Normally, we start our blog posts about workplace training with an interesting fact or poignant statistic related to learning and development. However, on this post, we are going to talk about NFL quarterbacks.
In the 2014 season, NFL teams collectively scored 1,293 touchdowns. Of that number, 693 were thrown by quarterbacks, and another 47 were run in by QBs. Do the math, and you find that 57.2 percent of touchdowns involved the quarterback, whose importance to a team’s overall success cannot be underscored.
A corporate trainer is much like a quarterback in that so much strategy and productivity passes through his or her hands. Of course, a company’s success is an overall effort, and no one person is solely responsible for an organization. However, a corporate trainer is integral as the deliverer and interpreter of processes that are instituted by execs and executed by front-line employees. Here are four important ways, in no particular order, that this person is indeed a quarterback:
1. He gets training materials to employees
As already mentioned, the corporate trainer is instrumental in delivering training content to employees. The format of this content may vary, from printed manuals to computer files to training videos. Normally, this could be an arduous task, especially if the trainer is sending a few hundred bound manuals to store locations across the country at once. The printing logistics alone can be tricky, not to mention the extra work if the content must be updated soon after publication. However, many trainers are turning to tablet-based platforms to efficiently and much more inexpensively deliver content to employees who are ready to learn. These solutions allow for easy updating, as well as streamlined distribution. Workers simply turn on an iPad or Surface to immediately find the training content they need to be successful.
2. She drives new content
A corporate trainer must not only deliver learning and development materials to employees, but also craft such content to be as effective as possible. Dull training will inevitably result in disinterested workers and mediocre productivity. Therefore, a corporate trainer must be dynamic in her approach. Mobile training software is helping drive innovation by encouraging the use of video and other media that are markedly more impactful than traditional printed training manuals. The better the content, the better employees will learn—and the more likely they will be productive.
3. He encourages collaboration
The “Do this and don’t ask questions” mantra that dominated corporate culture for decades simply doesn’t fly in the modern workplace. Today’s employees want to be part of the process and thrive when they are. This shift also applies to training—when workers have questions, suggestions, or comments about what they are learning, they want to voice those concerns, either with managers or other employees. A proactive corporate trainer encourages this collaboration, knowing that it will ultimately improve productivity. Tablet-based training solutions facilitate a high level of easy communication—if an employee is confused about something just learned, he or she can send a question via the software.
4. She sells the strategy
A quarterback is often regarded as a team leader. A corporate trainer is no different. She sets the tone and plots the strategy that will determine how effectively employees learn the skills required to be successful. A trainer who is cognizant of the changing workplace—in which a majority of employees are millennials—and adopting cutting-edge technology into learning and development will see instant benefits in the quality of worker engagement and, most importantly, her organization’s bottom line.
What qualities should a good corporate trainer possess?
