Case Study Series Leadership Development Program Dale Carnegie Louisiana

Case Study - Dale Carnegie Training Louisiana

An example of how using TransferLogixTM was the right tool to demonstrate results of training to earn the clients trust and take the conversation to the next level in terms of repeat sales.

Introduction
When it comes to certain types of training, this company far surpasses the industry standard. Training plays a key role in guaranteeing safety and this company goes the extra mile to keep its personnel highly prepared. Nonetheless, until recently leadership training had been something that did not seem to generate significant changes for this company.

The Process Used

Before the program started, the supervisors completed an evaluation of the trainees current performance levels. The questionnaire contained a series of behavioral indicators linked to the competencies addressed in training. The following competencies were evaluated: communication, presentation skills, conflict resolution, motivating others, empathy, flexibility, autonomy, results Because they wanted to change their leadership culture, orientation, initiative, feedback, planning, time managethey contracted with Dale Carnegie Training Louisiana to ment, developing teams and individuals, innovation, deldesign and deliver a leadership training program. So, egation. after interviewing 30-40 people in the company to idenThen, each trainee had to formalize a Transfer Contract tify training needs, Dale Carnegie Training designed a 6 with their supervisor so as to ensure mutual engageday leadership development program. Everybody immement about incorporating the new competencies into diately knew it was a real success, but they didnt have a everyday work. The contract contained seven questions way to measure the outcomes to prove it. referring to the support, resources and action plan to From the sixth program onwards, Dale Carnegie Training make learning transfer easier. The Transfer Contract also proposed to the training department that they evaluate required the supervisors and trainees to reflect upon the training impact. Using the complete model integrated in impact training would have both upon the trainees caTransferLogixTM, they decided to diagnose the factors reer and the organization. This contract directly linked which might be barriers to trainees using learning on training to the strategy of the department and organizathe job, evaluate learning transfer in the workplace and tion, while also getting the supervisors on-board and measure training ROI. All this data would allow them to: making the trainees responsible for their performance 1) detect potential barriers trainees face when returning improvement. back into their workplace; 2) find out whether the competencies taught in training were being demonstrated in the workplace; and, 3) establish whether their investment in training was worthwhile.

Immediately after training, the trainees completed the LTSITM questionnaire which assesses 16 factors directly correlated with the use of learning in the workplace. The most interesting result was that supervisors did not actively support the use of new skills on the job. The lack of supervisor support created other barriers to transfer. For example, there was a lack of performance coaching and a lack of negative consequences for not applying learning. The lack of supervisor support also generated amongst the trainees the perception that the contents taught were not essential to performing in their everyday job. This result was surprising in the context of this company wanting to change its leadership culture, especially because the supervisors themselves had participated in the training program and were the ones to send their employees to the course. The fact that they were not actively getting involved in promoting the new competencies in the workplace suggested a possible bottleneck higher up the hierarchy. This was indeed confirmed by the client. When presenting the report to the client, Dale Carnegie Training Louisiana was able to provide not only a diagnosis of the barriers to the implementation of new leadership competencies in the company, but also a list of possible solutions. Outcomes To measure whether the skills taught in training were really observed on the job afterwards, the supervisors were asked to rate their employees again on behavioral performance indicators. By contrasting the results with the baseline performance, they could demonstrate that all the competencies addressed in training had improved and were demonstrated in everyday work at a high rate. The results showed almost a 100% change in performance on the behaviors taught in the program. This meant training was indeed impactful. Then they used TransferLogixTMs easy ROI tool. This simple method provides a highly reliable estimate of training ROI and, unlike other methods, requires only

easy to obtain data. Dale Carnegie Training Louisiana demonstrated to their client that the ROI of their leadership program was conservatively estimated at 475%. This goes to show just how powerful training is if accompanied by measures which boost performance outside the classroom when trainees return back into their workplace.

Conclusion
By being able to bring such conclusive data and by helping their client overcome the barriers to implementing a new leadership culture, Dale Carnegie Louisiana was able to gain the clients trust and generate repeated sales. Dale Carnegie Training Louisiana went from being only a training provider to becoming a performance partner. This is a perfect example of a provider approaching training not as an event, but as a process. We know that strong learning transfer and high ROI only happens when training is a process, not an event. That is, the learning transfer process starts well before the training event with things such as good needs assessment, strong behavioral (performance) objectives, and supervisory engagement prior to training. The process continues after training with good follow-up, effective coaching and mentoring, and supports and resources to enable participants to use the training. The integration of training and development into an entire performance management system is a trend sweeping the entire HRD field and having the right tools to work in this new landscape is crucial.

Contact:
Dale Carnegie Louisiana Tyler Winner, President (225) 274-2460