Designing Training Programs; Internal and External Resources

Picture: The Company (continued)

In this post, let’s discuss design and the leveraging of internal and external resources.

Design – where does the organization turn when designing training programs?

There are three separate responses to this, or as is more probably the truth in many organizations, a combination of two or possibly all three. Many organizations rely on internal resources exclusively to design training initiatives. If the organization is large and profitable enough, they may actually have the resources required to hire or develop certified learning and development professionals. While it’s tempting to suggest that this is the ideal scenario, it may not necessarily be so. Having the required internal resource may be a point of pride for an organization, but if the return-on-investment required is not being met, there are other alternatives. One of those alternatives is using external resources to design and deliver proprietary programs; the other alternative is the use off-the-shelf programs that can be easily customized to fit the organization’s needs and culture.

Leveraging Internal Resources

For many organizations, subject matter experts (SMEs) are the most common turn-to-when-required internal resource when it comes to developing training programs. The logic behind this is self evident. The challenge with this is not with the depth of knowledge that the SME brings to the table, but rather with the assumption that just because someone has the requisite knowledge, they must therefore be a good instructional designer and facilitator. How often have you sat through a one way, long, difficult to follow, information intensive slide presentation from a SME with the expectation that you will internalized all of the required knowledge and then be capable of using it in the workplace? Unfortunately this scenario is all too common. SMEs are important, but teaming them up with an individual that understands fundamental instructional design and delivery is just as important if you are to capture the value that you are looking for (remember ROI?). One way to leverage a SME’s knowledge could be through the application of a train-the-trainer program (TtT). The SME provides the knowledge, and then those within the organization who have an aptitude for presenting content effectively can be taken through a TtT program. All of this though rests with the final key component. Do the training initiatives being undertaken have the support of the organization? This means more than just lip service, it means the financial and resource support necessary to ensure that the design and delivery of the program won’t be hindered by lack of resources and ultimately lead to questions being asked that result in the answer, “we didn’t have the support we needed to benefit from this.”

External Resources

As mentioned, sometimes using external resources could actually lead to a significantly greater ROI than relying exclusively on internal resources. This can mean everything from sourcing external consultants to do all of the design work for you, to reaching for easily customized, off-the-shelf solutions. An off-the-shelf solution, or program in a box, is often as good as or better than internally designed initiatives. This is of course contingent on the context (i.e. technical in nature, proprietary to the organization, focused on fundamental leadership or office efficiencies).

When looking at the “P”icture of the company, it’s important to know how ingrained in the culture these issues are. The next post will discuss expectations, leadership orientation, and what it means to be a learning organization. After that, “P”icture will move onto The Learner.