Why your business leaders are the key to effective workplace learning
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You may have a top-class workplace training programme, but is that enough on its own? Research has highlighted the importance of engaging your organisation’s managers and senior managers at every stage of the process in order to get real and lasting results. Here’s why business leaders are the key to effective L&D, and how to get them on board.

The importance of engaging leaders in your workplace learning strategy

A recent survey found that support from senior leaders was seen as paramount to encouraging a culture of learning. This support can take a number of forms, but it mustn’t stop as soon as the budget has been signed off. From initial buy-in to analysing the long-term impact, involve your senior leaders at every step of the way.

The key, according to the report, is to ensure that support from leadership is ‘meaningful and overt’. This is backed up by the finding that almost three quarters (72%) of companies with poor learning cultures state their top management could value L&D more or do not value it at all.

How to pitch your workplace learning programme to business leaders

When pitching your learning and development strategy to directors and senior managers within your business, you’re going to need some hard facts. What is staff turnover costing your organisation? Is customer dissatisfaction affecting your bottom line? Is a skill gap within your business leaving you vulnerable to competition? Are there health and safety risks that could cost you dearly? Whatever the main challenges to your organisation’s continued success and growth, quantify them and propose how training could help you overcome them.

There has been much research around the fact that workplace training can have a positive impact on business growth. Demonstrating this to your leadership team will enable them to envisage how training could help keep stakeholders and/or shareholders happy.

Once you’ve demonstrated what success looks like, explain how you will go about measuring the outcomes. Having clear targets will instil greater confidence in your proposed strategy.

The role of line managers in effective workplace training

In their book Transfer of Training, Broad and Newstrom propose that supervisors are the most important factor influencing the efficacy of L&D. There are many ways in which managers can play a key role in helping employees retain and apply their knowledge, and it starts before the training has even been given. If managers are engaged, enthusiastic and positive about a training programme, employees are likely to mirror this attitude from the outset.

Line managers can also ensure that the learning has been put into practice, help measure the outcomes and reward the application of knowledge.

Workplace Training - Knights Agency

Train your business leaders

63% of companies whose cash turnover increased last year placed leadership and management development as their number one priority. One US study also found that 63% of millennials feel their leadership skills are not being fully developed by their employers. As a result, 71% of these people seek to leave their job after just two years. As their more mature colleagues head towards retirement, we could be sitting on a leadership skill-gap time-bomb.

Delivering top-class training to your managers, senior managers and directors will help them see first-hand the positive impact of your L&D strategy. What you could end up with is an army of influencers at the very top of your organisation who can help propagate a culture of learning.

How we can help

We deliver courses on everything from Health and Safety to Customer Service and Effective Communication. We also have a range of management and leadership courses, including Principles of Coaching, Influencing Skills and Innovation & Design Thinking for Leaders and Managers. Get in touch via the form below or call 0207 112 8412 to see how we can up-skill employees at every level in your organisation.

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Four Seasons Healthcare Group

We had an urgent need to provide training in Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW) across our business as a result of the challenges experienced during the first critical months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Knights Absorb worked with us to define a training solution that could be delivered in a ‘Covid-Safe’ manner that would enable us to reach our teams at our target sites within a tight time frame. They trained 277 of our team members across a 6 week period, providing the reassurance we needed to keep our teams and residents safe as well ensuring we were meeting regulatory requirements. The trainers were professional and sensitive to the needs of our homes at all times, and the feedback from everyone who attended the training has been fantastic.

United Response

Knights are now our preferred provider. The quality of training that Knights provides is exceptional. When it comes to Customer Service, Knights excel, in the many years of partnering with multiple companies, Knights are head and shoulders above the rest. Never phased by challenges that clients provide, Knights naturally deal with the issues, assess the need and make the correct decision for the customer. This is not to say they bend over or wilt when challenged, quite the opposite, they seem to scope issues and resolve them efficiently, a customer service ethic that is quite rare. Keep up the good work guys, it is noticed and appreciated.

Priory

Knights don’t use generic trainers but find the best trainer for the course and client. The trainers are specialists in their fields and have practitioner experience which I feel is always important when delivering to staff. Trainers discuss our needs before attending training and revise training to meet specific needs.

Hail

Knights have personalised courses to meet our learning and development needs. As predominately a learning disability/Autism provider we require trainers and courses that reflect these specific needs and Knights have delivered on this. All courses have met our requirements fully

Modus Care

Knights Training are an organisation that are easy to work with, reliable, operate a competitive straight forward pricing structure, offer an impressive range of courses and employ good quality trainers who have expert subject knowledge, certainly an organisation that I would recommend.