February's Flavor of the Month: Training??? By Joanne Kincer, Global Manager, Halliburton University What's your training flavor of the month? If you're doing it right, there's a sign on your office door that says, "Sorry. No specials this month."

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Those of us who give in to flavor of the month, whether it be training or any other "initiative," do so with good intentions. The problem is that we forget to connect training and development to the business.

Before training is implemented, there should be a specific, anticipated outcome that results in some value to the organization (e.g., dollars saved, customers gained, safety increased, quality enhanced, etc.). Simply put, flavor of the month training is training that failed to add any value to the company. And just like ice cream, if you don't do anything with the training, it melts and turns into a big, sticky mess.

The damage resulting from flavor of the month training goes far beyond not adding value. It costs companies substantial amounts of money in design, delivery, travel and time. And just as importantly, and perhaps more devastating to someone like me, training becomes perceived as nothing more than an ice cream social…nice to have, but not driving the business.

So how can we avoid this tempting, yet potentially damaging trend?

• Align what you do to the business strategies. Of course, there are hundreds of books written on the subject, but the fact of the matter is, if you know the strategies driving your business, it's easy to attach your training and development initiatives to them. It's not rocket science. It's plain ol' basic vanilla.
   
• Get back to basics. Every company has basic needs and drivers that contribute to their success. You can't go wrong by focusing on these. You can add hot fudge and whipped cream later!
   
• Make sure you and your customers have consistent and clear expectations about the outcome of the training. Agree not only on the ultimate result (e.g., increased sales), but also the behavioral outcome (e.g., our sales people will ask better questions to uncover their customers' needs).
   
• Measure what you do. If your training is intended to help your sales people to ask better questions and increase sales, find out if it did just that. Ask trainees. Ask trainees' managers. Ask trainees' customers. Observe the changed behavior. If you did your homework and gained agreement upfront, this shouldn't be as hard as it sounds.
   
• Communicate the value added. You have specific, desired outcomes; you observe behavior changes and improved business results as a result of your training…now shout it from the roof tops and tell people about it!
   
• Don't forget to celebrate. Ice cream social anyone?

About Joanne Kincer

Joanne Kincer is Global Manager, Halliburton University, Halliburton's learning and development organization. Since starting at Halliburton early last year, Joanne has been focusing on aligning people development to the organization's strategies.

Her background includes more than 15 years' experience in training and organizational development in a broad range of industries including manufacturing, technology, retail, energy, and non-profit.

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