I<\/span>\u2019ve been privy to a spirited debate lately in my travels to conferences and seminars around the world. While some trainers and training directors continue to complain about the old saw that \u201ctraining is the first thing to be cut,\u201d others are telling me the status of training in their organizations is stronger than ever. Is training enjoying newfound respect and support inside the corporation, or is it still expected to survive on budgetary \u201cleftovers\u201d while top managers give priority funding to other areas deemed more crucial to corporate survival?<\/p>\n\n\tThe answer often is influenced by one factor: the initiative and moxie of those in the training department. And that goes beyond ensuring that training programs have a lot of power, punch, and pizzazz. It is the rare executive\u2014unless he or she has a training background\u2014who gets training \u201creligion\u201d without the influence of the training and performance improvement function. More often, it is a result of a well-planned, relentless\u2014and yes, courageous\u2014lobbying effort on the part of a training function that delivers on its promises.<\/p>\n
\n\tTake Sandra Merwin, for example, a consultant who several years ago was involved in an organizational development project with a major company. Top managers there didn\u2019t view training as a key player in accomplishing corporate objectives. Merwin convinced the Human Resources team to ask the CEO and vice presidents some tough questions to force them to reexamine their own opinions.<\/p>\n
\n\tOnce granted an audience, they peppered the managers with questions such as: What is the organization teaching mid-level managers now that is preparing them to lead the company in the future? What experiences formed your
\n\tcurrent belief system about training\u2019s value? What is the responsibility of managers in getting their employees equipped to perform at higher levels? Do managers (including you) see training as an investment\u2014or a cost? Why aren\u2019t managers\/
\n\tsupervisors more involved in supporting trainees in the post-training environment?<\/p>\n
\n\tToday, the training programs of that firm are tied\u2014for the first time\u2014to key strategic objectives of the organization. Every evaluation of a training program in the company now carries some variation of the question, \u201cThis training program was designed to fulfill XYZ key corporate objectives. To what extent did the program help fulfill these objectives for you?\u201d The CEO and his direct reports review the responses regularly.<\/p>\n
\n\tSkeptical trainers often scoff at such examples, saying, \u201cIf my top managers were as open-minded as that, I could get a lot more done, too.\u201d But top-level support at the aforementioned company didn\u2019t happen by osmosis. The trainers involved didn\u2019t wait for it to happen; they were proactive in making it happen. It took personal courage, and a real commitment to the value of needs-based training.<\/p>\n
\n\tEven the most energizing, thought-provoking, and technologically dazzling training programs do little good if they are not tied in some way to pressing business needs. That will only happen if we work with line managers to ensure training is moving people in the direction the organizational compass is pointed. Training is a process, not an event. And the purpose of training is to get results back on the job. But training\u2019s contribution is most powerful when those results move the organization from where it is to where it wants to be. And that can\u2019t happen until managers and trainers alike can view training as an investment, not a cost. Let\u2019s get the conversation started.<\/p>\n
\n\tLet me close with a question for you: What books have been most influential to you in your training career? Please send me your list at BPike@BobPikeGroup.com. I\u2019ll share the results in a future column\u2014and give you my list of the top 10 training books that should be on every trainer\u2019s bookshelf.<\/p>\n
\n\tBob Pike is known as the \u201ctrainer\u2019s trainer.\u201d He is the author of more than 30 books, including \u201cCreative Training Techniques Handbook. You can follow him on Twitter and Facebook using bobpikectt.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Bob Pike<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[26],"class_list":{"0":"post-9516","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-magazine","7":"tag-trainer-talk","8":"magazine_issues-march-2012"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Trainer Talk: Positioning Training<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/trainingmag.com\/trainer-talk-positioning-training\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trainer Talk: Positioning Training\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Bob Pike\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/trainingmag.com\/trainer-talk-positioning-training\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Training\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TrainingMagazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-03-28T02:48:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-12-17T20:50:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lorri Freifeld\" \/>\n<meta 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