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ATD Blog

POP the Question on Your Training and Development

Monday, February 10, 2014
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In ever-changing work environments, we know that organizations must meet new challenges and opportunities to be sustainable. Organizations are comprised of people who must focus on and align with the organizational goals and values. How do we deploy our organization’s processes and strategy at the same time we develop a committed leadership and results-oriented employees?

I recommend that we POP the question on training solutions—and on our everyday tasks that build the foundation of our organizations. Here’s the question: Are you developing P (personal growth), O (organizational growth), and P (professional growth) for each and every one of your employees?

Organizational growth does not occur during large boardroom decisions, but during all the day-to-day decisions that rely on committed and engaged employees.  That takes us to the dilemma of how we develop committed and engaged employees.  Organizations may find that some of this decision is being handed to them.

Research shows that more employees want meaningful jobs that are important to them and their values. They want something that gives them meaning, helps them add value to themselves, and their world, and they want recognition for their efforts. The demand for a meaningful job becomes a plus for the organization looking for loyal employees.

Defining POP terms

Personal growth is following the path that you decide brings you happiness and honors your values. Everyone’s path is different; everyone’s idea of happiness is different. This pursuit is what develops personal growth.

Organizational growth is the pursuit of whatever brings the organization the capability to carry out its mission statement with measurable results and knowledge along the way. Let’s call this “organizational happiness.”

Professional growth is developing the work skills you need to keep or seek the job that allows you to exercise your creativity, moves you to independence, and gives relevancy to what you do as your chosen profession. It helps you build relationships and links you to other professionals with the same or similar values.

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Professional growth is rewarding and brings you what we’ll call “happiness.”

With these terms defined, we can now identify the common needs that align and integrate the three different areas of growth.  The areas of growth are not independent of each other, but concur in tandem at varying rates. Typically, one area of growth may exceed the other two, dependent on where the individual or organization have placed their focus.

P+O+P = Growth for the organization and for the people who work for it. In other words, POP leads to employee engagement.  If you POP the question on your training, do you provide at least two of these criteria in your training modules? While providing three would be perfect, providing at least two in each training module is needed to give relevancy to your training, expand the knowledge of your workforce, provide meaning to the organization’s function and culture, allow for personal dynamics and creativity, and link training to the individual’s and the organization’s values.

An organization cannot be expected to grow if it doesn’t allow its biggest asset—its employees—to also grow.

Test for POP

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Who do you test for POP? The easiest and simplest way is to go back to the rudimentary question of “What’s in it for me?” It’s a question everyone understands.

From the organization’s point of view, “What’s in it for me?” is the same as “What’s the return on my investment (ROI)”? With this simple question in mind, take a look at your training and development.

Does your training offer opportunities for personal growth, organizational growth, and/or professional growth? If you can honestly answer the question with an affirmative, then you have one of the most fundamental keys to success for all organizations—you have employee engagement.

POP can lead you to a proud and passionate employee base; an employee base that is committed and loyal to the organization and thrives on innovation, teamwork and the joy of doing a job that adds value, both to the employee and the organization.

Further reading

About the Author

Christan Haskin is the lead instructional designer for Learning Solutions at IU Health, and brings a wealth of information to the table with over twelve years experience in instructional design in various industries. Haskin is a Malcolm Baldrige examiner on the national level and served as team lead for her team of examiners this past year. She is a certified Outdoor Challenge Education trainer and enjoys opportunities to take team building outside the classroom and the office. 

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