Background

Multiple training courses had been delivered to various sales roles in a large organization over a period of time. Training courses were mostly delivered to individual sales representatives. Management was either present as an observer, or not present during the training. While the training was evaluated as successful, the behavior shift and skill demonstration was either short term, inconsistent, or not evident.

 

Analysis and Teamwork

We interviewed senior managers globally to understand their expectations of the training on their employees. The training delivery culture was to provide training either in the local office or in a central location for multiple geographies. Management attendance was not required for individual contributor skill improvement, separate manager training was provided for specific manager skills. When training was delivered in a central location, business constraints (funding prioritized for individual contributors, managers had other scheduled priorities) limited management attendance. The result was a lack of reinforcement and coaching to solidify and extend new skills attained during the training. 

 

We recommended the approach where managers were required to perform both before and after training sessions with their direct reports. Separate management reinforcement materials were developed, along with the employee course work that specified what a manager was to coach for and how they were to perform the coaching. The materials were designed to be effective whether or not a manager personally attended the training. 

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Results

Managers were able to incorporate training reinforcement into their normally scheduled coaching sessions with direct reports. Both managers and employees increased their commitment to the training investment and reinforced targeted behavior shifts that supported results in sales scorecards.