"In Action: Managing the Small Training Staff" American Society for Training and Development (1998)

Carol P. McCoy (editor) A compilation of 12 case studies that provide practical ideas for action and in-depth examples of what training departments, that range in size from one part-time employee to five full-time people, can accomplish. Representing a wide range of industries, the cases explain the challenges and opportunities small training departments face and describe specific success strategies and tactics that have proved useful.

Table of Contents
Preface

Casebook Guide

Managing a Small Training Department:
Making the Most of Your Resources. Click here to read a part of this chapter.
Carol P. McCoy

Involving Vice Presidents in a Worldwide Training Effort
Collagen Corporation, Carolyn Sorensen Balling

Developing People at Rock-Tenn.
Rock-Tenn Company, Kathryn S. O’Neill

Managing the Small Training Function:
Ethics and Wall Street Not an Oxymoron..
Kidder Peabody, Joanne Rogovin

Building a Leadership Development Program:
Making the Best Use of Internal and External Resources
UNUM Life Insurance Company of America, Carol P. McCoy

Proving the Need for a Training Staff
Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corporation, Debra T. Taylor

Time Management Training:
Small Investment Big Results.
Logitech, Nancy G. Nunziati

The Out-sourced Director of Training and Development
Strategies for the 90’s, Anne Monnin

Streamlining Technical Training in a Multifunctional Manufacturing Facility:
How to Do It With a Small Staff.
Monsanto, Michael J. Gettle

Managing the Training Function Through Employee Participation and Involvement.
Navistar The Springfield Plant, Raquel Fornoles Arnold

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Technician Training
American Honda, Millar Farewell

The Technical Trainer:
Organizational Effectiveness through Partnership and Learning.
Nortel Corporation, Randy Maxwell and Karen L. Jost

Creating a Successful Sales Campaign in a Mutual Savings Bank
Norway Savings Bank, Barbara J. Buisman

About the Editor.

Preface

Purpose of This Casebook

The goal of Managing the Small Training Staff is to provide practical ideas for action and in-depth examples of what training departments that range in size from one part-time employee to five full-time people can accomplish. Representing a wide range of industries, the cases explain the challenges and opportunities small training departments face and describe specific success strategies and tactics that have proved useful. Because a major challenge of being in a small department is overcoming discouragement, this book also offers trainers a sense of optimism about contributions they can make, even with limited staff. Finally, because the book provides insights into the real world of working in a small training department, it can help with decisions about career paths--whether to pursue working in a small training department or whether to be a lone trainer on the inside or outside of an organization.

This book should interest anyone who works in a small training department, whether as the manager, trainer, or part of an administrative support team. It would be helpful to anyone struggling with the issue of meeting pressing organizational training needs with few resources. Readers will gain an understanding of a variety of ways to approach the tasks of determining needs, developing programs, and implementing and evaluating training with minimal resources. Readers will gain an appreciation for the joys and struggles of such a position--what it feels like to work in small training departments.

A second audience is all the people (managers as well as individual contributors) in organizations who work with small training departments and stand to benefit from their services. The book helps to clarify the vital role that nontrainers have to play in contributing to training efforts as subject matter experts who help to identify and prioritize needs and help to design and deliver training. It also explains the importance of the business partnership with training and how managers must sponsor and support training efforts so that training takes hold and makes a difference in an organization’s success.

A third audience is external consultants who work in a one- or two-person training organization or who provide training support to organizations with small human resources and training departments. Many chapters address the issue of working with external resources to meet training needs. The book provides helpful clues about the realities of being a lone trainer as an external consultant. Readers also can get a feel for what it’s like to work as a part-time trainer inside an organization and maintain an external consulting practice or spend more time on other pursuits.

Another audience is HRD instructors who teach programs or seminars on training and training management. The book should prove to be a helpful reference and supplementary text for programs in managing HRD at the undergraduate or graduate level. Students can use the cases as a basis for discussion about the approaches used in the case and explore alternative ways of meeting training needs for similar organizations.

The 12 cases come from a variety of settings and industries, including financial and investment services, insurance, automobile manufacturing, motorcycle service, chemicals, paper recycling, metals manufacturing, telecommunications, and beauty products. The cases include organizations with sophisticated computer equipment and telecommunications networks, such as Nortel, and less technologically sophisticated organizations. You will find examples from small centralized departments in small organizations (such as Collagen, Logitech, Norway Savings Bank, and Rock-Tenn) and small decentralized training departments in business units or functions that are part of larger organizations (such as Nortel’s Broadband Business Unit’s training; Monsanto’s Muscatine Plant; Navistar’s Springfield Plant, and UNUM America’s Human Resources Training Department). In one instance, Anne Monnin, a principal with STRATEGIES FOR THE 90’s, is acting as an independent consultant--an "Outsourced Director of Training and Development"-- for several companies. In another instance, Carolyn Balling works part-time as Collagen’s training manager and part-time as an external consultant. In some cases, the departments were start-ups (Collagen, Rock-Tenn, Logitech, Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corporation, and Norway Savings Bank), whereas other departments had existed for some time and were being revitalized (Navistar) or had been significantly affected by downsizing (American Honda). The cases also represent different types of training, including soft-skills training and management training (Collagen, Rock-Tenn, UNUM America, and Kidder, Peabody) as well as technological training and job-skills training (Monsanto and American Honda).

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Managing a Small Training Department:
Making the Most of Your Resources
by Carol P. McCoy

Today’s organizations are expecting people to do more with less. Training departments are no exception. In fact, one-fourth of all training departments in the United States consist of only one trainer. With small businesses on the rise, there are likely to be even more small training departments in the future. How can a training staff of only one to three people—with a broad range of responsibilities—ensure that it makes a significant contribution to its organization? This chapter explores strategies that trainers in small departments have used successfully. Readers will learn keys to working with internal subject matter experts through a train-the-trainer process as well as keys to working with external consultants and other external resources. (p. 1)

Keys to a Successful Train-the-Trainer Process (p. 10-11)

Making trainers out of nontrainers (subject matter experts, or SMEs) is not easy. There are, however, a number of steps that can ensure that employees and managers who learn to teach your programs succeed in delivery effective training. First, it is essential that you have a selection process and criteria to help you choose the right people who have the credibility, talent, and interest in teaching a particular subject. Business are often reluctant to part with their real SMEs and may want you to be content with any warm body as a trainer, not the person who would do the best job. You’ll need to convince managers that in the long run having the best qualified SME teach would have the most positive impact on the business because that person would teach an effective program, whereas someone less qualified is likely to provide poorly delivered training, which ultimately leads to errors, ineffective business processes, and costly rework.

Next, it is important to provide everyone who teaches training with the right tools and learning to ensure they succeed. An effective train-the-trainer process for SMEs might include the following steps:

1. Clarify the expectations of the training certification process with the SME and the SME’s managers. Let SMEs know that it takes time, effort, skill, and practice to become an effective trainer. Let them know that not everyone participating in the certification process may succeed in being certified as a trainer.
2. Ensure that the SME is exposed to the program prior to teaching it. It is helpful to require that the SME attend the program as a participant in order to understand the content, flow, learning dynamics, and pitfalls of the program. This may not always be possible if the SME needs to teach the pilot program. In that case, the SME may learn about the program by playing a significant role in the program design.
3. Provide a clear, user-friendly instructor’s manual or leader’s guide that explains the learning objectives, key learning points, training materials, and training activities for all content. In some cases you can use job aids and job procedures if trainers are providing OJT.
4. Provide a train-the-trainer workshop that teaches the appropriate content and facilitation skills. Keys to a successful workshop include creating a safe and supportive learning environment; helping people to assess their own skill levels as trainers; providing many opportunities to practice and improve by videotaping practice segments and providing constructive feedback and improvement ideas.
5. Observe new trainers and provide coaching. One way to do this is to require new trainers to teach programs with an experienced cotrainer or cofacilitator who can provide on-the-spot coaching and assistance. Tracking the program evaluations to identify areas where new trainers need to improve is another method.
6. Create a certified trainer network that allows line trainers and SMEs to share ideas about what works and what doesn’t work in delivering training. Be sure to follow up with trainers to help them solve any problems they encounter.
7. Reward and recognize the contributions of SMEs who contribute to training either as designers or instructors.

Working Effectively With Outside Resources (p. 12-13)

A key to successful use of consultants and vendors is having a well-thought-out selection process to ensure that you hire the right one. See O’Neill’s case on Rock Tenn for an excellent discussion of how to work with consultants. Important steps in selecting a consultant to develop a program include the following actions:

1. Locate potential resources and create a candidate list. Having more than one consultant provides options, a better chance to get the most cost-effective solution, the potential to gain ideas from more than one source, and a back-up strategy in case your first choice falls through for any reason.
2. Create a vendor selection committee. Sharing the responsibility for selecting the right vendor with the business not only improves your selection, but also creates a sense of business ownership for the training.
3. Create selection criteria to help you choose the most appropriate consultant. Criteria might include expertise, familiarity with your industry, proven track record, capacity of the company to produce high-quality training materials using a variety of delivery mechanisms, capacity to produce training quickly, solvency of the vendor (to ensure that it lasts throughout a long program development time), the quality of their instructors, and your gut feeling about how it would be to work with them.
4. Create a request for proposal (often referred to as an RFP), which includes design specifications that detail your requirements. (See McCoy, 1993; and Abella, 1986 for more information on design "specs.")
5. Review proposals and work samples. Make sure that you review written proposals and sample training materials to get a feel for the consultant’s style, approach, and competence.
6. Check references. It is amazing what you can learn by speaking with other people who have worked with the vendor. It can help you avoid a disastrous decision or learn how to work most effectively with the consultant that you hire.
7. Meet with the finalists and make sure that you speak with the people who will actually do the work, not just with the salesperson. If you are selecting a consultant to deliver training, make sure that you observe the instructor to ensure that he or she is competent and that there is a fit with your organization. If you cannot observe the person teaching a live program, you can usually do so on videotape.
8. Negotiate with the consultant to ensure that you get the best deal before making your decision. In one instance, I had a consultant reduce his fee by $40,000 to beat out a competitor’s bid.

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Involving Vice Presidents as Trainers in a Worldwide Training Effort
Collagen Corporation. Carolyn Sorenson Balling.

This chapter illustrates that even a part-time trainer can make a significant contribution to an organization, and it explores the advantages and challenges of working as a part-time one-person training department. Carolyn Sorenson Balling shows how she meets priority training needs for Collagen and still has time for a rewarding external consulting practice. Using the introduction of the ISO-certification process at Collagen as an example, Balling describes how to build executives’ ownership and involvement in a large-scale training intervention. Balling also offers some excellent advice on how to maintain one’s perspective and positive outlook. (p. 19)

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Developing People at Rock-Tenn
Rock-Tenn Company. Kathryn S. O’Neill

This case illustrates how a one-person training department can support the development of managers. Kathryn O’Neill shows how she selects and works with outside vendors to ensure she has the best resource for any human resource development (HRD) intervention. She describes how she created an effective partnership with senior management in planning to implement enhanced management development training at Rock-Tenn. Having worked previously in a small department, O’Neill shares her thoughts on how to build your own skills to succeed in this role. (p. 37)

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Managing the Small training Function: Ethics and Wall Street—Not an Oxymoron.
Kidder, Peabody. Joanne Rogovin

This chapter provides a fascinating look at what can be done in a small training department as well as at the limits of ethics training. The case illustrates how Rogovin built her credibility and made the best use of external consultants and internal subject matter experts to develop and deliver training solutions. Rogovin explains how she approached the daunting task of providing ethics training to a challenging audience. Whereas Rogovin developed a program that built awareness of ethical dilemmas and provided a framework for making ethical decisions, ultimately no ethics program could change the behavior of some employees who were overwhelmed by their desire for financial gain at any cost. (p. 55)

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Building a Leadership Development Program:
Making the Best Use of Internal and External Resources
UNUM Life Insurance Company of America. Carol Prescott McCoy

This case illustrates how a small training department made wise use of external consultants and internal experts to develop and deliver a leadership development program for the home office of North America’s leading disability insurer. By building strong sponsorship through a leadership advisory group, the department was able to implement a leadership assessment and development process within a short time frame. The chapter also provides insights into how to expand your capabilities by using job sharing and temporary help and how to evaluate the success of interpersonal skills and customer relations training. (p. 79)

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Proving the Need for a Training Staff
Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corporation. Debra T. Taylor

This case is a source of hope for all lone trainers who know they need more dedicated training resources to help the business succeed. It is an excellent illustration of how one trainer in a start-up situation created a master training plan and used an external consultant to conduct a needs assessment that ultimately proved the need for more training resources. As a result of her thoughtful approach, Debra Taylor was able to increase the staff of LWCC’s Training Department from one person to five people in order to meet urgent business needs of a company with over 430 employees. Readers will find that Taylor’s master training plan is a helpful example of how to present training objectives and strategies. (p. 97)

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Time Management Training: Small Investment—Big Results
Logitech. Nancy G. Nunziati

This case demonstrates that a resourceful person with an interest in training can quickly learn the ropes and create an effective one-person training department. Nancy Nunziati shows how she listened to her internal customers and used an off-the-shelf time-management program to help change Logitech’s company culture to one of increased accountability. Nunziati describes an effective process for selecting the best supplier for HRD programs as well as a process for demonstrating the impact of time management training. (p. 113)

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The Outsourced Director of Training and Development.
STRATEGIES FOR THE 90’s. Anne Monnin.

This case provides a thoughtful discussion of what it is like the make the transition from being an external consultant to being a one-person training department inside a large metals manufacturer and then returning to being an external consultant. Monnin’s case shows how one person can successfully direct training from either inside or outside of an organization. Readers gain insights into how to survive downsizing and then develop a profitable and fulfilling relationship with a former employer. This case highlights how Monnin provided a successful training intervention to support her former employer’s quality initiative in pursuit of ISO certification. (p. 127)

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Streamlining Technical Training in a Multifunctional Manufacturing Facility:
How to Do It With a Small Staff. Monsanto.
Michael J. Gettle

This case is an excellent illustration of how to introduce performance-based training into an organization to increase the efficiency of training. Gettle describes his training system, which involved the use of job aids, on-the-job training, and technicians as trainers at Monsanto’s plant in Muscatine, Iowa. To gain buy-in for the new approach to training, Gettle created strong partnerships with all levels of employees, especially the technicians who delivered the training and helped with its development. The case describes the challenges and requirements for building training skills of nontrainers to implement such an approach. (p. 147)

Managing the Training Function Through Employee Participation and Involvement.
Navistar—The Springfield Assembly Plant. Raquel Fornoles Arnold.

This case provides an excellent illustration of building credibility and shared ownership through a training advisory board. Raquel Arnold, the lone trainer for Navistar’s Springfield, Ohio, Plant, created a "Progressive Education Council," consisting of both management and union employees, that helped her to set direction and ultimately improve the effectiveness of Springfield’s Interactive Learning Center. By conducting a thorough needs assessment and working closely with this advisory board, Arnold was able to shift her role from coordinator to problem solver and human resource development strategist. (p. 167)

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Technician Training.
American Honda. Millar Farewell

This case is a good example of how a small training shop provides technical training to a widely dispersed target audience of Honda Motorcycle dealer technicians. Farewell explains how training at American Honda has evolved over time. In its heyday the department had over 14 training resources, but now it has to provide value-added training with a staff of three people. The case reveals how Farewell worked with an outside consultant to provide dealer technicians with training to help them solve the challenging, though infrequent, electrical problems that they must resolve to keep customers happy. (p. 181)

The Technical Trainer: Organizational Effectiveness Through Partnership and Learning.
Nortel Corporation. Randy Maxwell and Karen L. Jost.

This case is an excellent example of using partnerships with external consultants and with internal suppliers in a high-tech company to develop and deliver a solution to meet the training need to keep up with emerging technologies in telecommunications. The case illustrates the use of a variety of needs assessment techniques and alternative delivery methods, and it evaluates the impact of training at several different levels. Randy Maxwell, who is now with Nortel’s Learning Institute in Alpharetta, Georgia, was the senior technical training specialist at Nortel’s Atlanta Broadband Research and Development Lab at the time of this case. He continues to enjoy a professional relationship with her former dissertation advisor, Karen Jost, by jointly authoring papers. (p. 193)

Creating a Successful Sales Campaign for a Mutual Savings Bank.
Norway Savings Bank. Barbara "Bobbi" J. Buisman.

This chapter demonstrates the vital role that a one-person human resource development (HRD) unit can play in a small organization, where HRD is enmeshed among many other functions. Buisman describes how she established the role and value of HRD in a mutual savings bank with long-standing roots in a New England community. Her case illustrates how she created and implemented a series of educational and motivational interventions to support a successful sales campaign that promoted a new debit card. (p. 209)