How to start a learning & development program?

1. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE? This is the hardest question to answer, especially in leadership development. But it’s necessary.

2. HOW WILL YOU KNOW YOU’VE ACHIEVED YOUR GOAL? If you have an answer to this, you’ll have a KPI as well.

3. WHAT DOES THE ORGANIZATION WANT? There’s no such thing as an organization, there are only people. If you ask just one person, their opinion will determine what you train for. A focus group, a survey, a three-question form that takes ten minutes to put together is enough to gauge what everyone wants to train on.

4. WHAT IS MY REALISTIC, FORESEEABLE TIME HORIZON? Elaborate, well-structured programs lasting three years were rare in 2010. Today, they are almost non-existent. This used to be a problem; today, it’s an advantage. Consider if our current leadership trainings had started in 2021, what the important topics would have been compared to today, when within five years we’ve faced COVID, war, inflation, recession, and AI. We are continually running through grief curves with all leaders and examining what existential fear means in their lives. Because until these issues are worked through, until we have self-awareness, no communication training will change attitudes or develop skills. Really, skill development is the smallest part of the story.

5. WHO DO I WANT TO IMPACT MY LEADER? This is the point to choose a consultant. The coach’s qualifications, papers, or certifications won’t determine the outcome of your training. It’s their attitude, approach, and engagement that matter to you and the participants of the training sessions. Read through the thoughts and opinions of the consulting company, ask for phone references from those who have worked with them, and call them!

6. WHAT TOOLS DO I WANT TO USE? These are not one-time decisions in a well-structured training development. Throw a scooter, roller skates, skateboard, and bike into the car, and in the end, you might just walk. That’s okay. You know what you want to achieve, you have your consultant, sit down and discuss what tools would be most suitable. Start and iterate at the end of each session, modify if needed. Even on the spot. You don’t need to decide today whether in next February you’ll need an 8-person 4-hour online session, or a 2-person 2-hour session, or a 45-minute 200-person webinar to move forward in the right direction. Yes, you’ll have a budget, but you don’t need to carve anything in stone six months in advance. Moreover, you don’t even need to decide if you’ve chosen a company to accompany you; leave it to them, that’s why you hired them :)

7. DON’T GET STUCK ON SATISFACTION MEASUREMENT! I say this as one of our programs concluded just a month ago, where for 150 people, with 46 training days, the overall usefulness averaged 97%, and the trainer’s work 98%. That’s brutal. But is it enough to consider your measurement done with this? My goal isn’t to measure whether our coach was likable, smart, and prepared; of course, they are, otherwise they wouldn’t work with us!! But to see if the training achieved its intended results. Did behavior change, is the attitude shifting? These are skewed and very difficult to measure questions, yes. But still, you mustn’t let them go, leaning back with the satisfaction that the organization is happy, the coaches are great. The goal isn’t satisfaction; the goal is behavior change, skill utilization, the desire to learn, etc.

You can tackle any of these yourself, outsource them to us, or to anyone whose thinking and approach you resonate with. Just don’t skip them!

The Behavior Lab is on LinkedIn here. You can reach me at dorka@y2y.hu, or +3630-413-4409. If I don’t pick up, send an SMS; I have two daughters and save every unknown number as a courier. :)