Training on Purpose: Building Staff Development Programs that Work

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Training on Purpose Building Staff Development
Programs that Work

• Robert Young
• OCLC Inc.

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Myths about training

• You need an elaborate training program
• You need a training staff
• It has to be expensive
• It takes a lot of time
• You need experts in order to train

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Truths about training

• You need a plan
• You need buy-in from above and below
• You need some budget
• You need to make some time and space
• You need to show results

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A Training Top Ten List

• Ten sure signs that your training program is in
  trouble

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Number Ten

• When people ask about training, you tilt your
  head sideways and give them your best quizzical
  puppy look

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Number Nine

• You tell your staff that you plan to implement a
  training program based on the great things
  theyre doing at GM

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Number Eight

• You use your training budget to pay for staff
  backrubs

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Number Seven

• You just hire whoever, and use your training
  program to fix them

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Number Six

• You train people so you can fire them

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Number Five

• If someone asks you how effective your training
  program is, you try the quizzical puppy thing
  again

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Number Four

• You have an annual Wow, its May already we
  better figure out how to spend the training
  budget! moment

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Number Three

• You focus your training on knowledge instead of
  behavior

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Number Two

• Q We have a problem with ltfill in problem
  heregt. What should we do?
• A Training!

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Number one

• You use training to solve problems that dont
  really matter

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Building a Program

• What it means to train on purpose and where to
  start

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Global Training and Local Training

• Global training is not likely to be effective in
  the absence of local training
• Local training can be effective in the absence of
  global training

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What Are Your Goals?

• Can you articulate
• your most important goals?
• your biggest problems?
• the tools, skills, and behaviors important for
  particular jobs?

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Training and Your Most Important Goals

• Formal Tools PERT Charts Gantt Charts
• Less formal process
• List the things that need to be done to
  accomplish the goal
• Put them in order and give them a timeline
• Identify the components that benefit from training

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Example Implement an E-Reader Lending Program
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Training and Your Biggest Problems

• Formal Tools Fishbone (Ishikawa) Diagrams,
  Pareto Charts
• Less formal process
• Chart the problems with people, tools, processes,
  and environment

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Example It takes too long to get books on the
shelf
Tools
People
One cataloger position unfilled
New acquisitions program is more complex
Catalogers cant make full use of new software
Takes too long
Processing done by workers who are frequently
absent
Unloading area too far from catalogers
Environment
Processes
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Training and Job Skills

• Formal Tools Job Analysis, Job Descriptions
• Less Formal Process
• Observe and record what people actually spend
  their days doing.
• Focus on job-specific knowledge, tools, and
  processes
• Dont get drawn into broad education or attitude
  training

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When You Meet Resistance

• Getting over the speed bumps

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Resistance From Management

• Money Resistance
• Theres no budget this year
• Its a luxury, not a necessity
• Personal resistance
• The staff wont do it
• Weve tried it before it didnt work
• Ill put it on my list

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Responses to Money Resistance

• Co-opt an existing activity and/or funding source
• Use internal staff talents
• Use a train-the-trainer approach
• Make a business case based on staff costs where
  possible
• Take advantage of free training resources
• Use two magic words Pilot Program
• Mentoring and Job Switching

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Responses to Personal Resistance

• Perseverance
• Dont call it a program
• Treat it as an experiment (or Pilot Program)
• Find a narrow test case with high-profile upside
• Work within the area you can influence
• Volunteer
• Make it their idea

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Resistance From Below

• WIIFM Issues
• Theres no money in it for me
• This is __________s program, not mine
• Inertia issues
• I dont have time
• Fear of being tested
• Fear of change

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Responses to WIIFM Resistance

• Have the answer before launch
• Make the training interesting
• Emphasize direct job benefits
• Find your champion(s)
• Involve employees in planning
• Position as tool for advancement (use with
  caution)

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Responses to Inertia Resistance

• Perseverance and follow-through
• Dont call it a program
• Make incremental changes
• Co-opt existing activities
• Include union representatives in planning (where
  appropriate)
• Avoid using threatening components (public
  tests, job evaluations based on training
  performance, etc.)

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Key Points to Remember

• Training must be purposeful to be effective
• Training is not always the answer
• Training must support important goals and
  problems
• Training programs do not have to be elaborate to
  be effective
• Be prepared for resistance when implementing
  training

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Thank You!

• Contact the presenter at
• youngr_at_oclc.org