Tuesday, April 26th, 2011
When choosing a training programme for your company there are many choices to be made. How much should be invested? Online or paper-based? Internal or external? Generic or customised? One size does not necessarily fit all; however with consideration, planning and professional guidance, the correct combination of choices can generate an effective training solution for your business.
During a recent interview, David Adkins, Group Retail Manager at Kumfs Ziera, discussed the key differences between their previous paper-based, internal programme and their newly-launched RedSeed Sales Training. Although they felt they had a reasonable training programme, they were finding it difficult to manage, especially when it came to marking and administration. Moving to an online training platform was an obvious solution to the management issues they had been facing, but were unsure how their older staff would cope with the move to a computer-based, online system. Fortunately staff found the layout of the RedSeed platform simple and easy to use, and those worries quickly disappeared, suggesting that the synergy of an online platform coupled with intuitive and simple design are a robust alternative to paper-based options.
Although Kumfs felt the content within their previous internal training programme was satisfactory, they found that the content and delivery mechanisms of RedSeed enabled more advanced and detailed information to be taught. The benefits of an external programme, created from outside of the company, were becoming apparent…
“When you have an internal sales or training programme it doesn’t necessarily have the same kudos in the staff’s eyes as an external training programme, so by completing something that’s from outside the company, yet that they can clearly identify with because they’re seeing themselves on the screen…it’s a powerful combination”
David Adkins, Group Retail Manager at Kumfs Ziera
Depending on a company’s budget, customisation is not always an option. A generic training system can be simplistic, and potentially a poor match to the processes and culture of the organisation. On the other hand, a tailored system is often time consuming, expensive, and involves a lot of work from within a business, and often the expertise of many outside sources. But perhaps the generic vs customised argument is not black and white. RedSeed for example offer a comprehensive sales training course, consisting of a combination of generic and tailored videos, questions and content, which results in a far more thorough system with real buy-in from it’s users, and a much more affordable option than something that is fully customised or bespoke. An example of this sort of amalgamation is Warehouse Stationery, who took on RedSeed Sales Training in 2010. Having already made a cultural shift towards training and choosing ‘Selling Smarter’ as a branded approach to their staff education, they were reluctant to change their training terminology. Combined with the customised content already provided by RedSeed, they were able to infuse the new training platform with their language and branding, labeling the training ‘Selling Smarter’ and further enforcing their culture within the programme.
The ability to utilise technology to enhance staff training has created many more options for organisations looking to up-skill their staff. Traditional methods still have their place and without good content, the best technology cannot create effective training. It is the synthesis of old and new, and the application of corporate culture to a programme that can create something that is unique, engaging and ultimately successful.
-Ben VT
