1. Soft Skills Training The Challenge of Obtaining Management and Participant Buy-In

2. Are you frustrated by Managers resisting soft skills training? “I don’t have the time” “It’s only a ‘nice to have” “I can’t see any changes” “We can’t afford it” “Other needs are more urgent” “I can’t spare them for that long”

3. How To Gain Buy-in for Soft Skills Training What core non-technical skills do you need? How do you get management support? How do you ensure return on your investment?

4. What are the Challenges? • Lack of management buy-in • Difficulty in evaluating effectiveness • Dislocated from the business • Cynical participants

5. How to Make Soft Skills Training Successful • Relate it to your customers’ needs • Link it to business requirements

6. Demands on Training Community • Knowledge about key business drivers • Able to talk costs and benefits • Understand process of strategy development • Able to translate requirements into practical action

7. 1. Identifying non-technical skillsWho are our Customers? • The Company • Managers - of units, divisions or departments • Individuals

8. Priority Customer 1:The Company • Organisational strategy • Culture Challenges • Vision and objectives Standards • Organisational Effectiveness • Core competencies • Opinion Surveys • Succession Planning and Career Development • Re-engineering

9. How to Start: 7-S Framework Structure Strategy Systems Shared Values Skills Style Staff

10. Strategy • Strategic direction • Vision statement • Key objectives • Critical success factors • Core competencies

11. Structure • Issues with spans of control, reporting relationships, authority • Centralisation vs. decentralisation • Business unit organisation structures • Matrix management

12. Systems • Processes • Benchmarking • Total quality • Re-engineering • Internal customers • Procedures • Orientation • Systems • Technology and Roll out

13. Shared Values • Organisation Culture • Articulation of values • Identification of behaviours which demonstrate the values • Buy-in and implementation of values

14. Style • Way managers behave: • Walk the talk • Priorities and focus • Leadership style • Meeting style

15. Staff • Composition and development • Qualifications • Skills • Training • Appraisals • Succession

16. Skills • Core competencies • Job profile competencies • Assessment centres • Development centres

17. Priority Customer 2: Managers • Department objectives • Changes ahead • Team issues • Internal customer surveys • Standards reviews

18. Priority Customer 3: Individuals • Appraisals • Career Plans • Personal Development Plans • Assessment and Development Centres

19. 2. How to Get Management Support • Get a sponsor: your key customer • Identify stakeholders: supporters and blockers • Use data to substantiate the need • Design so that work links are clear • Design to fit learner needs • Evaluate and publish effectiveness

20. If Management Won’t Talk to You! • If you believe an initiative is important: GET FACTUAL EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT YOUR VIEW: • focus groups • interviews • surveys or email questionnaires • performance or productivity data • relate it to a business objective or to the company’s/department’s effectiveness THEN PUBLISH IT WIDELY

21. 3. Return on Investment: Evaluation Levels REACTIONS ‘Happiness Sheets’ Level 1 Level 2 LEARNING Level 3 BEHAVIOUR Work application Level 4 RESULTS Business

22. How to help workplace application • Design application support processes BEFORE launch eg.: Line Management Auditing standards involvement Action Plans Learning logs Learning Sets Mentoring Resource centres CBT Self development aids or manuals

23. Level 4: When is it worth the effort? • When hard data has some face validity • eg. Improved sales retention after sales training • Team productivity improvements • When the link to achieving the company’s objective is not clear • When management agree in advance to the evaluation process

24. Your Role in selling soft skills • Identify priority customer groups • Link Soft Skills to Strategy or Effectiveness • Use a 7-S framework to establish needs • Identify stakeholders: supporters and blockers • Use data to justify investment • Design application aids at the start • Publish evaluation results

25. Any questions?