part 1

Training: adapt or die ...

The training manager is an endangered species.

Evolution is a compelling metaphor to consider in the business training environment. Evolution refers to changes in the inherited characteristics of organisms over successive generations. A central concept of natural selection is evolutionary fitness: the ability of an organism to survive and reproduce. This determines the size of its contribution to the next generation. Lower ‘fitness’ leads to being ‘selected against’ (with the potential to become extinct) and increased fitness results in being ‘selected for’ (to survive and become more dominant).

Natural selection is about adaptation. Charles Darwin observed: ‘It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.’ In any environment where there is significant population growth, there is likely to be a ‘struggle for existence’ where favourable variations in traits will prevail as others perish. In evolution, nature is the measure against which individuals are more or less likely to survive.

So, how does this metaphor relate to you, the training professional?

The economic and business environment within which the training manager (and other related species including learning and development (L&D) managers, external consultants and human resources (HR) professionals) operates is changing in ways that should fundamentally alter your view of the training function if you are to survive and succeed. Whether you are new to business training or have been working in the field for some time, it is critical to think about it as a system that is constantly evolving and developing to meet changing business needs.

The UK training market is already oversupplied (according to an IFLL paper, ‘The Private Training Market in the UK, 2009’) so who is the fittest to survive and what are you doing to ensure that you are ‘selected for’ to increase your chance of survival and success?

It is often only by looking back that you can discern how a system has evolved and be clearer on what you need to do differently to ensure you are ‘selected for’, to maximise your chances of survival and success now. In his book Informal Learning at Work: How to boost performance in tough times, (Three Faces Publishing, 2013) Paul Matthews comments on the change in job titles that has taken place over recent years and gives a sense of evolution in the environment that training cohabits. Around 15 years ago the space that training occupied within an organisation was populated largely by training managers. These people were responsible for defining and fulfilling the training needs of the organisation. Often, these needs were fulfilled by a course curriculum that employees could choose from – a list of standard courses that you could select to ‘plug gaps’ in your knowledge or skills (there are still many of this species around now!). More recently, a recognition that there was more to development than training gave rise to the job title ‘Training and Development Manager’ which has evolved further to become ‘Learning and Development Manager’. Our experience now is that more business leaders are taking a proactive interest in people development topics generally.

The evolution is clear: businesses need their people to develop knowledge and skills in order that those businesses can compete more effectively. A key differentiator for businesses is their ability to have their people keep pace with a more rapid rate of change and evolution. Now more than ever before, employee capability is at the forefront of business success.

• What does this mean to you, the training professional?
• How do you need to adapt to meet these changing needs?
• What should your priorities be?
• What do you need to demonstrate if you are to have more access to and credibility with the ‘C-suite’, the CEO, COO, CFO, etc.?

The chapters in this part answer these questions.