As a Trainer you can learn how to Change Attitudes to Reach Effectiveness....

Change Attitudes to Reach Effectiveness..

The world is made up of two groups of people they say - those who think and those who do not think. All of us have the potential to think for sure. But over the years many of us tend not to use our innate abilities to think and be independent. Lots of people can think but do not use that ability and end up being dependent.

Often when we train we come across many people who do not question, are quiet, reserved and even shy to ask, clarify, or just do not participate. The Behavioural Trainer has the techniques to bring out the best in every participant. The Behavioural Trainer is a master statesman who can get the participants around into doing the right things and eventually the training room comes alive. People are happy, the participants are enjoying, participating and learning joyfully. They play, they act, they smile, they are ready to take ownership for changing Attitudes and reaching effectiveness.

Productivity and Performance of all people at all stages in one’s life is an outcome of one’s behaviour. This behaviour is propelled by one’s attitude. But the concrete wall-like attitude by itself is a result of glue-like mindsets and die-hard habits. All training and development activities needs to directly deal with behaviours of people and not just a list of do’s and don’ts. This is also the reason why our parents, bosses and even teachers fail to influence the behaviours of their children, subordinate staff or students respectively. They advice, advice and advice and it just fails, fails, and fails!

Training & Development has the power to influence performance of individuals through the behavioural route. To enhance people’s productivity, organisations, educational institutions and families invest time effort and money. To gain faster and predictable outcomes one has no choice but to deal with people’s behaviour. Behaviour is caught and not taught and hence may lead to unconscious thoughts and beliefs in oneself and these thoughts and beliefs may not always be positive, healthy and good for, either, the individual, the team, the family or the organisation.

No training can be effective if behaviours are not dealt within the training format irrespective of topic on which one is training. Behavioural Training and development is both an art and equally a well established science. Huge advances in Behavioural sciences like Psychology, Sociology and Anthropology has contributed immensely to make training more and more result oriented. Today one can confidently assert that Training does give substantial returns on investment definitely through the Behaviour pathway.

It is time you pave the way forward, with a solid foundation in Behavioural methods at training and development. Behavioural Training of the Trainers helps to understand as to how they can easily change over to ‘inside-out training’ in order to be able to influence their participants to change their behaviours for the better.

Non-behavioural approaches bank heavily on text book knowledge, and tends to become teacher centred and as a result does not yield positive results. They are called the outmoded outside-in approach to training that does not guarantee change or improvement in performance or productivity in whatever field. Hence it is high time one change’s over to participant centred approaches where behaviour is the key.

Behavioural training is the in-thing that takes you on the path of a true Training professional. Behavioural Training has the added advantage of measurements as it strongly believes in measuring where you are now so that the training can be designed behaviourally to take you where you would want to be. Pre, during and post measurements are certainly possible. And that’s a definite plus for those who are groping in the dark. Now can you be left behind?



Reference:

Oscar Murphy International

The Training Of “The Will To Do”

The “Will To Do” is the greatest power in the world that is concerned with human accomplishment and no one can in advance determine its limits.

The things that we do now would have been a few ages ago impossibilities. Today the safe maxim is: "All things are possible."

The Will To Do is a force that is strictly practical, yet it is difficult to explain just what it is. It can be compared to electricity because we know it only through its cause and effects. It is a power we can direct and to just the extent we direct it do we determine our future. Every time you accomplish any definite act, consciously or unconsciously, you use the principle of the Will. You can Will to do anything whether it is right or wrong, and therefore the way you use your will makes a big difference in your life.

Every person possesses some "Will To Do." It is the inner energy which controls all conscious acts. What you will to do directs your life forces. All habits, good or bad, are the result of what you will to do. You improve or lower your condition in life by what you will to do. Your will has a connection with all avenues of knowledge, all activities, all accomplishment.

You probably know of cases where people have shown wonderful strength under some excitement, similar to the following: The house of a farmer's wife caught on fire. No one was around to help her move anything. She was a frail woman, and ordinarily was considered weak. On this occasion she removed things from the house that it later took three men to handle. It was the Will To Do that she used to accomplish her task.

Genius Is But A Will To Do Little Things With Infinite Pains. Little Things Well Done Open The Door Of Opportunity For Bigger Things.

The Will accomplishes its greater results through activities that grow out of great concentration in acquiring the power of voluntary attention to such an extent that we can direct it where we will and hold it steadily to its task until our aim is accomplished. When you learn so to use it, your Will Power becomes a mighty force. Almost everything can be accomplished through its proper use. It is greater than physical force because it can be used to control not only physical but mental and moral forces.

There are very few that possess perfectly developed and balanced Will Power, but those who do easily crush out their weak qualities. Study yourself carefully. Find out your greatest weakness and then use your will power to overcome it. In this way eradicate your faults, one by one, until you have built up a strong character and personality.

Rules for Improvement

A desire arises. Now think whether this would be good for you. If it is not, use your Will Power to kill out the desire, but, on the other hand, if it is a righteous desire, summon all your Will Power to your aid, crush all obstacles that confront you and secure possession of the coveted Good.

Slowness in Making Decisions

This is a weakness of Will Power. You know you should do something, but you delay doing it through lack of decision. It is easier not to do a certain thing than to do it, but conscience says to do it. The vast majority of persons are failures because of the lack of deciding to do a thing when it should be done. Those that are successful have been quick to grasp opportunities by making a quick decision. This power of will can be used to bring culture, wealth and health.

Some Special Pointers

For the next week try to make quicker decisions in your little daily affairs. Set the hour you wish to get up and arise exactly at the fixed time. Anything that you should accomplish, do on or ahead of time. You want, of course, to give due deliberation to weighty matters, but by making quick decisions on little things you will acquire the ability to make quick decisions in bigger things. Never procrastinate. Decide quickly one way or the other even at the risk of deciding wrong. Practice this for a week or two and notice your improvement.

The Lack of Initiative

This, too, keeps many men from succeeding. They have fallen into the way of imitating others in all that they do. Very often we hear the expression, "He seems clever enough, but he lacks initiative." Life for them is one continuous grind. Day after day they go through the same monotonous round of duties, while those that are "getting along" are using their initiative to get greater fullness of life. There is nothing so responsible for poverty as this lack of initiative, this power to think and do for ourselves.

You Are as Good as Anyone

You have will power, and if you use it, you will get your share of the luxuries of life. So use it to claim your own. Don't depend on anyone else to help you. We have to fight our own battles. All the world loves a fighter, while the coward is despised by all.

Every person's problems are different, so I can only say "analyze your opportunities and conditions and study your natural abilities." Form plans for improvement and then put them into operation. Now, as I said before, don't just say, "I am going to do so and so," but carry your plan into execution. Don't make an indefinite plan, but a definite one, and then don't give up until your object has been accomplished. Put these suggestions into practice with true earnestness, and you will soon note astonishing results, and your whole life will be completely changed. An excellent motto for one of pure motives is: Through my will power I dare do what I want to. You will find this affirmation has a very strengthening effect.

The Spirit of Perseverance

The spirit of "sticktoitiveness" is the one that wins. Many go just so far and then give up, whereas, if they had persevered a little longer, they would have won out. Many have much initiative, but instead of concentrating it into one channel, they diffuse it through several, thereby dissipating it to such an extent that its effect is lost.

Develop more determination, which is only the Will To Do, and when you start out to do something stick to it until you get results. Of course, before starting anything you must look ahead and see what the "finish leads to." You must select a road that will lead to "somewhere," rather than "nowhere." The journey must be productive of some kind of substantial results. The trouble with so many young men is that they launch enterprises without any end in sight. It is not so much the start as the finish of a journey that counts. Each little move should bring you nearer the goal which you planned to reach before the enterprise began.

Lack of Perseverance is nothing but the lack of the Will To Do. It takes the same energy to say, "I will continue," as to say, "I give up." Just the moment you say the latter you shut off your dynamo, and your determination is gone. Every time you allow your determination to be broken you weaken it. Don't forget this. Just the instant you notice your determination beginning to weaken, concentrate on it and by sheer Will Power make it continue on the "job."

Never try to make a decision when you are not in a calm state of mind. If in a "quick temper," you are likely to say things you afterwards regret. In anger, you follow impulse rather than reason. No one can expect to achieve success if he makes decisions when not in full control of his mental forces.

Therefore make it a fixed rule to make decisions only when at your best. If you have a "quick temper," you can quickly gain control over it by simple rule of counting backwards. To count backwards requires concentration, and you thus quickly regain a calm state. In this way you can break the "temper habit."

It will do you a lot of good to think over what you said and thought the last time you were angry. Persevere until you see yourself as others see you. It would do no harm to write the scene out in story form and then sit in judgment of the character that played your part.

Special Instructions to Develop the Will To Do. This is a form of mental energy, but requires the proper mental attitude to make it manifest. We hear of people having wonderful will power, which really is wrong. It should be said that they use their will power while with many it is a latent force. I want you to realize that no one has a monopoly on will power. There is plenty for all. What we speak of as will power is but the gathering together of mental energy, the concentration power at one point. So never think of that person as having a stronger will than yours. Each person will be supplied with just that amount of will power that he demands. You don't have to develop will power if you constantly make use of all you have, and remember the way in which you use it determines your fate, for your life is moulded to great extent by the use you make of your will. Unless you make proper use of it you have neither independence nor firmness. You are unable to control yourself and become a mere machine for others to use. It is more important to learn to use your will than to develop your intellect. The man that has not learned how to use his will rarely decides things for himself, but allows his resolutions to be changed by others. He fluctuates from one opinion to another, and of course does not accomplish anything out of the ordinary, while his brother with the trained will takes his place among the world's leaders.

An Overview On Training & Development

Selection and Training

Ideologies or beliefs about people can influence the emphasis placed on selection on one hand and training and development on the other.So, what beliefs about people are influential and how do they influence this emphasis?Training and DevelopmentTraining is the systematic process concerned with facilitating the acquisition of skills, knowledge and attitudes which result in:

Improved job performance
Improved Organizational Performance

Status of Training and Development
“The British have always admired gifted amateurs. Except in certain well defined areas like hard science, they have always stressed that character is more important than formal knowledge.” (Layard et al, 1994)
This view assigns more importance to innate ability than to formal learning.

Influence of Training and Development on Recruitment and Turnover

Top 4 factors ranked by engineering graduates in choice of job and company :1. Challenging work2. Nature of work3. Opportunities to use abilities4. Structured trainingStructured training became the deciding factor for those with more than one job offer.(Killingly, 1989; Hawkins & Barclay, 1989)Jones & Goss (1990) - high training companies with an emphasis on development were less affected by skill shortages than low training ones - also noted that low training companies lose their ability to attract and retain labour.Jones & Goss (1991) - distinguished between ‘vocational’ and ‘post-vocational’ training - those involved in latter suffered less from skill shortages and had fewer recruitment problems.Blackburn & Hankinson (1989) - firms undertaking formal training and development had lower labour turnover rates than those without.i.e. Companies which include training and development as part of their formal Organisational Strategy are likely to be - more productive (hence more competitive) and - more likely to attract and retain good employees.

Factors Influencing Training and Development Activities - INHIBITORS

- National factors - lack of government strategy -lack of structures/ institutions (eg training boards, training institutions) - funding (no financial incentives)

- Lack of market competition for goods or service

- Viewing training as a cost rather than as an investment

- Training and development not integrated into the organisational strategy

- Training staff more concerned with input (a well presented training course) than output (influence on subsequent work performance)

- Lack of structures and systems to assess the need for and deliver training (appraisal system, training personnel etc)- survival state

- People in organisations struggling to survive need to devote all their energies to surviving - organisations in constant crises will not be able to devote time and energy to training (Payne, 1991)

Factors Influencing Training and Development Activities - FACILITATORS

- National factors - government encouragement - legislation - institutional structures (eg Training Boards) - funding (grants and levies)

- Strong market competitiveness for goods or service

- Customers demands for quality in goods or services, suppliers emphasis on correct use of equipment, product or service (certificated training courses)

- Knowledge that formal training and development programmes can attract and retain high quality personnel

- Recognition of a ‘skill gap’ due to: technical/technological changes, product market changes, work redesign, downsizing (Pettigrew et al 1988; Useem 1993)

- Top management belief in and commitment to training and development activities

- Integration of training and development activities within the organisational strategy

- Structures and systems to assess the need for and deliver training (appraisal system, training department etc)

FACTORS INFLUENCING TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES

To facilitate training there is a need to achieve the support of line managers through involving them in decision making about training.Line managers should be involved in the processes of:- Identifying training needs and priorities - Allocating time and resources for training - Evaluating the success of trainingThey should also be kept informed of longer term plans and strategies so they can be proactive in identifying future training needs.

Training Needs Analysis: Organization >> Group >> Individual

Where do you want to be in 4 years’ time?
What skills will the job need?
Which of these skills have you demonstrated?
What gaps are there?

Methods of Training: (Muchinsky, 1997)

Lectures
Audiovisual Materials
Conferences
CAI & web based instruction
Simulation
Role-Plays
Behavioural Modelling
Outward bound
Job Rotation

Learning Styles:

Activist/Experience
Pragmatist/Planning
Reflector/Review
Theorist/Conclusions

Barriers to Training Effectiveness:

Supportive culture
Trainer credibility
Application Opportunities
Appraisal & accountability
Expectations & motivation
Follow-through assistance
Appropriate Methods

Management Development

Classical functions / activities of management:
(i) Planning, Organising, Command, Coordination and Control(Henri Fayol, General and Industrial Management, Pitman 1949)

(ii) Planning, Control, Coordination and Motivation,(E.F.L. Brech, Principles and Practice of Management, 1975 )

(iii) Sets Objectives, Organises, Motivates and Communicates, Measures(establishes targets and performance measures), Develops People (P.F.Drucker, People and Performance, 1977 )Useful for classifying managerial activities but do not indicate the skills and attributes demonstrated by effective or successful managers.

For management development purposes, the skills of effective managers need to be known in order to develop programmes for their learning and development.

The ten most often listed characteristics of effective managers:

1. Verbal communication (including listening)

2. Managing time and stress

3. Managing individual decisions

4. Recognising, defining and solving problems

5. Motivating and influencing others

6. Delegating

7. Setting goals and articulating a vision

8. Self-awareness

9. Team Building

10. Managing conflict

Cameron and Tschirhart (1988), using the 25 most frequently mentioned skills from a large number of studies, proposed they could be placed into four main groups:

a) Participative and human relation skills

b) Competitiveness and control skills

c) Innovativeness and entrepreneurship skills

d) Skills for maintaining order and rationality

The first two are contrasting, as are the last two. A conclusion from the study was that effective managers are required to demonstrate paradoxical skills.These are much more ‘skills-based’ approaches to managerial activity and thus form a better basis for training / development.