One Good Way to Include Employees

Written by: Ralph Twombly

Published: December 2009

One Good Way to Include Employees

Four years ago a client approached us for some help with their training needs regarding communications, leadership and more. The leader in charge of contracting this training had two conditions. Each training event needed to use real examples from their work and include groups representing a cross section of the workforce. The goal was to engage the people in the things they are familiar with and put varying points of view in the room together while teaching new behaviors and skills.

To get started we formed a steering team to help us research the right topics for training, aid in the design, be our first guinea pigs for the training, and attend as authors at training sessions. My job as the consultant was to facilitate the steering team meetings and build the processes that were decided and then deliver the training . The initial response in the organization to the steering process was tepid at best. It took away from getting the work done each day and it was labeled by some as a waste of time. It didn't take long to change minds. The first event we planned was a moderate success as each employee in the customer service group participated, steering team members took pride in the work, and we got to deliver good training to good people.

The following year we went back to the steering team design with a new group of people and took what we learned from the previous year's experience and expanded the individuals' roles by having them help us actually design the activities and work directly with us (the consultants) in addition to the job of bringing their own experiences and providing research. We were establishing a rhythm and slowly training was picking up speed.  This time the organization insisted that all employees participate and the result was a very good learning experience for all along with very positive feedback.

Now, we always use a steering process to design and implement leadership development training and continue to facilitate employee training. The response to training changed and while it was still seen by some as "another thing to do", more people are realizing that the visibility of being part of the steering process is very good for their careers and helps improve work life.

We have learned others things along the way. A steering process creates a better product than any individual consultant could create. People really enjoy the process of building something that others will enjoy and learn from. The steering process helps the members to attain skills that they might not gain otherwise while creating ownership. And, finally, the success of the process lies where it should lie - in the hands of the organization and its people.

Today this organization has one of the most successful training approaches among all of our clients.