Training is big business.
According to www.trainingmag.com, U.S. training expenditures topped $92.3 billion in 2021. The pandemic and Great Resignation have impacted training expenditures, budgets, and delivery methods, and savvy business leaders leverage training as an employee well-being and retention tool.
The question is, are employees learning relevant information that improves business outcomes? Research from a recent study by Oracle indicates that the main training hurdles include not enough time for training, not enough training, and training that isn’t relevant. Well, that’s not good.
Our goal is to teach relevant and practical content that sticks. That is, we develop spot-on training that addresses the everyday problems of marketers, business developers and technical staff, so they can improve with a little more insight and a lot more confidence.
Here’s a recent example of success:
In December 2020, Barbara provided in-depth training for both marketing and technical professionals for a confidential engineering client with regional offices and a variety of service areas and project types. The discussion topics were win themes, differentiators, compliance, cover letters, and project approaches.
Barbara provided content based on her experience and best practices, as well as candid feedback on the client’s processes and examples. After the training, the teams were committed to practicing new techniques and used Barbara’s suggestions to guide proposals in 2021. As a result of the training, teams were more selective, more strategic, and more specific in writing content. They adopted the new strategies that led to more work won.
In December 2021, the firm brought Barbara back for additional in-depth training, where we dissected a worksheet that was created from the 2020 training, made changes so it is clearer, and in 2022 delivered five training sessions using firm examples with focused discussion.
Communicating clearly is critical for design and construction firms, and equipping your team with relevant the skills and insights is a good investment. What’s your training budget for 2023?
Most professionals have adequate technical skills to perform their jobs. Communication skills are the hardest to master. I provide training that blends a veteran’s insights, communication best practices, and practical application to set the stage for professional satisfaction and career growth.
