About Training
In many small and medium-sized organizations, that do not have the resources for a training department, training (beyond onboarding and job role orientation) does not exist. Regardless of the size of an organization, there are many benefits for investing in the training of employees.
Workplace training is important for several reasons, including skills development, increased productivity, employee engagement and satisfaction, talent retention and attraction, succession planning and adaptability to change.
Any workplace who invests in the training and development of their employees is going to have an advantage, as the following explains:
Skills Development:
Training programs provide employees with the opportunity to learn new skills and enhance their existing ones. This helps them stay up to date with industry trends, technologies, and best practices, enabling them to perform their jobs more effectively and efficiently.
Increased Productivity:
Well-trained employees are more competent and confident in their roles, leading to increased productivity. Training equips employees with the knowledge and tools necessary to perform their tasks efficiently, reducing errors and wasted time. As employees become more proficient, they can accomplish more in less time.
Employee Engagement and Satisfaction:
Investing in employee development through training demonstrates a commitment to their professional growth. This boosts employee morale, job satisfaction, and engagement levels. When employees feel valued and supported, they are more likely to be motivated and loyal to their organization.
Talent Retention and Attraction:
Employees appreciate opportunities for growth and development. By providing comprehensive training programs, organizations can attract top talent and retain skilled employees. Training demonstrates a commitment to employees’ long-term success, making an organization an attractive place to work.
Succession Planning:
Training programs play a crucial role in succession planning by identifying high-potential employees and preparing them for leadership roles. Through training, organizations can develop a pipeline of capable individuals who can step into key positions when needed, ensuring continuity, and reducing disruptions.
Adaptability to Change
In today’s rapidly changing business landscape, organizations must adapt to new technologies, processes, trends, and market demands. Training programs help employees acquire the skills and knowledge needed to embrace change and adapt to new situations. This enables organizations to remain competitive and agile in the face of evolving industry trends.
Read about the importance of Professional Development.
About Coaching
Growth in coaching services is because of organizations recognizing that more effective leadership is critical to sustain productivity, profitability, customer service, teamwork and ultimately, corporate culture. This is especially true as organizations navigate the evolving COVID-19 aftermath challenges as they relate to employees, customers, and economics. An executive coach offers an outside perspective and unique observations that are often challenging for internal leadership to see.
Coaches challenge and encourage. The coach’s role is not to sugar coat performance and decisions, but rather help their coachee come to their own conclusions regarding performance and behaviour improvement through a series of questions, referred to as question-based coaching.
Coaching Relationships
According to Harvard Business Review, a successful coaching relationship should have the following ingredients:
- The employee must be highly motivated to change and/or improve.
- The coach and the executive need to be compatible, sharing a mutual respect.
- There is a strong commitment from the organization’s leadership to invest in the executive.
- There is an attitude of flexibility to adapt the coaching focus as required.
In today’s business environment, hiring a leadership coach is being proactive. High-performance achievers have a never-ending desire to increase their potential and they know a coach can help. Their driven growth mindset may have them working an inordinate number of hours and expecting their subordinates to do the same. They may appear engaged but are distracted while multi-tasking and feeling a sense of chaos. An executive coach can help find balance and solutions to managing priorities and time.
Read more about Leadership or Executive Coaching.
How Do Training and Coaching Compliment Each Other
There is a learning process associated with both training and coaching, which is how they compliment each other while at the same time serving different purposes.
Training typically has a set agenda, and a group learns as a unit. Training should be interactive and engaging, with take away notes and possibly assignments. Depending on the training, single modules have no built in follow up methodologies, so trainees have to take ownership of their learning for it to be effective.
Coaching does not have a set agenda, although it can provide follow up discussions based on the learning that has taken place during the training. Although group coaching does occur, coaching is more often one-on-one making it less interactive but very engaging since the discussion is so relevant to the person being coached.
“Training transfers the desirable knowledge and skills; coaching instils the learning and enthusiasm from the training to the workplace in a more sustainable way with greater influence.” (leadershiptribe)
A trainer can be a better trainer with coaching skills and experience since coaching is about asking powerful thought-provoking questions, and training may be associated with being more directional.
A coach can be a better coach with training skills and knowledge of topics, and then utilize this knowledge to ask questions relative to the skills the client requires or wants to develop.
X5 Management
We encourage our team of certified trainers to become coaches and ask our coaches to become certified trainers. That allows us to weave in coaching services during a training project, and the same trainer can become the coach in a particular workplace. The rapport building relationships have already been forged during the training sessions, and therefore credibility and trust have been established. These are important attributes in a coaching relationship since being challenged can create vulnerability, and we tend not to be vulnerable if we don’t trust our coach (or trainer). Being open to having uncomfortable conversations is a valuable attitude to have when being coached.
