www.truenorthgb.com

Are you wasting money on learning and development?

Like any business investment, learning and development spending has to return a measurable benefit for the business. And yet, many businesses experience disappointing results from learning and development initiatives – usually because they have not been properly targeted at the core issues within the business.

Without this business focus, training has little impact and simply becomes a cost with little return.

True North: real solutions to real problems

One thing which really sets training company True North apart from its competitors is the way that it focuses its programmes on the real business issues of its customers.

Andy Parker, managing director of True North: “Too much training provided today is just standard stuff. It’s not relevant to the delegate nor is it challenging – so it doesn’t result in the transformation of behaviour needed to create real business change. It might have some slight initial impact, but in real terms it’s often just a waste of money. It’s a wasted opportunity, and worse still, poor training can have a negative impact, fuelling cynicism of management’s goals when investing in its people.”

Creating a commercial focus

For True North, the first stage of any programme is to work closely with the client to uncover the real business need – translating general statements such as “needing better people-management skills” into something more tangible. This involves understanding which skills the business is lacking and how that skills gap impacts on the business in real terms – so that the commercial implications of the issues can be properly measured. Many organisations are often surprised to find that skills issues can translate directly into reduced profits, low productivity or higher cost of sale.

Understanding these issues gives real business relevance to creating a solution. It also provides a way of measuring return on investment and establishes a set of clear, practical targets.

Says Parker: “we evaluate what we achieve using measures which are meaningful to the business. Lots of training companies use score-cards or feedback forms – happy sheets – but we seek something far more relevant and commercial – and then measure ourselves against that.”

Having assessed the issues, the next step is to understand the cost of inaction – what will happen to the business in financial terms if nothing is done – and to define the most desirable outcomes. Using this information, True North quickly develops and delivers programmes which address the specific business need. Another benefit is that the company only gets the training it needs – there’s no wasted cost or time spent fruitlessly learning things which won’t be of value. “That cuts down time spent out of the office and yet increases the programmes’ effectiveness”, says Parker. “It’s not just educationally better than an off-the shelf solution, it makes much better financial sense too.”

Working with all sizes of organisation

True North helps companies to improve team work, communications, customer service and sales in all sizes of organisation. It helps people develop coaching skills, facilitation skills, leadership and management skills. It helps all layers in an organisation, from the shop floor to the boardroom. It helps organisations become more effective by helping their people and teams to be more effective.

“Our sessions are stimulating and enjoyable – but people have to work hard,” says Parker. “We don’t run dull ‘chalk and talk’ lectures. We get people thinking, listening and contributing. We get them to participate, to have their input valued and to value that of others. They really do learn – and what they learn sticks. They love it and want to put what they learn into practice.”

It’s all about getting results. By understanding the business need and directing efforts towards this, what happens in the learning and development sessions is focused and effective.

“Organisations are quite often surprised by our approach,” says Parker. “They have certain expectations of training companies – and we tend to be more challenging. We don’t just take their enquiry, book people on to courses and then grab their money and run. We insist on drilling down into the business issues – finding out what they need from their investment. Then we set about delivering it.”

That’s why companies choose True North – companies such as Business Link, Hyundai, Lex Vehicle Leasing, Siemens Medical, Serco Aerospace, Swindon Pressings, Tefal, West Wiltshire District Council and RAC.

 

 

True North
89 Cardiff Road
Cardiff
CF15 7PL

Tel: 0845 130 5500
E-mail: info@truenorthgb.com
Web: www.truenorthgb.com