I have just taken a position with a call centre as a training manager and I'm very much looking forward to it. The first stage of the job is to conduct a company wide TNA from which I am to start designing or sourcing training to meet the identified needs. While I am confident that I am able to conduct TNA's with reasonable ability, the thing I am unsure of is how to prioritise where to start etc. This exercise has not been conducted previously and the role is brand new so there is a lot of scope and I'd like to maximise my impact on business processes etc. Any ideas/tips would be gratefully recieved.
Nik Kellingley
7 Responses
Start With Key Performance
Hi Nik
I very much understand your issue here!!
Can I suggest you start by finding out what are the key indicators of performance, both in real terms, and also in terms of those that managers get crucified for when things go wrong – ideally they are one and the same, though my experience is that this isn’t always the case….!!
Asking the managers about this will probably be an unusual experience for them – there is a perception in some quarters that training managers simply meet the requirements of the shopping list, and don’t try to understand the business.
Once you have these indicators, start looking for where there is some underperformance going on, or looking likely. I’d also point you to my evaluation/ROI method for what to do next! (See http://www.trainerbase.co.uk/Useful/items.asp?CategoryID=15). While you are at trainingzone, stop by Paul Kearns’ Bite Sized series if you haven’t already – there’s some good stuff there too!
Good luck & best wishes!
Martin Schmalenbach
Director
Potential Energy Ltd
http://www.p-nrg.com
TNA’s
Good Afternoon Nik!
Hope that you are well!
I much agree with the post below, you will certainly want to gauge from the organisation what KPI’s are being adhered to and my personal recognition would be to start with your frontline staff and work upwards.
The benefit of this is that sometimes where frontline targets are not being met, development within your team leader or call centre management positions can be the key to performance in the Contact Centre, whether it be motivational techniques or career development prospects.
what sector do you currently work in? drop me an email at andrewo@calcomgroup.co.uk and I’ll try give you some other clear objectives for TNA’d in and around the Contact Centre Environment,
Andrew
A software solution?
Nik
My organisation is about to launch an interesting piece of TNA and training management software.
It may also help you with some training identification and will certainly help you proritise training.
If you are interested I am seeking a number of companies who can trial it and provide feedback. (cost here £0).
If you are interested please call me +44 (0) 1492 581947
Suggested help
I am currently using a web based system for TNA and tracking training which also allows me to produce reports and is even broken down into individual job skills rather than just jobs. Suggest you visit http://www.trainingplanit.co.uk. Hope this helps!
TNA Toolkit
You might want to look at the Training Needs Analysis toolkit available from Training Zone. It will help.
Competency framworks is the place to start
Although KPI’s provide a standard against which to understand the relevance of training, that is the “vision or strategy” of the organisation. To understand the training needs of the individual (bottom-up), an organisational competency framework against which to undertake skills audits will provide the best starting point. This will enable skills required with business objectives, allowing the correct prioritising of training and budgets.
Peter O’Donnell
Partner
Ergon http://www.ergon-resources.com
Training Needs Analysis
Hi Nik, congratulations and best wishes for your new role.
In a previous life as a Training Manager at T-Mobile I faced a similar challenge, the good news is the credibility a well designed TNA will give you will be worth all of the hard work.
As always the choices that you’ve got are wide, the replies you’ve already got highlights that. ‘ve found working with clients that Focus Groups or Rep Grid are great places to start, depending on the time and resources you have avaialble.
If I had my time working with internal clients again, I’d invest even more time building the profile of the training team with the operational managers, investing their wants and needs informally even more and developing my profile as an internal consultant before I did a full TNA. Although it’s a touch unusual, I think that the fast pace of Call Centres means that it’s even more important than usual to get your finger on the pulse of the business first.
I’ve still got various paperwork from previous TNA’s, do drop me a line if they’d be of any use.
Best regards,
Richard