August 31, 7:38 am

What do BBQ ribs, car repair, and training have in common?

As a training professional, I often get asked to deliver training in less time than is needed for students to learn the material. For example, recently I was asked to deliver what is normally a seven-hour training session in only two hours.

QUESTION: What does this tell us?
ANSWER: Some business leaders don’t understand a darn thing about how human beings learn.

Sadly, these types of people shortchange everyone when they do this — even themselves. Allow me to make some comparisons:

Comparison 1: Let’s say a chef tells you his award-winning barbeque ribs must cook seven hours at 250 degrees. If you told him he has only two hours to prepare them, do you think the ribs would taste as good?

Comparison 2: A nutritionist instructs you that to be healthy, you need to eat 2000 calories a day, and that it’s best to eat that as five 400-calorie meals spread throughout the day. If you ignore that advice and stuff 2,000 calories into your mouth within two hours, do you think your body will be healthy?

Comparison 3: After taking your car to the shop, an auto mechanic says it will take seven hours to fix it. If you tell him he has only two hours to get the work done, do you think the repair will be trustworthy?

Hopefully, you get the point: For things to work well, the proper time and attention are needed. The same holds true for workplace learning and training.

If we want successful companies, we shouldn’t be conducting just enough training to get by. We should be doing the type and quantity of training needed to be successful.

In other words, either do it right — or don’t bother.

PS. As a training professional, I provide quality work. If I tell someone training will require “x” hours, it will take “x” hours to do it right. If you’re the type who will tell me to cut that time in half, I may ask if you like poorly prepared ribs and shoddy repair work.

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August 25, 10:56 am

Interview in ASTD’s LX Briefings

If you’re not a Chief Learning Officer (CLO), you probably aren’t aware that the American Society for Training and Development has a newsletter just for CLO-types.

Well, now you do. It’s called “LX Briefings.”

And, in this month’s edition yours truly is interviewed, talking about the principles behind “What Went Wrong” with British Petroleum’s oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Access the issue for free online and pass it around so everyone can read it (see pages 6 & 7 for the interview).

- Dan

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August 19, 10:11 am

Train the Trainer workshop set for November 4 & 5

YOU: A supervisor, manager, leader, or trainer.

YOUR NEED: Transfer knowledge and skills to other people quickly.

YOUR SOLUTION: Attend the “How to Train Other People” workshop, November 4 & 5.

Do you know how to cut your training time in half — while increasing retention at the same time?

Do you know why most training falls short of expectations? Do you know how to fix that?

Do you know how to get learners to “own” their own training?

There’s no other way to say it, other than WE GUARANTEE you will learn all of the above at the November workshop—plus so much more. Reserve your seat now

This workshop consistently receives an “A” from every person who’s taken it. So when we guarantee the workshop, we mean it: If you don’t feel like it was worth your time and money,
we’ll refund your money in full!

ENROLL HERE or call us at (208) 375-7606 (we can answer any questions you may have and/or take payment over the phone).

Now is the time to make sure your key players know how to transfer knowledge. “Telling” is not training. Find out how people learn, and how to capitalize on that to get the most of the time you spend training!

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August 6, 10:35 am

How to lose $3.5 Billion in one quarter

Sure, business is slow. But here’s another (huge) factor for why the US Postal Service lost $3.5 Billion last quarter: Micromanagement to enforce inefficient procedures.

When I read about the $3.5 Billion loss, I was reminded of what I’ve learned from current and past postal employees – micromanagement runs rampant. Finding ways to operate more efficiently is actually punished. Instead, managers enforce uniformity in how everyone sorts and delivers mail.

The USPS is not really a government agency, but it has so many government regulations that employees can’t even blow their nose without having to comply with some government-dictated nose-blowing directive. And according to the people who work there, supervisors pay close attention to how you blow your nose, and you’ll hear about it if you don’t do it according to their rules.

Obviously, my example over the top, but the point is not: People are not allowed to choose more effective and efficient ways to do their jobs. The USPS is more concerned that employees follow regulations – which cover everything – even how you sort the mail you’re going to deliver on your route. Did you just find a way to sort your mail that will save you an hour each day? Tough. You can’t do it. Even if the method is safe and cuts sorting time as well as time needed to deliver the mail, you can’t do it.

Don’t misunderstand, I’m all for workplace rules that keep people safe, but with an organization the size of the USPS, one size cannot fit all. And at the USPS, efficiency is often sacrificed for the sake of uniformity.

Essentially, the USPS operates on a platform of fear: “don’t violate regulations.”

Why are FED-EX and UPS are making money? They, too, have plenty of rules (I know, I drove for UPS one holiday season after getting out of the Navy), but their primary motivation is customer service. Their main focus is getting a package from Point A to Point B as fast as possible.

“Customer service” is a much different motivator than “don’t violate regulations.”

I suggest putting this knowledge to work for your business. Identify the main motivations under which your people operate. If it’s “serve the customer” you stand a good chance of thriving. If it’s “don’t violate regulations,” you run the risk of losing effectiveness and efficiency … and also reporting huge financial losses.

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August 3, 3:55 am

Don’t expect confidentiality with HR

One of my favorite bloggers is Alison Green from the Ask A Manager blog. Alison regularly dispenses great wisdom and I recommend you follow her.

Why do I like her? Alison writes heavily from the HR management perspective (HRM – the legal side of human resources) whereas the majority of my work is on the HR development side of the aisle (HRD - the developmental side of human resources). Still, a fair amount of overlap exists, and I like a lot of what Allison has to say.

One of her recent posts has to do with someone expecting confidentiality when going to HR. As Alison points out, HR people are not doctors nor priests, and they have no obligation to maintain confidentiality.

Essentially, HR is there to serve the company. In that role, HR must do what is best for the company. Therefore, any HR rep who pledges confidentiality is putting him/herself in an awkward position, because if something must be passed along for legal reasons, that HR rep’s trust factor is soon gone.

Granted, some things (health issues, pay, etc) are legally confidential, but that doesn’t mean that everything HR-related flies under the ‘confidential’ banner.

I encourage you to read the entire piece and also the comments afterwards.

My thoughts on the matter? “When in doubt, assume word will get out.”

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July 30, 10:15 am

How do you promote your business?

Facts are facts: Your products and services enable people to pursue life, liberty, and happiness. But what are you doing to help people see the value of what you offer?

One of the toughest—but most necessary—things to do is educate your audience. The more people know how your products and services make their life easier, safer, better, and cost-effective, the more likely they are to buy from you.

That begs the question of “how can I do that better?”

Media campaigns may be necessary, but targeted approaches to current clients are often cheaper and more effective. After all, these people already buy from you—and therefore trust you—so they’re more likely to buy other things from you or perhaps suggest you to their friends.

Example: My wife and I recently switched to eating more whole foods; those without six-syllable chemical additives (especially high-fructose corn syrup!). One of our choices is an all natural yogurt. That’s nice, but to the point, the particular brand we now buy devotes a fair amount of labeling space to educating its customers. Right on the container you’ll find suggestions for substituting yogurt in place of sour cream or mayonnaise in various recipes.

I don’t hang with the Emeril Lagasse crowd, so I’ve never heard of such a thing, but after doing as the label suggests, we didn’t notice much taste difference. As a result of the company educating us, now we enjoy tasty dishes with a substantial reduction in both calories and fat content—and no six-syllable food additives. Another result? We now buy more of that brand of all natural yogurt.

Another way to educate current clients is to include information with product orders. Ever order something online and get a promotional flyer in your package? It’s smart marketing, because if someone is already buying from you, they probably trust you enough to buy other things from you, too.

So stop and think: What can you do different to educate your current (and potential) clients about your products or services?

Also: Feel free to share comments on other techniques your company has used to educate its customers.

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July 16, 1:48 pm

Costs of conflict

Are you aware of how much it costs to have an ongoing conflict at work? At one recent meeting with an HR manager I learned he had created a “cost of conflict” calculator — a computer program used to determine exactly how much unnecessary conflict was costing his company.

As I suspected, the numbers were higher than most people probably realize. He said it was not uncommon to see a case of interpersonal conflict costing his company $200,000 or more. He even cited one case in which the conflict was costing his company more than $2 million.

Frankly, with this kind of data, it’s amazing that more managers aren’t scheduling conflict resolution workshops on a regular basis. (Yes, we offer them. And yes, I think our workshops are great and make a huge impact, but there are many good workshop providers available that can facilitate on this topic.)

Quick — let’s do a bit of math:

What’s the cost of a conflict resolution workshop? $1,500? $2,500? Heck, even if it was $5,000 managers would be saving TENS and possibly HUNDREDS of thousands of dollars by preventing just ONE conflict!

The problem? The cost of conflict does not appear as a line-item in the budget … Therefore, most managers are unaware of how much money conflict costs and how it impacts their bottom line.

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