Posted: Fri 29 May 2009
By now you will only have high performers in your teams, but even they need a regular injection of skills development, motivation, new ideas and innovative techniques to remain a high performing team in an ever changing market.
Recruiters are working harder than ever before to establish themselves as partners with their clients. Similarly, when looking for an external contribution to your people development strategy, you should expect the same approach form potential training partners.
How many times have you said to a client: ‘We want to be your partner - not just a supplier but an extension of your own team?’ My guess is quite often. And yet when many small and medium growing recruitment businesses look at training and developing their people - they look for courses to send their consultants on, or run ad hoc in company workshops - rather than perhaps looking for a partner who can provide a holistic approach to performance enhancement for the whole workforce from trainee to CEO.
Bespoke comprehensive training and development programmes can cost less than you think and have a positive effect on attraction, retention and above all performance - of individuals, teams and leaders. But as with any programme, it needs to closely link into the organisation’s talent management strategy and support both short and long term business objectives.
We developed our partnership programme specifically to address this issue. We sometimes begin with a full assessment of an organisation’s requirements and it’s individuals’ needs. Sometimes this has already been carried out internally, and we will work alongside internal champions responsible for talent development. Then a tailored strategy model is developed, agreed at board level, followed by the design of a bespoke training and development programme. This includes modular skills development workshops, a leadership development programme, one to one coaching, senior level mentoring as well as management consultancy. And ever mindful of the market conditions in which we’re operating, the cost is spread through a fee structure for the programme which is split into equal monthly instalments making it a highly cost effective resource which is reviewed regularly and consistently to ensure a real measurable return on investment.
A typical partnership programme launch starts with a management consultation so that the whole leadership team can take ownership of the programme, which is key to its success. Programmes can begin at development at any level. With one client for example, Level 1 of the programme began with the design of a new induction programme, core competency training and a series of ‘energising sales workshops’ to get everyone in the right state of mind.
Level 2 followed this, addressing the needs of more senior members of the team as well as looking at competencies such as headhunting; retained assignments and key account management focuses on business skills like decision making and developing quarterly sales plans. These would normally be half day modules with 'real time' project work between each module providing an opportunity to gain constructive feed back. What this means is the business gets behavioural change at the desk immediately, impacting on performance and making certain of a return on investment.
In this example, both levels 1 and 2 were preceded by the third level of the programme which focussed on growth for both managers and senior consultants depending on the individual’s particular career path. However, the model is flexible enough to give access to both.
The fourth level is aimed at senior management/leaders within the business where an external executive coach will work with individual directors or the board as a whole.
This strategic model supports the whole business strategy. Because it links in with both recruitment processes and career paths it helps formulate a more formal talent management strategy. If your people are working through the levels of the programme to get promoted, then it can link in with appraisal, reward and recognition schemes and performance management - all vital for short term survival and long term succession planning.
This is not a talent development strategy that only should only apply to a buoyant marketplace. On the contrary, to ensure you retain a winning team to see you through these challenging conditions investing in them should be non-negotiable.
Fiona Lander is Managing Director of Lander Associates - international training and performance development specialists to the professional recruitment sector.