ExecBlueprints · PDF file• Document results. ... Effective training and development produces learning that is transferred to the individual’s work and sustained long enough

Training leaders from Fort Hill Company, Countrywide FinancialCorporation, Purolator Courier, and Advance Auto Parts on:

Creating an EffectiveTraining and Development

DepartmentRoy V. H. Pollock

Chief Learning Officer. Fort Hill Company

Joe DiDonatoExecutive Vice President and Chief Technology Learning Officer

Countrywide Financial Corporation

Stephen A. GouldSenior Vice President, HR, Purolator Courier Ltd.

Douglas L. Bryant Ed.D.Vice President, Organizational Development and Training

Advance Auto Parts

Knowledge and technologies in nearly every field are increasing expo-nentially, so how should companies respond? On the one hand, theyneed employees to stay on top of the information avalanche; on

the other, they cannot commit unlimited resources for training and devel-opment. This ExecBlueprint describes in detail how four learning officersfrom diverse industries are managing this vital function in their respectiveorganizations. Here they discuss the dual role training and developmentmust play to serve the company’s present operational needs as well asdevelop its future products and leadership. Speaking from their own expe-riences, the authors map out specific strategies for administering and eval-uating training programs that have proven effective at their companies.Their key to success? Teaching skills and knowledge the employee will actu-ally apply to their job. As they explain, this is a multi-step process involv-ing hands-on classroom training, supportive coaching and managing, andconscientious follow-up. �

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Action Points

I. How Should Companies Approach Training andDevelopment?Because most industries today must cope with dizzy-ing rates of change as knowledge expands, technol-ogy evolves, and markets shift, companies need toensure that their employees remain productive andmotivated. For this reason, training and developmentare essential — but, to be effective, they must be targeted to achieve tangible outcomes.

II. The Bottom LineEffective training and development programs createvalue that is worth many times their cost. Others, however, can be a waste of money. The difference lies in the planning: How much time and capital can the company afford to invest? Can results bemeasured in demonstrable ways such as by howmuch efficiency or sales have increased?

III. Must-Have Components of Effective TrainingProgramsFirst of all, they must be driven by — not isolated from — the business requirements of the organization.Next, they must address both ongoing operationaldemands and future talent needs. Most importantly,they should support the employee in his or herprocess of bringing new skills and knowledge to the job.

IV. The Golden Rules for Following Up on TrainingThe true measure of a program’s effectiveness iswhether — and how — the employee applies thelearned skills and knowledge. Managers, instructors,peers, and the employees themselves must all work to ensure that this essential transfer takes place.

V. Essential Take-AwaysTraining and development programs can help a company prepare for a prosperous future by increas-ing skill sets, motivating employees, and groomingfuture leaders. However, to be effective, they must bealigned with overall company strategy while alsofocused on improving the actual performance of every employee.

Contents

About the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p.2

Roy V. H. Pollock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p.3

Joe DiDonato . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p.8

Stephen A. Gould . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p.14

Douglas L. Bryant Ed.D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p.17

Ideas to Build Upon & Action Points . . . p.19

Copyright 2006 Books24x7®. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part is prohibited without the prior written permission of the publisher. This ExecBlueprints™ document was published as part of a subscription based service. ExecBlueprints,a Referenceware® collection from Books24x7, provides concise, easy to absorb, practical information to help organizations address pressing strategic issues. For more information about ExecBlueprints, please visit www.execblueprints.com.

© Books24x7, 2006 About the Authors ExecBlueprints 2

About the Authors

Dr. Roy Pollock is the chief learn-ing officer of the Fort HillCompany and co-author of The

Six Disciplines of Breakthrough Learning:How to Turn Training and Developmentinto Business Results. He has a long-standing interest in education and lead-ership development, and is a fellow of theKellogg Foundation National LeadershipProgram.

Dr. Pollock has extensive experience inboth line management and strategy devel-opment. Prior to joining Fort Hill, he servedas assistant dean for curriculum develop-ment at Cornell College of VeterinaryMedicine; vice president of global strate-gic product development for SmithKlineBeecham Animal Health; vice president ofthe companion animal division for

Pfizer; president of IDEXX Informatics;and president of VetConnect Systems Inc.

He studied education at the Center forEducational Development at theUniversity of Illinois Medical School andhas authored more than 50 scientific articles and book chapters.

Roy V. H. PollockChief Learning Officer, Fort Hill Company

☛ Read Roy’s insights on Page 3

Ordained “The Godfather ofEducation” by Oracle Corporationfor his early work in the 1980s to

create what we know today as “blendedlearning and delivery,” Joe DiDonato isresponsible for the strategic vision and exe-cution for enterprise technology trainingand development at Countrywide FinancialCorporation.

Mr. DiDonato has an extensive back-ground in education, which ranges fromrunning customer and internal education

operations at Oracle and PeopleSoft torunning entrepreneurial endeavors ateducation companies such as KnowledgeUniverse, KnowledgePlanet, ProductivityPoint International, Global Knowledge,and Interwise.

His current domain of responsibilityspans Countrywide’s diverse financial andbanking enterprise, and his purpose is toalign the various business unit IT groups’initiatives in learning, curriculum, anddelivery methodologies, as well as ensure

that they maintain focus on corporatestrategic directions. He is also responsi-ble for policy-making and execution inthe areas of technology infrastructure,internal IT certification programs, indi-vidual learning plans for a rapidly grow-ing technology staff that currentlynumbers over 5,000 technical people, andindustry best practices.

Joe DiDonatoExecutive Vice President and Chief Technology Learning Officer, Countrywide Financial Corporation

☛ Read Joe’s insights on Page 8

As senior vice president of HR forPurolator, Stephen A. Gould hasresponsibility for all aspects of HR

including business strategy, organizationaldesign, talent management and successionplanning, performance management,compensation and benefits, pension, man-agement development, operations training,and employee and labor relations. He isalso responsible for environment health

and safety and corporate communica-tions, which include employee commu-nications, public affairs, and corporatephilanthropy.

Mr. Gould serves as the managementlead on the Purolator board of directors’compensation and HR committee, pen-sion committee, and environment, health,and safety committee. He is alsoPurolator’s privacy compliance officer.

Prior to joining Purolator, Mr. Gouldwas vice president of HR for AmexCanada Inc. He also held positions atPepsiCo, McDonnell Douglas Canada,and Ernst & Young.


☛ Read Stephen’s insights on Page 14

Douglas L. Bryant Ed.D., anaccomplished organizationaldevelopment and effectiveness

expert, brings more than 20 years of experience across a wide variety ofindustries. Focus areas include processengineering, operations management,adult learning, behavioral and organiza-tional sciences, executive training, andperformance enhancement.

Dr. Bryant’s career began as an indus-trial engineer in automotive manufac-turing for ArvinMeritor. Among his

many accomplishments, he managedoperations for the nation’s largest healthcare products provider (Johnson &Johnson) and earned a promotion to sen-ior instructional designer. He also servedas the senior organizational developmentspecialist for an $8 billion office productsretailer (Office Depot), where he foundedtheir first corporate university.

Prior to joining Advance Auto Partsas the vice president of organizationaldevelopment and training, Dr. Bryantworked as the first training and organi-

zational development director forAutoNation, a $23 billion automotiveretail organization. Advance Auto Partsis a Virginia-based Fortune 500 firm.

Dr. Bryant is a member of theAmerican Society for Training andDevelopment, the National Society forPerformance and Instruction, and otherassociations for HR management andorganizational development.

Douglas L. Bryant Ed.D.Vice President, Organizational Development and Training, Advance Auto Parts

☛ Read Doug’s insights on Page 17

An Introduction to GettingYour Money’s Worth fromTraining and DevelopmentAll told, your company invests a sig-nificant amount in training anddevelopment each year to staycompetitive and help create the nextgeneration of leaders. But if yourcompany is like most, you aren’tgetting the maximum return onyour investment.

Training and development aremeans to an end: improved personaland organizational performance. Theextent to which those objectives areachieved is the measure of theirworth. Effective training and devel-opment create value that is manytimes greater than their cost byimproving the performance of thosetrained such that they create com-petitive advantage and contribute tothe success of the enterprise. Typicalassessments, such as the number ofhours of instruction, or coursesoffered, end-of-course evaluations,and the like, are no more evidence oftraining effectiveness than the num-ber of sales calls is a measure of saleseffectiveness. It is not the activity thatcounts; it is the output. Training anddevelopment create value only to theextent that they are transferred andapplied to the work of individuals,teams, and businesses in a way thatproduces more effective behaviors on the job that, in turn, generate tangible business results.

Getting your money’s worthfrom training and development,therefore, requires more than pro-viding a great learning experience.It requires a systematic approachthat is driven by sound manage-ment. All the elements that deter-mine whether training anddevelopment produce results needto be considered and managed.Many of these are outside the tra-ditional boundaries of training anddevelopment departments, and yetthey are crucial for its success. That is why executive leadership is needed if companies are toextract the full value from theirinvestments.

For the past six years, we havebeen studying the characteristicsthat distinguish highly effectivetraining and development programsfrom less effective ones (Wick, et al.,2006, p. 1). We have discovered sixkeys to effectiveness that transcendindustry, corporate structure, andprogram focus:

• Define business outcomes.

• Design the complete experience.

• Deliver for application.

• Drive follow-through.

• Deploy active support.

• Document results.

Define Business OutcomesIf effectiveness is measured by the extent to which training anddevelopment contributes to theorganization’s business success,

© Books24x7, 2006 Roy V. H. Pollock ExecBlueprints 3

Roy V. H. PollockChief Learning Officer

Fort Hill Company

“Our research indicates that too manycompanies treat learning and develop-ment as an isolated series of eventsrather than as a business process thatneeds to be managed, measured, andcontinuously improved like any otherbusiness process.”

• Co-author of The Six Disciplines ofBreakthrough Learning: How to TurnTraining and Development intoBusiness Results

• Has extensive experience in line management and strategy development

• B.A., Williams College

• Ph.D., Cornell University

Mr. Pollock can be emailed [email protected]

Roy V. H. PollockChief Learning Officer, Fort Hill Company

Effective training and development produces learning that is transferred to the individual’s work and sustained long enoughto produce improved results.

then it follows that training anddevelopment need to focus onbusiness outcomes. Training mustbe an integral part of the com-pany’s business strategy to beeffective. Learning leaders need to:

• Have their “fingers on thepulse” of the business needs.

• Plan and deliver their programswith the ultimate business outcomes in mind.

• Define the outcomes of theirprograms in terms of whatpeople will do better and differently as a result of attending — not just what they will learn.

• Show clearly how the programwill benefit participants’careers and the organization as a whole.

Less effective training and devel-opment departments are inwardlyfocused. They communicate pri-marily among themselves and withHR executives rather than businessleaders. Less effective departmentsdefine program objectives purely in

terms of the learning that will occur(“following the program, partici-pants will know and appreciate theelements of effective coaching”) asopposed to business outcomes (“fol-lowing the program, participantswill use what they have learned todeliver more frequent and effectivecoaching to their direct reports,resulting in improved productivityand greater engagement”).

Design the CompleteExperienceA second difference between effec-tive and ineffective training anddevelopment organizations is thateffective departments consider thelearner’s complete experience,whereas less effective organizationsfocus only on the event — the courseor module. How willing participantsare to try to change — to apply whatthey have learned — depends as much or more on what happensbefore and after the period ofinstruction as what happens in theformal course itself. Indeed, there isevidence that what happens whenthe learner returns to work is more

important than what happenedduring the training and develop-ment program per se (Broad, 2005,p. 85).

Therefore, to maximize the returnon training and development, com-panies need to plan for and manageall three phases of the learningprocess, including:

• Setting the right expectationsprior to training

• Emphasizing applicationthroughout

• Holding learners accountablefor using the course materialon the job

• Providing support for the follow-through, transfer, andapplication process

Deliver for ApplicationThe third key to getting yourmoney’s worth from training anddevelopment is to ensure that appli-cation of learning is stressed through-out every program and module.


Roy V. H. PollockChief Learning Officer, Fort Hill Company (continued)

Designing the complete experience means planning for and optimizing all three phases of learning, especially the post-instructional follow-through period to ensure transfer and application.

The most important breakthrough in learning and development in the pastdecade has been the development of follow-through management tools thatprovide managers with the systems and information they need to activelymanage the transfer and application process.

Roy V. H. Pollock

Chief Learning OfficerFort Hill Company

Effective programs minimize thelearning/doing gap by ensuring that:

• The business rationale for thetraining and the outcomes isclearly articulated in terms ofexpected performance.

• Theories are always illustratedby practical examples that arerelevant to the participants andtheir businesses.

• Participants are given the timeand opportunity to reflect onhow they can apply what theyhave learned to their own situations.

• There are opportunities forguided practice of new skillsthrough simulations, role play,business games, or other exercises.

Drive Follow-ThroughThe Achilles’ heel of most trainingand development programs is thelack of follow-through. Unless the new knowledge and skillslearned in a program are applied tothe work of the organization, theyare waste — the learning equivalentof scrap.

Savvy executives understandthat no matter how good the train-ing is, what happens after the for-mal period of instruction has ahuge impact on whether the organ-ization realizes a benefit. So theyinvest time and resources to opti-mize the post-course environmentto which newly trained peoplereturn, making sure it supportstheir efforts to practice more effec-tive behaviors and work habits.Effective executives make certaintheir organizations apply the principles of follow-through management, putting in place

processes and systems to ensurethat participants:

• Are reminded of their learningapplication objectives

• Are held accountable and recognized for achieving them,just as they are for businessobjectives

• Have ready access to coachingand other forms of support

• Are encouraged to continuetheir learning through reflectionand sharing with peers

Deploy Active SupportIn their recent book, TransferringLearning to Behavior, DonaldKirkpatrick and James Kirkpatrick(2005) stress the importance of bal-ancing accountability and support(p. 29). For training and develop-ment to be truly effective, partici-pants need to be held accountablefor achieving their learning objec-tives, but at the same time they needto be given the support necessary tohelp them do so.

The single most important sourceof support for learning transfer andapplication is the participants’ directsupervisor. If he or she encourages —or better yet, requires — participantsto apply course principles, they willuse and reinforce them, therebymaximizing the return on investment

in training and development.Conversely, if the participants’ man-ager is indifferent or actively dis-courages use of course principles andprocesses, the ultimate effectivenessof training and development will beseriously undermined, no matterhow brilliantly the training itself wasexecuted.

For this reason, the fifth key tothe most effective companies is thatthey make sure managers are pre-pared and motivated to be part ofthe support system for newlytrained employees. Top manage-ment holds the managers and super-visors of learners accountable formaximizing training transfer andvalue. Other sources of supportinclude:

• Peers (other participants in thesame program)

• Instructors and facilitators

• Online content and guidancesystems

• Internal or external coaches

There is a critical period imme-diately following training whensupport is especially important asparticipants try to apply their learn-ing to develop new and more effec-tive norms of behavior. Designingthe complete experience includesproviding ongoing support andreinforcement during this critical



How willing participants are to try to change —to apply what they have learned — depends asmuch or more on what happens before and afterthe period of instruction as what happens in theformal course itself.

Roy V. H. Pollock

Chief Learning OfficerFort Hill Company

period; executives should reviewprogram plans in order to be certain these are included.

Document ResultsThe sixth and final key to effective-ness is to document results. Trainingand development departmentsshould be expected to continuallyincrease their effectiveness by rigor-ously defining, assessing, and eval-uating the results of their programs— just as other departments are.

Training and developmentdepartments should be held

accountable for providing credibleand relevant data to back theirclaims of effectiveness and to justifycontinued or increased funding.Measures of activity (number ofprograms, participants, hours of instruction) or of immediate reac-tion (participant satisfaction) areinsufficient. And while it is usuallyimpossible to completely isolate theeffect of training from all other fac-tors, there are many credible waysto demonstrate that the training anddevelopment are having a positiveimpact on customers, employees,and shareholders as well as fulfill-

ing the business objectives forwhich it was created initially.

Finally, the results of effectivetraining and development pro-grams should be marketed to keystakeholders including, amongothers:

• Prospective employees, as evi-dence of the investment thecompany makes in its workforce

• Current employees

• Customers, to illustrate contin-uous improvement

• Investors



The dashboard of a follow-through management system that allows training and development departments to track, monitor,and manage the post-course transfer and application period.

SummaryMaximizing the return — gettingyour money’s worth — on the invest-ment your company makes in train-ing and development requires six keydisciplines:

1) Define outcomes in businessterms so the strategic purposeof a training or developmentprogram is apparent to all andso relevant measures of successare defined in advance.

2) Design the complete experienceso it is “all of a piece” and sothe post-course environment,in particular, supports theapplication of learning to thetargeted business needs.

3) Deliver for application —make sure participants knowhow to apply what they havelearned and are motivated todo so.

4) Drive follow-through — putsystems in place to hold partic-ipants accountable for usingwhat they have learned and totrack and manage the process.

5) Deploy active support to givelearners the best possiblechance to achieve their objectives.

6) Document the results in com-pelling and credible ways tojustify continued investmentand to support continuousimprovement of training anddevelopment programs.

ReferencesBroad, M. 2005. Beyond Transfer ofTraining: Engaging Systems toImprove Performance. San Francisco:Pfeiffer.

Kirkpatrick, D. and Kirpatrick,J. 2005. Transferring Learning to Behavior. San Francisco:Berrett-Koehler.

Wick, C., Pollock, R. Jefferson,A., and Flanagan, R. 2006. The SixDisciplines of BreakthroughLearning: How to Turn Trainingand Development into BusinessResults. San Francisco: Pfieffer. �



Introduction to Educationand Training: The RoadAhead“We process more information in a24-hour period than people did ina lifetime 500 years ago.” That wasa quote from Tony Carlson in hisbook, The Power of Wow, when hewas proposing new techniques forachieving visibility in the midst ofthe information tsunami thatengulfs us daily. Worse yet, the ris-ing tide of information and knowl-edge appears to grow daily. We nowprocess more information in a single 24-hour period than ourgrandparents did in a month.

Looking at the field of medicine,libraries of information build expo-nentially every year as thousands ofnew drugs are released, volumes of new articles on treatments arepublished, and diagnostic methodsand technologies continue to prolif-erate. In this discipline alone, theamount of information doublesevery four years. Imagine the poten-tial for disaster when a physician hasto decide on a diagnosis and a courseof treatment where the choicesinvolve more than 30,000 drugs withpossible interactions and over400,000 articles of best practicesproduced by the profession.

Turning to the world of the ITprofessional, we are witness to anear 100 percent renewal of knowl-edge every 12 to 18 months.Software, hardware, and applica-tion vendors constantly compete toimprove their technologies in a raceto keep from dying from “the sta-tus quo.” New languages, improveddatabase architectures and func-tionality, broader and deeper appli-cations, growth in chip technologiesthat doubles the prior release,improvements in equipment design,

new network architectures — andmore — all compete to render theirprior generations obsolete.

On top of that pace, add thegrowth of governmental controls,regulatory oversight, the hugepenalties for breaches of sensitiveinformation, and an endless attackby armies of hackers sporting newweapons, and you can easily seethat the problem of dealing withthis IT information propagation isreaching epidemic proportions.Although “sitting still” translates tofalling behind in most industries, thefinancial and organizational penal-ties for a misstep are so painful thatprogress seems blocked at every pas-sage. Couple all of this with ever-tightening budgets and head countrestrictions, and even the educationand training remedies that couldhelp deal with all this informationbecome problematic.

To add injury to this over-whelming assault of informationand knowledge, a Wharton Schoolof Business recommendation pub-lished in the Wall Street Journalstated that if a firm is faced with sig-nificant marketplace and techno-logical changes, the firm is “betteroff hiring workers from the outsidelabor market who have the skills itneeds, rather than investing indeveloping those skills inside thefirm.” The study went on to say thatas more industries evolve in com-parable ways with the fast-paced,high-tech industry, more and morefirms will adopt this strategy.

As a company executive andshareholder, I’m not sure how I feelabout our intellectual property andsource of competitive advantagesuddenly walking out the door andinto our competitors’ shops. Whenour own company can electronicallyprocess a loan application on a Friday

afternoon, why on earth would wewant the people who built those elitesystems to leave and do this for ourcompetitors who are struggling to getloans processed in 30 to 45 days?Even further, how do I get the newIT professionals we’re supposed tohire from outside trained on ourproducts and procedures?

This is not to say I don’t appre-ciate the problem of retraining aworkforce if our primary deliverymodality is the classroom. It’s more

© Books24x7, 2006 Joe DiDonato ExecBlueprints 8

Joe DiDonatoExecutive Vice President and

Chief Technology Learning OfficerCountrywide Financial Corporation

“What we are proposing is to shiftmuch of the burden of training into thework environment. Isn’t that better thandelaying the productive use of anemployee while we attempt to coverevery possible topic on a subject in theclassroom?”

• Named “The Godfather of Education”by Oracle

• Responsible for policy-making andexecution for internal IT certificationprograms for a 5,000-member staff

• Currently aligns IT initiatives onlearning, curriculum, and deliverymethodologies

• Led customer and internal educationoperations at Oracle and PeopleSoft

Mr. DiDonato can be emailed [email protected]

Joe DiDonatoExecutive Vice President and Chief Technology Learning Officer, Countrywide Financial Corporation

that I have a different view of whereour company’s true intellectualproperty resides.

Ironically, this recommendationto retire versus retrain has emergedas a solution to the problem createdby many academicians and trainingprofessionals in the first place.Their insistence that classroomtraining is the predominant methodfor delivering knowledge has solengthened the time needed to makean individual proficient that theWharton School recommendationstands as valid. In fact, that elon-gated path to proficiency may wellbe the result of many conceptual aswell as structural shortcomings inthe use of classroom training.

Given the task of training anindividual to “full proficiency” in atechnical product, education teamsgenerally do a complete functionaldecomposition of that product andthen proceed to train an employeeon each of those product functions.This ritual of full proficiency train-ing ignores the fact that much ofthis knowledge will probably neveror rarely be used in the employee’sjob and, in a lot of cases, will besimply forgotten once the employeeleaves the classroom. As a result, wetend to scope our education andtraining for the “just in case” sce-nario instead of thinking aboutwhat the employee actually needs toperform at the “working profi-ciency” level. This over-scoping ofclassroom events, combined with

varying skill levels present in theclassroom, renders full proficiencytraining an inefficient model to dealwith today’s volume of information.

Problem StatementSimply put, the world of educationand training needs to refocus onemployee performance and aim toachieve working proficiency insteadof delaying productive use ofemployees so they can be taughtevery possible nuance of a technol-ogy in the classroom. We need toidentify the “essential knowledge”employees will need and scope thetraining venues appropriately. Weneed to find the 20 percent of train-ing that provides 80 percent of thevalue, and then we need to move toa new model of delivery for theremainder of the training.

Previous OptionsUnfortunately, like with every othernew idea, a storm of challenges willerupt. Doomsayers will spread theirFUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt),and warn that what is being sug-gested is the academic equivalent ofhanding keys to a Ferrari to a 16-year-old who has never driven.In fact, this is not what is being proposed at all.

To illustrate the over-reliance onclassroom training, if a coursewere designed to teach essentialknowledge for using the commonapplication Microsoft Word, then

it must be decided how muchinformation to teach before lettinga person learn while on the job.Perhaps we only need to show anemployee how to open Word, howto create, save, and print a newdocument, some formatting com-mands, and how to use online helpto discover the rest of the func-tionality. That would require onlya four-hour course.

A four-week course, on the otherhand, would teach the employeehow to use templates, columns,tables, graphs, headers, footers,picture and media clip insertion,speech recognition, and the host ofother functions that are available inWord. If 60 percent of the employ-ees speak English as a second lan-guage, it would not be out of therealm of possibility for the educa-tion team to further add a completecourse on spelling and grammar inthe curriculum as well.

In this example, it obviouslymakes more sense for the businessand the employee to teach “justenough” to get the person to aworking proficiency with Word inorder to perform the basic functionsof his or her job. We need to shiftthe burden of learning to the work-place and the employee. We need togive the employee job aids and aglimpse at all the functionalitiesavailable in Word so he or she canaddress the academic notion of “notknowing some function or solutionexisted.” This education can be


Joe DiDonatoExecutive Vice President and Chief Technology Learning Officer, Countrywide Financial Corporation (continued)

Working proficiency is defined as the time it takes to teach the employee theessential knowledge to perform his or her job function: the 20 percent that will be used 80 percent of the time in the job.

Joe DiDonato

Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Learning OfficerCountrywide Financial Corporation

accomplished through non-classroom training on specific func-tions within Word, from digitalpartners (a notion we will talkabout later), and even via theembedded help that resides inWord. Contrasting this workingproficiency approach to a trainingvenue that might consume four tosix weeks shows that any rationalperson would view the latter as atotal misuse of the classroom anda financial burden for the firm. Allthat training simply lengthens thetime it takes to get an employee toa working proficiency.

The Practical SolutionIt is easy to begin the journey of mov-ing from a classroom-dominatedmodel of delivery to a model thatblends classroom, non-classroom,and performance support systems.While this notion is fairly easy tounderstand, the level of reduction inclassroom dependency being pro-posed necessitates a completerethinking of previous models. Inaddition, the tools we need todeploy the workplace portion of oursolution are still being defined.

As a “stake in the ground,” thisnew model should yield the fol-lowing blends of each deliverymodality within the next five years:

• 20 percent classroom

• 30 percent non-classroom

• 50 percent performance support

Using Word as our example, let’slook at various ways of teachingWord and contrast those paths toproficiency using the classroom-only model with the working proficiency model.

Here is how we might constructa classroom-only model around a

list of topics for an executiveadministrative assistant:

• Week 1: Using Word XP forProfessional Documents

• Week 2: Reinforcing YourMessage with Tables, Charts,Diagrams, and Pictures

• Week 3: Designing Pages forMaximum Visual Impact

• Week 4: Publishing Long orComplex Documents

• Week 5: Collaborating Onlineand on Team Projects

• Week 6: Advanced Word —XML, Forms, and VBA

Simplifying Bloom’s taxonomy tofour levels of knowledge (orientation,understanding, skill, and expert)and using traditional classroom-onlymodels, we see that this curriculumbecomes increasingly difficult andtakes six weeks to complete.

Time to Total Proficiency =6 WeeksComing back from this six-weekhiatus, we would expect that theexecutive administrative assistantwould be fully proficient and readyto go. Many would argue that thissix-week curriculum would producethe ultimate executive administrativeassistant. That would be true, but

only if all of the functions taughtwere usable within the next coupleof months and if the entire execu-tive administrative assistant jobwas one-dimensionally reliant uponproficiency with the Word applica-tion. However, both those conditionsare atypical in the workplace.Invariably, projects and tasks willdemand other tools and skills whenthe executive administrative assistantreturns to his or her job. Now theproblem increases in complexity. Dowe train the executive administrativeassistant in telephone courtesy,PowerPoint, Excel, Access data-bases, event planning, and the hostof other duties that may be encoun-tered in that role? How manyweeks are we willing to keep thisemployee in a non-productive modewhile he or she learns these newtools and skills? The business, edu-cators, the employee, and theemployee’s manager must ultimatelymake a collective decision on howmuch non-productive time they canafford. With a complete dependenceon the classroom delivery model, theimpact of that decision will definitelyaffect the productivity of the individual as well as the team.

Let us now look at the impact ofputting a different model to work.Consider the notion of generatinga training strategy based on givingthe employee only the essentialknowledge needed to perform at aworking proficiency. Using our



20/30/50 model of delivery for thissame Word example, we restructurethe course material we teach in theclassroom to focus on those func-tions we deem critical to a workingproficiency. This requires that wethoroughly understand a person’sjob, including what components ofthe new technology they will usemost frequently, the employee’scurrent level of knowledge, as wellas the limitations of the variousdelivery tools. We may sit with themanager and the employee to see thescope of the person’s job, or we maylook across the entire population inthat job role to determine what 20percent of the functionality produces80 percent of the benefit. We thenuse other delivery methods to finishthe training in the individual’s workplace. Due to the fact that theclassroom is often the best place toteach a skill (owing to the presenceof an instructor and a lab), we willalso need to look at the limitations ofsome of the delivery methods wemight want to use.

The following example showsthe ability of each of the deliverytools to achieve the four levels ofknowledge we’re using in thisexample, as well as how we wouldredeploy the curriculum so theindividual can return to their jobfunction almost immediately. Thereader must remember that we areusing a software example when wetalk about the level of knowledgeeach delivery method is capable ofachieving. For instance, it would benearly impossible to teach the tech-nical database administrator certaintechnical topics using audio.However, audio might be veryeffective to teach a language skilllike Spanish or Italian. The relativedepth each delivery modality can achieve is dependent upon the

presence of an instructor and a lab.If one or the other is missing, it lim-its the tool’s ability to get throughthe four levels.

Time to Working Proficiency= 4 HoursThe new time to achieve a workingproficiency is now four hours in theclassroom by deploying other train-ing aids, reference books, quick ref-erence guides, and on-the-jobperformance support tools. In thecase of Word, the many perform-ance support system tools built intothe product (such as spelling andgrammar checks, formatting, tem-plates, and a pop-up office assistant)make this an easy tool to deploy.

Digital PartnersOne of the newest tools emergingin the 50 percent category has beendeveloped using Internet and instant

messaging technology, and it relatesto the term “digital partners.” Afunny short story will show how thenewest generation of workers thinksand is accustomed to working.

A friend of mine who is a CEOof a small company greeted a newemployee on her first day of work.She was a graphic artist, had herears pierced multiple times, andwore sandals and casual workclothes. As she got settled, he saidto her, “It’s a tradition on a person’sfirst day of employment to havelunch with the CEO. Would youlike to join me for lunch today?”She looked him square in the eyeand said, “Don’t you have a DVD?”With a surprised look on his face hesaid, “Why on earth would youwant a DVD when you can simplytalk to me live?” Without losing abeat, she said, “Well I might wantto fast-forward through some of theparts.” My friend must have lookedcrushed, so she quickly added,



“And there may be other parts Iwant to replay several times.”

They seemed to get through thatrough start, and to his pleasant sur-prise, she became one of his bestemployees within the first fewmonths. She was turning out stun-ning designs, excellent copy, and herwork was receiving praise from cus-tomers. One morning, he decided towalk over to her work area andcongratulate her on her fine work.When he got there, he was surprisedto find she had several instant mes-saging sessions open on her desktop.He looked at the array and said,“Who are these people, friends?”She turned and answered, “This ismy digital tribe. I come to workwith them every day.” He replied,“Please explain.”

She went on to explain that shehad come to know the instant mes-saging people from comments theyposted on technical forums or fromdocuments they published on theInternet. Some were good at graphicdesign, while others were good atcopy. Some had an in-depth knowl-edge of Photoshop and Illustrator,while the rest were expert at otherparts of her job. They simply

helped each other every day. Onesupplied design advice, whileanother helped untangle copy. Herown contribution was an in-depthknowledge of Corel Painter. Theyhad created a virtual community ofpractice.

I’m sure you can see how thesedigital partners helped each othermaster the volume of informationand knowledge it takes to performthe job of a graphic designer. Thenotion of a “digital tribe” is new andis only one of the ways we need toprovide the employee with necessaryknowledge and information in theirwork environment.

It is also in this environmentwhere we encounter the expert, andwe begin to understand that thesetools were already in use. As strangeas it might seem, most expertsrarely go to a class, seldom pull outa book unless it’s been recom-mended by a colleague, and insteadsatisfy their learning needs by fre-quenting forums and chat rooms tolearn about the latest technologies.Only when a colleague or managerrecommends a course or book willthe expert actually engage in thesetraditional forms of learning. Instead,

they compare notes with a mentor,visit vendor forums, or use theInternet to search for information ona topic. In fact, over 95 percent ofIT professionals will tell you theirprimary way to find data is through“Googling.”

Rethinking the IT ModelApplying this thinking to the worldof IT, we can do similar things whenwe teach new technologies. We needto establish which essential knowl-edge should be taught in the class-room and then search for tools thatcan support the IT professional onthe job. Examples of these types oftools would be code judgers, codeand Web services repositories,expert forums, a wizard directorythat identifies all the topic expertsin the organization, and so forth.

An equivalent IT example toteaching Word would be to teach anew language in this same fashion.We might teach the “essential com-mands and language elements” inthe classroom, use reference mate-rial to give the coders the rest of thecommand or language sets, andthen use code judgers and digitalpartners to accomplish the rest.



A tool like JTest, which is a code judger for Java, is a good example of newperformance support tools. JTest is an automated unit testing and codingstandard analysis product for Java. It automatically generates and executesJUnit tests for instant verification and allows users to extend these tests. Inaddition, it checks whether code follows over 500 coding standard rules andautomatically corrects violations of over 200 rules. This functionality isanalogous to the spelling and grammar checker in Word. If we then add thenotion of a digital partner to the mix, we now have a way for questions tobe answered on the spot.

Joe DiDonato

Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Learning OfficerCountrywide Financial Corporation

After we decide to limit the class-room venue in favor of workplacetraining tools, the role of IT edu-cation and training becomes clearer.It simply moves out of the class-room and away from the routinecreation of events and trainingcourseware to the day-to-day needsof the IT professional in the work-place. The role transforms fromowning training event creation to“owning the performance” of theemployee. That simple change infocus impacts how we would thenthink about solutions. Instructorsbecome coaches and facilitators.Curriculum developers decide howthe knowledge will be impartedacross the new delivery model aswell as within the scope of the class-room. And chief learning officerswould be responsible for the busi-ness results linked to the newchangeover in technology.

The Benefits of the NewModel

Benefit 1This new approach will shorten thetime to achieve a working profi-ciency for all IT professionals andreduce the need for a completeupheaval in staffing whenever a newtechnology comes into the company.Working proficiency is defined asthe time it takes to teach theemployee the essential knowledge toperform his or her job function: the 20 percent that will be used 80percent of the time in the job.

Benefit 2This notion of a working profi-ciency will also allow the companyto entertain new technology intro-duction much earlier than its com-petition and thus keep the companyat the forefront in their industry.

Benefit 3Finally, the reduced role of the class-room will free facility space, teach-ing resources, and other assets thatcan now be devoted to the real jobof education and training, and facil-itating the learner through coachingand performance support.

Businesses can look forward tothe following key benefits:

• A faster time to market withnew products

• Quicker response to competi-tive moves

• Increased revenues from educational interventions

• Lowered operational costsfrom education interventions

Individuals can look forward tosimilar benefits:

• Faster absorption of new toolsand ideas

• Longevity with the company

• A greater ability to blend multiple technologies togetherwhen crafting a solution

• A greater exchange of information with colleagues

• Improved job satisfaction

The education and trainingindustry must continue to refine thisstatement of direction as new ideasand technologies surface, and asclearer insights from our imple-mentation efforts materialize. But inthe end, we will have effectivelydealt with the ever-increasing flowof knowledge and information thatbombards us each day.

SummaryAlthough this new concept will takeseveral years to implement and willnecessitate the cooperation of ven-dors who need to embed traininginto their products, the value of thisapproach goes beyond the educa-tion and training organization. Itmost certainly helps position com-panies and individuals for the nextmillennium. As with earlier movesaway from the classroom, thismove will face challenges on manyfronts. This model proposes toeliminate the primary dependenceon a 2,000-plus-year-old model ofclassroom instruction. We expect tohave to set goals carefully withdepartmental employees, industryexperts, academia, and other influ-ential parties. Just as it took yearsto develop the Internet to the pointwhere it offered a viable way ofdoing business, it will take time toembrace the notions of essentialknowledge and working proficiency.

Many discussions will need totake place with the HR department,corporate information security,legal, and other groups that mightbe impacted by information comingfrom both inside and outside of thecompany’s firewall. When we aresuccessful, the rewards will benefitboth individuals and corporations.The gains in productivity for cor-porations will allow them to moveeven faster in the marketplace. ITprofessionals, who once faced a“promoted or perished” 12- to 18-month extinction cycle, can nowlook forward to long careers astechnical professionals. �



Training and DevelopmentThe business requirements of theorganization must drive the train-ing and development efforts. Oneside of our development effortsrevolves around required ongoingoperational training. Operationaltraining focuses on new products,new services, new technology, newequipment, or new regulations andis necessary to keep the businessrunning. The other side of devel-opment focuses on the long-termefforts necessary to fill the leader-ship pipeline and provide profes-sional development opportunities.Learning opportunities and devel-opment is a huge driver in retentionat the professional level. The successof a business is dependent upon thesuccess of its employees. This is anarea where HR plays a crucial role,so I spend a lot of my time focusingon it while the other business lead-ers tend to focus on the operationaltraining requirements.

Losing FocusThe tendency to lose focus is one ofthe common problems with train-ing and development efforts.Because online technologies andWebcasts now provide an explosionof training and development oppor-tunities, training and developmentpeople have become tempted tooffer a wide smorgasbord of classes.Unfortunately, in the face of somany training courses and devel-opment options, it is easy to losefocus on the business needs.

To be effective, you must find abalance between offering a varietyof options, meeting the businessneeds, and getting the most out ofthe company’s investment while stillremaining conscious of improvingretention. Employees in the 25- to

35-year-old range (especially) havea huge thirst for improving theirskills and knowledge. A companyshould take every opportunity topush professional development forthat group of people; otherwise,they will leave for a company thatwill.

Three Training LevelsMost of the operationally basedtraining budget is held by operationsas opposed to HR. While part of ourHR budget covers the cost of train-ers, the biggest cost of training is theteam members’ time, especially in aunionized environment like ours.Roughly 20 percent of my team’sbudget is spent on professional andleadership development. We havethree levels of intervention or train-ing on leadership:

1. One is aimed at people whoare trying to move out offront-line work and becomesupervisors or managers. Forexample, if a courier in the terminal wanted to become amanager, he or she would gothrough a program called“Front Runner” aimed at helping him or her acquire theskills necessary to become afirst-level supervisor.

2. The second level of training is called “Top Gun” and

focuses on helping district man-agers and middle-level managersbecome more adept at managing their business.

3. The third level is a relativelynew program called “Leaders’Edge” for high-potential, high-performing managers who webelieve will become the execu-tives of the future. Through apartnership with one of the topCanadian business schools, weput them through a 16-weekprogram to accelerate theirdevelopment and get themready to take on senior

© Books24x7, 2006 Stephen A. Gould ExecBlueprints 14

Stephen A. GouldSenior Vice President, HR

Purolator Courier Ltd.

“One of our five strategic priorities forthe company is to create competitiveadvantage through investment in ouremployees.”

• Responsible for all HR functionsincluding employee communications

• Previously vice president of HR forAmex Canada

• B.A. in economics, University ofToronto

• M.S. in industrial relations, Universityof London

Mr. Gould can be emailed [email protected]


Learning opportunitiesand development is ahuge driver inretention at theprofessional level.

Stephen A. Gould

Senior Vice President, HRPurolator Courier Ltd.

positions and/or importantprojects within the company.

In addition to our three-tierapproach to development, we alsooffer a wide array of classes paid forby the business that allow employ-ees in general to acquire certainskills or develop themselves.

Upcoming ChangesIn the next year, I expect our train-ing and development budget toincrease for two reasons:

1. Regulatory changes in the trans-portation business due to bor-der security and various issues.Whenever there is a changebetween the United States andCanada, we have to train ourpeople on whatever that changemay entail. This could varyfrom air cargo security screen-ing to customs documentationand procedures.

2. Strategic reasons will accountfor the rest of the budgetincrease, because we will beinvesting more in leadership-based training and expandingdevelopment programs overthe next year.

Setting BenchmarksMuch like every other company, weuse benchmarks to keep our train-ing activities on track and makesure progress is satisfactory. Togauge industry-related benchmarks,we focus on UPS, FedEx, DHL, anda few small companies, and use theindustry associations we areinvolved with to learn how every-one is doing. As another way tounderstand how we are faringagainst other companies, we haveapplied for some external recogni-tion. This resulted in our winningan award for our Front Runner program.

Best PracticesThere are several best practices foreffective training and development.In terms of leadership develop-ment, I believe our Leaders’ Edgeprogram is a best practice. Designedspecifically for Purolator, it hasserved to accelerate the developmentof high-performing managementstaff. For more practical trainingpurposes, one of our best practiceshas been to use a network of work-place trainers to deliver a lot of thetraining. We have about 120employees with regular daytimejobs who have also been taught todeliver training across the country.When we have to roll out somethingrelatively quickly (such as a new reg-ulation or product), we already havethat built-in network to deliverthat training. Moreover, the trainingis delivered by people who actuallyknow the jobs as opposed to pro-fessional trainers who may not beknowledgeable about our businessor the specific roles affected.


Stephen A. GouldSenior Vice President, HR, Purolator Courier Ltd. (continued)

Three Levels of Training on Leadership

Front Runner

Purpose: To help people move out of front-line work and become supervisors or managers

Top Gun

Purpose: To help district and middle-level managers become more adept at managing their business

Leaders’ Edge

Purpose: To develop high-performing managers into the company’s future executives


Aligning with BusinessGoalsWe always keep our training anddevelopment efforts aligned withour business goals. Every year, wefirst run through the businessstrategies the company needs todevelop. Once an operational planrelated to that business strategy isdeveloped, the training require-ments driven by the operationalplan can be developed. My team’s

goals are specifically driven bythose training requirements.Currently, the development andleadership activities are based on aplan called “Investing in Employeesfor Competitive Advantage,” andthere are less specific trainingrequirements in progress as well.

Monitoring the CompetitionWe do not pay a lot of attention toour competitors’ training and devel-

opment programs. We know whatthey are doing, but we don’t worryabout it. We are a Canadian com-pany, and all of our main competi-tors are large multinationals. Theirtraining and development are drivenby their head offices. We try to bea lot more specific to the needs ofour Canadian business. �

Stephen A. GouldSenior Vice President, HR, Purolator Courier Ltd. (continued)

Another way we set benchmarks is through our partnership with theSchulich School of Business at York University in Toronto. Rather thansimply initiating an internal leadership program, we benefit from theirknowledge of the training and development world, so we learn what weneed to do better. We do not, however, compare our progress with externalnumerical benchmarks; all numerical evaluation happens internally.

Stephen A. Gould

Senior Vice President, HRPurolator Courier Ltd.

Training and DevelopmentThe biggest driver of training anddevelopment at my company is theCEO. We work directly with him toidentify gaps in training, and heshows us where to focus our atten-tion. After highlighting trainingneeds, we then work with theappropriate players to develop thecontent. We try to keep our train-ing and development initiativesfairly lean so that as business ebbsand flows, we don’t have to staff upor down. We also look for strate-gic vendor partners to help if weneed to get a lot of training donequickly. This way, if business is ona downturn, we will not have to downsize the department orredeploy people.

Training OpportunitiesEvery one of our employees par-ticipates in our learning develop-ment programs. Due to the volumeof training, we try to have abroad range of training opportu-nities available to them. Before ini-tiating a new training program,however, the company will initiatea performance analysis. Often, arequest for training masks a different problem altogether.

Return on Investment inTrainingLess than 2 percent of the overallcompany payroll is devoted todevelopment and learning, which isthe right amount for us right now.We’re up against rising health carecosts, and at the same time we aretrying to keep our overhead low.Our budget grows proportionallywith our overall sales and revenue.If the company makes more money,our percentage of the budget staysthe same, and it is up to us to leverage those dollars.

For major training programs, wetry to calculate specific return oninvestment metrics. We will usuallyrun a pilot in a region or division,and we’ll watch the financial met-rics. For instance, if we’re doingsales-related training, we’ll look atthe customer averages and counts.

If it’s more focused on the opera-tions side, we’ll look at shrink as abig initiative for us to keep loss low.If it’s more on the leadership devel-opment side, we’ll look at our reten-tion levels. We have an inversepyramid where we devote themajority of our learning resourcesin dollars to store employees. Whilewe spend more on managers andleaders, the total percentage lookssmaller because there are far fewermanagers.

© Books24x7, 2006 Douglas L. Bryant Ed.D. ExecBlueprints 17

Douglas L. Bryant Ed.D.Vice President,

Organizational Development and TrainingAdvance Auto Parts

“Unfortunately, in many cases, trainingorganizations will create programs and initiatives before they create abusiness strategy for the company.”

• Has over 20 years of experience inorganizational development andeffectiveness

• Bachelor’s degree in management,Purdue University

• Master’s degree in instructional technology, Rochester Institute ofTechnology

• E.D. degree with specialty in HRdevelopment, George WashingtonUniversity

Mr. Bryant can be emailed [email protected]

Douglas L. Bryant Ed.D.Vice President, Organizational Development and Training, Advance Auto Parts

Often, a request fortraining masks adifferent problemaltogether.

Douglas L. Bryant Ed.D.

Vice President, OrganizationalDevelopment and Training

Advance Auto Parts

If store employees are not answering the phoneproperly, someone may volunteer that phonecustomer service skill training may be necessary.However, before we create such a program, we’llspeak to the store employees to determine if thereis a knowledge problem, a motivation problem,or a systems problem.

Douglas L. Bryant Ed.D.

Vice President, Organizational Development and Training

Advance Auto Parts

© Books24x7, 2006 Douglas L. Bryant Ed.D. ExecBlueprints 18

Best PracticesA best practice that should be inplace in all organizations is to avoidevent training. In order to createalignment and clarity, all trainingshould be tied into the strategic HRplan, which should then be tiedback into the strategic business

plan. Some organizations havetraining programs for differentdepartments, which do not allowthem to come together into a syn-ergistic relationship. Trainingshould be integrated into the over-all planning process by creating cas-cading goals. If, when studying a

proposed training initiative, thetraining cannot be tied into cas-cading goals or clearly show how itwill improve the business, the com-pany should question whether thattraining is worth the time andenergy. �

Douglas L. Bryant Ed.D.Vice President, Organizational Development and Training, Advance Auto Parts (continued)

© Books24x7, 2006 Ideas to Build Upon & Action Points ExecBlueprints 19

Ideas to Build Upon & Action Points I. How Should CompaniesApproach Training andDevelopment?Because knowledge and information are pro-liferating exponentially in most fields,employees must be constantly engaged inlearning if they are to perform adequatelyand develop into tomorrow’s company lead-ers. However, training and development pro-grams can be expensive and often lack clearlydemonstrable results. Factors to considerwhen creating such programs include:

• What skill sets and knowledge arenow necessary for your company toremain abreast with technology andcompetitive in the marketplace?

• What are the norms in your industry with regard to employeedevelopment?

• What training and developmentrequirements are currently included in your business operations and succession plans?

• What challenges — both internal andexternal — does your industry andcompany face that could be addressedby a more knowledgeable workforce?

• Has your industry recently been (orwill it soon be) subject to changes ingovernmental laws or regulations?

• How much training — and downtime — can your companyafford?

• How are you going to measure thereturn on your investment?

II. The Bottom LineWhen it comes to training and development,many companies are not getting theirmoney’s worth in terms of improved orga-nizational performance. Typical assess-ments, including number of hours, coursesoffered, and end-of-course evaluations, arenot adequate. Every training and develop-ment program should include appropriatemetrics for measuring actual results, suchas:

• Defining and testing for the skill levelthat constitutes working proficiency

• Determining actual costs of the program in both dollars and time

• Tracking data such as operational costs,sales, customer data, and shrinkagerates before and after training

• Analyzing retention levels

• Comparing outcomes with industrybenchmarks and other organizations

III. Must-Have Components ofEffective Training ProgramsTraining programs must be more than agreat learning experience; they should alsoyield greater productivity on the job that willgenerate tangible business results. Attainingthis satisfactory return on investment fortraining efforts does, however, require a sys-tematic approach driven by sound man-agement. Highly effective training programsshare at least some of the following characteristics:

• They are specifically designed to servebusiness strategy.

• They are geared to help people at alllevels increase skills and advancewithin the company.

• Their success is defined by what people will do better and/or differently on the job.

• They feature workplace trainers whohave an insider’s understanding of thefunction and environment.

• They minimize the learning/doing gap by offering practical examplesand opportunities for guided practiceof new skills through role play, simulations, and so on.

• They selectively teach content theemployee needs to achieve workingproficiency in the area as quickly aspossible.

• They utilize other training and performance support tools (i.e., refer-ence books, quick reference guides,expert users) in addition to classroominstruction.

• Their results are rigorously documentedand assessed.

IV. The Golden Rules forFollowing Up on TrainingAn employee should not be considered“trained” until he or she can adequatelyapply the new skill or knowledge to situ-ations encountered on the job. However,without adequate follow-up, countlesshours of training can be wasted if theemployee forgets the contents of the training. You can avoid this Achilles’

heel of many training and development programs by:

• Preparing managers to support newlytrained employees and require thatthey apply course principles andprocesses

• Offering ready access to coaches,instructors, and online content

• Encouraging employees to continuelearning through reflection and sharing with peers

• Implementing follow-through management systems

• Holding employees accountable forusing course material on the job

V. Essential Take-AwaysTraining and development may be expen-sive, but no company can ultimately affordto retain employees who are ill-prepared forchanging work environments or increasingresponsibilities. Challenges that training anddevelopment programs present include:

• Relevance: ensuring that contentserves business objectives and will beused in the workplace

• Cost: coping with the inevitable lossof productivity during training peri-ods

• Focus: offering too many course selections

• Balance: finding the right mix to meetbusiness and employee needs

However, effective programs have beenshown to benefit the company by:

• Reducing operational costs throughincreased efficiency

• Improving the company’s ability todevelop new products and embracenew technologies

• Integrating the needs of differentdepartments, allowing them to worksynergistically toward company goals

• Increasing employee retention ratesowing to expanded opportunities

• Enhancing the company’s image as adesirable place to work, patronize,and invest �

© Books24x7, 2006 Ideas to Build Upon & Action Points ExecBlueprints 20

Ideas to Build Upon & Action Points (continued)

ExecBlueprints is a subscription-based offering from Books24x7, a SkillSoft Company. For more information on subscribing,please visit www.books24x7.com.

10 KEY QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION POINTS

Who is the biggest driver of your training and development efforts? VP of HR? Trainingand development managers? Other?

What are the most important characteristics of an effective training and developmentdepartment? Strategies aligned with companywide goals? Measurable impact to thecompany’s bottom line? Wide range of training and development opportunities? Other?

What percentage of your HR resources is dedicated to training and development? Isthis amount optimal? Why or why not? How can you calculate ROI for the time spenton training and development efforts?

What percentage of your company’s training and development budget is allocated totop executives versus rank and file employees? Do you expect this percentage toremain steady over the next 12 months or to increase or decrease?

Do you expect that overall expenditures on training and development will increase ordecrease over the next 12 months? What is driving this increase or decrease? What doyou predict will be the impact on the company?

What percentage of your time do you personally devote to training and developmentefforts? Is that amount of time ideal, or do you wish you could devote more or less?

What factors are most critical in creating an effective training and development department? Strong HR leadership? Support of top management? Company culturethat encourages training and development? Other?

What percentage of your company’s employees will participate in a training and development effort in the next 12 months? How does this percentage compare to fiveyears ago? How can this percentage be increased?

What kind of benchmarks do you use for training and development activities? How isprogress measured? How often?

Could you cite an example of a training or development effort that had a substantialimpact on the company’s profitability? What are the best practices you took from thiseffort?

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