The Cruelty of Manangement Training via Public Seminars

I’m sure in reading this title, some of you may be thinking…wow, that’s a bit harsh! Well, so be it if it communicates a critical point that will help others.

I was conducting a management training seminar last week in the Carolinas that dealt with unacceptable employee behavior. I had the opportunity to have a sidebar chat with one of the attendees regarding her unique challenges.

As she shared her story, such a sadness came over me as I realized that it would be very challenging for her to successfully implement what she was learning that day; in fact what her company had paid for her to learn.

Why?…upper level management and the company culture was not in place (at least from what she had observed) to support and encourage the change. In fact it was quite the opposite. In her view, there was NO support for addressing the challenges and you could see the discouragement on her face. Part of her question to me was what could she do about the piece. You could see her desire to make a difference …to constructively address the problem. Yet I could see how tough it was going to be.

My question…why do companies send employees to trainings such as public seminars, when there is not the management support back at the office to implement what’s being learned. To me…that is cruel!…and very sad.

Even sadder?… many decision makers are not aware of the disconnect and the waste of money to them in not having the atmosphere in place to successfully leverage what they are paying for their employees to learn AND how hurtful, frustrating, and discouraging it is to the employee.

Back to the attendee…I encouraged her to have courage, to entertain the possibility she might have to set the example with her new found knowledge and be the leader in this context…leading by example and hopefully results. Positive outcomes…results speaks volumes!

Here’s a plea from someone who conducts public seminars, management trainings and teaches updated management concepts: for those of you who are responsible for training budgets and/or sending your staff to trainings (public seminars and workshops), please ask yourself this question, “What’s in place back at the office to help support the implementation of what my team members will be learning, so that the cost of the seminar will not go to waste…..AND they will not be discouraged from learning, growing and leading?”

And…question #2 – what are the intended messages that are being communicated to an employee when the support is not in place?

What Every Management Training Should Include

Does Your Management Training Include These?

Have you ever wondered, “what are the essential things I need to know in order to be confident that with that specific knowledge I will and can be a competent and effective manager?”  Am I involved in and have access to comprehensive management training?

Well I have “The List.” This is my wish list for managers! …or team leads or supervisors…or whatever leadership title you hold.

It’s a 45 knowledge point checklist of what I believe every manager needs to know. I recommend that you download this list and do an honest assessment. By the way, this is not all inclusive. This was my list at first thought. I’ll be adding more, so check back.

One final note – my www.management-in-minutes.com site addresses all of these and more! We’re building a comprehensive management training resource a few minutes at a time.

Here’s the first few:

-Who they are on the inside determines what kind of manager they are on the outside
-Their natural leadership style
-That their relationship with their staff (how they treat people) is the number one influencer in the performance of each team member.
-How people operate
-Natural wiring (personality type)
-How the brain works
-What motivates humans to do or not do(values)
-Emotional maturity matters and is the number 1 reason for disruptive employees – do you know Eq?

Here’s the complete list: http://www.joanncorley.com/uploads/What_I_Wish_Every_Manager_Knew.pdf