Managers.

That’s right, managers. If your training programs don’t have quality and comprehensive information that compounds upon your investment in your management team, well…it probably won’t work!

Why? Because managers directly affect the people around them (at least they should) so if they can’t or won’t participate in learning valuable techniques and improvements, it will have a trickle down effect on your employees.

It can also thwart upward growth. If you have an amazing staff and a killer training management process, it will still suffer from a poor or disengaged leader. Study after study has shown that people don’t leave jobs, companies or roles. Who do they leave? Say it with me folks, MANAGERS!

Conversely, a great leader or manager can do great things with substandard people and processes, because they’ve learned the right way to do things and perfected that mix over time. Like a rolling stone, they gain serious momentum, not only with their team (which will suffer less turnover than the manager’s less effective counterparts) but in their own professional journey.

For the organization sponsoring the training this has a cumulative effect. You not only have a well-trained and constantly improving manager but his or her effect on the team is immediate and improves productivity down the line. This creates value throughout the company and significant ROI for any LMS or training management.

What Managers Need:

In order to take advantage of this phenomenon (again, that can affect the WHOLE company) here’s a quick checklist:

Quality training: This should go without saying, but the training has to be relevant to your industry, company, and learning styles that are the most common. Many LMS programs contain multimedia channels, social support and customized dashboard to encourage completion.

Consistent training: The days of one week workshops are long gone (thank GOODNESS!) and are instead being replaced by on-demand, cloud based solutions that fit into a busy manager’s day. However, you will shoot consistency in the foot by not allowing your managing team TIME to finish these things.

Intuitive training: If a system is difficult to use, requires umpteen plugins, four downloads and more, then it’s the modern day equivalent of using the old training manual as a doorstop. It won’t get used, it won’t change anything and people might trip on it.

Well-thought out training: If you are purchasing a training module simply to check a box, or grabbing it as an add on to the ATS you are already unhappy with, then you are definitely doing it wrong. Fortunately, most HR professionals are genuinely looking for solutions that will serve their employees, not frustrate them. So don’t just look over the curriculum, look over the service provider, the contract, the fine print and the technology to truly deliver training that your management team can get behind.

Check out our main blog here.

photo credit: epiclectic via photopin cc