Q & A with Simon Hart

Today we are sitting down with Si, who leads Leadership & Culture at The People Place.? Si will walk us through answers to some of the common questions that we’ve been asked about engaging an external training provider or coach for your business. Whether this is the first time you are considering ‘buying in’ your learning and development, or you have done so in the past but are looking for guidance, and to make better selections, this article will help.

?

Why should I consider spending money on employee development? Sales are down...budgets are tight.

?I like answering this question up front, because I know be hard to justify spend on what is sometimes—wrongly, I believe—categorised as an ‘extra’, particularly when you are keeping a tight handle on spend. Hand on heart, I believe developing your people (caveat: in the right way) is a strategic investment in future success.

When you put employees into a leadership role, whether that’s through promotion, or hiring, you certainly may expect a level of experience, maturity and ability to lead. But will those people to be expert people managers, operating at their optimum, right off the bat?

?Or is reasonable to expect your internal business teams to know how to work well together, cohesively as a team??

The reality is that your very best, most dedicated, clever and experienced employee, is still a human who will still need support and guidance, and has things to learn.

If you want the best out of your people, give them the chance to learn the skills to be a great team member, and an effective leader.? Your business will be better off.

What is the best length of time/duration for a development programme?

While obviously a single one-hour session isn’t likely to deliver big change, it’s fair to say, long term programmes aren’t necessarily better, either.? Personally, I like to work with clients to figure out what is best going to suit their context,from a range of potential solutions.?

Sometimes a full immersion two-day workshop, and the option for ongoing support, is what will fit best into a workplace.

In other cases, I might work with a client and/or their team across weeks or months.

In terms of duration of the sessions themselves, we of course take into account the ability for human brains to deep focus!??

• For 1-1 sessions, typically they run for between 90 to 120 minutes.
• In a group setting, while we might run a full day, each ‘session’ will be between 2.5 to 3 hours.

How do I choose a good quality training programme? There are so many around.

I acknowledge the challenge—there are plenty of options in the market! ?When you are not deep ‘in’ a sector or space, it can be hard to know what good looks like, or what features or functions you should be looking for.

I recommend trying to understand what the real positive impacts from the training might be. What can you expect to be doing differently, after the training?? Does the provider talk in terms of results and impact for your team and business? ?

Or, in contrast, is it about module-completion and check boxes?? I would say achieving certifications etc. is all well and good for some industries, but in the area of personal development, I think it’s better to consider other versions of success. For example, what changes will be able to make immediately, into your working life?? Can you expect to gain more self-awareness and confidence, as well as new skills?

Of course, also make sure you check for any reviews or testimonials.

At The People Place, we are particularly outcome-focused and practically-minded, so typically, we dedicate a part of our session to action plans and developing systems for accountability. This helps our participants to implement learnings once the programme is finished (and which could involve check-ins from me, for those clients who prefer that level of accountability.).

What do I need to have in place internally to make the most of training??

Such a good question and to be honest, one that isn’t asked enough.

Truly, there are times when there is no point spending time and resources on training.

As an example, it’s not worth investing in developing a leader in your business, when the organisational structure doesn’t support that leader to work at their best. That might look like having too many direct reports, and holding too responsibilities. No matter how much training a leader in that scenario has, they won’t able to succeed, because the org structure isn’t setting them up for success.? We will (and do!) advise our clients when we think that training isn’t the answer, or at least, isn’t the FIRST answer. ?

I should mention that our HR team provide a? supportive and consultative organisational design services;? it can be done quickly and is an essential and valuable first step for many projects.

?

Are there better vs worse times to run learning & development during the year?

To a certain extent, it depends on the rhythms of your business, taking into account your peak times, when your people have the bandwidth etc. I know it can be hard to carve out time. What I would say is that it’s not a smart tactic to wait until ‘things/timing/the market/relationships are good’.

It’s actually precisely when things might be a bit tough, that you probably need it most, AND potentially may gain the biggest benefits.?

Think about when you really need your people to pull together:?how can you support them to collaborate, and work productively as a team?? Well-formatted coaching and training will take you headfirst, into, through, and out the end of challenging period.

Many thanks to Simon for answering these questions, which hopefully provide our readers with a greater insight into how to choose the right learning and development option for your business.

Simon is passionate about empowering people-managers with the knowledge and skills to be excellent, effective leaders, so they can in turn build teams that perform.

If you'd like to have a chat with Si about the services he offers (nationwide), give him a call on +64 9 3007224.

Why not check out our Google reviews for a number of hugely positive mentions of Si's work. ??