A grey area in training ?

They say ‘learning never stops' and if this statement didn't ring true, Sachin Tendulkar would have been without a coach today, right? Several experienced learners have paved the way forward for the more senior and experienced leaders of India Inc to learn, unlearn and relearn

But for this workforce that has already over the years experienced learning, the idea of deriving learning (and not imparting it) could baffle them. 1) Why get trained when I am nearing retirement? 2) Why learn, when I have my experience to boast of? 3) Isn't it a crazy idea to go back to school? Ken Simper, executive GM of BlessingWhite tries to answer this conflicting behaviour by stating that top sportsmen are not in any way ashamed to have a personal coach; in fact, at times more than one.  Around the world, there is a growing understanding of the need for and acceptance of the benefits to be derived from training senior managers. After all, it can be ‘lonely at the top'. "Most often than not, people around them are working hard to tell them what they think they want to hear. It is really hard for those in top management to get candid and solicit corrective feedback," he states.

Senior employees at Wipro have no qualms in getting mentored by their ‘less-experienced' and younger colleagues (read: reverse mentoring). After all, aren't fresh from college colleagues often the fiercest users of technology, and as a result, could be powerful advisors in creating innovation based on these technologies? Abhijit Bhaduri, chief learning officer and head - CHRD, Wipro Corporate agrees, "Leaders build their knowledge of working in a multi-generational workplace. They learn valuable lessons in collaboration and influencing. Feedback from junior peers and team members can play an important role in helping senior leaders understand where they should focus their learning on. The 360-degree feedback is a powerful process of documenting developmental gaps and strengths and is devoid of age."

But training the trainer isn't an easy task. Dr. Ariff Kachra, Strategy Professor – Richard Ivey School of Business & MD – Ivey India who points out the above feels that senior managers are not served well by training. He opines, "Senior managers need programmes that develop their ability to think about complexity and structure ambiguity in ways that allow them to design strategies to outperform competitors." Surinder Bhagat, country HR manager, Freescale Semiconductor India also emphasises that average training content may not go well with them and HR plays a key role in choosing the right module, making it interesting and also useful. Though an increasing lot of senior leaders are open towards leaning, they do harbour reservations w.r.t the quality of training and development offered by most institutions; the method of instruction used in development programmes and the ability of the instructor to really understand the challenges faced by senior managers.

The three key elements needed in encouraging learning and training programmes among senior employees, according to Bhaduri are environment, content and convenience. Environment refers to the stature and value that the facilitator and other participants bring to the programme. Experienced leaders like to learn from someone who has 'walked in their shoes' and can provide insights that could be leveraged. Content of the programme has to be readily translatable to the problems the leaders are grappling with. Just an academic framework is not enough. Convenience of being able to get the content just in time to solve a real-world problem makes it attractive for senior leaders.

It's not easy to plan a training agenda for older workers, so there ought to be certain parameters to be taken into consideration while formulating a training plan for the older workforce, says Shah: 1) Understand their profile: study the background and accomplishments of each learner. The purpose of retaining this information is to capitalize on their experiences in a very specific way; 2) learning method: Blend your learning method with activities such that you cover all styles of learning – visual, auditory and kinesthetic. Another big challenge is dealing with some of the older trainees who feel like they are close to retirement, so they presume they can't really apply—or don't need to apply—the learning. 3) Setting the expectation: Seek their expectation i.e. what they would like to learn from your session. Weave their unique expectation into what you want to cover; this will help you get their buy-in. They want to see relevance from your session right from the start.

Wipro's leadership development programmers’ help in managing role transitions from the time they first start leading a team to the time when they become Enterprise level leaders. We give them inputs on Customer Leadership and use psychometric instruments in helping them understand themselves better. We have multiple consortiums where we work with non IT companies on crafting a curriculum that helps leaders address a strategic business challenge. Leaders learn from unconventional sources and immersion experiences. Last month we had taken twenty of our leaders to the Jaipur Lit Fest to teach them storytelling so that they could become more effective communicators. Therefore, the process of learning is not bound by time and both, organizations and senior employees are translating this very belief into real-time application.

Rahul Shah, head - learning solutions with DDI warns you against a few goofups that ought to be kept at bay while training older workers:

Being theortical: They will lose interest if you are unable to engage them by balancing seeking and telling. Since an adults' attention span for a lecture is about 10 minutes; then, a change in pace or activity is needed. Seek examples that allow them to share their experiences; 

Don't be a ‘know-it-all' guy: They will challenge you in everything if you come across as a 'know it all' person. This may impact your session and participants may challenge all the concepts and can drive others to their way;

Exercise self-esteem management: Older employees' self-esteem is on the line when they enter the classroom; therefore, a safe and an encouraging environment is a must in managing their esteem needs. Keep the trainer environment "safe", so they have the ability to practice without ridicule from peers.