training

The Current State of DEIB

Posted on by Seniye Groff

For every headline you might read lately, it seems that DEIB is all but gone…under attack…wrong in so many ways. But I see just as many companies, people and organizations sticking with their DEIB initiatives. Most DEIB strategies are focused on doing the right thing not giving folks an “unfair” advantage like the media would like us to believe. Treating people with dignity and respect should never be out of style.

Dismantling racial structures means change and people typically don’t like change especially when they believe they are losing something. So let’s flip the script and focus on what people gain when change happens. It is also important to plan out the change management strategy that should be tied to any organizational pivot or evolution.

The first step in a change management plan is to build and maintain momentum. Have your team analyze stakeholders, evaluate the impact to the organization, determine how you will measure the change and of course, secure budget for the endeavor.

The second step is to engage your stakeholders. This step includes creating a communication plan for the end user so identify your audience and what is important to them. In addition to the communication plan, figure out the engagement strategy…and expect and plan for some bumps along the way.

The third step focuses on aligning the organization. Complete an organizational RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed). Rewards and measurements should be considered here, too.

The fourth steps includes training and developing people. Consider the needed training strategy tied to roles and jobs, as well as, a coaching plan. Develop the needed materials, create the delivery schedule, determine how you will evaluate the training and then implement the training.

Finally in the fifth step of the process, monitor readiness and adoption of the organization. Define the metrics that will be used and create an assessment plan plus plenty of pulse checks. It is clearly evident that DEIB is very important to every organization (and the world) so upfront planning can help ensure that all the strategies and focus are set up for success and dissemination throughout the organization.

What have you done or experienced that helped your organization successfully implement their DEIB efforts?

Sharing some reading materials, too:

https://www.wsj.com/sports/football/nfl-super-bowl-dei-end-racism-b78a3495?st=eYTi9L&reflink=article_copyURL_share
https://twitter.com/cbseveningnews/status/1884368357828202982?s=46&t=CG_r2BJL2op9UnwpKeRdqA

https://www.fastcompany.com/91247655/this-is-how-dei-will-change-in-2025

“Say the Right Thing”

Posted on by Seniye Groff

I love learning new things and certainly have spent the last several years reading, watching and listening to anything I can get my hands on about diversity, equity, inclusion, bias and belonging. So I recently picked up, “Say the Right Thing” by Kenji Yoshino and David Glasgow. The premise of the book is to learn how to talk about identity, diversity and justice.

The authors suggest a framework called A.D.D.A. which stands for avoid, deflect, deny and attack. The authors contend these are conversational traps that one needs to be aware of and prepare for as one tries to have conversations around identity, diversity and justice issues. I thought this framework really did capture how conversations derail, sometimes before they even start!

One line in the book really captured the issue for me:

As excruciating as it can feel to have conversation about identity, it’s important to remember people from nondominant groups have always experienced emotional turmoil in these dialogues from being ignored, mocked, tone policed, or subjected to retaliation. When you find yourself wondering, “Why am I so uncomfortable? You might instead ask, “Why have I been comfortable until now?” You might then hear the answer: “I’ve been comfortable because until today, the other person has carried all the discomfort on their own.”

The authors suggest some strategies to deal with the emotional discomfort of these types of conversations such as a growth mindset by treating mistakes as opportunities to learn, self-affirm by reminding yourself what is most important and right-size feedback by remembering claims about privilege are often not as extreme as you perceive them. Reframing the situation can make you more open to the conversation in an objective way.

There are lots of helpful nuggets in this book. The authors share stories, examples and suggestions. One of the ending notes I think was helpful, “Don’t ignore people’s group identity, but also don’t reduce them to their group identity.” And finally, educate yourself! It is your responsibility to do so. Be curious, humble and ask for help but don’t expect someone else to educate you. Check out this book and let me know what you learned.

The Power of Stories and Training

Posted on by Seniye Groff

Stories can be used quite effectively for training. Often, training consists of a PowerPoint deck, a presenter that talks a lot or tons of handouts.  Engaging it is not.  But stories can bring content to life and stories are everywhere; you just need to look!

  • Stories make the content relatable and easier to remember.
  • Stories help the learner construct knew knowledge by taking current knowledge and applying in a new or different manner.
  • Stories provide examples which helps when a learner needs to make a decision.
  • Stories give the learner the ability to recall and use information when they are on the job and in their own context.

So how do you effectively use stories in training?  Start with throwing the learner into the action.  Or focus on something the learners care about right away.  Build opportunities for the learner to discover and give the learner the challenge of solving a problem.

Some tips:

  • Start with discovery
  • Focus on a central challenge
  • Give learners resources to uncover answers
  • Make the transformation obvious.

Think about the last training you went to.  Can you remember the discrete facts and figures shared?  Probably not.  But if you were lucky and the facilitator shared stories, I bet you can remember the story and possibly even have shared the story with someone else!  Stories are powerful in so many ways,  so the next time you are developing training, choose to center your content around stories and watch the magic happen.

 

What’s Going on in Retail Training

Posted on by Seniye Groff

I was recently asked by a client to do some recent on current retail training methodology.  I did a tremendous amount of research and even connected with some old retail buddies to get a sense of what is going on out there.  I will write several posts in the next few weeks, sharing snippets of what I learned.  Comment back if you have additional insight or questions.

According to the National Retail Federation, almost 30 percent of all retail workers are age 30 or younger, and nearly half of them have college degrees. Today’s employees have been immersed in technology almost since birth, and based on their experiences as students and consumers; they have come to expect technology in the workplace as well. The pervasiveness of social media and social computing is a big part of this expectation, as well as, comfort with technology.  These expectations have to be factored in when trying to recruit, retain, motivate and train younger employees.

Many retailers have empowered their employees with the right mix of tools and information, and have invested in mobility solutions that help them answer customer queries, look up price, confirm item availability and know their customers. In-store associates are using handheld applications not only for information, but also for guided selling, check out and replenishment. Retailers have implemented new features for online chat so that associates can perform sales and support activities to better serve their customers during transactions.

Enhanced features in employee touch points have allowed customer service associates to use real-time information to provide product features, benefits, recommendations, product availability and price information.  Enhancing employee efficiency and customer experience are value drivers to implement mobility solutions at the store front. Concerns like security, infrastructure management and integrated solutions have been the primary reasons for slower adoption of mobility solutions. At the same time, improved technology, along with some killer applications to support functions and infrastructure, has helped faster adoption of mobility solutions. A classic example is Apple which took customer service to a new level by adopting mobile solutions for all business functions in their stores.  Apple offers the Genius Bar, free workshops, personal setup, personal pickup and EasyPay; all of this could not happen unless their staff was trained and trained very well.

 

Begin with the Business in Mind

Posted on by Seniye Groff

It is no secret that the “training department” is often viewed as an expense rather than a revenue-generating partner.  So how can the training group change the perception and be viewed as a partner in running the business?  “Begin With the Business in Mind” by Matt Donovan shares some ideas.

Donovan suggests that the training organization “should be able to effectively describe the organization’s competitive position in terms of:

  • Industry and key features
  • Range of products and services provided
  • Customers and their affinity for the company’s products and services
  • External partners in the value chain
  • Competitive strategy
  • Competitive advantage
  • Current and emerging competitors.”

Once the training organization understands the company’s competitive advantage, it should then understand how the company structures itself to execute its strategy.  The PARC model in the book “Strategic Management” is mentioned as an ideal framework.  The PARC model is comprised of People, Architecture, Routines and Culture.  Only after the learning team has mastered their understanding of the company’s competitive position and its competitive advantage can they move forward to  being a true business partner rather than just an order-taker.  Trainers will be much better at assessing the business challenge, the cost of the training solution and ultimately the cost of the problem.  When trainers begin to use the language of “business problem” and “cost of the problem” rather than just cost of trainee per hour or smile sheet evaluation results, they demonstrate their position as a true business person.  Now that will be music to any leader’s ears!

The Real Education Gap

Posted on by Seniye Groff

Chief Learning Officer’s January 2012 issue contained a relevant article on “The Real Education Gap”.  The article describes the lack of communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking skills present in today’s workforce.  The article suggests that “82% of American schools fail to teach curricula that imbue students with the skills leadership demands.”  One could argue that school should (and are) teaching students reading, writing and math.  The challenge lies in the need for other skills to excel in today’s modern workplace and global arena.

The 2010 American Management Association (AMA) Critical Skills Survey uncovered the need for the “Four C’s”:

  • Critical thinking and problem solving
  • Effective communication
  • Collaboration and team building
  • Creativity and innovation. 

The most important of the “4C’s” is communication, which includes thinking clearly, figuring out what information is most important and then communicating back clearly.  Given my experience in training and education, I believe it would be fairly simple to practice these skills, even with existing content.  Revising content so that is culminates in real-life, practical application would be an easy fix for organizations. 

Ultimately, if practitioners ask the question “How does this training change behavior?” it is more likely the content will have some practice and skill development built into the design.  The article concludes with “organizations that develop their people have more success across all performance metrics.”  I think this is an obvious insight because as the old adage goes:  Don’t worry about training people that then might leave, instead worry about not training employees and having them stay! 

Diversity Training

Posted on by Seniye Groff

Last week I delivered diversity training to Dress for Success.  I have been a volunteer at DFS for 12 years (and that is longer than I have stayed at any paying job).  My interest in diversity training began when I was working on my thesis for my masters.  I realized I had a wealth of experiences that shaped my view of the world.  For example,  when I lived in St. Croix I quickly learned what it was like to be a minority.  At the time, out of 60,000 island residents, only 5,000 were Caucasian.  It was a great lesson for me.  This experience coupled with moving about every 11 months including Central America, the Middle East and throughout the U.S. gives me a broad frame of reference, as well as, lots of stories and experiences to share throughout my training session.

And the session really went great.  The group of new volunteers were engaged, interactive and really interested in the content, activities and stories.  They shared their experiences and overall realized how their lens “cloud” their views of how they perceive others.  The volunteers walked away with a new awareness and a new perspective.  It will go a long way to aid in their interactions with each other, as well as, the clients that DFS serves.

Posted on by Seniye Groff

I always find it very interesting what early adopters latch onto.  And when it comes to technology, I am even more surprised.  Lately, I have read a lot about Pinterest.  I need to play around with it and see what I think but immediately I consider “How can this be used for performance improvement?”  One idea might be to use it to get participants to learn more about each other before an online or face to face session.  Another possibility could be creating a group and have them work in teams to create a pinboard.  The debrief could be an interesting lesson in team dynamics, communication and influence.

What do you think?  Do you think the pinboard could be useful in a training or teaming situation?

Training for Trainers

Posted on by Seniye Groff

I have been speaking with a company based in the Netherlands about coaching learners that want to be trainers.  They had 127 applicants, 30 interviews and then I was chosen!  I am not sure how many they are going to ultimately hire, since they are just getting started. It is an interesting model, though.  They provide an inital free webinar on some training and facilitation basics with the hope that you will sign up for the certification series.  Once you sign up for the certification you are paired with a mentor/coach (this is where I come in) to work with you on a project.  The coach provides feedback and direction, submits the final project for grading and if you pass you obtain your certification.  I have no idea how busy I will be with this project but I liked the global aspect, as well as, all coaching done via Skype and email.  I will keep you posted!