Train your experts to boost business results
Do you have experts lurking in your organisation? Without a doubt, you absolutely do! In every department there are subject matter experts. They are the people you go to every time you need an answer to a question or to find out how to complete a task. They might have been employed in your team for years, over this time building up their knowledge and understanding of how things are done.
What if I told you that by tapping into their potential you can support your employees to become more effective, and also improve business results. Would you want to know more?
Take Harry the Fire Marshall who has been with you for 30 years. When the fire alarm sounds, he dons his hi-viz jacket and calmly makes sure everyone in your team gets out safely. Harry really knows his stuff about fire safety. But what would happen if Harry was on holiday and the fire alarm sounded? Worse still, what if Harry retired? How would your team find their way out of the building safely?
External versus internal training
Facilitating internal knowledge transfer is the answer. Harry needs to share his know-how with his colleagues and upskill his colleagues to know what to do if they discover a fire and when the fire alarm sounds.
Of course, there are alternatives. Harry’s employer could find an external provider to visit and deliver the training. Usually they will require a minimum group size, which comes at a cost. An alternative is to send their employees on a training course away from the business. Both these options involve time and money - every single time you want to do the training.
Learning to be a Group Trainer
When I was employed, I remember being invited to attend a session called Group Training Techniques. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I went along and happily absorbed all the information the trainer shared. That session changed my role and I became responsible for delivering internal training.
Learning Group Training Techniques boosted my confidence massively, enabling me to stand up in front of a group of people and facilitate an interesting and enjoyable training session. I loved it and I was pretty good at it.
I started carrying out the training every employee needs in their role. Think mandatory and induction training such as health & safety, fire safety, security procedures, legislation and customer service (my absolute favourite!). I shared the specific knowledge that each employee needed to do their role, starting them off on a sound footing.
What I learnt from training people internally in groups
An effective use of time: Training people in groups is a more efficient way of learning than one-to-one sessions, especially when your employees have to take time away from their day jobs to learn. Half a day in a group session is better time management than taking a full-day away from the business on an external course.
Consistent messaging: Having a group trainer within the business keeps your message consistent, every time. Your trainer can also adapt those messages to deal with the intricacies and specific requirements of your organisation. Generic courses just don’t deliver in the same way.
Improved results: Better still, the organisation’s business results showed that the training had been effective: fewer accidents, more engaged staff, people more informed, and an increase in customer satisfaction scores.
I learnt that there are four core principles of group training. These are the same principles we follow on Zest for Life’s Be a Group Trainer course:
1. How to prepare a group training session so that it makes sense for every attendee.
2. How to make training engaging, so everyone feels safe and inspired to get involved.
3. How to assess each participant’s understanding from the training.
4. How to ensure the message is consistent each time you deliver it.
Why would you train someone to train others?
Train the Trainer and Be a Group Trainer training courses make complete business sense. If you still need convincing, here are some additional benefits:
Ability to follow up on the training: an in-house trainer can observe, support and guide to ensure the skills, knowledge and behaviours are applied.
Measurement: set the clear, positive measures you want to track before and after training.
Retain talent: upskilling keeps talent and skills within the organisation and creates new career development pathways.
Permanent resource: unlike an external trainer, you can tap into your internal training resource at any time, e.g. when new starters require induction, or a new system is introduced.
Cost-effective: not having to budget for external training means you can reduce costs and allocate the money to grow the business in other areas.
Ongoing returns: Upskilling employees to become internal group trainers is a one-off investment that keeps delivering business benefits long after the training has ended.
Discover more about Be a Group Trainer
Book a 30-minute discovery call with Sally to find out what’s involved in Zest for Life Group Training and Train the Trainer sessions, and the business benefits of supporting your team to reach their full potential.