Getting Training Messages to stick can be Tricky. This New Report reveals the Key Factors behind Successful Staff Induction Training and how to implement them.

Melbourne, Australia (July 26,2010) – Digicast Productions, a safety and induction training video production house, today released a new white paper “Optimising Induction Training: Reduce Costs, Improve Quality and Talent Retention”.   Around the world, many companies train new starters and contractors ineffectively often finding it difficult to get training messages to stick inside people’s heads.  This paper outlines the impact of poor induction training, the high cost of face to face training and the growing importance of including visuals in training materials.

Eighty-three percent (83%) of human learning occurs visually, yet the majority of companies produce text based induction training materials that have a 10% effectiveness rate on recall levels.

Smart organisations who regularly need to train contractors and new staff are looking for a more streamlined, engaging and cost effective way to ensure staff absorb training messages.

This exclusive white paper addresses the various pitfalls of a poorly designed induction training process and what can be done about it.  The report looks at:
•    What current induction training programs are really costing companies
•    The importance of avoiding a poor safety culture
•    The emerging trend of using more visuals in communication
•    How to make training messages sticky
•    A little mistake that cost a Quarry $20,000 a year

For a complete copy of the whitepaper, download it now.
About Digicast Productions

Established in 1991, Digicast is an Australian vendor of customised safety and induction training videos.  Thousands of people each year worldwide are trained with Digicast training videos. For more information, visit Digicast or The Workplace Improver blog for training tips.

Contact Marie-Claire Ross
Digicast Productions
+ 61 3 9696-4400
mc@digicast.com.au

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1. Use more Visuals - 83% of human learning occurs visually.  Use lots of photos, videos, diagrams and colour to present training information.  Avoid relying heavily on text based training.  After all, we only recall 10% of what we read compared to 50% for what we both see and hear.

2. Tell Stories – During training, tell stories of exemplary staff behaviour that typify the type of action you want staff to do.  Stories help people make emotional connections.

3. Lead by Values – Let staff/contractors know what your values are.   Using values, empowers workers to make decisions based on company values.  Difficult for staff to make the right decisions if they only have rules to follow.

4. Positivise it – Remove negative language.  Tell people how you want them to behave, rather than telling them what you don’t want.  Remove words such as ‘no’, ‘can’t and ‘don’t’.

5. Involve senior management - Senior management play an integral leadership role in establishing culture.  Effective leadership whether it be concerning safety, a new sales method or business structure must be led from the top.  They must be involved in the induction process.

6. Reduce complication - Get rid of long sentences, jargon and big words in training materials.  Keep it short and tweet.

7. Ask more why questions - Teach people why they need to do something, so they can always figure out the how.  Otherwise, company processes keep getting perpetuated without people ever questioning why they do something.

Think you need help to improve your company induction training materials?  Then, go to the seminar to find out more information.

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Delivering Happiness is one of those business books you just can’t put down.

Since hearing about the rise and rise of Zappos (the online shoe and clothing retailer) that was sold to Amazon last year for $1.2 billion in Amazon shares, I’ve been very interested in hearing about what they do.

I expected this to be another business book by an over-achieving, cocky CEO with an over-sized ego to match.

After all, how many 23 year olds do you know that have sold the company they have built to  Microsoft for $265 million?

But Tony Hsieh is different.  Way different.

He spent his time at Harvard choosing courses that had the least work and effort so he could sleep and party (sounds a lot like the group of uni pals I hung out with back in the day, except it took  us a long time to get our careers happening).

After graduating and getting a highly paid job at Oracle doing very little, he and his friend left to start a web design company.  Except they realised that it didn’t excite them.  They then started LinkExchange which grew and grew into a large company within only 18 months.  When it was no longer fun, they sold it to Microsoft.

With lots of time on their hands, they invested into 27 companies including one called Zappos.  When they couldn’t get further venture capitalist funding, Tony Hsieh stepped in as the CEO and also poured in his remaining money from the LinkExchange sale.

What’s fascinating about this book is how long it took for Zapppos to become profitable and how it very nearly didn’t even look like it would survive.  Through trial and error it finally made money.

Zappos is known for its amazing customer service.  Tony goes through how this evolved (my favourite part of the book is that rave culture actually influenced the core values) inlcuding how it was the pursuit of happiness that has set the corporate culture.  He goes into a lot of detail about the core values and how they ensure staff are matched to their values.

For those involved with motivating, training and retaining key staff this is the book for you.  It is very insightful and a great read.  For any budding entrepreneur or general manager of a large organisation, this book will help your realise the importance of company culture and how to nurture it.

You can find out more about the book at:
http://www.deliveringhappinessbook.com

http://www.amazon.com/deliveringhappiness

For those of you interested in getting a free copy, I have one available.  Email me at mc@digicast.com.au

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Those of you who have read my posts know that I’m a big fans of telling stories to indoctrinate staff and contractors (see Telling Stories to improve Company Inductions).

In his book Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership, Harvard professor Howard Gardner wrote, “leaders achieve effectiveness largely through the stories they relate.  Stories must in some way help the audience/team members to think through who they are and frame future opinions”.

One of the best ways to induct new staff is for senior managers to be involved and to be seen getting involved.

The ex-CEO of Virgin Blue airlines, Brett Godfrey, would always turn up to staff induction training to introduce himself.

And while it is important for senior managers to introduce themselves and welcome new starters, they also need to talk about legendary company stories.  It’s a great way to improve the safety culture, customer service and pride in the company.  Also, particularly useful for welcoming staff from a new merger/aquisition.

Film them!

It’s a surprisingly simple, but effective way for new staff to know who the senior staff member is and to feel like they know them.  It also saves the CEO or Executive General Manager a lot of time.

We have filmed many senior managers welcoming new starters and giving their own personal introductions.  It’s warm, funny and believable.  And it’s a great way to start an induction training video.

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When we were all young children, we all used to bug our parents with lots of  “Why?” questions.  And while this can test even the calmest of parents, the truth is children are curious about the world around them and want to understand why things happen.  It helps them learn and communicate.

Yet, somehow, as we get older, we forget the importance of why questions.

Recently, I went to a talk by Michael McQueen from NexGen Group.  He believes that one of the top five mistakes that leaders make  is that they pass on the ‘how’, but not the ‘why’?

And the reason why this is a big mistake for most companies is that often company processes are perpetuated without people ever questioning why we do something.  Over time, staff are taught processes that solve problems that no longer exist.

He then read us The Pot Roast story:

There was a young woman who moved out into her own house. While living at home, she never cooked. Upon the move, she returned home to learn how to cook a few dishes. One of her favorite recipes was Pot Roast. So she asks her mother to show her how to cook one.

The mother begins to share her expertise with the daughter. She tells her to salt and pepper the meat well. To make sure the vegetables are all cut the same size. Just before the mom places the roast in the pan, she picks up a knife and cuts about a ¼ of an inch of roast from each end. Then she places the meat in the pan.

The daughter stops her mom. “Mom, I understand why we cut the vegetables the same size – that way they’ll cook uniformly. And I know the reason we salt and pepper the meat all over – and rather heavily, is so the whole roast will absorb the flavor of the seasonings. But why did you cut a little bit off each end of the roast before you placed it in the pan?”

“Because that’s what you do”, said the mom.

“But why?”, questioned the girl.

“Does it help it cook better?”

“Well, I do it this way, because that’s the way my Mom taught me”, said the mother. “But I’m not really sure why we cut the ends off. Next time we go to visit we’ll ask her.”

Several months later the family gathers at Grandma’s house for dinner. As grandma prepares the meal the mother and daughter are in the kitchen with her. The daughter asks her grandmother, “Grandma, you’re such a good cook, and I know you passed all your methods on to Mom, but I can’t figure out why we cut the ends off of the pot roast before we cook it.” The grandmother turned to her granddaughter and said, “What are you talking about? I don’t cut the ends off before I cook it.” At this point the mother jumps into the conversation and says, “Yes you do! The time you showed me how to make pot roast, you started to put it in the pan, and then you put the roast back on the cutting board and cut about a 1/4 inch off each end of the roast. I’ve been doing it that way ever since”, she declared!

The grandmother stared at her daughter in amazement. “Every time you cook a pot roast you cut a ¼ inch off the ends? Every single time?” “Yes!” She answered her mother. “Every – single – time, just like you showed me.” “Honey, all I can say is you’ve been wasting a lot of good meat over the years. The only time I ever cut the ends off the roast is if it’s too big for the pan!”

In my role, I am given the opportunity to review new employee induction and procedural training manuals.

When I work on the training materials to write the training video script, I constantly add the “why” to procedures.  And the interesting thing, is that when I ask a company why a process needs to be done in a particular way, they either realise that we either need to get rid of the process or that we can explain the process better.

Where in your company can you ask more ”why’  questions to improve your processes?

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There comes a time when any forward-looking company needs to change strategy.  And it can be anything from a totally revamped business model to a new way of selling, manufacturing, a workplace safety procedure or even staff training.

While developing the right strategy is important, it’s being able to execute that strategy and get all staff members on board that is paramount.

All workers need to align with the new strategy and embrace it, in order for the company to move forward.

Of course, change requires people to move out of their comfort zones and work differently.  So when companies poorly execute a new initiative among staff, resentment and distrust can emerge.  And the results can be disastrous.

According to W.Chan Kim and Renee Maborgne the authors of Blue Ocean Strategy, when Merrill Lynch announced plans to launch an online brokerage service, reports of resistance and infighting among staff led to the stock price falling by 14%.  But when Stanley Dean Witter & Co explained openly to their staff about their new online plans, the company’s shares rose by 13% upon their announcement.

In Blue Ocean Strategy, they believe that any new company initiative needs to be introduced to all levels of staff (not just senior management) by a three step process.

1. Engagement – Allow all workers to have input into the strategic decisions that affect them by asking for their feedback.  This shows respect for staff and their ideas.  It also can contribute to better strategic decisions.
2. Explanation – Everyone who is involved is given a clear explanation of the thinking underlying the new decision.  This is to build trust in regard to management decisions.
3. Expectation clarity – Once the strategy is finalised, managers clearly state the new rules of the game.  Goals and targets are set. Expectations for staff are clearly communicated.

So how do you get staff buy-in to a new company initiative or strategy?

Recently, we produced a training video to communicate to architects the need to introduce Compulsory Professional Development (CPD).  Due to the controversial topic, the Architects Registration Board of Victoria (ARBV) was undertaking a series of consultative talks throughout Victoria to explain to architects the need for CPD.

Luckily for ARBV, their forward thinking registrar decided to get a video made to introduce CPD at the start of each meeting.

It was a smart move.

The educational video explained:

-the reasons CPD was required (explanation)

-the benefits to the community (explanation)

-the benefits to architects (expectation clarity)

-the negatives (explanation)

-the opportunity for input (engagement)

-CPD requirements for members (expectation clarity)

“The CPD video has been able to simplify quite complex information and present it in a clear and logical way.  It’s a short video, but very comprehensive.  Architects are visual learners and, like most of us, tend not to be good at reading large chunks of text.  We introduced the concept of CPD in an innovative video format that no other jurisdiction in Australia had done before.  It resulted in our members more easily accepting the proposed CPD concept and ensured that the meetings were pleasant and ran smoothly.

Alison Ivey, Registrar, Architects Registration Board of Victoria

By covering the three step process, members accepted the new proposal and there were no angry outbursts.  You can read more about this or see the video by clicking here.

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