Saving costs?

When it comes to education in organisations, you simply can't beat around the bush. The competitiveness and prospects of an organisation are directly dependent on the quality of the people who lead and work in it. The better and more focused people's education is, the more attractive the company is in the labour market and more agile in its ability to withstand constant change. Strategic education is therefore not just a tool of external courses and a black hole for money, but an effective tool that directly boosts revenue and teaches your organization to communicate better and solve problems. So how to do it well?

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1. Find common ground and vision

The education strategy must be based on a company-wide vision. Only if you know why, how and where you are going can you plan, build and think based on it. Start by defining for whom and for what purpose your organization is actually there. At this point, it can help you get an insight into marketing and business materials. These should contain condensed and clear messages out into the market. For example, you can revise this communication to add human overlap and impact to teams and individuals within your business.

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Ask yourself the key questions:

• Why do we want to educate?
• What does the education in our submission actually mean?
• What's the biggest problem we're in?
• What do we expect from education?

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2. Do a big education audit

Evaluate how you approached education. How much you spent, what it all brought or didn't bring, whose idea it was, who was in charge... For clarity, the following definition of approaches to education will help you:

Fragmented approach - it is completely uncontrolled, the executive gets a recommendation, an advertisement pops up on him, or he gets an idea, so he orders training. In this case, it is good that there is any education in the organization at all, but there is no major plan behind it.

Formalized approach - this is where it is planned together with HR and develops employees. This approach seeks to move individuals on a career-high, but after their departure, there is no extra know-how left in the organization. This approach is slightly better than the fragmented one, but it still doesn't exploit your full potential.

The approach of the learning organization - this is the path you have taken with us. In this case, education is linked to the strategic objectives of the organization, know-how is cultivated internally, people educate each other and create a well-oiled machine.

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‍Key TO-DO:

• Draw a thick line behind broken thought models.
• Open up unpleasant topics.
• Don't turn a blind eye to reality.
• Count well and in depth.
• Find out what know-how you already have and what to build on.

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3. Select key collaborators

Expand the range of people you involve in the process with proactive employees, direct and indirect leaders. Introduce them to a strategy supported by the results of the analysis. Be open, but keep the discussion on a factual level. At this point, it is the right time to express needs and ideas, but with an emphasis on abstenting from greater emotions. Therefore, choose participants in meetings and activities carefully and bindingly.

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Ask yourself the key questions:

• What kind of organization do we want to have?
• Who's going to be responsible for what?
• Who will be ambassadors for education?
• How do we want to work with knowledge over time?
• What are we going to do if something stops working?

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Practical example:

"Within our company, we needed to significantly increase our office 360 user knowledge within a very short period of time. Normally, we would choose a course and have the staff trained. However, we were advised to follow the procedure where, in cooperation with the partner responsible for training, we identified employees who were active, had development potential and were universally recognised by others. They were the first to receive an extended education and we made them so-called ambassadors. We've systemically engaged them in on-boarding, team rules, and now they have a team channel on Teams where they publish tips&tricks on how to do it. Identifying the right people and giving them space to realize themselves is one of the best changes we have made to education."
Simon Palupčík | Managing Director for the Czech Republic and Slovakia | Bureau Veritas

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4. Go out with it! But honestly

Based on discussions, strategy, and analysis, create an accurate action plan in the near future and present it to everyone in your business. Keep in mind that the best plans need to be constantly updated to see if they are consistent with the long-term vision and, most importantly, whether they perform the function. Identify firm steps that no one will have to think about anymore and everyone will take responsibility for them. Be firm, but not authoritative, and check feedback. If people perceive your plans from the position: ''Hr made something up again...', nothing will work for you in the long run.

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Key TO-DO:

• Explain to everyone why you have to deal with education, introduce a story.
• Regularly update the schedule in accordance with the results.
• Present facts, genesis and benefits of strategic decisions.
• Don't forget the vision, but don't slide into pathos. Be practical.

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5. Create regular meeting formats

When education is already under way, rely on yourself and the abilities of your people. Don't get used to the convenience of success and give yourself room for regular meetings in which you simply explain needs and wishes to each other, give feedback and integrate new knowledge. At this point, it is not about winning the discussion, but about sharing and then updating plans based on a long-term strategy.

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Ask key questions:

• What are you living now?
• How did the training suit you?
• What should we work on together?
• What or who are we forgetting?
• What's working right now?

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Conclusion? Don't close!

Even if you set a strategy, you'll have a healthy corporate culture and everything will run as it should, just fall asleep on your laurels and the well-oiled machine will become a cumbersome snorting colossus. Why? When things are going well, few give room for prevention and change. Therefore, never forget that you must take care of your education and vision regularly and not stop with practices that have gotten you out of trouble in the past. Even when it looks pink.