What Makes a Great Training Organization?: A Handbook of Best Practices

by Doug Harward, Ken Taylor

Overview

All learning leaders want their organizations to be perceived as great, but what makes a “great” training organization? How does a training organization achieve greatness, particularly from the perspective of the corporation, the learners, and any customers, clients and partners that interact with it?

This book presents findings that are based on the data, information, and experiences shared with Training Industry, Inc. by several hundred learning professionals over a five year span, from 2008 to 2012. It identified 8 process capabilities, which have been identified as the key functions in the design, delivery and management of corporate workforce training.

Each section of the book focuses on the process capabilities in detail. In addition, individual practices are explained further, noting specific procedures or scenarios and how they are best executed, all supported by best practices and comments from learning leaders.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798350957747
Publisher:	BookBaby
Publication date:	11/11/2024
Pages:	200
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Doug Harward is the CEO and Founder of Training Industry, Inc. He is internationally recognized as one of the leading strategists for training and outsourcing business models. He is respected as one of the industry’s leading authorities on competitive analysis for training services and works with international companies and new business start-ups in building training organizations. Harward previously served as the Director of Global Learning for Nortel Networks. He received the Chairman’s Global Award for Community Service for his work in developing integrated learning organization strategies within higher education, public schools and business. He has worked in the training industry for more than 25 years. He received an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and a BSBA in Marketing from Appalachian State University.

Ken Taylor is Partner and Chief Operating Officer of Training Industry, Inc., and editor in chief for Training Industry Magazine. His career spans over 25 years in leadership and entrepreneur roles across several industries and focus areas, including operations, technology, sales and marketing, and finance, including serving as CFO of several large business units. Taylor’s expertise and experience includes organization design and development, corporate learning and development, marketing strategy (B2B and B2C), research, enterprise technologies, product marketing and sales management, strategic planning and strategic acquisition management. He holds a bachelor’s degree from McGill University in Finance and International Business.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Why We Wrote This Book 1

The Demographics of the Research Pool 2

Chapter 1 The Eight Process Capability Areas of a Training Organization 7

The Eight Key Process Capabilities 8

Organization Ratings 10

Conclusion 14

Chapter 2 The Importance of Learning Leadership 15

Conclusion 18

Chapter 3 Strategic Alignment 19

Strategic Alignment Practices 24

Conclusion 32

Chapter 4 Diagnostics 33

Differences Between Diagnostics and Strategic Alignment 34

Linking Diagnostics and Content Development 38

Case Study for Diagnostics: Performance Architecture 39

The Most Critical Diagnostic Practices 41

Conclusion 50

Notes 50

Chapter 5 Content Development 53

The Most Critical Content Development Practices 54

Conclusion 71

Note 72

Chapter 6 Content Delivery 73

Delivery Modalities 73

Instructor Quality 76

The Most Critical Delivery Practices 76

Conclusion 83

Chapter 7 Administrative Services 85

The Most Critical Administrative Services Practices 87

Conclusion 92

Chapter 8 Measurement and Certification 95

Measurement as a Strategy 97

Conclusion 104

Notes 104

Chapter 9 Reporting and Analysis 105

The Most Critical Reporting and Analysis Practices 108

Conclusion 114

Notes 115

Chapter 10 Portfolio Management 117

Getting the Portfolio Mix Right 119

The Most Critical Portfolio Management Practices 122

Conclusion 128

Notes 129

Chapter 11 The Role of Technology in Learning 131

Technologies Should Enable the Learning Experience and Never Be a Distraction 135

Match Tools to Learning Styles 136

Technologies Can Reduce the Barriers of Geography and Time 136

Technology Standards Allow for Improved Interoperability and Access of Content 137

Conclusion 138

Notes 139

Chapter 12 Technology Integration 141

Technology Platforms 142

The Most Critical Technology Integration Practices 145

Conclusion 153

Note 154

Chapter 13 Summary and Key Takeaways 155

The Eight Process Capabilities 156

Practices for Each Process Capability Area 158

The Importance of Leadership 159

Measurement 160

The Role of Technology in Learning 161

One Final Thought 162

Appendix A The Research—2008 through 2013 165

Introduction 165

Process Capabilities 166

Organization Process Capability Ratings 170

Most Critical Practices 170

Conclusion 172

Demographics 173

About Training Industry, Inc 174

About This Research 174

Index 177