Creating a culture and love for learning is truly the key to success in performance and execution in any setting. Twenty-three years in educating toddlers to teens and young adults to mature minds has proven over and over to exhibit the same reactions to continued learning. Whether it be an inner-city alternative setting, an ivy league college prep school, or a team of executive leaders, all learners benefit from one common denominator: Learning with intention.

In an era where time and performance generate revenue, the easiest thing to cut from a budget or not even work into to begin with is ongoing training and learning. Company culture often develops with excellent hires with committed grit, industry experience, and good intention. But just as an athlete is not going to respond to a coach who rants and raves on the sidelines without an intentional relationship, it is important to remember that employees don’t wake up each day dedicated and motivated to make the boss more money. As a visionary establishes a vision and a set of values, the execution of it is launched with intention, which is why everyone is bought in initially. However, after the honeymoon period of the initial motivation speech comes the living it out. The skill of scaling a business, a team, or any organized group, roots itself in the intentional execution of continual coaching of both the people and the process. To establish, execute, and monitor ongoing employee engagement comes living out the values with teaching and coaching.  

Anyone can teach a lesson or a process. It’s the coaching, monitoring, and effective feedback that launches into ongoing training and learning. The following steps are instrumental in building a culture of continued learning and training.

Training from within: 

• Initial onboarding with emphasis on company vision, values, and goals should be mapped out and taught explicitly (There is no one on the planet who can teach and onboard your company better than you.) 
• Sharing the expectations of the position and the impact that position has on the company and where it sits in the organizational structure along with the job descriptions (Knowing the order of the company creates a sense of security and sets the foundation for confidence in the role.) 
• Setting a 60-90-120 day plan with measurable expectations or Key Performance Indicators and employee feedback should be reviewed and implemented (No surprises, goal post moves, or gotcha opportunities.) 
• Providing consistent, intentional feedback, and ongoing check-ins along with review of initial training allows for positive culture (Intentional relationships with meaningful discussions exhibited and practiced with listening ears in place reaps the benefits of continued collaborative environments.) 
• Modeling the execution of the vision, value of each position, monitoring the success of results, fostering positive culture, and executing with consistency and confidence allows for immediate success. (Modeling and living in the values to align with the vision in all decisions and discussions will reap the results of generating results and increased revenue.) 

Outside Training: 

• Choose a training that aligns with the values of the company.
• Choose a training that offers an opportunity to execute and implement immediately.
• Choose a training that has accessibility to the instructors after the training.

Coaching the Training: 

• Question to discover rather than questioning to threaten.
• Choose one element to implement at a time after receiving training.

Activating the Training: 

• Set goals for the execution of newly learned knowledge or opportunities for growth or implementation of a new process.
• Celebrate the wins.

Continued training and learning is essential to increasing productivity, building morale, and improving the knowledge and skills to match the evolution of the industry. Intentionally teaching, coaching, and activating training can dramatically reduce employee turnover and positively impact the productivity ultimately increasing profits and efficiency of people and processes.

-Leah Rios, Head of Learning and Training