I am the Training Manager at a non-Eurpoean insurance company. We have around 750 staff, many of which work in a network of branches across the country. At present, we have a training team of 5, which includes me, 3 "Employee Development Officers" (EDOs), and an admin person.
The EDOs are responsible for running centralised training courses such as induction, writing training material, manuals, etc for branch use, some hands-on training (although that is generally the responsibility of the Branch Manager), and various other tasks.
Our Executive have decided that we need more EDOs (no number is specified), to increase the amount of "one-on-one" training we can provide. This is based on staff feedback.
Now, I have my own ideas on how the team might look if we do get these extra people. However, I am interested in hearing the thoughts of the "experts" out there, to see if you have any cool and creative ideas for the team structure that I might be able to throw at them and say "how about this".
I look forward to hearing your wisdom!
Cheers,
Tony
Tony Boon
2 Responses
Trainers
Hi
One thing I have done in the past to increase the training capacity but not necessarily increasing training headcount entirely is use Operational Trainers.
These are people within the Operation who are experienced in what they do and have good peaple skills but are looking to expand their skills into training.
They are trained as trainers and are part of the virtual team but when not actively engaged in training they are still part of the operational structure. This means they are a clear link between operations and training and are particularly well suited to doing the one on one training as they come from the operation and understand the needs/challenges and best approach to take.
thanks
Julie
I’d start with the feedback
I think the first thing is to establish exactly what the feedback has been, and what is meant by one on one training. You can increase the amount of staff you have, but unless you know what isn’t working at the moment, you may not get the results you, and the senior team are looking for.
As resourcing is being looked at currently, it may also be a good time to look at the business plans of the organisation, to see what skills staff will need to develop over the next five years, and how your team could help to deliver those most effectively and most efficiently. Is the organisation looking for staff to develop their personal development skills, so they can learn more self sufficiently, or do they want to provide a comprehensive personal development programme? Will the skills that staff require over the coming years fundamentally change, which means that the skills of your team may need to change too?
If resources are tight, there are lots of creative ways to deliver personal development -short lunchtime workshops, personal development days for larger groups, learning newsletters, developing team coach’s and buddy’s.
If it was me, my first step would be to look at the feedback, speak to some of your customers (such as the branch managers) to find out what they need, and then put together a proposal. You could consider a personal development advisor who could support people with l&d queries and coach and develop branch managers if needed as a starting point?
Hope this helps!
Kirsten