Grow your own people
Want to grow your team or business, then invest in its development. Developing your own people increases your long term staff retention and is critical for high performing teams and organisations. Helping your organisation grow and succeed. Avantis Performance co-founder Sam Crowder has helped private and public sector organisations design and implement a range of development interventions.
From skills mapping, curriculum, syllabus and training programme creation to setting up graduate programmes in both the public and private sectors. Sam has delivered development infrastructure that has enabled the organisations to grow and expand, becoming leaders in their fields.
“For me it always starts with the right person and not their certificates. If we have the person we can build and grow everything else. (Having said that some certificates are pretty important – doctors, dentists, structural engineers etc!).” Explains Sam.
But this approach can lead to different skill levels and experience across the organisation. Often organisations are unaware what skill levels staff have and what is worse most organisations have no idea what skills they should value the most.
“I would always start by understanding what it is an organisation needs in terms of skills. Not what it think it needs, what it actually needs”. Sam is a big proponent of using data and analysis as well personal feedback to really understand what is driving value creation within the organisation.
Once the target skill sets are established the training requirements can be set and curriculums and syllabuses created. It might sound like a lot however establishing a set of training requirements allows an organisation and the people in it to take stock. They can measure where they are and compare that against where they need to be. This enables accurate assessment of future investments in training and development e.g. are you getting a return on your investment?
Often organisations are unaware what skill levels staff have and what is worse most organisations have no idea what skills they should value the most. This results in time wasted on expensive unrequired training courses or even worse hiring staff they you just don’t need.
Analysis to find the skill sets valued the most by clients and internally should be based on real data. This could be from feedback, surveys or looking back at services and capabilities requested over the last 12 months. This type analysis will allow more effective focusing of limited development budgets.
It also need not be overly complex and time consuming. Aligning your target skill set to an existing framework such as the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA) or Digital, Data and Technology (DDAT) or a professional body such as INCOSE or APM has multiple benefits. Apart from saving time it also provides a route to professional recognition for staff which is a great way to add value to your brand as well as rewarding staff.
Skills mapping and defining development requirements are good foundations but turning these into training interventions and programmes is what will provide the true return on investment. Training programmes can consist of:
Internal and external content
- Taught elements
- Online or eLearning
- Recommended reading
- On the job experience
- Simulations based on real life
“People learn in different ways so if you are trying to train a diverse group of people then ideally you need a mix of training methods to reach as many people as possible” advises Sam.
One area where organisations often say they focus on their development is on the job training. “ The problem is that a lot of businesses just leave people to get on with it and say its training. It’s not. What are they learning and how are they being supported?” asks Sam. On the job training can be a powerful training tool especially when used with other methods of development. However it also needs supporting with clear learning objectives for the learners and support and guidance for the people mentoring them.
Analysis to find the skill sets valued the most by clients and internally should be based on real data. This could be from feedback, surveys or looking back at services and capabilities requested over the last 12 months. This type analysis will allow more effective focusing of limited development budgets.
It also need not be overly complex and time consuming. Aligning your target skill set to an existing framework such as the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA) or a professional body such as INCOSE or APM has multiple benefits. Apart from saving time it also provides a route to professional recognition for staff which is a great way to add value to your brand as well as rewarding staff.
Skills mapping and defining development requirements are good foundations but turning these into training interventions and programmes is what will provide the true return on investment. Training programmes can consist of:
Internal and external content
- Taught elements
- Online or eLearning
- Recommended reading
- On the job experience
- Simulations based on real life
“People learn in different ways so if you are trying to train a diverse group of people then ideally you need a mix of training methods to reach as many people as possible” advises Sam.
One area where organisations often say they focus on their development is on the job training. “ The problem is that a lot of businesses just leave people to get on with it and say its training. It’s not. What are they learning and how are they being supported?” asks Sam. On the job training can be a powerful training tool especially when used with other methods of development. However it also needs supporting with clear learning objectives for the learners and support and guidance for the people mentoring them.
There is always going to be a trade off between time, money and quality when it comes to training interventions. There are benefits to creating your own training material however this takes time and dedicated resources. Finding a training partner or using accredited training is likely to be quicker but may come at a cost. The trick is to use a range of sources and to mature them over time. Having someone within the organisation “own” each training programme will help drive consistency and ensure a gradual evolution of material.
Sam also has some advice when thinking about graduates and apprentices “When working with early careers it is really important to provide an element of wrap around support. That can be from mentors or the course leader but it can equally be from having a group of early careers staff study together”. Graduates and Apprentices are a great way of injecting youth and energy into an organisation however don’t underestimate the investment required to make them as effective as more experienced staff.
Staff development can be a daunting topic with many technicalities when it comes to training requirement development and course delivery. However done in the right way you can grow a team full of people with valuable skills who have confidence in the work that they do. Their day to day performance will increase along with their contentment in the work that they do. Your organisation will see greater retention with increased ability to deliver technical and demanding work.
Always start by understanding what skills you actually need and that are most valuable to you or your clients. Use an existing skills framework to support this mapping. Build your training interventions around your skill requirements using a range of learning techniques. Tailor the content to your budget and evolve it over time, ensuring someone owns the training programme and takes responsibility for it. Lastly, try and make training fun, people will remember it far more if the enjoyed it.
Graduates and Apprentices are a great way of injecting youth and energy into an organisation however don’t underestimate the investment required to make them as effective as more experienced staff.
Get in touch to find out more.