Assemble a Good Team

You can't pull this off with mediocre talent. We are not suggesting that you fire your old people and hire anew. Chances are, even if your training system is inadequate, your team is not to blame. We have worked in many organizations that had terrible training systems in place for years . The training department at Rockwell Collins was little more than an all-request hotline when Cliff Purington arrived, but that wasn't because its members were lazy or inept; they simply had no leadership. He found a group of eager , willing, and clever people who just needed the guidance and training to put them on the right path . It's true that their morale was low when this project got started, but we were amazed at how quickly they rallied and jumped on board.

Most people have the ability to learn a new way of doing things if they are willing, but they need help making the transformation. Give your staff a vision, a purpose, and a set of goals. Dedicate the time and energy early on to prepare them for the challenges they will face in the following months. This is a difficult journey for everyone in the company, but for the learning and development team most of all. Not only will they be expected to change their own viewpoints of the way learning happens, but it falls to them to deliver that message, push back the naysayers, and juggle the old and new systems until the transformation is complete.

At Rockwell Collins we continue to train and mentor the learning and development team even today. They've spent hours listening to our presentations, attending seminars , and using the workflow processes defined to make their jobs easier. They just needed support and feedback to manage that chaos. We let them know that it is okay to make mistakes, and we acknowledge their successes boldly and with great fanfare. They have become the voice and face of our project, and we made sure that everyone on the team was well equipped to handle that responsibility before they were sent out to the wolves .