Firms face a continuous battle in understanding which training will meet their needs and how the right training will positively affect their retention of talent. It's a minefield of offerings out there, so to help leaders make the right decisions Nevil Tynemouth and Andrew Marsh have joined forces to share their thoughts on the matter.
Nevil has recently launched a free eBook through his business New Results, which supports organisations who need insight to undertaking a strategic approach to planning their own learning needs analysis (LNA). An LNA is a long-term strategic development planning tool needed to achieve your organisation goals. It takes into consideration short, medium and long-term goals directly linking to your long-term strategy.
He said: “Our LNA resource has been developed to help employers understand fully their organisations learning needs. Those needs may be immediate or as part of a longer-term goal, such as succession planning. The resource will assist in the creation of a learning and development plan that aligns with the strategic goals of the organisation. This can be supported by undertaking a training needs analysis that digs deeper into specific individuals’ development needs delivered by a training program, considering the people’s needs and outcomes required. The key is to create a strategic alignment between your learning and development goals that directly align with organisations long terms goals and aspirations. Our resource, which is free to download, shows you how to do this and much more.”
Andrew, who specialises in leadership development, strategy training day facilitation and peer group training amongst other business activities, agrees with Nevil that strategy is key. The pair met as Nevil is a big advocate of peer group learning and had sought out Andrew’s groups as part of his own development.
Andrew said: “As well as retaining the right staff, the correct training delivered in a strategic way can improve a company’s reputation, escalate growth and increase productivity. Statistics from my Vistage cohorts show that through peer group training, sales, turnover and profit can increase by at least 30%. It is a no brainer that an annual strategic training plan should be part of any board’s or leadership team’s agenda!”
By investing in a pathway and framework for talented employees on an individual basis they feel valued and if they have the whole tool box to do their job, then their performance will be outstanding. So, by undertaking a strong learning needs analysis you can strategically think about who in the organisation needs training, for what purpose and gain an understanding of what your ultimate goal of the investment is. Nevil continued: “For me there are three main drivers to training and development.
Firstly, to fill the skills and behavioural gap in a team. This is ideal for newer members of the team, a new team, or someone who is having to adopt a new way or working or has been promoted. This usually requires a blend of training as not only are skills needed to be learnt but how to behave and enable the person to liaise confidently with other team members. Development styles that suit this new need include: training, peer groups, 1-2-1 coaching or mentoring, and group facilitation, which will help a team come up with new ways or working using their current skills and experience.
Secondly, to improve retention of staff. By fully engaging people they feel valued sitting in a thriving culture. Since the pandemic there has been an increase in organisations seeing the value of annual conferences, offsite learning and away days. They are track proven to build relationships and connections which goes onto strengthening shared business goals.
And thirdly, succession planning and development. This is a longer-term goal investing in the future of the company linking strategic goals with your current people and their skill sets. The best ways to fill the knowledge gaps is with in depth leadership and management training, peer group and detailed, supportive 1-2-1 coaching that enables an external view on what good looks like.”
Andrew runs a host of peer groups across the region focused on small business owners, CEOs, emerging leaders, and an advancing group.
He said: “By working with an organisation such as Vistage and New Results, you are being proactive in managing gaps, and the reputation you build will be a great tool to attract and retain well developed people.
Nevil Tynemouth is founder of New Results, a comprehensive training agency committed to supporting you and your teams on your professional development journey. The teams’ expertise spans across:
Leadership & Management Development
Personal & Professional Growth Development
Business Growth, Strategy & Operational Development
To access the information on learning needs analysis you can visit and download the eBook here: newresults.co.uk/resources/ learning-needs-analysis-lna
To reach out to Andrew Marsh, to learn more about Vistage, Experience Bank Group or how he can transform your business and your team to perform better, please contact andrew@marshbusinesstransformation.co.uk