Training? Yes, but not for the bosses!
4 February 2014
Read by 1692 persons
Every time I bring this up, I get a flat refusal: no, our top management won’t attend training, they don’t need it and besides, they don’t have the time! It’s quite the opposite! Yet, they have significant shortcomings, particularly in delegation, emotional intelligence, and setting a good example. What do you advise?
How to stay consistent when middle management is asked to take training and apply the tools while their superiors simply ignore the subject? And yet, the Peter Principle is there to remind us every day: "In time, every employee will rise to their level of incompetence"... Now, it’s a matter of making sure they really refused you…
Perfect boss…
A company’s "big bosses" are expected to deliver results but also to possess skills, and this "a little more" than other employees. Some are - and want to be - considered as references, experts, infallible people for whom an area for improvement would amount to a "bad flaw that should not be revealed"!
Finally, there’s the company’s "culture": modern or conservative, highly hierarchical or agile, organized or always in pressure mode and racing against time. Many parameters therefore come into play and can better "contextualize" this refusal of training.
But the key point is how we, as individuals, interpret the act of taking training: a flaw to correct or a potential to develop?
Are you sure of your analysis?
Remember that we always have time for something that seems important to us, so maybe this management committee simply refused this training because it didn’t meet their real needs. So, what if you were fighting the wrong battle? What if it was your offer that didn’t suit them? If this is the case, it’s GOOD news! First, check if you haven’t confused symptoms with the real "causes" and especially that your "training offer" is up to their expectations!
Awareness
We can’t convince someone until they realize it’s important! If your managers are recording good results, are comfortable with their daily work, and don’t make the CONNECTION -or are not aware- between their shortcomings and the "bottom line", you won’t make them change their minds!
But if you can demonstrate to them that some of their unaddressed areas for improvement negatively impact team engagement and therefore performance (if only through the cost of turnover, for example), but also their own workday, then you’ll have a chance to see them listen to you more attentively.
Many figures and surveys can help you, and if that’s not enough, use the "secret weapon" of any training manager: conduct a "feedback" survey among their employees on their perception, it would be very surprising if your phone didn’t ring once the results of this survey are known… And thus reactivate a very nice quality that gives us so much strength: the ability to question ourselves…
The Austrian playwright Marie Von Ebner-Eschenbach said it so beautifully: "Humility makes one invulnerable."
Yasmina Rheljari.
Lavieeco.com
Published on February 4, 2014.
Posted online on February 4, 2014.
How to stay consistent when middle management is asked to take training and apply the tools while their superiors simply ignore the subject? And yet, the Peter Principle is there to remind us every day: "In time, every employee will rise to their level of incompetence"... Now, it’s a matter of making sure they really refused you…
Perfect boss…
A company’s "big bosses" are expected to deliver results but also to possess skills, and this "a little more" than other employees. Some are - and want to be - considered as references, experts, infallible people for whom an area for improvement would amount to a "bad flaw that should not be revealed"!
Finally, there’s the company’s "culture": modern or conservative, highly hierarchical or agile, organized or always in pressure mode and racing against time. Many parameters therefore come into play and can better "contextualize" this refusal of training.
But the key point is how we, as individuals, interpret the act of taking training: a flaw to correct or a potential to develop?
Are you sure of your analysis?
Remember that we always have time for something that seems important to us, so maybe this management committee simply refused this training because it didn’t meet their real needs. So, what if you were fighting the wrong battle? What if it was your offer that didn’t suit them? If this is the case, it’s GOOD news! First, check if you haven’t confused symptoms with the real "causes" and especially that your "training offer" is up to their expectations!
Awareness
We can’t convince someone until they realize it’s important! If your managers are recording good results, are comfortable with their daily work, and don’t make the CONNECTION -or are not aware- between their shortcomings and the "bottom line", you won’t make them change their minds!
But if you can demonstrate to them that some of their unaddressed areas for improvement negatively impact team engagement and therefore performance (if only through the cost of turnover, for example), but also their own workday, then you’ll have a chance to see them listen to you more attentively.
Many figures and surveys can help you, and if that’s not enough, use the "secret weapon" of any training manager: conduct a "feedback" survey among their employees on their perception, it would be very surprising if your phone didn’t ring once the results of this survey are known… And thus reactivate a very nice quality that gives us so much strength: the ability to question ourselves…
The Austrian playwright Marie Von Ebner-Eschenbach said it so beautifully: "Humility makes one invulnerable."
Yasmina Rheljari.
Lavieeco.com
Published on February 4, 2014.
Posted online on February 4, 2014.
