Talk The Talk: Business Acumen In Trainers

Hi everyone,

This is a pretty light post, but I would love to hear some of your thoughts on this issue.

As someone involved with the field of Training and Performance Improvement, I have found that it is becoming increasingly necessary to market ourselves to the world.

If we go in to an organization, and start talking about Gagne, Kirkpatricks Levels and measurable objectives, people are probably going to laugh us out of the door. We need to move out of the bubble and take a multidisciplinary approach to issues, that is our strength.

It is also becoming much more effective to shield our methods and processes, and only talk about results in a language that others can relate to. I find that this is a skill not many people pay attention to. A HR/Training professional tries to talk in terms of ROI metrics like "learning", whereas management is interested in "cost". A smart professional should link the two and present it in the first place.

Here is an excerpt from a T&D [ASTD] editorial, from one of their earlier editions,

"...Express yourself in the language of business. Talk in terms of results. Make sure that performance solutions are always in the mix. Talk with your peers, but more important, talk to others in your organization in other departments. Read the business pages in your newspaper and make sure you fully understand the forces shaping your specific organization.

As your business acumen grows, so does your value..."

Any comments or experiences to share?

Ram

Dear Ram
I fully agree with you. HR professional should talk the language understood by the people.
For Directors / Top Management 'ROI' language would be more appreciated and
For Staff 'Learning’s for Self Development' (that is ultimately going to contribute to ROI!) would be more appreciated.
Regards
Balaji
:lol:

Hi,
Well said!
To be precise, a trainer in today's competitive scenario has to be a 'Generalist'. By generalist, i mean, he/she has to be a Marketer, Financialist and a Systems adminstartor, all in one, if he needs to drive 'training'.

I very much agree with Ram's sentiments.

Ram's posting outlines the 'what' - the challenge is in getting the 'how' right.

Arguably the HRD/L&D professional of the future must in some respects be a business person with a deep understanding of HR/L&D. Not an HRD/L&D expert trying to get to grips with the world, language and more subtle concepts of business.

It is one thing to talk about ROI, it's another to demonstrate robustly, clearly and explicitly how a particular L&D intervention will deliver worthwhile results.

What do I mean by 'robust'? I mean that no matter how demanding and awkward the client may be about the data going in to the ROI calculation, there is simply no question about isolating the effects of the intervention where appropriate, any more than there is about when it is meaningful to isolate the effects of training - or not.

Some say trainers should get away from the ROI issue and just focus on results - I say if you are that focused on results you can also deliver credible ROI, and anyway, ultimately training is an investment - it has to be shown to be a good investment, not a bad one. That is the responsibility of the client - the trainer's responsibility is in helping the client achieve this.

I'll be interested to read other response.

Kind regards

Martin

BUSINESS ACUMEN FOR TRAINERS

BUSINESS ACUMEN IS A MUST FOR ANY ASPECTS

OF HR ACTIVITIES.

For trainers it is not only relevant/ important but it is also

critical as it impacts the results / outcomes in areas like

-knowledge level

-sales results

-revenue

-productivity

-profitability

-effectiveness

-efficiency

etc etc

which in turn affects

-corporate image

-corporate stock value.

PEOPLE/ OPERATION do not perform in vacuum

but in real market conditions.

HENCE if you are training people, the skill/knoweldge

impact must be focused on the result, which comes

out of a market conditions.

EXAMPLE

If you are a sales trainer[ in house or external ], before you embark

on a sales training program, you should have a thorough

understanding of

-product

-product applications

-total market

-market segments

-market share

-competition

-sales performance [current ]

-company marketing strategy

-company marketing objectives

-company sales strategy

-company sales objectives

-company channel strategy

-company channel objectives

-company distribution strategy

-company distribution objectives

-company promotion strategy

-company promotion objectives

-company merchandising strategy

-company merchandising objectives

-company segment strategy

-company segment objectives

-SALES METHODS

-TRAINING OBJECTIVES

ETC ETC

This would mean ''DOING HOMEWORK''

which should include field visits.

THIS WOULD NOT ONLY BUILD CONFIDENCE

IN YOURSELF BUT ALSO LIFT YOUR CREDIBILITY

IN FRONT OF THE PARTICIPANTS.

THIS REMARK IS OUTCOME OUT OF MY PERSONAL

EXPERIENCE IN CONDUCTING MANAGEMENT TRAINING

-SALES

-PRODUCT MANAGEMENT

-SALES MANAGEMENT

-MARKETING MANAGEMENT

ETC ETC.

regards

LEO LINGHAM

Ram -
I agree completely. To many HR professionals lose credibility by failing to understand and use the values and language of business.
In contrast, I worked with the executive team at a major hospital. The CEO told me he would not hold important meetings if the head of HR couldn't attend. I asked why. He replied that she understood the business challenges facing the hospital. She brought a unique "human" perspectrive, but she talked about the HR issues in the context of what was important to the success of the institution.