Changes in the work culture, policies, procedures and other changes can lead to the need for training. Employee development has to change and adapt to the changing face of business in order to support the needs of the business or organization.
Access to Training Challenged by Employee Location and Schedules
With non-traditional working arrangements being more and more common in the workplace today, training managers have a tough challenge designing and delivering training to employees that:
- work remotely including from their home office
- work in a job sharing arrangement
- work alternative hours (come in early, work late etc.)
All-day training events become a challenge to schedule but finding a series of two hour blocks of time that work for the majority of employees can also be a challenge. To combat this challenge, many training managers are looking at online/distance educational options combined with trainers travelling to offer face to face sessions in regional locations.
Face to face training is generally offered as an intensive (e.g. scheduled as three days back to back) in order to accommodate employees that travel in from a neighboring town or city. Another alternative is to create facilitator guides for local area managers to deliver face to face training in conjunction with a webinar or online module. Some teleconferencing services also allow for virtual breakout rooms where small group discussions can occur.
Acquisitions and Mergers that Introduce New Systems and Procedures
When new systems are introduced, training managers must respond to the need to get existing company staff trained on any new system or procedure that will be adapted.
A solution to this challenge is to engage the employees from the company that is being merged in to use their content expertise to train the employees from the existing company. Train-the-trainer manuals can be developed to help disperse the learning throughout the newly expanded organization.
Training Space Limitations
Availability of training room space is becoming more and more of an issue as organizations in their bid for space do away with training rooms and board rooms.
The solution to this challenge is to look offsite to other venues that charge nominal fees for big return such as security, technical support and catering built into the rental or for nominal additional charges. Often smaller community colleges offer great value. Another option for low cost room rentals (albeit usually without catering or tech support help) is community non-profit organizations that can greatly benefit from the revenue the rental generates and sometimes offer a tax incentive if they normally do not rent rooms but can let you use their boardroom for a donation.
There are many challenges facing training managers today, but with some creative problem solving and the support from upper management, any challenge can find a solution.
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