Make It Easy
Make It Easy
You have hired a motivational trainer. You will not only spend money on this expert's time and information, you will pay wages for people who will not be at their regular job "working." If you are a generous boss, you will also pay for snacks, lunch, parking, and, occasionally, incentives. Get the most out of
hiring a motivatorThe training investment you make must pay off. Over the next two weeks, we will look at nine surefire ways to get the most for your training dollars:
1. Delegate, don't abdicate. Do not give your training professional the entire job of imparting information and inspiration. Rather, ask that person to be your partner in creating a shift in attitude and perspective. YOU are responsible for seeing to it that the shift continues after the trainer is gone.
2. Create buy-in throughout the organization. If you are not "there" (wherever it is you want the trainer to take your employees), then your employees will not stay "there" for very long. If a trainer tells employees, "You're valuable! Work hard and you will be treated right!" -- and the next day at work they are treated poorly, you will have a huge credibility problem.
3. Make managers and supervisors responsible. If your managers are not willing to follow up consistently, the training won't stick. Managers must be motivated to support their staff in implementing the new methods, attitudes and ideas.
4. Return on training investment comes over time. A one-hour motivational talk is nice, but true shifts of attitude and style come from repetition of material and giving trainees time to digest the information.
Beth Terry is president of Pacific Rim Seminars.
This column is excerpted from her upcoming book,
101 Ways to Make Your Life Easier. Send questions
on management, customer service and other issues
to beth@bethterry.com.