Yesterday’s Advisor featured consultant Karl Ahlrichs, SPHR on how to talk about turnover. In today’s issue, his strategy for convincing the C-suite plus an introduction to a new leadership training system called Training Today.
What skills would a good consultant need to sell turnover? Here are the key four, says Ahlrichs, who is owner of ExpertSpeaks, and a consultant and business developer for Gregory & Appel.
Think Strategically
Always be looking forward over the horizon to where organization is going, says Ahlrich. Anticipate ways to create value for clients. How can you be sure that you have the right people with the right skills at the right place at the right time?
If you can get there first, your organization will thrive and you’ll get credit, Ahlrich says.
Manage Information
Get good at summary statements, says Ahlrich. And deliver the summary first. Avoid long harangues. Train yourself to deliver focused, usable information.
Advance the Relationship
It’s a very personal world. You have to be able to work the relationship angle, to do what you say you will when you say you will, and to over- deliver on results. That increases trust and commitment.
Orchestrate Resources
You have to be able to form a good team and manage it well to be a good project manager, says ahlrich.
Quick Turnover Discussion Strategy
Sometimes we try to solve the turnover problem too quickly, says Ahlrich. HR gets invited to discuss turnover issues with the C-Suite and the instant the problem is outlined, they jump in and start offering a solution. That’s too soon, says Ahlrich.
The amount of pain that originally got you to the table is not enough to get you the budget and support you need to solve the problem.
You know your managers could do a better job if they were trained, and now there’s a convenient and reasonable way to get it done—BLR’s Leadership Library at the online, 24/7, TrainingToday. Get More Information.
SPIN
Ahlrich suggests that managers use the SPIN system to present ideas to management:
Situation
Problem
Implications
Need
First comes the Situation. What’s going on? We’re losing too many people on the second shift.
Then comes the Problem. It’s costing us money in training and recruiting.
This is where you’re tempted to jump in and discuss solutions, says Ahlrich, but this is where you should step back and look at Implications of not fixing the problem right way.
You might, for example, say:
If we don’t fix this, we’re going to continue to have a problem with the EEOC. And pretty soon, good performers won’t apply to our company because they’ve heard about the serious turnover problem. And we’re seeing more new workers’ compensation claims because the new people don’t know what they’re doing.
And we’re going to lose customers because they won’t like dealing with untrained new reps.
And so on.
This does two things. One, you’re showing your mettle as a strategic thinker. And, two, you’re developed enough pain that C-Suite says we Need you to fix this.
Now you’ll get the budget and support you need. As a bonus, you have presented your operations as a critical business component to achieving bottom-line profitability in the organization.
Untrained people costing the company money. Just one of the many challenges on your desk, but at least this is one that you can deal with easily.
Think you don’t have the budget and time to organize a full-blown training program? Good news from BLR—now you can run your training program like a pro, with our new TrainingToday system.
TrainingToday is a leading provider of online education programs for employees and supervisors. Each course in our extensive library addresses a specific topic with engaging and interactive presentations, delivering practical advice and clear instructions that trainees will remember long after the training is complete.
Three Delivery Platforms
TrainingToday offers you the option of three delivery platforms to meet your organization’s needs:
Professional
- Unlimited training for your whole organization for one flat fee
- Easy to start up and track trainee progress
- Hundreds of courses available, from employment law compliance to sales excellence
Enterprise
The Enterprise includes all the features of the Professional Version plus:
- Track and report capability with built-in comprehensive Learning Management System
- Train with courses as they are, or make them truly your own with our customization options
- Upload your own content (power point, video, SCORM files, etc) to the LMS in addition to using our comprehensive training courses
SCORM
- Integrate content into your existing LMS
- Easy to tailor to your content, logo, presentation style, and corporate policies
- SCORM compliant to integrate with existing corporate learning systems
Despaired of ever getting your managers and supervisors trained? It isn’t easy to fit it in—schedule-wise or budget-wise—but now there’s BLR’s Leadership Training for Managers and Supervisors. Train all your people, at their convenience, 24/7, for one standard fee. Get More Information.
Here are just some of the many courses available at TrainingToday:
[Click here to download information on all courses and libraries.]
Over 75 HR and employment training courses covering topics such as: Sexual Harassment, Diversity, and ADA.
The Diversity library is an interactive training program with different modules for supervisors and employees. It features real-world scenarios and insightful commentary from a leading workplace expert and employment law attorney.
Preventing Sexual Harassment- National – NEW!
This library will give you everything you need to train your employees, supervisors, and managers on how to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. Several training options available for multiple year training.
Leadership Training for Managers and Supervisors
A variety of helpful courses designed to teach valuable management techniques to supervisors.
Leadership for Employees
Provides tools and information to employees in a leadership position, or aspiring leaders, to improve their business, leadership, and professional skills.
Includes customer service training courses covering topics such as: Phone Skills, Handling Complaints, Identifying Customer Needs and Team Building.
Includes wellness training courses covering topics such as: Creating a Successful Wellness Program, Balancing Work and Home, Healthy Aging, and Hazards of Smoking: How to Quit.
HR Video Training for Supervisors
These HR video supervisory training courses provide expert advice from practicing licensed attorneys on topics such as hiring, firing, privacy, discrimination, sexual harassment and more.
Over 90 workplace safety training courses covering topics such as: Slips, Trips, and Falls, HazCom, and Forklift Safety.
Sales – NEW!
The Sales Training library consists of 12 courses, everything you need to build a top-notch sales staff!
Looking to take your training program to the next level or need to convince your organization that training is critical to long term success—enroll in our Instant Trainer Webinar Series and learn what it takes to make the most of every training dollar. Ready to learn more about TrainingToday? Sign up for one of our Product Demonstration Webinars.
The implications step is critical–i.e., “here’s what it means for the financial bottom line.” Unfortunately, that’s sometimes the only thing that catches the C suite’s attention, whether they don’t have time, inclination, or comprehension to make the connection themselves