Chief Learning Officer - April 2008 - (Page 35) self-paced and distance based, and then building up to a launch meeting, which is more application based and a simulation of what the sales professionals will actually do in front of the customer.” The most successful product-based training aligns objectives with methodology, and has the following components: good instructor-led training, assessment, reinforcement through e-learning and d-learning and management support. “I work with a lot of chief learning officers, and I’ve seen the best understand how to have the objective and the methodology work together,” Stephens explained. “For example, if it’s a product rollout and it’s going public in three months, they have a plan. We’re going to do a launch meeting, which is face-to-face, a month before. Two months before, there is going to be an elearning module that everyone has to complete before they attend the launch meeting, and that’s going to be the foundational information on the product.” The Marketing-Design-Sales Triangle In sophisticated product-based training, the marketing, design and sales departments can’t be at odds. There has to be an open flow of communication between the groups, and they need to work cooperatively to create a plan for a product rollout, which in the end will help improve the training and result in a better CLO-RADIO return on investment. Ken Dutkiewicz, director of “In an ideal world, those three global learning and developwork closely together,” Stephens ment for Steelcase University, said. “The worst-case scenario, talks with Associate Editor which happens in lots of compaLindsay Wickman about the nies, [is when] research and design cycle of product-based training creates a product and throws it over and how coaching is just as to marketing, marketing creates critical as the product and the messaging and throws it over the training. Listen to the interview fence to sales and sales says, ‘This at www.clomedia.com/podcast. doesn’t make sense.’ You have this fabulous product that then has a mediocre acceptance by the marketplace because those three didn’t work together. There’s a very expensive cost to not working together, but it’s common because we have different roles and we have busy people. It’s understandable FINANCIAL TRAINING FROM THE PEOPLE WHO KNOW FINANCE PROFESSIONALS As the national membership organization for Certified Public Accountants, the AICPA knows finance professionals. If you are looking for cost-effective, quality training for your professional staff, AICPA LEARNING offers a wide variety of on-site training, including auditing, tax, leadership, internal control, ethics and more. BENEFITS OF AICPA LEARNING ON-SITE TRAINING: No lost travel time or expenses for staff Focused presentation for your company Confidential learning environment Flexible pricing options Discounts on large group seminars Employee/instructor interaction Convenient schedules Reinforced learning with workbooks and follow-up reading Experience and expertise of the AICPA With more than 200 COURSES to choose from — ranging from 4 hours to 3 days, accounting to Yellow Book — you are sure to find the training program that is right for you. For a complete list of available courses, visit www.aicpalearning.org or call 1-800-634-6780, Option 1 for more information. ISO Certified http://www.clomedia.com/podcast http://www.aicpalearning.org http://www.aicpalearning.org
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