What Training Programs Can’t Teach
S. Chris Edmonds is the founder and CEO of the Purposeful Culture Group, which he launched after a 15-year career leading and managing teams. He’s a speaker, author, and executive consultant who helps senior leaders build and sustain purposeful, positive, productive work cultures. He also served as a senior consultant with the Ken Blanchard Companies for 24 years. He is the author or co-author of seven books, including Amazon best sellers The Culture Engine and Leading At A Higher Level with Ken Blanchard. His upcoming book with Mark S. Babbitt, Good Comes First, guides leaders to create an uncompromising work culture where respect is as important as results. Good Comes First launches on September 28, 2021. Learn more at http://GoodComesFirst.com.
Sometimes leaders focus on training programs to try to fix specific problems they see in their work cultures. But the proven way to evolve your organizational culture into a purposeful, positive, productive work culture is for senior leaders to define their desired culture, align all plans, decisions, and actions to that desired culture – including modeling desired valued behaviors themselves – and refine your desired culture by celebrating aligned players & practices as well as re-directing misaligned players & practices.
Over time, I’ve had the opportunity to respond to a number of RFPs – requests for proposals. These requests often come from large companies or government agencies that want a service — the best solution at the best price.
In my case, these organizations were interested in my services – culture consulting – so they invited my response.
In each of the RFPs I was invited to, these organizations specified that they were seeking a training program to address their culture issues. The problem? A bent or broken culture isn’t going to be fixed by a training program.
By definition, a training program builds awareness and skills that leaders and team members can use on the job. Training is a great way to increase players’ awareness and skills in:
- Organizing their work
- Communicating effectively
- Project management
- Leading their project team
- Completing reports
- Welding a seam
- Packaging product
- Tasks and policies and procedures like these
A bent or broken culture, unfortunately, is not an awareness or skills problem. It’s a clarity and accountability problem!
By definition, a training program builds awareness and skills that leaders and team members can use on the job.
Why didn’t these organizations specify the need for culture consulting, values clarity, and accountability? Because most senior leaders have never been asked to do that. They don’t know how.
They do know how to:
- Organize training programs
- Hold classes
- Monitor which leaders and team members have completed those classes.
That’s a very tactical approach that leaders are comfortable with.
These leaders figure – or “hope” – that training sessions will address their culture issues, their trust and respect issues.
Classes, though, won’t fix their bent or broken work culture – nor will classes address your work culture gaps.
Define, align, and refine. These three-phased steps ensure clarity – that everyone knows exactly how to treat others with trust and respect in every interaction – and that accountability happens – all leaders and team members demonstrate the company’s valued behaviors and hold everyone in the company accountable to demonstrate those valued behaviors, daily.
That’s what will fix your work culture.
My new book with Mark S. Babbitt, Good Comes First, provides step-by-step direction for leaders ready to create and sustain a purposeful, positive, productive work culture.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER TO RECEIVE GOOD COMES FIRST’S TABLE OF CONTENTS, FOREWORD, INTRODUCTION, AND FIRST CHAPTER!
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