Developing a training strategy

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Course Overview

Does your organisation see training and development as a 'support service' or does it recognise the function as a business partner that builds strategic, value-added capabilities? This seminar will provide you with a guide that will help you to develop a strategic approach to training and development within your organisation.

Developing and training people is seen as essential by many organisations - a major investment and a vital ingredient for future success. Yet how many organisations have a training strategy? How many can point to their strategic training objectives and show how they will deliver the organisation’s goals?

For those responsible for training, thinking strategically means thinking beyond the confines of the training function to ensure that their contribution supports the strategy and goals of the organisation. It means revisiting current practice and identifying the real contribution that training can make as part of an integrated approach to people managment. It means influencing and being influenced by real business priorities.

This seminar will show you how to put these essential steps into practice.

Audience

• Learning, training and development professionals
• HR managers and others with responsibility for, or input to training strategy

Skills Gained

This seminar will help you to:

• Understand and apply strategic thinking to the management of training and development
• Understand the difference between strategic and operational planning
• Apply a clear methodology in producing a training strategy
• Integrate training into a wider HR strategy
• Identify the key factors impacting on training strategy
• Improve the evaluation of the impact of training
• Create the right profile of training within the organisation
• Secure the commitment of the organisation to the training function

Course Outline

Thinking strategically

• The nature of strategy
• Accounting for uncertainty
• Constructing multiple futures
• Thinking strategically with scenarios
• Getting free of the single scenario
• Scanning the environment
• Avoiding the traps
• Strategic management
• The nature of strategic management
• Strategic management models
• The role of the strategic manager
• Strategic awareness as a competency
• Defining strategic, tactical and operational management
• The emerging role of HR and training
• Becoming a true business partner
• Building strategic, value-added capabilities

Strategic training and development

• Training strategy
• What a training strategy looks like
• Training strategy in the business context
• Strategic and tactical training
• Strategic and operational plans
• Links to the business
• From strategy to action
• Internal and external influences
• The impact of organisational culture and values
• The external environment
• Factors driving training strategy
• Clarifying strategic and operational goals
• Creating the vision
• Strategy in relation to where you are now

Developing a strategic approach

• Relevant practical considerations
• Potential obstacles to a strategic approach to training
• Three basic models of managing training
• The fragmented approach
• The formalised approach
• The focused approach
• A practical guide to the formulation of a training strategy
• Strategy document checklist
• Political and cultural considerations
• Template for a working training strategy
• Strategic, tactical and operational links to areas of HR
• Focus on strategic value
• The measurement dilemma
• Contributing to the value chain
• Innovative evaluation

Implementation issues

• The role of competency frameworks
• Links to the business
• Links to training
• Links to HR initiatives
• Gaining commitment
• Sponsors’ view of training
• Raising the training profile
• Customers’ view of training
• Gaining support for training
• Methods of funding
• Sourcing skills and knowledge
• Internal or external
• Making the choice
• Managing the resource
• Monitoring delivery of strategy
• Case studies on strategic approaches
• Personal action plan

Developing a training strategy / cm65308