This chapter explains what is required to establish and maintain a team of employees to achieve business performance in line with agreed goals and expectations.

For any organisation to be successful, enablement models need to be established that align and monitor business performance through the combination of individual employee competencies. These models form the basis by which the business objectives can be mapped to a series of business activities, which can then be grouped into competencies, roles and responsibilities.

With job roles specified, competency and performance management can be undertaken to assist in the tracking, control and monitoring of both the overall team and individuals’ contribution to the achievement of business goals and objectives.

Balancing the level of human resources required to support and grow a training business is an ongoing challenge for training managers. Implementing an employee and contractor recruitment policy provides the basis of an employment strategy to be defined.

Of equal importance is culture and climate, which have significant influence on employee behaviours and performance and require regular monitoring and development.

APPLYING ENABLEMENT MODELS TO DRIVE BUSINESS PERFORMANCE

Obtaining the best out of a training team requires a solid understanding of what the business objectives are, and what requirements there are on individual employees to collectively contribute to overall business performance and success.

To gain success, an enablement model needs to be established that forms the basis by which both management and employees can flourish. Among the many models that can be adopted, the business performance matrix shown in Figure 16.1 highlights the key principles that can be used to explain how to get the best from a training team.

How well a team performs can be evidenced by how well the business performance matches stated business objectives, and how well personal and team performances match the stated personnel objectives.

Achievement of business objectives requires a set of activities to be performed. These activities may be grouped into competencies and the competencies into roles and tasks.

The competency required to perform an activity is defined as:

access to information + knowledge + skills + experience = competency

Knowledge and skills generally increase through experience. The concept of performance support is to provide information in a structured form and at a time when it compensates for lack of knowledge, skill or experience, the application of which enables an individual to perform with a higher level of competency than they would otherwise possess.

Performance support may be provided by scripted procedures or job aids. Examples of job aids might be:

• Prepared technical briefs on course objectives and prerequisites for use by administration staff.
• Sales presentations and guidelines for prospective customers.
• Reference solution architectures for technical instructors to use during training sessions.

The closer that performance support can be incorporated into a business workflow, the more effective it will potentially be. Business workflow forms a key part in business performance success, through use of defined processes that assist in the execution of the individual and collective training roles to achieve overall training business objectives.

Being able to align and monitor business performance through the combined individual competencies provides the training department with a powerful way of assessing how well personal and team performances match stated objectives.

TRAINING STAFF JOB SPECIFICATIONS

Once the business objectives have been mapped to a series of business activities, they can then be grouped into competencies, roles and responsibilities.

For example: one of the business objectives could be to administer customer and partner instructor-led training requests in a professional and effective manner, leading to weekly billing on completion. The process would typically comprise:

• Defining the associated business activities:
  • receiving student bookings and billing them on course completion;
  • scheduling resources;
  • providing customer care and administration support.
• Defining the required responsibilities per individual or combined business activity (for example, receiving student bookings and billing them on course completion):
  • to answer incoming requests for training and provisionally book the student on the required course;
  • request student information and purchase order number;
  • monitor incoming receipt of purchase order and send out joining instructions;
  • on course completion, send course invoice to student.
• Defining the required competencies per business activity (for example, receiving student bookings and billing them on course completion):
  • Competency 1: ability to apply a friendly and professional tone and deal with all course requests in a knowledgeable and timely manner.
  • Competency 2: administer the training booking system in a proficient manner and in accordance with agreed service level requirements.
  • Competency 3: apply diligence when booking and billing students.

Once the competencies required have been assessed and aligned to job roles, a broader more-detailed job specification can be drawn up that can be structured as a career path based on required levels of performance and overall responsibility. Table 16.1 provides an example of a typical learning administrator role.

Job specifications provide the means to assess and guide training staff by focusing both the manager and the employee on the nature and scope of the role, along with the required competencies. Any shortfall in performance can be cross-checked against the competency criteria of ensuring that employees have:

access to information with sufficient knowledge to use the skills gained to apply their experience in a competent manner

which provides management with the ability to document progress, address shortfalls and instigate a proactive two-way communication with the employee. From the employee perspective, it provides them with a clear set of expectations and a reference point by which they can focus not just on the role, but also on their areas of development and future advancement.

Table 16.1 Typical learning administrator job specification

TRAINING STAFF COMPETENCY MANAGEMENT

Competence is a combination of practical and thinking skills, experience and knowledge linked to a willingness to perform work activities in accordance with agreed standards, rules and procedures leading to the achievement of training business objectives.

Management is ensuring that staff understand the performance that is expected from them, and that they receive appropriate training, development and assessment with a commitment to maintaining or improving their competence over time.

Employee training and development teams (often part of a human resources group) will have the responsibility of working with technical training management to create a level of competence for both individuals and the team. Over time, as knowledge and practical experience grows, the performance of the training team will develop and strengthen.

As part of a shared services function, the employee training and development team should provide support and access to a competency management system (CMS). This provides a structure through which to assess, plan and implement the required training and development activities to ensure that both individual and team performance is being attained.

There are many CMS environments. The technical training manager needs to understand which one is available and how it can be used and applied to develop a strong relationship with employees and to ensure they can maximise its benefits and gain the all-important regular performance feedback from management.

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

Business performance is based on delivering defined outcomes. For a training group, these outcomes typically comprise:

• Number of students trained.
• Fiscal achievement, which, depending on the company, can be cost control-based, profit and revenue contribution-based or bookings-related.
• Time to market with training offering availability.
• Customer satisfaction.
• Other factors, depending on levels of granulation required and audience type.

As discussed in the previous section on competency management, competence is a combination of practical and thinking skills, experience and knowledge applied to the achievement of business objectives leading to desired performance achievements.

To achieve a desired performance requires a solid understanding of all the factors that impinge on how the organisation operates. Having very competent staff but poor business processes, culture, pay scales, systems, organisational structures and communications hinders the organisation from achieving the required performance goals. The training management team must therefore establish a process for performance management that typically covers:

• A documented view on the overall training business strategy.
• Defined business goals and associated business activities to support the achievement of the goals.
• Defined training staff competencies to support required business activities and goals.
• A CMS to track and report on progress.
• Organisational mapping and dependencies defined at individual and team level.
• Access to learning and development to ensure required professional and organisational skills are catered for.
• Assessment of the training group’s culture and effectiveness in undertaking its role within the organisation and customer base.
• Availability of appropriate systems and tools to deliver on the training group’s business goals.
• A fair and appropriate compensation scheme.

As can be seen from these points, performance management is not simply about performance appraisal. It is much broader and entails having regular and informed dialogue with individuals and teams within the training group, including those within the company and its partners and customers.

An established process drives engagement throughout an organisation. It provides the training management team with an opportunity to assess all aspects that can impinge on the group’s success and puts them in a position to address issues in an effective manner. When shared with individuals and teams, the process helps to drive positive and constructive actions.

For performance management to be effective it should have:

• A business strategy document that is clear in its intent, leading to an executable business plan with defined goals and related business activities.
• An organisational structure with defined competency and performance measurements.
• A CMS to track employee competencies, with performance appraisal included.
• Learning and development planning aligned to CMS employee and performance input.
• Regular culture review and feedback involving all of the training group’s contact points.
• Regular system and tools review, factoring in any team or individual performance implications on successful delivery of desired business goals.
• Annual review of salary and benefits aligned to industry trends.
• A continuous cycle, because performance management is a process, not an event.

Performance management is a critical component in a training group’s success that should encourage and involve individuals and teams to discuss in an open and meaningful way, not just their specific performance appraisal and pay, but the overall vision, goals, achievements and obstacles that enable them to move the group forward in a homogeneous manner.

EMPLOYEE AND CONTRACTOR RECRUITMENT

One of the many challenges facing the manager of a training function is how to balance the level of human resources required to support and grow their business. Depending on the nature of the training business, frequency of delivery and the ability to achieve fiscal objectives at the monthly, quarterly and annual level will decide the necessary employment strategy to be applied.

For example, if the nature of the training business is centred around eLearning with the RTM being distributor and reseller-based, there is a strong argument for hiring permanent staff. Product management, content development, marketing and channel sales functions can be streamlined to support planned and controllable growth. On the other hand, a training business based on the provision of multiple modalities and RTMs is faced with more complex challenges around the areas of development, delivery and sales. On the development side, some modalities may require specialist skills that cannot be utilised on a full-time basis. Delivery, in particular instructor-led, may be seasonal; for example, in some European countries employees take extended holidays, resulting in lowered demand at certain times of the year. On the sales front, while full country coverage is a requirement, the return on employee investment may not justify a full-time sales head.

It is factors like these that make the difference between success or failure of the training group when looking to balance overall costs, especially those related to headcount. To achieve the balance, it is important to define a strategy that blends the recruiting mix between permanent and contract staff. Understanding the difference between the two is vital.

Contract recruitment is based on hiring skilled training personnel for a short-term assignment. This helps to reduce the longer-term liability for both the training group and the parent company, because contract staff are not eligible for the same benefits as a full-time employee. Permanent recruitment requires full-time employees to be eligible for all the benefits the company is expected to provide by law, including tax liability, sick pay, pension entitlements, and to the development of ongoing skills and career prospects.

While contract staff will cost more on a daily basis, they are only paid until the job or contract is completed and of course provide increased degrees of flexibility to accommodate the variable demand and need of a training business. There are legal requirements associated with contractors, which can vary extensively depending upon the nature of the training service they are being requested to support. Working closely with the legal department will provide valuable insight into how to proceed.

When planning the training resource hiring strategy, the following points should be considered:

• What percentage of budget is being allocated to employment costs?
• Are there corporate headcount restrictions in place regarding the number of full-time equivalents that can be hired?
• What training functions can be contracted out without compromising security or confidentiality?
• Which staff positions can be fully utilised throughout the year and what is the impact on the profit or cost line if substituted with contract hire staff?
• Can more revenue and profit contribution be obtained by utilising contractors to accommodate variable market fluctuations?
• Can time to market be improved via the use of contractors?

Establishing a robust employment strategy provides the training leadership team with greater control, flexibility and leverage when dealing with corporate finance and business leaders.

CULTURE AND CLIMATE

Cultures evolve over time and represent the shared values and practices being adopted and implemented by a company. Normally, the culture with minor adaptations will be reflected in the way the training group is working collectively and individually.

Climate represents the way a company or group is operating at a moment in time, in terms of shared perceptions and attitudes. Typically, it is measured by how employees are being engaged and involved in the running of the company.

Both are important but very different in terms of impact on the way a company and its training group functions. Of the two, culture has a bigger effect on long-term sustainable success. If it is adaptive and progressive in nature, it can drive stronger employee responsibility and accountability in how they naturally deal with the problems, challenges and goals they are faced with. Climate provides an insight into how employees are engaged and communicated with, typically covering:

• Understanding what the training mission is and how it is implemented.
• Employee benefits and relevance within the marketplace.
• Management and employee interactions.
• Teamwork within the training group and the broader company organisation.
• Group effectiveness regarding change management.

To have a successful culture and achieve the required training group and company expectations, it is important to understand what that desired culture should be. As the group changes over time, with new and replacement employees, the culture will evolve but should strengthen and stabilise as it matures.

To establish a culture, the training management team needs to engage all staff in the process to ensure that the shared values and practices being recommended are understood, agreed and adopted by all. A typical process for the establishment of an employee training team culture covers the following steps:

1. Define or review the strategic intent and high-level business design objectives for the training group.
2. Identify the required behavioural strengths and highlight any weaknesses that the training team will need to address.
3. Cross-check recognised behavioural strengths and weaknesses with the rest of the company, trusted partners and suppliers to ensure broader alignment and relevance.
4. Align the reviewed behavioural strengths and weaknesses with agreed actions, timelines and owners, including combined management and employee support commitments and expectations.
5. Establish the use of feedback and prioritisation reviews to ensure training management and employees are sharing goals to determine if results are being achieved.
6. Maximise and encourage the use of open communications via meetings, email updates and social media postings to encourage formal and informal interactions.
7. Encourage ownership and accountability. If something is broken or not working, all staff should feel comfortable in addressing the problem.

If a culture is working well, no member of staff should feel inhibited or restricted in seeking support. All organisations experience positive and negative interactions regarding cultural expectations and achievements. It can help to drive forward thinking to achieve great results or to drive negative behaviour, minimising effectiveness. Either way, both should be taken into account and actioned to enhance or address the situation.

Culture is a strength that all successful training groups should be able to describe and display, with climate being a means to measure employee engagement and alignment at a specific point in time.

RESPONSIBILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY

Responsibility and accountability are often misunderstood by many organisations and seen as being interchangeable. This can lead to inefficiencies, problems not being resolved and, ultimately, the training group failing. From a management perspective, this is an extremely important aspect of the overall business execution process, and a fundamental part of establishing and driving a strong culture and climate.

When a training manager assigns responsibility and allocates accountability, any confusion regarding its meaning needs to be addressed immediately. Failure to do this can be very damaging in terms of loss of reputation, revenue exposure and potential profit loss.

Responsibility can best be described as being in charge of a series of tasks in the performance of a role or function. For example, an instructor has responsibilities for imparting knowledge and developing the skills of students by following the course schedule.

Accountability is about taking ownership of situations someone is directly involved with, including seeing resulting actions through to completion and taking responsibility for what happens. For example, if an instructor recognises that course content is not correct or fit for purpose, they would address the situation immediately with the students, and contact the content development team to advise them of the problem and request corrective action.

Great teams led by great leaders ensure that all members of the team know their responsibilities and how they are accountable individually and collectively for joint success. Training management should define responsibilities and accountabilities for individuals and teams, but also engage the organisation as a whole to ensure that interdepartmental and interdependencies across the broader company and partner spectrum are factored in to the overall equation. This way, overall responsibility and accountability are understood by everyone and overall organisational effectiveness improved.

SUMMARY

Ensuring that a training team has a solid understanding of business objectives and their requirements as individual employees is crucial to the achievement of overall business performance and success.

Implementing an enablement model, such as the business performance matrix highlighted in Figure 16.1, provides a framework by which to map business objectives to required activities. The activities are grouped into competencies and then aligned with roles and tasks.

Each role should have a job specification defining the nature and scope of the role, responsibilities, required competencies, prior experience and qualification requirements.

Competence is a combination of skills, experience and knowledge linked to a willingness to undertake work activities in accordance with agreed standards, rules and procedures, leading to the achievement of training business objectives.

Employee training and development teams can provide support to technical training management to create programmes that enhance the competence of both the individual and the team.

Having competent employees is important; however, that alone does not guarantee overall business performance success. In addition, business processes, culture, pay scales, systems, organisational structures and communications need to be established and functioning correctly. All of these factors form the basis of performance management and provide a training management team with the ability to drive positive and constructive actions in the achievement of its business objectives.

Developing and expanding a training business requires human resources. Challenges associated with seasonal fluctuations, variable demand, language requirements and balancing budgets need a flexible approach to how personnel is used. By implementing an employee and contractor recruitment policy, training management can optimise and control resources in an efficient manner.

Departmental culture and climate also contribute to business performance success and need to be developed, nurtured and monitored on an ongoing basis. Culture evolves over time and represents shared values and practices, whereas climate reflects moments in time in terms of shared perceptions and attitudes.