A successful employee Learning Management System allows you, the administrator, to easily organize and oversee your employees’ training with ease unlike ever before. The training tracking software enables you to orchestrate your employee training, licensures and certifications to ensure that your team is working at optimal efficiency- at all times. Finally, LMS software made just for you!
Conductor Learning Management System LMS combines Employee Tracking, Curriculum Develpment, Curriculum Design, Training Scheduling, Training Tracking, Training Registration and Reporting all in one affordable easy-to-use training tracking software package.
Ready to improve your company's training program and make your administrative job easier at the same time with an affordable easy-to-use learning management system?
Manager training plays a vital role in the performance and profitability of a company. It helps support the company's growth strategy, expand the skill set of its managers, drive employee engagement and retention, and improve overall productivity.
Thus, it's no surprise that a December 2009 survey of 131 Heads of HR from 124 midsized companies by the Corporate Executive Board's (CEB) HR Leadership Council identified that improving managers' capabilities at supervising their direct reports is their second-highest priority (following engaging and retaining employees).
Despite the significant impact manager training can have on a company, half of the 447 midsized companies who responded to CEB's HR Leadership Council's March 2010 Manager Training Survey do not have a formal manager training program in place. Of these companies, the majority (64 percent) cite 'lack of resources' as the largest roadblock that prevents incorporating a manager training program. Other roadblocks include 'complex training design process' (20 percent) and 'lack of support from top leadership' (15 percent).
As the economy recovers, companies are now planning to make manager training investments. According to CEB, Sixty-three percent of these companies plan to launch a manager training program in 2010 or 2011.
Through its best practice research and ongoing conversations with leading midsized companies, the HR Leadership Council at CEB recommends that companies take the following steps to create a leading manager training program:
1. Assess Needs & Set Priorities: Before initiating a training program, assess both "current" and "desired" levels of performance for key managers. Research indicates most midsized companies skip this step to save time and resources. However, proper needs assessment allows you to align available resources effectively and get better return on investments. Assess manager training needs by conducting focus group interviews or surveying managers and senior leaders.
2. Develop Content & Manage Delivery: Create a cost-effective, in-house strategy for developing content and delivering training using
• Internal subject matter experts: Purchase generic training content from an outside vendor and have your best managers and functional experts customize the content for your organization. Have subject matter experts train other employees to create a pipeline of trainers within your organization.
• Self-paced e-learning modules: Buy reusable, self-service training content like e-learning modules to save on logistic resources required for classroom training. Allow managers to take the training at their convenience.
3. Evaluate Results: Once training is complete, evaluate manager performance against priorities and objectives established in Step 1. Instead of using resource-intensive evaluation tools, use the following methods to evaluate the effectiveness of your training program:
• Include questions on manager quality in annual employee surveys: Employee feedback on direct managers will provide insight into the efficacy of training.
• After each training session, solicit feedback from participating managers: Evaluate overall training design, relevance of course content, and effectiveness of training delivery.
By following the steps detailed above, companies will be able to develop effective manager training programs so help support continued growth.
The ability to manage people well can have a huge financial impact on a company. Employee turnover rates, cost of talent retention, litigation experience, and employee tenure are just some of the metrics you should look at to try to gauge the effectiveness of your management staff. Most companies offer management training of some sort. But there is always room to enhance the programs so that managers feel better prepared to handle their day-to-day responsibilities in ways that minimize risk to the company while improving relationships in the workplace.
With today's technology, offering a variety of management training has become ever more cost effective. Online training is accessible and affordable. And if you retain the right vendors or design it properly in-house, online training can be customized to your organization and organizational culture. Depending on the topic, live training with an in-class instructor or facilitator will give you more bang for the buck. But regardless of the method you choose, committing to an effective management training program can result in tremendous cost savings.
As a result of events in corporate America over the past few years, some companies have committed tremendous resources to ethics and compliance training. In some cases, the training is required by law. In others, offering the training simply is consistent with the corporate commitment to promote ethical business practices. Either way, an effective management training program includes courses on a company's ethics rules, codes of conduct, and compliance codes.
Some of the most effective management training includes courses on managing within the major employment laws. At-will employment, federal and state discrimination and leave laws, harassment, discipline and termination practices, use of company electronic communication resources, etc., all involve great risk profiles for employers. And while many managers may think they understand and act within the laws, they would be surprised to find out about the many ways in which using their common sense runs afoul of legal requirements.
To be effective, training about employment laws should be targeted to practical application. It doesn't help a manager to be able to define coverage under the Americans with Disabilities Act if he or she does not understand how the issues can come up on a daily basis. So whether you are considering online or live training, focus on how the material is applied to real-life situations.
Leadership training is another key element in management training. Many people do not know there is a difference between being a leader and being a manager. Leaders effect positive change, are forward thinkers, and are able to communicate strategic visions and get buy in and support from those around them. Managers control, apply the rules, solve immediate problems, and direct others. Both are valuable roles but do not need to be mutually exclusive. Effective managers understand what leadership means and how to manage and lead at the same time.
Communication skills also should not be overlooked. Good training programs teach managers about different types of communication systems and how to select the appropriate one for the particular communication at hand. Improving public speaking skills, handling one-on-one employee meetings, drafting department communications -- these are all important areas for managers to master.
Tactical management training also has its place. This can encompass training in specific performance management, succession planning and/or record retention policies, how to manage and facilitate meetings, work/life balance issues, stress management, how to document employee issues, new hire processes, safety in the workplace, crisis intervention, and management.
Most vendors are equipped to help you track the training programs -- who attended, which classes they attended, the dates of attendance, etc. That way, you can monitor which managers take seriously the obligation to continue to grow in their jobs and improve their performance. And you can work with the vendor or other consultants to design metrics that will help you study the cost savings to your organization over the longer term. While it takes a strong commitment to create and deliver effective management training programs, you, your managers, and the staffs they manage will all benefit from the experience.
Barrie Gross is former Vice President and Senior Corporate Counsel (Employment Law) for an international Fortune 1000 company and is a regular contributor to AllBusiness.com. She is the founder of Barrie Gross Consulting, a human resources training and consulting firm dedicated to assisting companies to manage and develop their human capital. Visit www.barriegrossconsulting.com to learn more about Barrie and the services BGC provides.
Note: The information here does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as legal advice. If you have a legal issue or wish to obtain legal advice, you should consult an attorney in your area concerning your particular situation and facts. Nothing presented on this site or in this article establishes or should be construed as establishing an attorney-client or confidential relationship between you and Barrie Gross. This article is provided only as general information, which may or may not reflect the most current legal developments or be complete.
Best companies realize that only through effectively and continuously developing and training their employees can they acquire the core competencies needed for competitive advantage and flexibility. In addition, these companies are realizing the benefits of self-development by encouraging a work habit of reflection and learning. In these companies, learning is built around action rather than theory. Instead of learning about strategic planning or marketing, participants develop a strategic plan or a marketing proposal for their own department.
The most effective training and development programs today have the following features incorporated:
1. Strategy driven: All training and development programs cascade down from the overall strategic goals. No programs are developed and implemented unless they produce results that are identified as critical to the strategy or business initiatives. There should be explicit alignment between programs, learning objectives, and business objectives.
2. Positive cost/benefit ratio: Training today is not only strategically linked, but is also subject to the same measurements as every other business activity. It must show a return on the investment, either in the long term or the short term. Best companies now realize that many training and development initiatives take years to fully achieve their goals. These timeframes, however, are identified up front, where possible, and the programs evaluated at that point.
3. Supported by key strategies, systems, structures, policies, and practices: Organizations that receive a true return on their learning investments ensure that learning is aligned with and directly supported by key areas such as organizational structures, lines of authority, decision making, values, planning, budgeting, career development, information sharing, compensation, performance management, rewards and recognition, staffing, recruiting, and succession planning. These direct links help to both set boundaries and reinforce desired results.
4. Driven through many channels: Leading organizations investigate and utilize multiple modalities such as the classroom, workplace, blended learning, eLearning, technology support tools, and co-workers to ensure that people get the right skills at the right time, in the right way, and at the right cost to succeed. Modalities are selected to match specific learning styles, business issues, budgets, and cultures.
5. Maximize employee ability and potential through shared accountability: Best companies are tapping the ability and potential of their employees through self-directed training and development. Employees are encouraged to identify their own needs, create individual learning plans, and to seek learning opportunities. Depending upon the kind of culture an organization is trying to create, the responsibility falls on the individual, his/her boss, his/her peers, and the organization. Training strategies are aimed at knowledge retention and transfer to the workplace, enabling employees to be more effective and to acquire more skills.
6. Work-related training: Knowledge and skills that are acquired through training and development programs are relevant and useful, both to the organization and to the individual's work requirements. Employees only participate in programs that will add to their current and future work effectiveness and that will contribute to organizational success.
7. Learning by doing: Best companies are training their employees by having them perform "real" tasks and projects in a training environment and on-the-job. Rather than teaching theory and expecting employees to apply it to their own work, these companies are enabling employees to learn in their own way, and often at their own pace, through assignments that closely resemble their own work.
8. Transferability of knowledge and skills back to the job: One of the most important elements of best practice training and development is that it is easily transferred back to the workplace. This is achieved through the timing of the training, the quality of the content, and the quality and appropriateness of the delivery method. Another crucial element to this transferability is the maintenance of the new skill or knowledge once training has been completed. Skills and knowledge that are not used constantly will quickly atrophy.
9. Linked to other people-related programs and departments: Best companies do not train their employees in a vacuum. In many instances, training is now conducted by line managers, who also perform evaluations, set performance objectives, and draft compensation and promotion systems for the same employees. Even where the training is designed and delivered by a specific function or department, the programs respond not only to organizational needs, but also to individual needs as identified through appraisals, counseling meetings, assessments, and career development plans.
10. Continuous learning process: To drive lasting change in behaviors and habits, best companies ensure that learning occurs before, during, and after scheduled learning events. The process of doing, reflecting, learning, and doing again never ceases.
About LSA Global
Since 1995, LSA has helped organizations create and maintain distinct competitive advantages through human capital. We work with leading organizations to drive success through their people and the strategies, structures, systems, and processes that attract, inspire, develop, and retain top talent. Our solutions focus on the areas of:
- Sales Revenue Growth
- Leadership and Management Performance
- Project Management Performance
- Human Resource Performance
- Strategy Execution and Transformation
- Customer Service, Satisfaction, and Loyalty
We believe our clients’ success in the marketplace is realized through increased revenue, decreased costs, and higher productivity.
We are fiercely devoted to the success of our clients and proud that over 85% of our business comes from repeat business with satisfied clients and that we have a 97%+ customer satisfaction rating.