Based in Bethlehem, Pa., Kermit Burley has been writing articles for over 30 years. His articles have appeared in "Training" magazine, as well as numerous company publications throughout the course of his career. Burley holds a Masters of Education in instructional design from Penn State and is certified as a trainer and instructional designer.

Welcome, this is Lloyd Lofton. Today, we're going to look at a systematic approach to training. When you think about training, let's take a minute to look at what the actual sales process so that you can train your sales people on the things you want them to do the most and the order you want them to do it. How long does the average sale call usually take? Somewhere around an hour doesn't it? Now think about this, for your product, whatever the product is, about how long would it take you to actually tell a prospect the features of your product? Not everything about your product but just the features of your product. Would it take 10 or 15 minutes? So that's actually about 10% of the sales time isn't it? Most organizations spend 80% of a new sales person's time training them on the product. In other words they spend 80% of the time training them on 10% of the sale. Does that make sense? Let's look at what the product is. What is the product to the customer? Isn't it a solution? And what does a solution actually do? A solution solves a problem, right? So for your sales people to know what problem your customer wants to solve, they have to learn how to ask questions and in order to ask questions what do they have to have? They have to have an appointment right? And in order to get an appointment they actually need a prospect. So when you think about training people in a systematic way, you want to train them in the things you want them to do the most in the order you want them to do it. That might be prospecting the approach, why questions, defining the problem, coming up with a solution and then the product becomes important. Today we've talked about systematic approach to training.

ALACHUA, FL — This week, the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) released its new Construction Superintendent Certification Program, an online addition to the organization’s Project Leadership Series. Developed with support from 75 of the construction industry’s leading companies, this formal certification program provides contractors with practical resources to train and qualify their field leaders in critical areas of business and leadership.

The program was created to provide a viable method for contractors to develop and certify construction superintendents without requiring extensive time away from their projects. Recent labor trends show an increasing demand for field leaders and a shrinking pool of qualified candidates. With 81% of firms reporting difficulty hiring for these roles, it is crucial that companies have a practical method for developing field leadership skills within their current and future teams.

Shortening the Learning Curve

NCCER’s self-paced, online program features highly relevant insights from experienced superintendents and seasoned industry experts. It is designed to shorten the learning curve for aspiring superintendents and to equip more experienced professionals with new strategies for better results. By accelerating competency development in key field leadership roles, the program can help organizations reduce project risk and increase project profitability.

“Superintendents are the steward of every person and every factor on a project – from safety and profitability to the quality of the final project the owner receives,” says NCCER President and CEO Boyd Worsham. “Our Construction Superintendent Certification Program serves to develop and certify current and aspiring superintendents to effectively fulfill these critical responsibilities."

Sixteen engaging courses provide practical and usable real-world lessons on key topics such as scheduling, contracts, risk management, legal regulations, site logistics, and many more. The program is flexible and can be conducted in-person, through hybrid delivery or completely online.

Superintendents with four or more years of experience can earn NCCER’s Construction Superintendent Certification by successfully passing the certification assessment. Aspiring or recently promoted superintendents who successfully complete the training and assessment components of the program can earn their full certification upon accomplishment and verification of the four-year experience requirement.

Find out more about NCCER’s Construction Superintendent Certification Program at www.nccer.org/programs-crafts/programs/construction-superintendent-certification-program/.

Most organizations, and managers, believe that ongoing learning and development for their people is important for their growth, improved performance and overall business success. As a result, companies around the world invest significantly in training each year, with over $366 billion spent in 2018. Training budgets increased significantly in 2019, and research suggests that the role of learning and development (L&D) will broaden in 2020.

However, despite this belief, focus and investment, many organizations fail at implementing the type of learning culture and training experience that will truly elevate performance and provide significant returns on investment (ROIs). While most managers say they believe training is important, they typically consider the implementation and execution of L&D in their organization to be less than effective. In fact, HBR states that 75% of managers (registration required) are dissatisfied with their company's L&D function. Why the disconnect? Based on our experience developing learning strategies and cultures with companies, we've found six critical L&D problems that exist in many organizations today.

1. Some L&D teams lack L&D expertise and real-world credibility. We typically find that those responsible for the L&D efforts lack in-depth expertise in developing and/or delivering content. The L&D function is too often another step in an HR generalist's approach to getting their experience in all aspects of the business. Add to this the fact that most of these people designing and delivering content have little to no operations experience, and many have never actually led a team. As a result, we often see a situation where the L&D team will deliver the training they want to deliver, rather than what is actually needed in the operation or by the management team. Therefore, it is not surprising when there is a lack of confidence with in-house training teams.

2. The training offered is not what is needed. As mentioned, we see many L&D teams delivering training that doesn't directly relate to improving individual or organizational performance. They often focus on measuring success by the number of trainings provided, instead of focusing on the quality of what is delivered. We see a lot of training created that is generic and at a high enough level to "cover everybody." This approach is limiting, and it is no wonder that 70% of employees (registration required) report they do not have the mastery to do their jobs. L&D in the future must be more personalized and customized to what people really need — providing specific training to drive habit improvement.

3. L&D becomes a mandatory to-do. Once a lack of confidence in the value of training occurs, management teams become resistant to sending their people to training, and they often do not see the value in their own attendance. As a result, organizations, at the request of their L&D teams, will often shift to make training mandatory, thereby forcing individuals into learning. I can tell you from experience that forced training does not work, especially when the content and delivery is dull and lacks relevance.

4. The focus is on training events, not a learning culture. Some organizations seem more focused on investing and delivering training events, one-off training sessions that are not always connected, relevant nor delivered when they are needed most. It is no wonder that many managers loathe the training process. When the focus is just on "ticking the box" with a certain number of events rather than evolving an attitude throughout the organization on the benefits and need for learning, the training investment is often wasted. Companies must establish an attitude and infrastructure that offers employees and managers the time and opportunity for continuous learning on a variety of subjects in a variety of mediums at any time.

5. The top of the organization has stopped learning. Another issue limiting a learning culture is when L&D is not truly supported from the top of the organization. While every executive we meet says they support training, they often do not engage in any learning and development themselves. Whenever we see true learning cultures, it is usually because there is real participation and support from the very top of the organization. Not only do these executives stop leading when they stop learning, but they also send a message that training is not as important as they might be telling us.

6. The training overlooks the biological realities of learning and retention. Simply put, many training sessions we review are too long, try to cram too much information into a single session or are just boring. As attention spans become shorter, we must evolve the learning experience to be more interactive, built around games and/or discussions and involve participants being hands-on. We need to build training that fits our employees rather than trying to make our employees fit our training. We must also be more considerate of how retention works, meaning that training strategies must be built around opportunities with time to practice skills learned and less time on introducing new concepts. On-the-job-training is still the best learning experience, so more emphasis must be placed on allowing time to practice in the operation rather than on a computer or in a classroom.

Learning cultures are essential for the modern organization. In the 2020s, companies must move beyond just offering learning events or a curriculum of e-learning modules and focus on developing a true learning culture, one that inspires, open minds, supports change and growth, encourages creativity, delivers innovation and develops the next level of leaders. It is time to consider whether your business is maximizing its investment in training and if your company is approaching L&D correctly. Consider whether any of these issues apply to you, and be willing to rethink your L&D to maximize your ROI.

RB David Montgomery talks in the locker room about playing against his former team saying, he still has great relationships over there. He also talks about how he is going to play the same as he always does, how he used his time away with injury to spend time with his family and refresh himself for the second half of the season, as well as what it has been like running behind the Lions offensive line so far this season.

Justin Saylor
NCCER
888.622.3720 x 6913
marketing@nccer.org

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RB David Montgomery talks in the locker room about playing against his former team saying, he still has great relationships over there. He also talks about how he is going to play the same as he always does, how he used his time away with injury to spend time with his family and refresh himself for the second half of the season, as well as what it has been like running behind the Lions offensive line so far this season.