BTSR guidebook ~ Training & skills self-evaluation

What provision at this level looks like and feels like

For the organisation

In 2008, 31% of broadcasters, evaluated at this level. 3% were lower and 66% were higher.

Communication at this level is consistent with off-job training provision at this level (or at the one above): both might be a little patchy and a little chaotic, but both are definitely better than nothing.

Employees are likely to notice nothing remarkable about communication at this level. It won’t be a great motivator, but it won’t be a great demotivator either.

In fact keeping the sophistication of communication at or below the sophistication of the training is probably the right call. Level D communication about Level B training, for instance, would smack of poor prioritisation.

But to provide Level B communication about Level D training would be to spoil the ship for a ha’p’orth of tar.

For the training function

Targeted, powerful and effective communications require great care and skill. But systematically promoting the organisation’s training provision is hardly rocket science, and provides the trainer with a simple way to help the organisation, its employees and the standing of the training function.

Benefits & risks of provision at this level

Benefits

This is a fairly comfortable level to occupy:

• Communications about training tick over nicely without consuming much of anybody’s time
• Publishing relatively few commitments makes it easier to change your mind about them later
• Surprise training can be made to feel like a special treat.

Risks

As with so many undertakings, feeling comfortable is often best interpreted as a warning sign. Risks at this level include:

• Under-communication leads to under-participation, so the intended benefits of training are not realised
• Patchy communication leads to schedule clashes which can only be resolved at the expense of either business operations or the training investment
• Conducting training without being clear on the purpose can leave employees thinking “so what?”
• Patchy communication makes it hard to perceive what’s working and what isn’t.

Processes & benchmarks for evaluating provision at this level

Distinguishing from »medium» provision

The differences between base and medium provision are mainly to do with the clarity of employees’ understanding of the training offered and its business purpose. At this level:

• Because its business relevance is not communicated, training can be seen as something that just happens because it happens
• Training is perceived as neither successful nor unsuccessful
• Line managers can perceive participation of their people in training as lost production, rather than an opportunity to raise future performance
• Employees don’t always feel comfortable about discussing their learning needs
• Some people miss relevant training because they don’t know about it or how to access it.

Processes

Here are some diagnostic questions:

• Is it possible for an employee to be unaware of a relevant training event?
• Is it possible for an employee not to know how to get signed up for a relevant off-job or on-job training intervention?
• Are communications about training dependent on the disposition of department heads and line managers?
• Can line managers resist reasonable requests for their people to participate in training?
• Do some employees feel inhibited about discussing their learning needs?
• If asked, might employees struggle to describe the business purpose of training they participate in?
• Is communication about training approached with less rigour than other internal communications? Or through fewer or different channels? Or without management endorsement?
• Does senior management take only a mild interest in communications about training? Are trainers pretty much left to get on with it?
• Would most employees struggle to identify trainers in the organisation?

If the answers are mostly Yes, that’s a fairly strong indication that the organisation is providing at this level.

Reference material relevant to this strand and level

Need it meets	Title	Words	Link

Suggestion? Please leave a comment below

Examples of provision at this level

Here are some examples of evidence used by broadcasters, in previous years, to demonstrate provision at this level:

• Copies of emails communicating training opportunities
• Evidence of information shared with some employees from external providers
• Apathy or hostility from line managers towards those responsible for organising training
• Statement of commitment to training
• Minutes from weekly operational meeting.

The wording is broadcasters’ own, and does not necessarily follow our usage preferences

What it takes to get to the next level

You can get some of the way by a steady programme of incremental improvements:

• As noted under Hallmarks, be systematic about promoting the organisation’s training provision. (Arranging dates, venues, course materials, presenters and participants requires trainers to be pretty systematic anyway, so it should come easily)
• Ensure course descriptions always state the target audience, learning objectives and business purpose
• Make sure you are delivering this sort of information via the channel(s) that work best for employees
• Capture and promote favourable feedback. A well chosen quote from a previous course evaluation form can create a positive expectation among the next wave of participants
• Make it as simple as possible to apply for participation in courses (online application, single email address, bookings hotline and so on), then publish the information repeatedly… people are generally bad at finding information from an email – or was it a newsletter? – that arrived months ago.

Depending on where you are in this level, the above might be enough on its own. If it isn’t, consider whether any of the following steps might help you:

• Work with HR to make it a virtue, not a sin, for employees to express their learning needs
• Work with HR to link each job description to training that normally goes with the role
• Work with line managers to surface their objections to current training provision. Act on the results, either by clearing up misconceptions or by raising your game
• See whether you can get some expert advice from successful communicators in other departments
• Work with senior management to ensure you have direct lines of communication to all employees (that is, you’re not at the mercy of department heads and line managers), and back from employees and their line managers to training planners
• Propose something expensive – such as a new or better intranet site, or a glossy training guide – as a way of getting training communications onto senior management’s radar.