Implementing training initiatives in your organization is an investment in your people and the future of your company. Training programs can range from being standardized, one-size-fits-all solutions to tailored and highly-customized approaches that are designed to deliver specific results.
That being said, regardless of the type of training you’re implementing, there are some real challenges one might encounter to successfully rollout training:
Top Obstacles
- There is a lack of buy-in from employees and/or leadership.
- The training is seen as “flavor of the month” and abandoned.
- The training is not delivering the promised results.
- It’s not the right fit for the company.
- The program is not given enough time for it to take hold.
- There is confusion on how to embed and implement it.
These obstacles are just some among the many that organizations face and can often result in the failure of training initiatives. However, there is one measure that leaders can take to dramatically improve the success of a training initiative.
Utilizing a train-the-facilitator program (sometimes known as train-the-trainer) allows you to overcome many of these challenges, gain footing, and effectively spread the training throughout the organization.
Teaching Leads to Success
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
This ancient proverb implies that the best way to learn something is to teach it, and it provides an excellent metaphor for how a train-the-facilitator (TTF) solution can help your organization. TTF programs help organizations embed training, curriculum, and processes throughout the workforce by training an internal team of personnel that will serve as certified facilitators that advocate and champion the training. These individuals go through a program that instructs them on how to successfully deliver, facilitate, measure, and execute whatever training initiative your organization is investing in, allowing the organization to continually train existing and new employees in.
Furthermore, the TTF solution instills accountability, not only at the trainer level but at the leadership level that has committed to investing the time and resources into a program that will develop their most valuable resources—their people. This added layer of accountability helps to ensure the successful rollout of training initiatives.
This process also allows organizations to optimize and customize training to meet their specific needs—whether you’re delivering this content to an intact team or your entire workforce. It gives you ultimate flexibility needed to deliver ongoing support and training to your team.
Why Train-the-Facilitator Programs Work
Here are nine benefits of a TTF program:
- Creating Champions of the Process
The more time, grounding, and learning individuals have in the process, the more committed they come to the tools and application. It’s worth stating again: the best way to learn something is to teach it. When you have someone who becomes a certified facilitator, they become a champion and driver of the process.
- Internal Ongoing Support
When challenges or issues arise in your culture or process of establishing greater accountability at every level, which they always do, the TTF program means you have internal support you can turn to right away. This team has been grounded in the process, they know the tools, the questions to ask and are prepared to help support the ongoing implementation of the training initiative.
- Flexibility of Delivery
Delivery doesn’t always mean a full 8-hour workshop and flying people in from all over the country. We have worked with teams to deliver half-day training, 2-hour segmented training, 5-minute ongoing pre-shift training, and even interactive and supportive e-learning. When you have internal champions who have been through a TTF program, it allows you to design and deliver a tailored solution for your team that makes sense at every level.
- Cost Effectiveness
Training initiatives can be costly to organizations, especially when you need to fly out trainers to train your people. TTF programs are a very cost effective option in the sense that you invest to get your people trained as certified facilitators, who, in turn, can then rollout the training internally to more employees.
- Leadership Development
Countless organizations select their high potential leaders to go through this process because it teaches them invaluable skills, such as how to best facilitate a meeting, how to improve their communication and presentation skills, and provides them the opportunity to help others grow. This investment builds self-confidence in the individuals you train and adds something invaluable to your workforce.
- Forming a Culture of Accountability
You will fast-learn that individuals who are trained to rollout your training program will be the ones that shape a positive culture. You’ve invested in these trainers, and they will carry the message to all those they train, further instilling accountability throughout the workforce and transforming your culture into a powerful competitive advantage.
- Sustainability
The TTF program is not a one and done process, just like you don’t want the impact of the training to be a one and done experience. Getting people trained helps ensure the long-term sustainability and impact of the process.
- Reporting and Tracking
Those trained to deliver the training initiative will help your organization understand how the well the training is being received and its impact on the organization. These individuals can report on how many people have gone through the training, what problems are being faced, and can work with other departments to figure out how to overcome challenges.
- Certification
Many TTF programs also come with a form of certification that individuals can carry with them throughout their career and is seen as a significant investment in their personal development and career skillset, which also positively impacts retention of these employees.
The benefits are far-reaching, and this list is not exhaustive. There are many more indirect and subtle benefits of a TTF program, but what holds true is that the return on investment is significant—it’s an investment in your people, your organization, and the successful future of your company. Make sure that if you’re investing in a training program, that it will be surefire success.
