Continuing our series of podcasts that explore the most common questions asked in coaching sessions, Rob and Paul explore the very common topic of time in this podcast. A range of time questions come up, all of which centre around the genuine issue of having more things to do than the time available.
Time management skills are essential to modern working but are only part of the story. Most of us have jobs where the demands outstrip the time available, and in this episode, Paul and Rob explore the different mindset (and skills) required to ensure that the time you have is used in the best possible way.
Organisations often view training programs as quick fixes for performance issues, expecting immediate returns on investment. However, this perspective overlooks the complexities of learning and development. Training alone cannot address multifaceted organisational challenges without alignment with the organisation’s culture, systems, and leadership practices.
This article explores the limitations of relying solely on training as a solution and emphasises the need for a comprehensive approach that includes leadership involvement, ongoing support, and a culture that fosters continuous learning.
When we engage with learning and development teams in organisations, the most common question is, “How will you measure the impact of the intervention? To which we reply, “How do you measure it now?”
Learning & Development Teams are typically deferential to the major operational business units; they serve the company by understanding and closing the capability gap. The problem is that businesses like to measure impact, but measuring learning impact is far from easy.
Measuring ROI is understandable; of course, everyone wants to see their investment pay off, but the issue is when only Learning and Development are accountable, you leave the outcome to chance. Why? Because the puzzle is more complex.
The problem
When managers and leaders position training as the panacea for organisational challenges yet point fingers at these programs when performance falls short, they overlook a critical piece of the puzzle: their role in the learning transfer process.
This contradiction underscores a broader corporate culture issue, revealing misplaced expectations and a misunderstanding of how learning effectively translates into improved job performance.
Firstly, there’s an overarching tendency to overestimate what training can achieve in isolation. This optimism, while initially seeming beneficial, sets the stage for disappointment.
No matter how comprehensive, training can only singularly address multifaceted organisational issues by reinforcing post-training support. This support includes coaching and mentorship, opportunities for practical application, and a culture that encourages reflection and continuous learning.
The Impact
I have been on many courses in my corporate life, and rarely, if ever, have I been sat down with before or after any intervention to ensure that the thousands invested in me will pay off.
When my manager didn’t take the time or, at its worst, even talk about the intervention, the message I got was that it wasn’t important and any post-learning activity was down to me. The manager effectively says it is unimportant or they don’t care. That is leaving the outcome to chance!
Moreover, the alignment—or lack thereof—between training programs and an organisation’s strategic goals can significantly impact their effectiveness.
Training initiatives not tailored to an organisation’s specific needs and culture are less likely to yield meaningful outcomes. Leaders play a crucial role in ensuring that training is not just a box-ticking exercise but is genuinely relevant and integrated into the organisational strategy.
The environment where employees apply their new skills also plays a crucial role. A supportive work climate and a clear understanding of the training’s relevance to their positions can significantly enhance the transfer of learning. Conversely, an environment that lacks these elements can stifle the application of new skills, no matter how excellent the training intervention.
Accountability and measurement are also often needed in the equation. With clear mechanisms to track the application of learning and its impact on performance, it’s easier to blame the training when expectations are unmet. This approach overlooks the necessity of a supportive infrastructure that facilitates the transfer of learning.
Lastly, the psychological aspect of cognitive dissonance, where leaders believe in the power of training but find it easier to blame it for failures, highlights a disconnect and, for me, deflection away from them. They absolve themselves and their crucial role in the learning transfer. It points to a need for a more nuanced understanding of how training, organisational culture, and leadership practices intersect to impact learning and performance.
The solution lies not in devaluing training but in recognising its place within a broader system of continuous learning and support. Leaders must shift their mindset from viewing training as a standalone solution to seeing it as part of a comprehensive strategy that includes their active involvement.
The Solution
Leaders and learners need a shift in mindset; move away from viewing training as a one-off event, a tickbox. Everyone needs to see it as part of a continuous learning journey.
Learning is not or ever will be a silver bullet; it cannot be effective without alignment with the organisation’s culture, systems, and leadership practices.
Leaders and learners need to establish clear objectives for their training, understand how training aligns with organisational goals, provide ongoing support for learners, and implement mechanisms to measure and reinforce the application of new skills in the workplace.
Before Training
Line managers should spend time with their people ahead of any development intervention to articulate:
Why this training is important for them and the business.
Why now is the right time.
How it aligns with the business goals.
What goals for the training
What they expect of them during and after the intervention.
After Training
Arguably, post-intervention clarity and support are most vital. Line managers should ask their people to reflect with purpose; this means reviewing to identify areas that might still need attention and having a call to action for how they will apply their learning. After all, if my boss is interested, this must be important!
Reflection – ask learners:
What did they learn?
So What does that mean for them?
Now What will they do differently?
Application – create opportunities for people to put learning into practice.
Coaching & feedback – identify opportunities to provide meaningful feedback and coach where required to raise the bar and embed learning.
I can hear managers and leaders raising their eyebrows as they read, shouting, “Does this guy not realise how much we have to do?” They will argue they don’t have the time to spend this time with their people. What they fail to realise is that they are already spending that time addressing the shortcomings and issues that arise from a lack of confidence or competence due to poor follow-through, practice, reflection and application.
Training ROI only comes if the employee, managers and learning teams combine with a unified approach.
This article first appeared on Forbes.com on 25th March 2024
Ricky has been a regular contributor to the Forbes Councils since 2023, where he shares his perspectives on all things leadership, change, culture and productivity, all with Thinking Focus’ unique perspective on metacognition, or as we prefer to say, thinking about thinking.
We are back with new podcasts for 2024, and we are starting the year with some of the questions that we get asked as coaches.
In this episode, Ricky and Paul explore the question most new leaders ask themselves: What makes me worthy of being a leader? There are several reasons why people pose this question, from self-doubt, to seeing the capability of others (while not seeing our own strengths) or simply not seeing leadership for what it is.
If this is a question you have asked yourself, then this podcast will help you think through all the reasons why you should be a leader, and come to terms with the fact that leaders are rarely experts, and experts are normally too busy exporting to lead.
Join us as we talk to Ian James, who shares his journey from an insurance claims handler to Head of Global Risk and Control for a major global bank. His progressive attitude to risk management stands him out from the crowd, and his desire to be at the inception of ideas means he can be an enabler rather than the nay-sayer when he’s left on the periphery of thinking.
Ian shares how he channelled his early dislike for formal education into his work life as he hoovered up a wide range of knowledge and skills and developed a passion for developing people. This passion extended beyond work as Ian coached a rugby team, developing them from eight years old through to eighteen. He also led a scout group and volunteered to help many Duke of Edinburgh award groups. He’s even turned his hand to judging for Regional Enterprise awards in Birmingham.
Ian’s passion for developing people with exceptional engagement scores in almost every role he has undertaken. He shares how several people influenced him in his career and how he has paid that forward many times.
Join us as we talk to Barry Mellis, who shares his journey from Golf Professional to General Manager for Asics in South Africa and Africa.
Early in his career, he swapped the fairways for selling golf equipment. Having found his niche in sales, he joined the world’s leading sports brand – Adidas. He spent 20 years developing and honing his skills, preparing him for opportunities in New Balance and Intersport before finding his way into several senior roles in Asics.
Barry shares his insight, lessons, and those who influenced his career, highlighting three key people who nurtured his career, which has found its way into Barry’s leadership style as he has paid it forward to his people. Barry speaks proudly of people who have gone on to greater things, having spent time under his wing.
Productive teams know how to work together; what helps the high-performing teams is a shared operating system, much like your PC.
A shared operating system allows people to get the work done, but using a unifying set of core principles (like apps on a PC) creates shared understanding. Imagine if you used a slide deck tool incompatible with the Microsft PowerPoint used by a colleague or customer; how frustrating would that be? How much time would be wasted decoding and figuring it out?
There is no decoding with a shared operating system; we all know how we do stuff, so we’re straight into what matters. With a common set of ‘how we get stuff done’ principles, it enables teams to shortcut and accelerate their productivity and increase output.
There are moments, often, when we hit milestones that symbolise the end of something (like the end of a year), that we stop and take a moment to look back. This moments are opportunities to reflect, to learn and to prepare to start again.
Yet, in work, these moments are missed as we jump from project to project, urgent task to urgent task. Urgency getting in the way of growth, learning and, most importantly, using this wisdom to focus on the things that will have the biggest impact on our goals.
In this podcast, Ricky talks with Paul about the power of these moments, asking why these are so important, yet often undervalued in the workplace. Of course, they also get into some simple ways that you can make your reflection time more effective and why this does not need to take very much time at all if you do it right.
Join us as we explore the inspirational story of Nicola Marshall. Nicola ‘Nic’ is a driven and focused individual who combines a demanding role for one of the UK’s best-known brands with being a wife, mum of a teenage daughter and a cockapoo, yet still finds the time to train and compete in marathons and even a triathlon.
Nic is the People Director at Welcome Break, the UK’s largest Motorway Service Area Provider and a member of the Senior Leadership Team of the parent company Applegreen, where she leads the people functions across Welcome Break and Applegreen in the UK, ROI and US and is Chair of the Welcome Break Charitable Fund.
Listen as Nic shares how her passion for people led her from operational roles into the world of people development & HR with some of the UK’s leading hospitality businesses, including Whitbread, Greene King & Travelodge. Nic talks about her hopes, fears, and experiences that have shaped her career and how role models inspired her to succeed.
In this podcast, Rob and Ricky don their capes and dive into the world of stellar communication. (what they get up to in their own time is up to them!) What does it take to be a true communication superhero in an era riddled with distractions, impatience, and information overload?
Being an effective communicator isn’t just about conveying messages; it’s about understanding, connecting, and making an impact. Yet, many of us falter, whether it’s due to a lack of skills, a disregard for respect and courtesy, or simply a scattered focus and lack of purpose in our interactions.
In this episode, they dissect the critical skills that often go amiss in daily communications. They look at areas such as the role of respect and courtesy in dialogue and deep into the importance of having a clear focus and purpose behind every word and gesture.
They also provide actionable steps, techniques, and insights to help you rise above these challenges. It’s time to transition from a communication novice to a true communication superhero. Capes are optional.
Rob and Ricky as they dive headfirst into the intricate web of common communication pitfalls that leave many of us scratching our heads, wondering, “Where did that go wrong?”
Have you ever sat through a meeting and thought it was a complete waste of time? We explore the impact of poorly conducted meetings – how they not only drain our time but also our energy and productivity. We’ve all been there, and it’s time to address the elephant in the room.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Assumptions. They say when you assume, you make an “ass” out of “u” and “me.” We delve into the dangers of making assumptions in communication, how they lead us astray, and the strategies to avoid them.
In our digital age, emails have become the backbone of corporate communication. But are they always effective? We discuss the overuse and misuse of email, leading to cluttered inboxes and missed messages. And as if that wasn’t enough, we’re also battling against the tide of information overload.
