A Handbook for Training Strategy

Martyn Sloman

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• Topic: Business
• eBook ISBN:
  9781351962445
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

When the first edition of Martyn Sloman's Handbook appeared, it made an immediate impact on the HRD community. Its starting point was the idea that traditional approaches to training in the organization were no longer effective. The Handbook introduced a new model and set out the practical implications. The world of HRD has moved on, and Martyn Sloman has now drastically revised the text to reflect the increased complexity of organizational life and the many recent developments in the field. His aim remains the same: to help readers to develop a framework in which training can be effectively managed and delivered. In Part I of the text the author draws attention to the opportunities created for training by the current emphasis on competition through people. In Part II he poses the question: 'What should training managers be doing to ensure that training in their organization is as good as it can be?' Here he stresses the need to keep training aligned with business objectives, and to encourage line managers to work alongside the human resource professionals. The third and final Part considers the trainer as a strategic facilitator and examines the skills required. Martyn Sloman writes as an experienced training manager and his book is concerned, above all, with implementation. Thus the text is supported by questionnaires, survey instruments and specimen documents. With its combination of thought-provoking argument and practical guidance, the Handbook will continue to serve all those with an interest in organizational training.

Part I

The Role of Training

Introduction to Part I

The premise underlying this book is that there is a need for a reappraisal of the role of training in the modern organization. This need has arisen from a number of factors that, taken together, demand a thorough review of the identification of training needs, the design and delivery of training activity, and the post-training evaluation and reinforcement. Most importantly, this combination of factors has raised questions on the validity of traditional models of training management: a review of the organizational position of the training function is needed, and the skills required of the training professional must be reassessed.

A great deal of rethinking is taking place, but it often lacks structure. Managers responsible for the delivery of training in an organization (whether training specialists or not) are thoughtful and conscientious and are aware that important changes are taking place in the training environment. In recent years, more so than ever before, they have been subjected to a barrage of ideas. Most are conceptually complex and it is often hard to see how, if at all, they fit together. Most have been concerned with strategy and competition. The human resource implications have been implicit rather than explicit. To illustrate this point, consider the following questions which are all exercising the training manager’s thinking:

• it is accepted that training should be closely linked with business strategy, but what does this mean in practice? How should it be done?

• how should training relate to corporate culture?

• should the training manager be operating as an internal consultant and, if so, what does this mean?

• how important a breakthrough are competencies? What is the link with National Vocational Qualifications?

• how important are the opportunities offered by knowledge management and open and distance learning?

• should the company be attempting to become a learning organization and, if so, how?

All these are important questions. Regrettably, it is hard – however many articles are examined or conferences attended – to find simple operational guidelines indicating what should be done in the organization on Monday morning. Many training managers are therefore left feeling inadequate and confused.

There are sound reasons for such confusion. Delivering effective training in a modern organization requires new thinking, new relationships, new models, a new approach and new instruments and mechanisms. Grafting current ‘isms’ onto old frameworks is unlikely to be effective. It is necessary, therefore, at the outset to consider fully the new context in which the training manager must operate. This is carried out in Chapter 1, where I consider the new approach to competition through people, and Chapter 2, where I discuss the implications for human resources.

Once this analysis has been undertaken, the training manager’s confusion is explained. He or she is operating in an uncertain environment and only partial guidance is offered by the existing conceptual models. These models are reviewed in Chapter 3 and the characteristics of a new approach are presented.

1 Competition through people

A new confidence is evident throughout the training profession. Changes in the corporate and business environment in which the training manager operates have created opportunities for a significant new organizational contribution. Although many problems and challenges lie ahead, there are clear indications that the competitive demands of today’s economy will bring training and development centre stage. The training department will no longer be required to justify its existence: it will no longer need to fight for support and attention from the Chief Executive. From now on it will be seen as a key player in the creation and maintenance of competitive strategy.

For many training managers the sentiments outlined in the paragraph above are attractive, even seductive. Regrettably these sentiments represent a battle cry rather than a description of current reality. An opportunity exists for advancing the role and credibility of training in organizations. However, a great deal of serious analysis must take place if the opportunity is to be grasped. The forces that give rise to the new opportunity must be understood, the challenge articulated, models, techniques and processes must be developed. Moreover, these models, techniques and processes are situational: they must reflect the circumstances that apply in any particular organization. If a new exciting future can be glimpsed, there is considerable effort required to make that exciting future a reality. If necessary efforts are not made, both by the training profession as a whole and by the individual training manager in his or her organization, the exciting future could turn out to be a mirage.

In this chapter I begin the fundamental analysis: what is the justification for the claim that the changing corporate environment has created new opportunities for the training profession? This analysis first shows how the development of people could become the new source of competitive advantage. Next it looks closely at the underlying business and organizational trends that have given rise to this possibility. I then review the perspectives offered by some influential commentators. Finally, I summarize the major issues and questions facing the profession and individual training managers.

TRAINING AND COMPETITIVE STRATEGY

Summary: A new meaning has been given to the phrase ‘people are our most important asset’. Economic pressures have prompted developed economies to see the skills and capabilities of their employees as the key to business survival As a result a new competitive model has emerged – one that enhances the role of training.

The phrase ‘people are our most important asset’ has, in the era of involuntary redundancy and corporate downsizing (and similar euphemisms), been greeted with much cynicism. However, current thinking on competitive strategy has given the phrase a new credibility. A new competitive model is emerging, in which training has a significant role to play.

There is a simple articulation of the new model in Figure 1.1: it consists of the six elements, none of which should be accepted without challenge. All require scrutiny and demand that hard evidence be produced to support the underlying assumptions. Where appropriate, such evidence as is available is presented in the course of this book. At this stage all that is needed is: first, a recognition that each of the elements has a strong immediate credibility; second, that taken together the elements provide a powerful argument for promoting training both nationally and within organizations.

This new competitive model is central to the promotion of training nationally as an examination of Government policy statements demonstrates. Two promotional publications written during the last few years illustrate the point. In 1994 the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) together with the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) published Competitiveness – How the Best UK Companies are Winning;¹ in 1997 the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Education and Employment (DfEE) published Competitiveness through Partnerships with People.²

Figure 1.1 Elements of the new competitive model

Winning argued that the UK contained many excellent companies: these produced the right goods and services of the right quality, at the right price and at the right time, meeting customers’ needs more efficiently and effectively than other firms. This is a reasonable, if somewhat bland, description of the ingredients of short-term commercial success. Not enough of these excellent companies existed, however. Accordingly, the DTI and CBI commissioned the Warwick Manufacturing Group at Warwick University to study one hundred of these best companies and identify shared characteristics. These elements of ‘ingredients for success’ are presented in Figure 1.2.

Partnerships with People took as an assumption that competitiveness could only be improved if ‘we work together to improve every aspect of our performance. This partnership is at the heart of what constitutes a responsible and successful organisation.’ The DTI and DfEE carried out an investigation into how this was achieved in practice. The Centre for Research into Innovation Management at the University of Brighton set the framework for research, which was carried out through focus groups and interviews by a large number of partner organizations (including, once again, the CBI). Five main broad bands of management practices were identified as ‘producing a balanced environment in which employees thrived and sought success for themselves and their organisations’. These ‘paths to sustained success’ are also reproduced in Figure1.2.

The two reports had a great deal in common in terms of intention, approach and (as can be seen from Figure 1.2) in findings. Neither set out to be a description of the reality of UK practice in general: both simply claimed that best practice existed. The extent to which these excellent companies are representative was not dealt with. Both offered a checklist to allow organisations to benchmark themselves against best practice.

Both recognized that different organizational situations (size, markets, etc.) could require different processes but argued that the key elements of success are the same and any organization could benefit from their findings. Both were firmly unitarist in perspective, reflecting a philosophy that all employees are committed to the same ends and that different groups should willingly work together to deliver organizational performance. Both were firmly grounded in what will be later described as the ‘new human resources’. This concept will be developed in Chapter 2. The framework for the ‘new human resources’ involves a clear set of goals, leading to motivation, supported by training, reinforced by communication and delivered through teamwork.

Figure 1.2 Extracts from Government publications on competitiveness

Most importantly, from the point of view of the arguments to be developed in this book, both saw learning, development and training as a key driver of business success. To quote:

Training is seen as a key component in achieving empowerment of the individual and in maintaining focus on the customer in order to remain competitive. Not only is ‘training the epicentre of empowerment’ with as much as 10% of employees’ time spent on it, but ‘successful companies use education as a competitive weapon’ (Winning).

and

As the workforce becomes more skilled, the visions of the company can become more ambitious because the full potential of the people is released into an environment of achievement… Companies report that training and learning steadily develop an atmosphere of problem solving and creativity (Partnerships with People).

The ‘new human resources’ goes hand in hand with recognition of and commitment to customer needs which permeates the organization. Knowledge of customer requirements links back to improved services and products from increasingly skilled employees.

Significantly the two reports were issued by UK Governments of opposite political persuasions (Conservative and New Labour). In the intervening period between the publications a vigorously fought general election had taken place. Yet there is scarcely any perceptible difference between the two – save the Trades Union Congress as a signatory to Partnerships with People. Cynically one could dismiss both publications as example of ‘exhortative voluntarism’: an attempt to describe best practice in the hope it is accepted and becomes adopted as universal reality – a politically attractive alternative to compulsion.

However, there is something important to be gained from looking beyond the propaganda hype. A new opportunity for training is beckoning. The challenge is to move from a recognition of the opportunity to specify and implement the new approaches to training which will be particular to each organization. How this can be achieved will be developed in ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Figures
• Preface to the second edition
• Introduction
• Part I The Role of Training
• Part II The Process of Training
• Part III Managing the Training Function
• Appendices
• Index