Developing a Capability Building Strategy that Works

Too many capability building strategies that seem great on paper, apparently enthusiastically supported by all concerned, actually fall by the wayside when it comes to actual implementation and commitment in the medium- to long term. Assess these elements of your plan to check and reassure yourself that your plan will indeed survive into the longer term:

1.      Business Connect.

What business need does the plan fulfill? Can you honestly explain, in 2-3 sentences at the most, how the training that you propose to offer is going to increase sales, reduce costs or both? In what way? And to what extent, in currency terms? If you can’t do this, be prepared that your plan may be cut when the next budget discussion comes up, or if the business has s downturn and needs to cut costs.

2.      Does it address the make vs buy argument?

Yes, it may be essential to train an entire group of people in skill ‘x’. Will it be cheaper to hire for the skill? Or outsource it? Do your homework. Don’t assume that merely because a skill is relevant, it needs to be developed in-house.

3.      Have you chosen the most effective media available?

There are still a large group of people who associate training with classrooms and trainers, even though the concept is going extinct in most parts of the world. Check out e-learning for a more practical and cost-effective mode of delivery. Search wide for vendors, you’d be surprised at how many are willing to work for low costs (depending on the brand represented by the association). That’s not counting a whole host of reputed universities, in various countries, that have put their entire e-learning repertoire on the internet for free or reduced-cost access.

4.       Have you prioritized?

Probably one of the tougher steps to perform, but assume you are being challenged by your boss/ your finance team/ your competitor/ whoever else you like, who is saying: I can’t fund all this. Tell me the 10%-20% that you can’t do without this year. What will you give up and what will you keep? Should the question come, you should be able to give a reasoned, logical answer that meets the financial constraints and yet delivers value for the spend.

5.      Have you generated buy-in?

Are your key stakeholders convinced that your plan delivers value? Can they see the business benefits clearly? Have they committed, at least orally, that they will support the claim against the conflicting priorities and demands that every financial request competes with? Don’t assume that the need is self-evident. Don’t also assume that your logic needs explanation only once. It may need repeated discussion, provoking questions and arguments before you can tell yourself that you have achieved buy-in.

6.       Have you costed the proposal?

I’ve seen strong training proposals collapse because of inadequate funding and costing. Enthusiastic HR leads rely on anecdotal evidence, second hand data and incorrect assumptions to come up with a proposal that then gets inadequate funding, leaving the business in actually worse shape on two fronts: it doesn’t get the skills it needs, and resources that could have been directed elsewhere actually remain unused because they weren’t enough. And of course the credibility of training as a whole takes a beating. So do everyone including yourself a favour, develop a strong cost model- talk to your Finance colleague if required – and think through the pieces.

And what are your favourite watch-outs during a training plan prep exercise?