Training and Development

Training and development throughout all levels of the organization have a tremendous impact on the success of an organization.  Linking training programs to the strategic goals of the organization provides a foundation to ensure training is provided just-in-time to improve job skills and prepare employees for future job requirements.  Training and development programs enhance employee satisfaction, recruitment and retention.

Our approach:

• perform a needs assessment based on organizational goals and skill level of the participants.
• determine the best method of delivery such as: on-line learning, small or large group discussion, classroom instruction, case study, book review, mentoring or a combination of methods.
• develop or acquire training materials that use methods that compliment various learning styles.
• schedule location, equipment, participants and instructor, with assistance of the organization.
• deliver training, as appropriate.

 Training & Development

Training and development is more than planning, directing, and coordinating classroom programs to enhance the knowledge and skills of an organization’s employees.  Today’s workplace is constantly changing. Rapid change requires a skilled, knowledgeable workforce with employees who are adaptive, flexible, and focused on the future.  The ability to recruit and retain highly qualified employees relies on the organizations ability to encourage growth and career development of employees by coaching, and by helping employees achieve their personal goals.

Some of the various types of training and development are:

Management & Leadership Development – Management and Leadership training and development is crucial to ensure that the organization’s management team cultivates the skills needed to make sound decisions. Management training should respect the time and competing demands of participants and therefore should take care to employ methods that are best suited for the topic and learning goals.

Some topics within Management & Leadership Development may include:

Supervisory skills

• Performance Management
• Delegation
• Transition from Peer to Supervisor
• Respectful Communication
• Conflict management

Leadership development

• Leadership skills
• Change management

Succession planning

Human Resources Skills –Human resources teams are required to assume a greater leadership role, contributing to the strategic direction of their organizations all while maintaining a level of innovative skills and proficiency that create environments that foster professional satisfaction for employees and builds organizational unity.

Human resources skills training includes strategies for:

• Ethics and Public Service
• Recruiting and retaining a talented, flexible and diverse workforce employees
• Employee satisfactions and reducing turnover
• Promoting employee development
• Risk management

Regulatory Compliance – Organizations are impacted everyday by evolving regulations and new compliance requirements. Training for new and experienced supervisors alike is essential to reducing an organization’s chances of being caught in a lawsuit.

Major areas of regulatory compliance training may include:

• Equal Opportunity, harassment prevention
• Equitable pay, leaves and benefits
• DOT Drug & Alcohol awareness
• Documentation and compliance

Career Development – Career development is the ongoing acquisition or refinement of skills and knowledge, including job mastery and professional development, coupled with career planning activities. Job mastery skills are those that are necessary to successfully perform one’s job. Professional development skills are the skills and knowledge that go beyond the scope of the employee’s job description, although they may indirectly improve job performance.

• On-the-job-training
• Mentoring
• Industry/job specific seminars/ conferences
• Communications skills
• Customer service skills in the public sector

Our approach:

• review current new employee onboarding program and make recommendations for updates, as necessary.
• update or create onboarding program to include pre-employment activities and communication, first day activities and follow-on activities. When possible, activities such as routine paperwork and benefits information will use electronic documents to improve efficiency and data gathering.
• develop or acquire training materials that use methods to compliment various learning styles.
• develop checklists to assist the supervisor and new employee stay on track (use electronic reminders and tracking when available)

Conducting new hire orientations

Conducting new employee orientation requires knowledge of the organization, its mission, vision, values as well as its policies and procedures.  The human resources and recruiting functions must coordinate with the new employee(s) to ensure smooth transition from offer through pre-employment processes and first day activities.  Human resources must coordinate orientation activities with hiring managers and guest speakers.  Successful new employee orientation also requires clear communication between new employee and his/her supervisor.

Our approach:

• coordinate with hiring supervisors to ensure pre-employment activities are clearly communicated.
• develop systems to ensure new hire documents are completed efficiently using a mix of verbal, written and on-line platforms.
• coordinate with human resources to schedule location, equipment, participants, speakers, and other stakeholders.
• develop or acquire training materials that use methods that compliment various learning styles.
• Create new employee orientation presentation in group or one-on-one format.