First Client Symposium -- February 27, 2008

Over the past year or more InterLINK Management Consulting noted that its clients in the Pittsburgh area were employing a variety of approaches to develop their employees and managers. Each company seemed to address the need for people development in a different way, often in an ad hoc manner. We thought that there was an opportunity for our client companies to learn from each other. Accordingly, we developed a user-friendly survey of training and development practices then arranged for a symposium to share the results and reflect on their significance.

Completed surveys were received from 23 managers and executives representing 12 organizations in the Pittsburgh area. The nine Symposium attendees included business owners, company officers, and department managers representing such industries as manufacturing, telecommunications, financial services and nonprofits.

Key Points from the Survey:

• Increasingly organizations are recognizing that employee and leadership development are critical strategic endeavors, especially in light of the exodus of baby boomers. This presents a serious need for succession planning and produces recruitment challenges.
• The degree to which training was linked to and supportive of company strategic objectives was encouragingly high in 75% of the surveyed organizations
• On-the-Job (OJT) is the most popular method of training. It is often supported by internal workshops, team meetings plus customized programs. Some external seminars and college-level courses are employed. The best training, whatever the method, is practical, relevant and deals with real-life issues that promote immediate application
• Approaches that did not work include one-size-fits-all training, off-the-shelf programs, mass (large-scale) events, and doing nothing (i.e., expecting employees and managers to be trained without any system in place).
• Use of state funding to offset some training expenses is increasing but only a little over 50% of the responding companies take advantage of this resource. Executives often do not realize the extent of training cost-recovery is available.
• Most surveyed companies do not currently train employees who are newly promoted to management or supervisory positions but realize the importance of doing so.
• Top management support for employee development ranges from average to high, with 60% of the responding companies rating it "Excellent" or Very Good".
• Training in "people or soft skills" such as Communication, TeamBuilding, Coaching, Conflict Resolution and Delegating is increasingly recognized as important.
• The survey showed that "Time" was the major restraint to training although the Symposium discussion indicated that "management awareness" was more critical.
• External resources like InterLINK Management Consulting were seen as having expertise and a broader knowledge about training and development best practices than was available inside the organization. This was one of the primary reasons companies turn to outside organizations for assistance.

Key Points from the Symposium:

Besides being provided with an overview of the survey results, the Symposium attendees were presented with some pertinent benchmarking data regarding the $129.60 billion industry that Employee Learning & Development consists of in the United States. They included:

Characteristics of Best Learning Organizations:

1. Align Training & Development with business strategies
2. Senior Level involvement and support
3. Efficient internal structure and use of resources
4. Training & Development is treated as an Investment; significant resources are dedicated
5. Learning Opportunities are varied, including web-based programs
6. Outcomes from Training &Development are measured
7. Require all employees to complete individual career development plans annually and.attend a minimum number of training hours/year

Those who attended the Symposium, in a spirited discussion, came up with their own set of Best Practices and Insights, such as;

• Develop vs. delegate.you can't just tell somebody to do something, you have to train them
• Succession planning is essential
• The challenge of changing the culture is worth assuming
• Attracted to the Idea of a card with statement of Values and Zero Tolerance standards that each employee would carry (as done in one of the organizations attending the Symposium)
• Certification process (e.g., ISO) often demands formal training
• Maybe time" is not the issue!
• It all starts at the top
• Important to routinely make a check of “how are we developing our people”
• Sometimes management is harder to change than the employees
• Affirmed the value of role plays and other methods to practice new skills
• Financial Grants: WEDnet and others offer valuable resources
• Idea of an "in-house" university to do the "education" (not training)

The Symposium concluded with a check on the benefits and impressions that the participants were taking away with them.

Take-Aways:

• Our management team needs help and coaching
• Develop vs. delegate (2)
• We all have the same set of problems (3)
• We can all make changes for our companies
• Stronger interest in metrics to make sure training is working
• This (i.e., the Symposium) is a form of benchmarking
• “Yes, I'll take back to my company the little golden nuggets that I was hoping for”.
• Strong interest in networking within group (most/all)
• We must help the employee to develop, not just tell them what to do