Transformation Comes Through Process Excellence

From Training Industry Blog

The first in this year’s blog series on training outsourcing dealt with the idea that there’s a growing need for corporate executives to find a training supplier that has the capability to transform the training organization from one that consumes costs to one that creates value.
Outsourcing training has been traditionally viewed as a strategy to reduce costs because the expectations of training departments have continued to be low and have showed little to no measureable results.  That being said, contracting with a training outsourcing supplier has focused on taking costs out of the business and doing more for less money.
But things are changing. Corporate executives are learning that training can and should be a valuable contributor to the bottom line.  They know that by improving sales, customer and employee training, they can positively drive product adoption, reduce employee turnover and increase customer loyalty and morale.
All of these are reasons why corporate executives are putting a new spotlight on the training function. We are having more conversations with corporate executives who ask, “How can we leverage training to be a strategic part of the business and drive value for the company?" This renewed focus by corporate executives is creating the need for transformation.
How do we transform the training function? What must be done? The first and most important change is a renewed focus on process excellence. Simply being conscious of the processes of training is not enough. Being excellent at execution makes all the difference.
Our years of research on the characteristics of high performance training organizations, as outlined in “What Makes a Great Training Organization,” has taught us that training functions that are process excellent consistently produce greater results than those that are not. And those that are not process oriented tend to be focused on events or delivering courseware as opposed to business performance.
So what are the most important processes that we must be process excellent at? Based on our research, the most influential processes are those that drive strategic alignment to the business’s needs. The five that we found to be the most important are:

1. Customized training to meet the needs of an organization.
2. Established agreed-upon objectives with the business units.
3. Adapted training to the organization’s unique business or culture.
4. Defined performance success metrics in advance of the program development cycle.
5. Developed consultative partnerships with clients.

We recognize this is not an all-inclusive list. However, organizations that are excellent at these have the greatest probability of success in creating value for the business.  These processes are what the top training outsourcing companies do best. They understand how to customize learning programs. Contractually, they have to establish agreed-upon objectives. Many have capabilities to adapt training to a business culture. They must define success metrics to meet the contractual terms of a Service Level Agreement and must be consultative in how they manage client relationships.
No matter how good you are at designing and delivering courses, if the courses and solutions you offer are not aligned to the goals of the organization, you will fall short of your business expectations.   This is why corporate executives are looking to outside organizations to help them transform how their training function operates.

         

About the Author

Doug Harward

Doug Harward is the CEO and Founder of Training Industry, Inc. He is internationally recognized as one of the leading strategists for training and outsourcing business models. He is respected as one of the industry's leading authorities on competitive analysis for training services and works with international companies and new business start-ups in building training organizations.

Harward previously served as the Director of Global Learning for Nortel Networks where he led the industry's largest global training outsourcing engagement with PricewaterhouseCoopers. He received the Chairman's Global Award for Community Service for his work in developing integrated learning organization strategies within higher education, public schools and business. He has worked in the training industry for more than 25 years. He received an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and a BSBA in Marketing from Appalachian State University.