While business leaders often quote sports legends when attempting to inspire their employees, they typically fail to mention the training required to be a champion. More importantly, many don’t back up their organizational goals by providing their team with the appropriate knowledge and skills development. Training is just as important to solution providers (and their employees) as it is to professional boxers. It’s what separates the good from the great.
Company and Individual Training Programs
As a key component of a solution provider’s long-term success, technical and business training shouldn’t be conducted in a haphazard manner. A well-designed and properly executed plan will ensure the proper use of the company’s resources and improvements across the organization. This process doesn’t have to be lengthy to be effective, but one person (at least) must be responsible for carrying it out. The key steps for a successful training program include:
- Conduct a skills/knowledge assessment with each employee
- Determine current services/practice needs
- Create a company plans: identify and address gaps and goals
- Develop training objectives for individual employees
- Design or identify the guides and manuals for personnel
- Conduct training onsite/offsite using internal or contract experts
- Evaluate the program and periodically repeat each step above
One of the most important steps when building any program is to assess the resources already available. Before conducting any training or creating a specific plan, solution providers need to understand their employees’ (including themselves) current level of skills and industry-related knowledge. That gives them a good baseline from which an effective program can be built.
Leverage Industry Experts
Training doesn’t have to be costly. Some businesses provide small incentives to encourage their employees to undertake their own continuing education, while other companies rely on an informal mentoring process. Whether they go that route to keep costs low or just because that’s the way it’s always been done, the lack of structure often leads to “less than stellar” results. Fortunately, the IT industry has matured and offers a number of affordable (and even free) resources that solution providers can use to accomplish their specific training goals.
On the technical side, many organizations provide live or on-demand workshops to help gain specific skills or certifications. For example, those seeking CompTIA A+ accreditation will find numerous classroom training partners in their own area, with a variety of sessions at convenient times for most technicians.
A number of IT channel-specific programs help solution providers get the skills they need to offer and support the latest technologies or to address the needs of a new industry. The Chartec Academy serves as a great example, offering a large portfolio of instructional classes covering everything from HaaS (hardware as a service) and BDR (backup and disaster recover), to digital signage and mobile computing. This week, the company introduced a "CompTIA Training Room" at its Bakersfield facility in California, highlighting a long-standing partnership with the association—and emphasizing each group’s commitment to channel training.
Continuing technical and business education should be a priority in every solution provider’s business. Without the proper training program in place, companies eventually lose their competitive advantage and often see their key employees leave. But with careful preparation and execution, the right plan will help an IT organization ensure a long and prosperous existence.
Brian Sherman is founder of Tech Success Communications, specializing in editorial content and consulting for the IT channel. His previous roles include chief editor at Business Solutions magazine and industry alliances director with Autotask. Contact Brian at Bsherman@techsuccesscommunications.com.
