Business First September 2017 Business First September 2017 | Page 60

BEST PRACTICE
How training First Line Managers can
bring success to your business
by Stephen Fortune, Principal Consultant at The Oxford Group
irst Line Managers (FLMs) are arguably
some of the most important people in
the workplace, as they blur the
boundaries between business leaders and
executives.
In this ever changing world, where we see
constant political upheaval and economic
uncertainty, it is more important than ever
for them to be kept up to date with the latest
advancements in technology and the current
industry knowledge.
For this exact reason, employers are
constantly investing money and time into
training FLMs to ensure they are completing
their job to the very best of their ability,
however this training is often not followed up
with the necessary support and on­the­job
experience that is required for the FLMs to
make full use of the training.
For this reason, I suggest four tips for
business leaders who are looking to
implement efficient FLM training to bring the
company success:
F
As part of this process, the trainee should
be given clear goals and targets to hit when
practicing the new skills on the job as this
provides a successful way for both trainee
and manager to look at their progress.
Create a journey
How many of your skills have come from
sitting at a desk listening to someone?
Probably not many.
The best way to successfully introduce new
skills into your life is to apply them to
everyday tasks. Whether this is
communicating with customers in a different
manner or using new database systems, the
best way to integrate these into the job is
through actually doing them.
The journey for the trainee should involve
systematically learning the skills off the job
and then being given the opportunity to
develop these on the job.
Any successful training programme will
consist of a variety of tasks and activities to
engage the participant, rather than a simple
training event away from the workplace.
Trainees need time to prepare, learn, practice
and reflect on the skills involved in the
programme in order to complete the journey.
Liaise with the FLMs manager
Measuring proficiency is most commonly
achieved through asking the trainee to practice
the skills on the job, but how is this measured?
As part of the training programme, the
trainer should develop a clear framework for
managers to use whilst assessing to what
level the trainee is applying each skill.
This is also useful for managers as it allows
them to assess the return on investment
(ROI) for the business.
58 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk
Practice makes perfect
As discussed in the previous two points,
practicing the new skills on the job is vital for
success. To aid this, a three step model can be
created to help guide the trainee through the
different processes; prepare, perform and
reflect.
Simply asking the participant to practice
their new skills on the job can be fatal to their
success, because once back in the workplace,
it is extremely easy for them to forget and get
carried away with their day to day tasks.
The use of online planners can be extremely
helpful to remedy this. They allow managers
and participants to keep a track of progress
and easily communicate with each other.
Produce measurable results
It is easy for managers to warrant budget
for training, however it can be almost
pointless unless you are able to visibly see the
improvement in FLMs.
Managers need to ask the employee in
question to note down each skill they were
taught in the off­site training sessions
alongside how they have applied each of
these to their job in the following weeks.
L&D departments can see the visible data and
results and analyse this for future budgeting.
They can either highlight the value of the
training sessions or decide against doing
them in future if they believe the results are
not great enough.
Overall, effective training programmes for
FLMs are vital for them to remain at the
forefront of their industry, however it is
extremely easy for companies to become
carried away and forget that the majority of
the effort comes from the on­site training.
Employers and managers need to measure
the success and return on investment in
order to analyse the value of future training.
About Stephen Fortune
Stephen joined the Oxford Group in 2016 as a
Principal Consultant. His experience extends
across a range of high profile projects and
clients including The Children’s Trust, ED&F
Man, Gilead, Novartis, Legal & General,
Rabobank, Johnson Press, Sainsbury’s and
William Hill and now The Oxford Group.