more than just a training programme

Over the last ten years, businesses have realised that they need to look beyond their core product offering if they are going to gain an advantage over their competitors. Today’s customers not only demand product and service excellence, they are continually looking for those companies that offer them something extra.

Recently, the focus has moved inwards to the organisations’ employees as they can provide the vital difference between winning and losing a sale. To achieve this, the best companies invest in ongoing training programmes to develop and enhance their employees’ performance. However, learning and development organisation, Righttrack Consultancy, say the very best and most successful companies support each employee long after they have left the training room.

A training course can only be truly beneficial if the delegate is able to transfer the learning into their role in a meaningful and effective way. Therefore, an age-old question that faces every training department is “how can we improve the way delegates transfer their learning?”

Righttrack believe they have found the answer to this question. By positioning the delegate at the centre of all their development solutions over the last 19 years, they have realised that clients often leave delegates to fend for themselves after a training course.

Their solution to this problem is Righttrack Membership, an online system for post-course support. The dedicated membership website allows delegates to have access to downloadable programme materials, contact with their trainers, their own personal learning log and a dedicated message forum. With the Membership available online, Righttrack delegates have access to much needed support whenever and wherever they need it.

To further enhance delegate engagement post-programme, Righttrack have also created an incentive scheme called the Righttrack Delegate Awards. This consists of two awards; the first, “Delegate of the Year”, rewards one delegate for exceptional effort to participate, engage and make positive contributions during a training programme. The second, “Learner of the Year”, rewards the delegate who has implemented their learning the most effectively, thus making a positive contribution to their organisation.

Since its launch, delegates have fully embraced and welcomed the Righttrack Membership scheme and it has surpassed all expectations. Michael Cooney, Director at Righttrack said, “We are extremely happy with how the dedicated online membership has been received. The feedback has been very positive from both our delegates and our client sponsors, with high numbers making return visits to the site.”

Righttrack are urging all training departments to integrate post-course support into their development solutions as it is invaluable for a number of reasons:

• Motivation – modern working lives are very hectic so it is easy to see why many delegates do not act on their learning. By offering ongoing support, delegates will find it easier to implement their learning and to keep track of the changes they make. This allows them to measure the improvement in their role and within the organisation
• Builds relationships – a post-course support system allows the training department to keep the relationship between themselves and the delegates alive. This ensures that all needs have been met through the training, whilst also giving the department the opportunity to assess further learning needs
• Engages delegates – enables delegates to see that they will be fully supported while transferring their learning as well as giving them the opportunity to be part of a learning community
• The end of a training programme should not signal the end of the relationship – delegates are able to seek help in implementing the learning thus increasing their effectiveness and ultimately helping the organisation to differentiate itself against competitors