Developing managers and staff must be continuous in all firms just to maintain the present business position.

Many firms also have growth or change objectives and a desire to develop in pursuit of goals. Development is the action of driving change plans. Development acts on staff skills, knowledge and confidence. It’s a mix of training and increased responsibilities. Development must be planned.

TimelessTime consultants have designed and implemented organisation-wide training and development in both large and small firms.

Here are some of the issues.

Planning Training Interventions

New skills and knowledge are implied in the firm’s strategy.

They’re what’s required to move the firm from present to some future state. This performance gap must be quantified. Then training and development activities can be defined to bridge the gap over time. Performance appraisal and staff development review are also essential elements.

Training Transfer

Many managers lament the poor effectiveness of most training. Training transfer is the measure of how inclined trainees are to implement new competencies in their workplace. Key tools must be employed before and after training, during training and once the trainee returns to their job. TimelessTime consultants understand training transfer.

Developing Managers and Staff

Staff development should be tackled at the level of the organisation, the group and the individual. No-one works alone and hence it is aggregate skills, knowledge and experience that matter. Staff development involves building a clear picture of performance today, and the desired performance tomorrow. The gap between the two shows the development needed in individuals and groups. TimelessTime has the tools and techniques based on current research to help managers plan and execute staff development.

Training

Training must be developed and delivered in pursuit of training needs. Training needs are developed to effect change in required skills and knowledge of staff and managers.
But training alone is unlikely to be effective. Much depends on the work done by both trainer and manager before the training delivery. And much depends on the activities done and changes put in place after training delivery.

It’s not just about sending people on a course. TimelessTime will work with managers to make sure their investment is well spent.

Talent Management

Training and development links to ideas about talent management. Talent management is defined as ‘getting the right people into the right jobs – always’. It links development, recruitment and succession planning throughout the organisation. All firms should manage their talent.

Changing Culture

In many firms, staff development will achieve personal change and management development will make day-to-day business flow. But what about if the beliefs and attitudes of staff are so far out of kilter that something major is needed? What happens if the firm’s culture is just not right for the market and the business?

Development also addresses change at the organisation level whilst identifying that the organisation is made up of people. After all, the environment in which someone works influences (and restricts) their behaviour. TimelessTime has the assessment tools to build a picture of the organisation and has the necessary skills to build management initiatives that will effect culture change.