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What a load of crap. In the hundreds of clients that Entelechy has served throughout the years, not a single one has contracted with Entelechy to "release and focus people's energies for work performance." They hired us to help increase sales or reduce turnover or improve customer satisfaction or…. And they hired us to develop a training and support program to make that happen.
Most of the time I ignore the hand wringing and bemoaning. However, every once in a while I can't resist taking a shot at us. If we walk like a duck and sound like a duck (and people call us a duck), why do we insist on calling ourselves "a multifaceted birdlike entity capable of aquatic and submarine maneuvers and winged flight"?
I took a shot at Pat (and the rest of us who - in the interest of "clarifying" what we do - actually muddy the waters!) in the March issue of T&D with a letter to the editor. I pointed out that sales sells, marketing markets, and operations operates. Why, then, should we be so concerned that the training department - who trains - should consider it an insult when others call us training?
Last week, I presented to the National Speakers Association at their annual New England conference; my presentation was titled, "Turn Your Talent Into Training." I hoped to introduce to speakers some of the things that I feel differentiate us trainers from the speaking profession. Certainly, we share some commonalities: professionalism, knowledge of our topic, and presentation skills. However, trainers have some unique skills that speakers - or the rest of the world - do not have: knowledge of adult learning, understanding of information design, test-writing/evaluation techniques, facilitation skills, and instructional design, to name a few. To me, these skills define who I am and what I do, and they are NOT trivial skills!
As proud as I am of what I and my colleagues do, I couldn't help but take shot at our collective discomfort at being called trainers. In my presentation, I suggested to my audience that they EMBRACE the word training - "tell your prospects that in addition to speaking, you TRAIN people! Many clients will be relieved that SOMEONE still does training because their company training department morphed into the Performance Improvement Group (PIG) or Designers/Developers of Untapped Corporate Knowledge (DUCK) and they don't do training anymore."
If you'd like a copy of the presentation I gave to the National Speakers Association, write me at
ttraut@unlockit.com.
If you'd like to see my entire response to Pat Galagan, read page 10 of the March issue of ASTD's T&D magazine.
Be proud of who you are and what you do. The world needs great TRAINERS! (And if you want to be a great trainer, start with Entelechy's eGuides found at
http://unlockit.com/eguides.htm.
Likability - The L-Factor and Tim Sanders
Recently, I had the opportunity to work with Tim Sanders, Chief Solutions Officer at Yahoo! and author of the best seller,
Love is the Killer App: Winning Business and Influencing
Friends.
Sanders puts a new spin on an old concept: Love. Love is not just good for
you; it's good for business.
Now, before we go any farther, let me explain that I am NOT a huggy, touchy-feely guy. I'm friendly - but conservative. I've patted a close business acquaintance on the back and I've even hugged my dad (actually he hugged me which freaked me out - but explains my predisposition away from any outward signs of love, especially in business).
Sanders convincingly argues that likability is critical to a business leader's success. He explains that in this age of global, instantaneous communication and connectedness, bosses who aren't likable will lose talented people. Furthermore, he states that sales people will lose sales to more likable competitors and customer service professionals will lose customers to more likable companies. Being likable is a critical foundation to leaders of tomorrow.
Sanders states, "Likability is rarely a talent you are born with, like running speed or a perfect soprano voice (although a few people do seem to be gifted from birth with a high L-factor). For most of us, however, likability is something we can develop over time, something that emerges from a combination of self-awareness and acumen." In his upcoming book,
The L-Factor, Sanders shares techniques that all of us can apply to increase our likability and, subsequently, our business results.
Likability, he states, comprises a hierarchy of four elements. In order
to likable, you must first be friendly. For someone to find you likable, you must also be perceived as
relevant. Amplifying the perception of friendliness and relevance is the perception of being
empathetic - truly caring for the other. At the highest level of the likability hierarchy is the perception of being
real; likable people are authentic.
Those who find Tim's message of likability and love in the workplace awkward, uncomfortable, or ludicrous may need the lesson of likability the most.
Check out Tim's website: http://www.timsanders.com. Then give a smile!
Donald Kirkpatrick Reviews Entelechy's Evaluating Training
In 1959, Donald Kirkpatrick introduced a model of training evaluation that continues to form the cornerstone of evaluation in training to this day. The model is simple in concept and elegant in application.
Kirkpatrick suggested that we should look at HOW to evaluate based on WHAT we want to evaluate. He outlined four levels of training evaluation, which we have modified slightly based on our experiences:
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Reaction - Did participants LIKE the training?
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Learning - Did participants LEARN from the training?
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*Transfer - Did what was learned TRANSFER to use on the job?
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*Impact - Did the skill/knowledge that was learned and transferred have an impact on performance?
We used Dr. Kirkpatrick's model as the basis for our
120-page eGuide,
Evaluating Training: Measure and Improve Training
Results. I sent a copy of Evaluating Training eGuide to Dr. Donald Kirkpatrick for his comments and input.
Dr. Kirkpatrick states, "I like what you have done. You have done a nice job of applying the four levels."
At the same time, Donald takes issue with our translation of Levels 3 and 4. He states, "As you know, my good friend, Jack Phillips, has changed the wording of levels 3 and 4. I see that you have done the same."
Both Dr. Kirkpatrick and I agree on the definition of the levels - Level 3 is on-the-job behavior and Level 4 is business results. However, in my experience, people who look at the LABELS sometimes forget the focus of the level.
I've found that a fair number of people view role-playing as a method to evaluate
behavior (and they're correct). These folks may see role-playing as a Level 3 assessment since Level 3 - in Kirkpatrick's model - is labeled
Behavior. These trainers - and there a lot of them out here -
incorrectly associate "Level 2 - Learning" with paper-and-pencil tests and "Level 3 - Behavior" with role-plays and lab tests.
Entelechy changed the label of Level 3 from Behavior to
Job Transfer to emphasize the point that we're assessing the skills and knowledge that
transferred from our training class to the job. (Incidentally, the term "transfer" tells us to focus on the skills and knowledge that we taught in the training and NOT be overly distracted with the billions of other things that we may observe.)
For the same reasons, we changed Dr. Kirkpatrick's label for Level 4 -
Results. Although results is a powerful word, most trainers and non-trainers view the term
results as business results: did sales increase, did turnover decrease, did the number of errors decrease? The fact is that rarely will training by itself directly affect business results. Coaching, compensation changes, recognition, job aids and tools, and other elements will help achieve the results. While training is often a catalyst for those other elements, training is rarely the single solution. By changing the label of Level 4 to
IMPACT, Entelechy reminds trainers that training isn't the only element contributing to business results and that we should be working with others to help achieve business results.
Check out the difference yourself. Evaluating Training is stuffed with practical examples of evaluation at every level. In this 120-page guide are tips, techniques, and tools for developing, administering, and leveraging training evaluations. Go to
http://unlockit.com/eguides.htm
for a description of Evaluating Training and Entelechy's other eGuides.
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