roviding managers or supervisors with training so they can deliver critical
materials internally involves more than subject-matter instruction.
Non-trainers often don’t have public speaking experience, nor are they
accustomed to organizing training sessions.
The challenge can be particularly true for small companies. Corcoran
Management Company, a property-management firm with 250 employees and offices in
seven states, for example, wanted to develop a training program to provide more
consistency across the company in implementing procedures.
While Corcoran didn’t want, and couldn’t afford, to use external
trainers, the Braintree, Massachusetts, company also knew that the people it
selected to conduct training from among its employees didn’t have the skills
to deliver the course
effectively. “We knew we had to teach the basic skills of delivery and
presentation,” says firm president Peter Blampieg. “We also discovered that
we had to help people handle all sorts of logistical and scheduling issues,
things that we wouldn’t be capable of sorting our way through on our own.”
Corcoran turned to Christine Gatti, an independent training consultant in
leadership and management development. In addition to helping the firm create a
series of leadership workshops, she initiated a train-the-trainer program for
internal managers. She walked them through the process of delivering a business
presentation, had each person practice in front of a video camera, and then
established a training-certification program.
Corcoran began with a group of 18 trainers and is now ready to launch a
second group. The company will continue to use Gatti to prepare new trainers
rather than have internal employees pass along their newly acquired skills. “We
haven’t developed that capability and still need an outside professional to do
it,” Blampieg says.
Gatti is collecting data to verify that the program is working and that the
trainers’ behavior and skills are actually improving. Following up, especially
when non-professional trainers are involved, is critical. The Federal Aviation
Administration, for example, uses post-course surveys in all of its training
sessions to ensure that its facilitators continue to maintain a high level of
effectiveness.
At Corcoran Management, the program has gained the support of senior staff
members, and the firm has spent far less than it would have if an outside
training company had done it all, Blampieg says. “We are at the point now
where we are trying to measure the results and making sure we are seeing the
performance in the field that we are teaching in the classroom.”
Workforce, September 2002, p. 46 -- Subscribe Now!
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