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By Bowen Training
For any kind of training to be effective, lessons learned must
be constantly re-enforced, that is the job of every manager, of
every supervisor, of every leader in the world. It is their most
important job. The roles of Manager, Supervisor, Leader and Educator
are all synonymous.
Learning is not an event, it is a process. One that begins even
before birth, one that ends, in a mortal sense, only at death. Training
of employees by their company begins at the initial interview stage,
it should be constant and continual if positive lessons learned
are to be retained. Every Manager knows this, every Supervisor knows
this, every Leader knows this, yet….. yet…….
How do children learn? By repetition of language, of advice, of
scolding, of encouragement. And they learn every single moment of
every single day; as their teachers and parents constantly and continually
re-affirm the message. How do football players remain at the top
of their profession? Constant and continual training, day after
day. How do musicians maintain the quality of their performances?
By practice day after day, constant and continuous, although they
have sung the song a thousand times, played the same symphony a
hundred times.
We want our staff to constantly and continually be at the cutting
edge of service, creativity, responsiveness, positive attitude display
and yet…. And yet………
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We all know, only too well and often with much annoyance, that
to keep our bodies in shape, we have to continually work at it.
We have to eat "sensibly", we have to exercise regularly.
If we develop the practice of visiting a gym three or more times
a week and then are unable to go there for a couple of weeks, we
know, from bitter experience, that it is likely to take us more
than a couple of weeks to return to the fitness level we left only
a short time before. In many ways we are "damned if we do,
damned if we don't". Once we begin an exercise regime, we must
continue it or the muscle and tone we have developed will soon return
to fat; if we don't exercise at all and have a poor diet then we,
generally, will be overweight and unfit.
So too with our minds. If we are not disciplined in our habits,
our morality, our activities, if we are stuck with or even seek
the company of negative people, always wanting to share grievances
with them, enjoying complaining about others, about health problems,
loving to discuss and dissect rumours, to look for the mistakes
that others perform, then our minds will become sullied and sullen
and negative.
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Two men see a BMW pass by them in the street, one complains"
I bet he's some kind of crook that doesn't deserve that." The
other remarks " One day I'm going to have one of those".
The two men part, one striding towards his positive goal, the other
wandering into the shade.
If we are proud of ourselves and our behaviour, of our relationship
with others, if we surround ourselves with positive colleagues and
friends and we seek challenges and are optimistic, then we will
succeed.
"Two men look out through the same bars, one sees the mud,
the other the stars"
Oscar Wilde
But it's really hard work sometimes. It's really a trial to be
constantly disciplined, to always be positive in the face of difficult
challenges, both at work and at home. Sometimes it seems quite impossible
to force our tired bodies to the gym tonight. Sometimes we simply
don't see how we can plan one hour's exercise today or tomorrow,
and as for eating healthily, forget it, a burger will have to do!
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So too with training. The easiest and most exercised approach by
Managers, Supervisors and Leaders is to proclaim, "Oh yes,
we regularly train our people, we have a per head budget of x% of
our turnover and everyone gets to go on at least one day's (sometimes,
one week's!) full training per year." He sits back, puts his
hands on his head in the commanding position and awaits your approval.
He reports the same story of success to his superiors at regional
meetings and budgets religiously every year for one day's "full
training" for every employee. Then he moves on to his cost-cutting
plans, his new product launches, his new customer targets, his marketing
programmes - all the interesting things in business. All the things
his bosses want to hear about and to discuss with him. The rather
more mundane and somewhat boring suggestions on how, when and why
to make Mary's job more interesting for her and how to improve her
commitment, motivation and efficiency take a back seat.
But Mary, more efficient, Mary with a more positive and committed
attitude, Mary with loyalty and acting as a company "brand
manager" will often have more positive impact on customer retention
and renewal, on bottom-line profitability than a new multi-million
dollar marketing plan. But the latter is much more sexy, visible
and personally rewarding. If you don't believe me ask Starbucks
why they spend so little on media advertising and so much on creating
brand-minded employees.
Time after time the CEO/MD/GM are told, "Your job is to focus
on the bottom line, leave training and staff development to the
HR and Training Department, that's what they are there for, not
you, nor your senior management team. You get on with the job you're
paid for and that the owners and shareholders expect from you. New
markets, new products, lower costs!"
And yet, and yet… it is more and more apparent that….
The only competitive edge most businesses have today and the difference
between excellent and passable profitability is the attitude of
their employees to the customer.
Where does this attitude come from?
It comes from a basic inner personal "niceness," honed
and perfected by a company that constantly and continually "trains"
and "reinforces" the affects of positivism, the factors
of success and perpetual staff development.
Most senior managers you meet, especially when discovered in their
"official roles", in their offices, boardrooms, union
discussions, - will agree with these concepts, - but how many "walk
the belief"? How many support such statements in discussions
in the bar with their owners and shareholders? How many are just
paying lip-service to it all. And why? Because it's just too difficult
and not very interesting to do anything else!
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Where are the managers that are seen to being continually "educating",
supporting, motivating? Or is it not often the case that as they
emerge from their offices, the heads go down as they walk past,
"Look out, here comes the boss, don't let him/her see what
I'm doing wrong, and if I'm doing nothing wrong, perhaps he'll find
something anyway; put the radio volume down, get off the internet,
quick!" Or, do you know organisations where the staff, on seeing
the boss emerge from his/her room say to one another, "Oh,
good, here she comes. She's coming to see how we're getting along
and to see what I'm doing right today."
People buy from people, not from companies. Have you ever decided
to purchase a particular company's product and then walked away
empty-handed because the sales person you are dealing with cannot
satisfy your information and attitude needs? People buy from people.
And…. People work for people!
One of the greatest reasons why staff walk away from well paid
jobs with well known companies is because of a poor working atmosphere
created by the Manager or Supervisor of that work unit. That is
because the Manager does not recognise and enact his responsibility
as a trainer, a role-model, an educator.
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