Planning for 2011 for corporate training

1.
Creat
ting Yo
our Tra
aining V for 201
Vision f 11
Corpo
orate Le
earning
g and De
evelopm
ment
Capita
alWave In
nc. | Wh
hite Pape
er
December ‐ 201
10
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2.
Table of Contents:
Creating Your Training Vision 1: Organizational Strategy ............................................................................. 3
Creating Your Training Vision 2: Industry Strategies and Trends ................................................................. 4
Creating Your Training Vision 3: What Are Your Best Customers Planning? ................................................ 5
Creating Your Training Vision 4: The Training Vision .................................................................................... 6
Creating Your Training Vision 5: Defining the Vision and Determining a Fit ................................................ 7
Creating Your Training Vision 6: Execution Plan ........................................................................................... 9
Creating Your Training Vision 7: Presenting the Vision and Strategy ......................................................... 10
2

3. Creating g Your Train ning Vision 1 1: or diirectors in tho
ose areas to f
find out what
t’s
Organiza ational Strat tegy goin g on.
Summary: In this series, we will exa amine the The next step to ttake is to break the
steps you can take to c create your tr
raining vision orgaanizational strrategy down into managea able
and strateegy for the uppcoming year r. One of the areaas, such as inn
novations, inittiatives,
cts of strategic planning is to take a
first aspec tech nology, grow wth, and finannce. For exammple,
hard look at your organization and its 2011 initia
atives may coover product a and market
strategy. deve elopment or m may even cov ver the correc ction
of te
echnical problems. On the other hand,
As we mo ove toward a new year, you will innoovations couldd be big changes in the wa ay the
probably begin thinkin ng about what t you need to o firm does busines ss, major prodduct changes s, or
accomplissh next year. But this list should be inter rnal changes such as a mo ove to a new HHRM
more than n a set of obje
ectives or goa als – your or ER RP system. Teechnology will most proba ably
plans for t
the upcoming g year should d take the toucch most of the e areas for or
rganizational
form of a vision and strategy that ca an help your strattegy, but tech
hnology can s stand on its owwn,
organization meet its ggoals. In order to do this, as w
well. Keep in mmind that changes to proce esses,
there are a few steps yyou should take during suchh as sales, may also have a technologica al
your planning process. . The first step is to look aspe ect. Growth and finance m may also appe ear
at the org
ganization as a whole and d determine hand d‐in‐hand. For example, th he organizatioon
what the strategy will be for 2011. may be planning to take on ad dditional market
shar re, expand int
to new marke ets, or pursuee a
As the ecoonomy emerg ges from receession,
jointt venture withh another firmm. Any of theese
organizations are still s slow to spend d money or
mov ves will requir
re the assistannce of your
expand ou ut of fear of t the dreaded “ “double‐dip.”
train
ning departme ent.
Because o of this, it is ev
ven more imp portant that
you start your strategy y plans with the overall In m ore general t terms, consider how all of
strategy oof your organization. This m may seem thes e aspects will work togeth her to create the
like a grea
at undertakin ng, but if you a
approach it calenndar and proj ject plans forr the organiza
ation
systematically it is man nageable. Firsst, determine e overr the next yea ar. Plug in the
e key people f from
who the s strategic playe ers are or are
e going to be eachh area and you have a list o of interviews to
for the uppcoming year. For example e, one firm condduct. When w we discuss me eetings, remember
may have e discovered a a technical problem with a a that the idea is no
ot to get the nuts and bolt ts for
major pro oduct, so key players are going to be IT, , everry initiative at
t this stage.
developm ment, marketing, and poten ntially the
sales force. Whaat you will wa
ant to find outt is the overall
impa
act of the pro
oject, how the e project or
On the other hand, if y
your organization is one of f chan
nge will affect
t the overall g
goals of the
the brave ones that is moving forwa ard with orga
anization, andd of course yo
ou will want to
market orr product devvelopment for r 2011, the e an idea of th
have he timeline foor each piece.
key players will most li
ikely be mark
keting and
ce you know w
sales. Onc who the key pplayers are, Wheen you have a all of this information compiled,
you can ta
ake the time to speak withh managers you are one step closer to determining wha at
r strategy can
your n be. But reme ember that
3

4. whatever plans you ha ave for the traaining resp onse to the in
ndustry overl look the train
ning
departme ent, which we e will discuss sshortly, ect, so you can be better p
aspe prepared for
should me esh and matc ch with the ov verall plan what t’s coming. In
n relation to t
training and
for the organization. This is especially true in deveelopment, obviously any tr rends or shiftts in
the currennt economic e environment, where the the w
way training iis designed, ddelivered, or
training budget can still be an issue of mannaged can be used to the o organization’s s
contentioon in the finan
ncial plan. Eveery action advaantage.
you take iin 2011 shoulld be for the eexpress
purpose oof supporting the organization and its One of the best wways to examine overall
overall go
oals for the ye
ear – and you should be strattegies and treends is througgh your
able to sh
how unquestio onably how y your profeessional netw work. Ask you ur colleagues what
departme ent will be ablle to do this. theyy have going f for 2011, bothh within the
induustry and with nd development.
hin training an
Next, let’s
s examine thee overall indu
ustry to Find out what new w technologies are being
determine e the trends a
and initiatives
s that will depl oyed and how w they are beeing used.
affect you
ur organizatio
on and your tr raining Obviiously if you aare dealing wwith a colleagu ue
departme ent. from
m a competing g organization n you may no ot get
the ddetails, but yo
ou may be ab ble to obtain aan
Creatingg Your Train ning Vision 2 2: Industry idea of where firmms are heade ed. In terms of
Strategiees and Trends
ning and deve
train elopment, it ooften seems t that
train
ning professio onals are willing to share their
Summary: As you plan your vision a and strategy
usess of technolog gy and traininng trends with h
for 2011, it’s important to take a loo
ok at your
colle
eagues, so ask k questions oof your netwo ork
t’s discuss wh
industry in general. Let hy and how.
and form a pictur re of how trai ining is going to
As training professionaals, we have t
to remember deveelop in the up pcoming year.
that our in
ndustry covers not only thhe industry of f
Anot ther way to loook at strateg
gy is to bench
hmark
our firm b
but also the in
ndustry relate
ed to training g
simillar organizations. Keep in mind that simmilar
and devel lopment. And d both of thes
se areas can
may mean in the same industr ry or same grroup
have an immpact on youur strategy forr the
ndustries, but
of in it also may m
mean the samme
upcoming g year. The se
econd step in planning
training depa
size t artments or similar training
ning vision and strategy for
your train r 2011 is to
depl oyments. Ben nchmarking m may be forma al or
look at bo
oth areas in te
erms of trendds and
inforrmal, so your informal bennchmarking m may
changes.
com e when you w work your net twork for
On the inddustry and or rganizational level, you upcooming trends. However, do on’t be afraid
d to
may wond der why it’s n necessary to look at trends s condduct some for rmal benchmarking, where e you
when you ur organizatio on’s executivees may make cont eaders in sim
tact training le milar organizattions
decisions based on tho ose trends. Firrst of all, you to deetermine how w they are ma anaging training
may be abble to see trends and chan nges in the noww and in the fuuture.
industry t
that will change the way yo our
You can also take
e a closer look
k at industry
organization conducts business from m a different
publlications, both
h traditional a
and online. Leet’s
perspectivve, that is, the perspectivee of a trainingg
face it: sometime
es the latest p
publication iss
sues
manager. Often organi izational chan
nges in
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5. end up far down the lis st in our email inboxes or essary to find out what you
nece ur best intern
nal
stacked under paperwork on our de esks. For the custo
omers are plaanning for the
e upcoming y year.
next few wweeks, take s special care to
o read these
publicatio
ons in order too detect trends in both In th
he current env vironment, it’s a good idea a to
the industtry at large an
nd the indust try specific to man nage your bes st internal cusstomers just a
as a
your organization. Use e your intuitio
on to list saless manager wo ould manage that pipeline e. As
common elements and d common tre ends. In fact, part of your plannning process for 2011, you u will
you can use the inform mation you fin nd to work definnitely want to
o make contact with your
with yourr network or u undertake benchmarking interrnal customers to find out t what they arre
studies fo
or the upcomi ing year. plan ning for the uupcoming yea ar – and why.. And
evenn more impor rtantly, this coontact serves
s to
As you are e “studying” t
the industry, try to solid
dify your relattionship as a solutions parrtner
separate t trends from ““trendy,” especially where e and not just a ser
rvice departm ment. By discuussing
technolog gy is concerneed. Spending for training the uupcoming yea ar with your cclosest custommers,
has to be undertaken w with even mo ore care than you may even begin to see the e overall
in the passt, so you wannt to come up p with ideas orgaanizational piccture before a anyone else d
does
that truly match indust try trends and will truly – an d with this information yo ou can certainnly
last long e
enough to sho ow a benefit to the deteermine how y your department will help t the
bottom linne. In addition, when dealing with orgaanization mov ve forward in 2011.
your industry, try to discern betwee en
temporary “blips” and those trends s that are The w way you approach this dis scovery proceess
here to sttay. This may be difficult, s
so you may will d
depend on ho ow large your r customer ba ase is
want to ask your execu utive sponsor r or team for and how many of f your own staff members can
input as y
you work thro ough trends and changes hand dle the process. To start w with, you may want
for the up
pcoming year. to deevise a brief s
survey for key y personnel, iin
whic ch they providde a little info
ormation on w what
The idea wwith industry strategy is too obtain a initia
atives they arre planning fo or 2011. Withhin
picture off where the trraining industtry and your the ssurvey, providde an opportunity to rank
specific in
ndustry are heeaded in the upcoming upco oming initiativ
ves and descr ribe the expeected
year. You may find a gr reat deal of u
useful outccome. Also ind dicate that yo ou plan to follow
informatio on, or you maay find that th
he up wwith a persona al meeting. In n that regard,, the
informatio on you uncovver simply hel lps you surv ey is simply a
a method to g get both you aand
understan nd general treends and whe ere your your r customers innto a strategi ic planning
organization is in relation to those ttrends. thouught process. There really is no substitu ute
for mmeeting with your clients p personally, orr at
Next, we will move bacck into our ow
wn leastt via a web coonference or phone call.
organizations to determ
mine what ou ur “best”
training customers are
e planning forr 2011. Wheen you do me eet with your customers’ k key
ers, avoid ma
playe aking a drawn
n out attempt t to
Creating g Your Train ning Vision 3 3: What Are plug in every poin
nt where train
ning can helpp
Your Bes st Customer rs Planning? ?
achie
eve goals. There will be tim ter.
me for this lat
But t
the purpose o ngs is to gain an
of the meetin
Summary: Training in t the current en nvironment
undeerstanding of f what each customer has on
uch like sales,
is very mu , so it is absol
lutely
5

6. tap and too begin to for rmulate a pict ture of how reso urces, and tra
aining technoologies. Even more
you can help. Keep in m mind that the ere may be impoortantly, begiin to formulatte an idea of how
areas that t are out of re
each for train ning. In train
ning can impaact those initiatives along w
with
addition, be aware tha at there may b be other the o
organization’s bottom line e.
s that are mor
initiatives re important to the
overall success of the o organization f for the next As yoou mull over your mental task list, let’s
s turn
year. This means that i it’s a good ide ea to avoid our aattention to yyour departm
ment and your r
making an ny promises. If you’ve sent t some of visio
on for it in the
e upcoming ye
ear.
your othe er staff memb bers out to me eet with Creaating Your TTraining Vis sion 4: The
customers, take the tim me to come together in Traiining Visionn
person in order to disc cuss any overlaps or
opportunities that may y spread acro oss Sum mary: Now th hat you have assessed the e
departme ents or functioons. Sometim mes one of orga
anization, the industry, and d your most
your custo omers may se ee only his or r her part of impo
ortant internaal clients, it’s time to take a
the big piccture because e it is vitally important. If good
d look at yourr vision for thhe training
you and y your staff lookk for trends, y you’ll be able depa
artment.
to see wh hich initiatives
s affect which h groups.
You have assesse ed the organizzation in geneeral,
Dependin ng on the num mber of intern nal bothh the industry y related to yoour organizattion
customers you have, you may end u up with a and the training industry, as w well as your
great deal of informati ion. One way to begin rnal customers. You may e
inter even begin to o see
sorting through it is to eliminate the e areas a pic
cture of how 2011 will be s shaping up foor you
where you may not be e able to help out at all. and your team. B But before you u make any so olid
For examp ple, a small department m may be com mitments to a vision or a strategy for t the
changing its processes or policies. If f that change upcooming year, it t’s a good ide
ea to create a
s in it does no
is local, as ot affect a largger group, train
ning vision tha at is independdent of your
and the department ha as a handle on it without asse ssments. As y you create this vision, you’ll be
your assis stance, go ahe ead and put t that initiative able to use your i imagination aand innovatio on to
on the back burner. Ke eep up with your client in com e up with a “wish list” of s sorts. The ma ain
order to d determine how the initiativ ve is going. caveeat in this type of planning g is to remember
Remembe er that small cchanges sometimes that it is a wish lis
st and that noot everythingg on
inadvertently turn into o big ones. Ne ext, make a yourr list will becoome a reality. You may eve en
“pile” for potentials. These are the initiatives want t to involve th taff in a
he training st
that may need a consu ultation or a ppush in the brain
nstorming ses h member of your
ssion, as each
right direc ction, but maay not need a full‐scale staff
f is probably interested in a different
training inntervention. F Finally, create
e a list of train
ning industry discipline.
initiativess that you knoow will involve training on
a large sca ale and beginn to add those e to your the brainstorming session,
For t , consider
mental task list. discl osing the cav
veat we just ddiscussed, so that
staff can be a
the s aware of the ffact that the
The items s that make itt to that ment
tal task list brain
nstorm is a wwish list. Consi
ider using a
will be the
e ones you want to start thhinking confference room m or large offic
ce with flip ch
harts
about, esppecially in ter
rms of time, h
human to re
ecord the idea as that surfac
ce. If possible
e, you
6

7. may also w want to share e the results o
of your prodduct strategy may require classroom
assessment with the tr raining staff if
f they aren’t deliv
very and trainning so that p
participants ca an
already pr rivy to the inf
formation you u’ve pracctice their cus
stomer proced dures. On the e
uncovered d. In additionn, try to break
k down the otheer hand, if you
ur organizatioon is advance ed,
areas of cconsideration to organizati ional you may be able t to create this
s training in a web
initiatives
s, technology, , growth, met thods, and form
mat.
even finan nce. And don’t forget to in nclude your
own vision for the futu ure, either. Fina lly, the financ
cial aspect will be part of y your
on for 2011. If
visio f a new techn nology is simp ply
The organ nizational initiatives that you’ve too eexpensive, yo ou may be able to come up p
uncovered d can lead the discussion, or your withh a workaroun nd immediate ely. If you’re n
not
thought pprocess if you are working alone, to a sure , it may be a good time to o design two o or
vision for the upcoming year. It may y be as three e options at d
different cost t levels. Althoough
simple as a vision to suupport certain n initiatives the bbudget can be e a sensitive issue, you ma ay
with certaain results. Onn the other hand, want t to consider having the st taff help out o on
technolog gy can lead too a great deal of strategy estimmating costs a and producin ng viable
for the tra
aining department. For exa ample, you alterrnatives. This way, when y you’ve defined the
and your group may w want to begin using a new visio
on and are rea ady to obtain funding, you u can
developm ment tool for oonline course es and easilly say what yoour departme ent can do at
computer r‐based intervventions in thhe classroom. varioous cost levells. The idea wwith brainstorming
Or, you mmay want to begin using social media as s is to come up wit th the overall direction and d
part of the training interventions in certain strattegy for the training depar rtment for 20 011.
subject arreas. Technological vision may even Whe en you have finished this e exercise, you w will
include a new learning g content man nagement be a ble to formul late a vision a
and strategy f for
system. the uupcoming yea ar. This visionn and strategy y will
be soolid enough t to present to your executiv ve
A discussion or though ht pattern on spon nsor and to thhe financial of fficer if funding is
departme ental growth m may come na aturally with invo lved.
the kinds of innovation ns you see as part of your
vision for 2011. For exa ample, if you see that the
most important organi izational initia
atives are
going to tax your department beyond its The next step is to define the v
vision and
you may need
abilities, y d to place gro owth on the dete
ermine if it fits with the org
ganization’s
priority lis oming discussion, we will
st. In an upco over
rall expected movement.
explore th he creation off the executioon strategy, Crea ating Your T Training Vis sion 5: Defin ning
so this is o
one of the ite
ems in that ex xecution. the V Vision and D Determining a Fit
Training m
methods can c cover both th he design andd
Sum mary: Now th hat you have brainstormed
delivery o
of programs, a and this need ds to be part
your r ideas for the
e vision and s
strategy for 20 011,
of your discussion for tthe 2011 strategy. Many
it’s t
time to tighteen the vision a
and determin ne if it
times the overall initiative that is ca
ausing the
fits i n with the ov
verall organiza
ational initiat
tives.
need for t
training may d determine de elivery and
design meethods. For ex xample, chan nges in the
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8. The resultts of your braainstorming seession are in: fact, you may alreeady have a g general visionn
either on your own or with your sta aff, you’ve stateement for you ur training de
epartment. Bu ut
decided oon the most im mportant com mponents of this d
doesn’t mean n that you can’t create a v vision
a vision annd strategy fo
or training in the stateement for the e upcoming year. Plus, you ur
upcoming g year. In som
me cases, you’ ’ve even visio
on for the upc coming year d does not
developed d a variety off options or ch
hoices for neceessarily have t to be a “visio
on statement” ” in
the vision
n and its impleementation. N Now it’s time e the ttruest sense oof the word. Y Your vision fo
or the
to create a true vision for the training upcooming year sh hould serve as a guide as w well
departme ent for 2011 a and create a sstrategy to as a reality check progresses an
as the year p nd
go with it. Let’s look at
t determining g the fit and projeects and initiaatives changee. For example, if
then we c can look at hoow to develop p a vision andd yourr organization n is making he eavy changes s to
strategy. custoomer manage ement for the e next year, o
one of
yourr vision statemments for 201 11 could be too
You essenntially have tw
wo sets of info
ormation: suppport the goals s of customer r managemen nt for
the inform
mation you’ve e obtained froom your 20111. Your visionn statements c can focus on your
assessment of the indu ustry, your or
rganization, depa artment, as wwell. For exam mple, if you kn
now
and your customers, as well as the information that 2011 is the yyear for innovvation in train
ning,
you’ve gathered from the training d department mak e this a visionn statement. The idea here e is to
internally. How do you u know if the t
two are a fit?
? crea te a set of sta
atements that keep you an nd
First, look
k for compone ents of your v
vision that fit yourr staff on tracck, especially as things beccome
directly w
with the initiat tives that you
u will be nebu ulous.
impacting g over the upc coming year. For Once e you’ve crea ated this vision, “connect” it to
example, if a new CRM M system is be eing your r department t with a strate
egy. For exam mple,
implemen nted, your cho oice for using
g a simulationn whic ch projects co ome first and which ones a are
software such as Captivate to devel lop tutorials goin g to be year‐long compon nents of your
is probably right on. In fact, you ma ay be able to work k? If you’re no ot sure how y you will be abble to
simulation software with a
pilot the s a key project assisst in some of the major initiatives, it ma ay be
like a CRMM system imp plementation. . On the timee to create an n assessment strategy. Con nsider
other sidee of this, if maany of the org
ganizational the CCRM initiative e we discusseed earlier. Thiis is
initiatives
s involve the n need for class
sroom litera
ally an earth‐ ‐shaking initia
ative, so in order
training thhat is heavy oon personal innteraction, to fig
gure out whe ere to start pa
art of your
this may nnot be the tim me to look at rolling a strattegy will be to o assess the d
departments that
simulation n program. But don’t forge et to are i nvolved in litterally to get involved with h
consider t the alternativves. The high level of themm as the proje ect develops. As you are
interactioon could be gr reat cause to roll out a deve eloping this st trategy, you’lll begin to see
e
web confe erencing system and program for piecees of it falling
g out, due to lack of human
training. T
The comparison of these tw wo sets of reso urces, financing, know‐ho ow, and
informatio on will begin to create you ur strategy. tech nology. Be su ure to note thhese items,
But what about the cre sion? Keep in
eation of a vis beca ause our last d discussion in this series wiill be
t a vision statement simply
mind that y describes abou ut the nuts‐an nd‐bolts execcution of the vvision
why your department or organizatio on exists. In and strategy.
8

9. Now that the vision an nd strategy is laid out, tech nology, huma an resources,, physical
does it fit with the organization as a a whole? reso urces, “buy in
n,” and financ
ce.
Most likel cause your planning has
ly it does, bec
centered around the o organization a and its In te
erms of technology, you m may already kn now
s. If there seems to be a disconnect, go
initiatives what t component ts are missingg in order to
back to yoour vision and d strategy in o
order to execcute your stra ategy for 2011 1. For example, if
make corr rections. you know you need to add tec chnology such h as
Capt tivate or Artic
culate, this sh
hould produce e a
Next, we will examine
e the creation of the blan k line for humman resource es and finance es.
execution
n strategy. But ddon’t forget aabout other t technological
aspeects of execut tion. Is the staaff hardware and
Creating g Your Train ning Vision 6 6: Execution n softwware adequat te to add tech hnology? Will you
Plan
need d to expand P PC memory, s screen sizes, oor
capaabilities in ord
der to add design technolo ogy?
Summary: You have a v vision and str
rategy for
If yo u are planninng a technology that affect ts the
training in
n the upcomin ng year and it
t’s taken
entirre organizatioon, now is a ggood time to
quite a bit
t of time, assessment, and d
invo lve the IT peoople. All of these compone ents
brainstormming. But thee best strategy is useless
will c
create a technical executio on plan and wwill
unless youu know how t to execute it.
also contribute too your human n resources and
nd strategies can fail easily
Visions an y if there is finanncial executioon plan.
not a solid
d plan for exe
ecution, especially if you
Next t, examine inttellectual cap
pital, or know w‐
need to present the vis sion and strat tegy to a
howw, in both the training organization as w well as
decision m
maker. Also, wwhen it come es to being a
the oorganization as a whole. D Determine wh hat
visionary and innovativve training manager, it is
knowwledge needs s to be addedd or modified in
absolutelyy necessary too think through the
ordeer to execute your strategy y. For exampl le, if
“how” by circling your strategy at a very low
you are planning to implemen nt a web
level. You may be able to do this alo one, but if
confferencing tool, is the administrator or
you have a training staaff this is anotther time to
instr
ructor going t to need trainiing in addition to
bring themm into the pla
anning proces ss. Many
the uusers? Or cann a quick reference guide w work
times the people who execute ever ry day can
for t he general poopulation? WWithin your ow wn
see thingss that you migght miss.
ning organizat
train tion, do you tthink it will be
e
When it comes to your r vision, remeember that neceessary to send d your develoopers to classes so
this statem
ment or group of statements serve as that they can learrn a new prog gram, or do they
a guide annd a reality ch
heck for the uupcoming havee the ability to
o “pick it up?” Remember
year. But you translate ed your vision
n into a whe n you are exa amining the technical aspe ects,
so the strateg
strategy, s gy should be your focal look for bundles oof products aand training in n
point for e
execution. As s a training manager, you ordeer to present t the most cost‐effective
should alsso be able to put together a mental tech nical upgrade es for the training departm ment.
picture off the executioon components as the
The discussion of
f intellectual c
capital may le ead
vision andd strategy aree being discusssed and
our human re
to yo esources capa abilities. In or
rder
brainstormmed. To adeq quately plan eexecution,
to ex
xecute your sstrategy, are yyou going to n need
look at yo
our strategy frrom the stand dpoints of
9

10. to add staaff? Is there a potential forr this, or Creaating Your T Training Vis sion 7:
should yoou suggest outsourcing to c contractors Pressenting the Vision and S Strategy
to begin wwith? Another way to look k at human
resources s is to conside
er “insourcingg,” that is, Sum mary: You wi ill most likely
y have to pres
sent
changing skill sets in order to chang ge job yourr training visio
on and strate egy to your
responsibbilities. For example, if you
u have an execcutive sponso or and possibly to a financial
instructional designer who has a hig gh level of execcutive, as well. Let’s exami ine some wayys to
technical ability, you mmay simply ne eed to train effec
ctively presen nt your visionn and strategy
y for
him or heer to take over a new job fu unction that 20111.
deals withh your new te echnology. Or r perhaps
If yo u’ve taken th he time to cre
eate your visio on
you have an instructor r who has exp pressed an
and strategy for 2 2011 as well aas an executio on
n content dev
interest in velopment. Th his could be
plan , you should also take the time to plan how
a great tim
me to begin thinking about how to
to prresent these components effectively. T The
develop yyour existing s staff without asking for
pres entation of y your vision and strategy may be
cash to addd resources.
a currsory nod from a fellow ex xecutive or it could
Financial concerns will probably ma ake be a n approval pr rocess from aan executive
themselve es known throughout the execution spon you need financing you will
nsor. Plus, if y
planning pprocess. Be su ure to know hhow much most t likely have tto go before t
the financial
you need, , what the pu urpose of the money will offic
cer or executiv ve. There are
e two differen nt
be, and mmost importan ntly what will the focu ses here: bus siness and finance. For
“payback” ” will be. In other words, ttraining can businness, you will need to be a able to explaiin
no longerr simply exist – it is necessaary to prove how w the training department w will support tthe
your wort th by providinng a cost bene efit for every orgaanization and its initiativess for 2011, as well
dollar. as coontinue to support your be est customers. In
the ffinancial realm m, you shouldd be able to sshow
With all of this informa
ation pulled together, how w any expense e on training w
will benefit th
he
create a s
step‐by‐step bbusiness plan that bott om line. But how you pres sent these iteems
your execution strategy. Th
explains y his plan can depe ends on the p personalities a
and functions s of
also serve
e as a guide and a reality check as the the ppeople to whom you are p presenting.
year unfolds. But more e importantlyy your
business pplan proves to
o the decisionn makers If yo u’ve done yo
our homework, your execu utive
that you h
have consider red every anggle, that you sponnsor should be the easiest to persuade in
have alterrnatives, and that you knoow exactly termms of your visi
ion and strateegy for 2011. With
what you can deliver inn the upcoming year. this person, focus
s first on the assessment
you’ ve made of th he organization, its indust
try,
For our fin eating a training vision
nal step in cre and your best cusstomers. There is no need to go
and strateegy for 2011, we will exam mine how to into detail about your assessmment of traininng
present your plan to ex xecutives andd decision induustry trends unless you are e asked. Help your
makers. sponnsor understa and that every ything you ar
re
pres enting has a business purp pose and can
suppport the organnization in the upcoming y year.
But oon top of this
s, pick out som
me of the
10

11. elements of your vision n and strateg gy that may way,, support the organization
n and its overa
all
have a lonnger‐lasting e
effect. For exaample, if you goals
s.
are using web technolo ogy to deliver r sales
consider how this innovation can
training, c We’v ve already disscussed alternatives in you ur
change training in the next two or t three years. visio
on and strateg gy for 2011, bbut you must
Your task is to show thhat innovation n goes decid de how to use them. For e example, if yoour
beyond a reactive need d. Remember r that your exec cutive sponso or or financial officer is alw
ways
executive sponsor is pr robably going g to be your interrested in innoovation, you m may simply w want
advocate – a cheerlead der for the tra aining cause. to prresent the ide eas that are tthe most
So be suree to answer aall of his or he
er questions innoovative, regard dless of cost. Then, if you are
clearly and with a business purpose e. askeed about alter rnatives, you can present t them.
But iif your execut tives are the types that
Explain yoour execution n plan and also point out appr reciate option ns, you’ll need to present a all of
the areas in which you are saving time or themm for each initiative. The k key when
money. Le et’s say you’v
ve decide to ““insource,” pres enting option ns is to focus on what you and
that is, ch
hange existingg employees’ skill sets to your r department t can do and n not what they y
match the e new strateg gy. Point this o
out and “cann’t do.” In othher words, exp plain that opttion
explain thhat it saves a h
hire and a lea
arning curve, one allows X resu ult, option two allows X res sult,
and that it encourages s retention of your best and option three allows X resu ult. And each
staff mem mbers. Once y your sponsor is on board, resu lt should be t tied to an orgganizational
you’ll neeed to move into the financial area. ative and goa
initia al. The benefit t of presentin
ng
optioons is that it s
shows you ar re flexible and
d able
As you probably know, , some Ameri ican to w
work within th he confines of f a given situa
ation.
organizations are sittinng on a mountain of cash Whe en the econom my continues s to improve, your
as the ecoonomy improves. Most are e interested decis sion makers w will probably be more likely to
in insulati
ing themselve es from anoth her give you exactly tthe financing you need if y you
recession, so convincin ng a financial officer to prov ve your flexibility.
spend mo oney on traini ing will be dif
fficult. The
main ideaa to remembe er is to frame all of your Afte r your vision and strategy for 2011 are
requests iin a financial standpoint. OObviously apprroved, remem mber to keep in contact wi ith
you’ll hav
ve to explain tthe cost of eaach item, but yourr clients, to us
se your businness plan as a
each itemm should also have a potential pay guid e and a realitty check, and to closely maanage
back. In addition, eachh item should, , in some humman resources s for execution.
11

12.
© Copyright 2010 Capita
alWave Inc. All
l Rights Reserv
ved.
Bryant Nieelson – Strategiic Alliance & Ac
cquisitions Director at Financ
cial Training So
olutions a divis
sion
of CapitalW
Wave Inc – offe ers 20+ years o
of training and talent manage ement for exec cutives, busineess
owners, annd top perform ming sales executives in takingg the leap from
m the ordinary y to extraordinaary.
Bryant is a trainer, busine
ess & leadershhip coach, and strategic plannner for many sales
organizatioons. Bryant’s 27 year busines ss career has been based on his results‐orie
ented style of
empowerin ng.
12

13.
Finaancial Traini Solutions (FTS), the instructor-lled division of CapitalW
ing e Wave Inc.,
is a firm made of up industry profes
e ssionals hav ving a repu utation for providing
first-
-rate training and consultancy to banks and other financ
g b cial institutio
ons. FTS
offer professionals who ha extensiv knowledg experien
rs ave ve ge, nce and exp pertise in
the areas of ban
a nking and fin
nance.
Blennded learning is the philosophy on which th company was found
p o he y ded. Our
ning methodology, integrating theory with pract ice using ou own very powerful
train y ur
train
ning tools, creates a uniquely exciting and effe ective learnin environm
ng ment. The
resu pays imm
ult mediate dividdends in the retention of newly-le earned conc
cepts and
their practical ap
r pplication in the financial marketplac
ce.
Cap lWav Inc.
pital ve
Delivering Innovativ e Training Solutions
g
For further informa
ation, please contact:
e
Finan
ncial Training Solutions is a division of CapitalW
g Wave Inc.
Bryant Nielson, Direc
B ctor
http
p://www.Ca
apitalWave
e.com
http://wwww.FinancialTrainingS
Solutions.c
com
http://
/www.Your rTrainingEdge.com
Tele US: +1 (917) 477-3
T 3221
Te UK: + 44 (20) 3356 9
ele 4 9935
bryant.nielson@
@capitalwav
ve.com
13