, and if there is a lack of in-depth knowledge, it indicates a training need within the management teams. However, if there is a knowledge gap among managers, it is possible to gather data through various methods such as forums, clients, and partnerships. These sources can provide valuable information to assess the learning needs and align them with the company's vision.

This is the bread and butter of the training strategy process. Some organizations could make this overly complicated by not properly evaluating employee competencies and determining the gaps. Once this is achieved, the process becomes less cumbersome to manage.

Aligning the training strategy with the company's vision begins with a thorough assessment of learning needs, a process I've integrated deeply into our strategic planning. This process involves evaluating the skills and knowledge gaps about the company's goals. For instance, if our vision includes significant technological advancement, understanding the current digital literacy of our workforce is crucial. This assessment helps tailor our training programs to address current competencies and prepare our team for upcoming challenges and opportunities. By ensuring that our training efforts are aligned with the company's long-term goals, we equip employees with the tools they need to contribute effectively to our shared vision.

There's often a real disconnect w strategic plan'g and the inclusion of the learning team. For me, that's a fundamental starting place. Next of course would be needs assessment, ficus groups, etc. The other real missing piece is the lack of a full instructional design team. In my exp, even larger teams expect the full ADDIE process to be carried out by 1 or 2 people. The ADDIE process utilizes different skill sets and good design/dev take time. All that said, if the learning team is not large enough to handle the constant curricula changes, it's impossible to keep aligned with the evolving strategy changes. Finally, when attempting to implement level 4 eval I've found that even sr execs cannot articulate measurable, strategic outcomes.

I always begin by asking why someone would choose our brand, product, or service. Then, I ask: What do they expect? This defines the function of what we do and why we do it. This is followed by asking "What will make someone return?", generating incredible self-awareness and totally relatable to the everyday experience of your employees. The commitments made moving forward become strategic objectives, created by the people on the front-line . . . those most responsible for creating your bottom line.

To overcome these challenges, it is important to carefully plan and design the training program based on the organisation's specific learning needs, goals, and vision. I recall a company's attempt to implement a training program to enhance technical skills and productivity did not work well. They did not involve key stakeholders in the design process, leading to a lack of relevance and practicality in the training content. Insufficient resources were allocated, resulting in a rushed program with limited support for participants. a confusing evaluation and feedback mechanism was used which made it difficult to measure the program's impact. To avoid these issues, careful planning, stakeholder involvement and resource.

Para tornar os treinamentos para colaboradores mais eficazes, é essencial personalizá-los de acordo com as necessidades da equipe, utilizar métodos interativos, fornecer feedback regular e integrar práticas hands-on para reforçar o aprendizado teórico. Além disso, acompanhar o progresso e adaptar os programas conforme as mudanças no ambiente de trabalho potencializa o retorno sobre o investimento em treinamento.

To enhance and continuously review the content of training programmes, it is crucial for me to obtain recommendations and feedback from users. Incorporating technology-based interactive sessions that engage the audience, and avoiding death 💀 by PowerPoint !! is essential. personalised learning paths to make it feel tailored and even gamification , to help to keep the material current and engaging at all times . Emphasising continuous improvement through ongoing feedback and updates is vital to align with the company's vision and ensure it’s the right content

For the past 14 years, I’ve led hundreds of leadership, sales, and skill development workshops. Prior to that, I spent 13 years in banking and financial services. In fact, I have a degree in Finance. Does that matter? YES. When designing any development program for a commercial enterprise, often times the stakeholders who stand to gain the most from a successful program are business people FIRST. Most of them don’t care about the principles of adult learning, which clever model or assessment tool is used. Sure, those matter, but if you lead with what the org will possess AFTER the learning journey is complete, you may actually get the funding you need. Start with ROI. The rest is only detail. Get #InPositionToWin!