Learning & Development - the September issue

​In the world of fashion, the September issue of magazines is the most important of the year.  That’s because autumn/winter trends are showcased and fashion weeks take place in New York, London, Paris, and Milan.  Now, far be it for me to compare the world of People & Culture to high fashion, but there is something of a ‘September issue’ effect when it comes to organisational focus at this time of year.  Here’s my theory as to why:

I reckon that in September, after most people have spent at least a week or two on holiday somewhere – hopefully in the sun (because let’s face it July and August was absolutely pants weather-wise in the UK) they come back with a renewed focus and that means they finally get round to sorting out stuff they’ve been meaning to do all year.

In the world of People & Culture, that usually means I get calls about one of two things:

I’ve finally decided I need to sort out that “Ruth George,” she’s been playing on my mind all summer, she’s been underperforming for ages, this time I want to do something about – please can you give me some guidance on what I can/can’t do; or

I’ve been thinking about my team and their development needs.  I want to upskill and support them, I’m ready to invest some time and money in their growth and I want it to underpin my organisation’s expansion plans.  How can you help me?

The good news is I love helping out on both counts.  But for the purposes of this blog , I’m going to focus on option 2, the more positive one!

So, what are the key considerations when it comes to investing in your team’s development?

Firstly, conduct a training needs analysis (TNA) which includes:  defining your organisational goals, identifying the relevant job behaviours, assessing the required knowledge and skills.  A good TNA doesn't just address skill gaps in your workforce, it also focuses on enhancing existing skills to improve performance levels and it typically prioritises skills that will benefit the whole team rather than specialised skills that focus on one or two employees.

In my experience, the skills that make the biggest differences in organisations are those that enable line managers and leaders to communicate, motivate and develop their own teams well.  That often comes down to some basic skills training that might not sound very cutting edge but can make all the difference when it comes to good people management.  Here are the top three I focus on:

Giving and receiving feedback – all too often I find that managers and leaders have never received training in how to do this effectively

Having difficult conversations – this follows on and is all about enabling people to go towards difficult topics and face up to them and learn from them

Coaching skills – the icing on the cake, if you can master feedback and difficult conversations then the cherry on the top is being able to coach your team.  If any of that resonates and you’d like help identifying your priorities and delivering workshops to help plug those gaps, let me know.  I’d love to help, dahling (bring out my best Vogue impression there!)