As the learning and development (L&D) department continues to become one of the most innovative departments inside its organizations, it’s starting to gain more and more responsibilities.
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Just over the past year, it has become a major hub for sexual harassment training and prevention, unconscious bias and diversity training, workplace violence prevention, mental health awareness, workplace counseling, e-learning, mobile learning, and so much more.
And this means that more and more L&D professionals, like you, are encountering workloads that are much too heavy to tackle alone. So, as your responsibilities grow, you’ll want to consider partnering with third-party entities when developing your training programs.
When you’re developing the training programs listed below, you’ll have perfect opportunities to partner with third parties outside of your L&D department. And this will not only lessen your workload but also enhance the overall value and integrity of your training programs.
Change Management Programs
When your organization is adopting and implementing new companywide policies and procedures that affect everyone across your organization, you’ll want to consult a change management professional.
You’ll also want to consult a change management professional when your organization adopts new technology infrastructures that will impact everyday work. Employees, in general, are resistant to and scared of change, so rely on the appropriate professionals to help develop change management programs so that organizational changes will yield positive returns and employee buy-in.
Read “Best Practices for Training Your Employees to Accept and Manage Change” for more information.
Violence and Safety Training Programs
Unfortunately, active shooters and incidents of workplace violence are becoming more common inside the workplace. And incidents of harassment (sexual and discriminatory) are becoming more common, too.
When developing programs that train employees what to do when violence erupts, or if they witness harassment, always consult certified professionals. The Alice Institute, for example, offers training for active shooters in the workplace and will allow you to certify your own staff.
In addition, always consult fire safety professionals for fire drills and evacuation training, as well as other certified professionals for OSHA safety and compliance requirements and so on. You don’t want to risk your employees’ safety, so don’t neglect to reach out to the appropriate individuals for help when developing your own violence and safety training programs.
Mental Health Training Programs
When developing programs that promote mental health awareness in the workplace, and programs that help mitigate employees’ stress in the workplace, consult licensed professionals.
You’ll want to rely on credentialed therapists and psychologists, as well as certified mental health specialists. And, you might want to consider consulting yoga instructors or other licensed wellness professionals, too.
Diversity Training Programs
Diversity and inclusion are sensitive topics and require professionals who are well versed in unconscious bias, emotional intelligence, and so on. If you don’t consult a professional for your diversity training programs, you might end up accidentally propagating your own unconscious biases across your organization and its practices.
External Training Programs
If you’re developing training programs that you’re going to share with other entities or sell to others who are external to your organization, you’ll want to rely on a third party to help you market, manage, develop, and administer them. Otherwise, you will likely end up with too many programs and courses to administer and manage at one time.
For even more information on when you might want to partner with a third party as an L&D professional, read “When L&D Professionals Should Outsource Help.”