There is no lack of material about the benefits of professional training, from creating stronger and more productive organizations to helping professionals attain greater success and happiness. In my professional and philanthropic life, I have hired and trained many people and can attest to the value of helping others gain the skills and tools to carve out and navigate their paths to success and happiness. But there is one training principle that I believe is essential to creating real change: a one-on-one approach.
The most effective training occurs when the trainee believes they have an individual relationship with the trainer. No matter how large or small a group, trainers must work to create personal relationships with each trainee, who must be made to feel as if their trainer—whether a drill sergeant or a pediatric brain surgeon—has a definite interest in them as an individual. This is essential in small groups, while larger groups should at least perceive personal connections.
Personalized Instruction
When I look to my own life, the greatest growth has come when teachers, bosses, and colleagues provided me with personalized and clear instructions on how I could improve and thrive. This growth was made possible because my teacher, or trainer, had made the effort to get to know me and identify the skills and knowledge I needed to acquire to move forward in my career. One of my earliest experiences was as a bag boy at a local supermarket. A friendly cashier offered exact instructions on how to pack a bag based on the weight of the items and the ability of the customer to carry it. With this one-on-one, or mano-a-mano, approach, I could feel there was a genuine interest in who I was and why it was important for me to learn the skills that were being taught.
I moved on from there. I can recall the counsel and guidance of my chemical engineering professor at the University of Rochester as he provided one-on-one instruction on how to look at a problem, design a program to solve that problem, execute that program, and analyze the results. My 60-year career on Wall Street has been one of continual training. I have found success by observing and watching the best in the business at companies such as Capital Group, E.F. Hutton, Lehman Brothers, and Furman Selz. And the education continues with my work as chairman of Boston-based money management company High Vista. The best training one can get in the financial industry and service businesses is to observe the best and the brightest and be encouraged to ask questions.
Choosing the Methodology
How you train—that is to say the methodology you choose—will vary with the size of the group and the complexity of the subject. In my experience, there is almost a direct correlation between the two. The more complex or subtle the subject, the smaller the group; the simpler the subject, the larger the group that can be trained. That said, there are some fields, such as finance, for which the best training will always be a one-on-one approach. But in truth, one-on-one training often produces the best and fastest results even with the simplest of tasks.
Best Practices
Here are my best practices for creating a one-on-one approach to training:
- In your organization, business, or work unit, find individuals who like, are willing to, and have an aptitude for training, and help them to develop their skills so they can become in-house mentors.
- Before starting a training program, provide the mentor with time to become familiar with the trainees and their background. Fully knowing the individual is invaluable and necessary to help guide the trainee through the process. In my latest book, “The Island of Fours,” I offer a road map for this journey—the Four Ps—which can provide any trainee with lifelong tools to navigate their own unique journey to reach their full potential.
The Four Ps are:
Passions: What excites and motivates the person you are training? Their passions will drive the goals they set.
Principles: What lines will they not cross? Their principles provide guidelines for how they want to live, how much money they want to make, how they want to be treated, and how they treat others.
Partners: Who are their friends, collaborators, and advisers? Who do they turn to when they need guidance, support, and direction?
Plans: Where are they headed? Where do they want to go? And, most importantly, do they have a plan to get there?
- If you haven’t developed mentors within your organization, or your mentors lack expertise in the subject matter, you can bring in professional trainers. That said, the use of in-house talent has many advantages, in that the trainer remains in the shop once the training is done. The trainer, too, can use each opportunity to gain invaluable information about trainees.
- During the training, the mentor should develop a work plan that allows trainees to take part in real-life tasks, so they gain real experience in all parts of the work to be accomplished.
- Trainers should explain the process clearly so the trainee knows the next steps and why they must take them.
- Trainers should set ground rules, such as establishing a set time every morning to answer questions or employ an “open-door” policy anytime a question arises. Trainers should convey that there is no such thing as a stupid question, as well as encourage trainees to find answers on their own. These ground rules are unique to each organization or mentor, based on the encouraged or established culture.
A Final Thought
Consider the words you use to describe your corporate or professional training. I’ve had success in certain circumstances by replacing the word, “training,” with “succession planning” or “career development.” The way you describe an experience can have a major effect on the people involved.
