Is the biggest benefit from corporate training actually learning? After delivering customized in-house digital training programs for the past 5 years, I am not so sure. While the main reason that I am hired by organizations is to up-skill their teams on digital marketing, some of the most valuable and lasting benefits that I have seen extend beyond the lessons learned in the classroom (and yes, as someone who has logged thousands of hours developing curriculum it pains me to type that ;-) Here are a few of the more unexpected ways that I have seen digital corporate training benefit organizations:
Aligning on Goals & Gaps
When I begin working with a new client, we assemble an internal cross-functional team to align on outcomes. We start with ‘what change needs to happen’ (not ‘what do we want to learn’). By focusing on outcomes, we can start to identify some of the barriers and gaps that exist. Framing this initial discussion in terms of digital marketing maturity helps teams to align on ‘where we are vs. where we need to go’ and ‘how far is too far’. These types of discussions are critical for organizations, and typically do not happen with much regularity or rigour. Planning a training program provides a safe and constructive space to explore these topics objectively as a group, in a venue bereft of politics. Teams can look in the mirror, then look towards the horizon together.
Elevating Internal Expertise
Most organizations have people and pockets of strong digital expertise. The issue is that these individuals and skillsets are often siloed and not accessible (or even visible) by the wider marketing organization. When I design curriculum, I do so in collaboration with these internal digital experts to ensure that the training is relevant to their world – their tech stack, capabilities, teams, processes, and priorities. This collaboration inevitably elevates these internal subject matter experts, and provides a new platform to evangelize their key messages. Whenever possible, I include internal SMEs in training sessions as co-trainers. The training not only becomes more relevant, but participants now know who to go to and how to best work with their internal digital experts.
Establishing Stronger Relationships
I am a big proponent of extending digital training programs to large and diverse teams (not just those directly involved in digital marketing activities). Further, I encourage clients to create cohorts that include a mix of participants from various disciplines. This way, people can be exposed to the questions, ideas, and expertise provided from across departments – which helps build understanding and empathy. New relationships can then more naturally extend beyond the classroom – to smart hallway conversations. Training provides organizations with a common language – a digital lingua franca - to discuss important technology topics, particularly between business and IT.
Identifying New Ideas
It is one thing to say ‘In 2020 every marketer is a digital marketer’, it is another to have all marketers credibly believe it. Too often, internal digital teams and agencies make marketing teams feel that developing digital ideas is not their responsibility. Nonsense. One of the biggest ancillary benefits to digital training programs is the new ideas generated by a large and newly empowered group. These ideas can be explored through specific class activities, or more frequently through organic conversations that we have as a group as we discuss capabilities, trends, and case studies. I have had groups generate ideas that they have put into action (or pitch decks) almost immediately after a class session is over. Confidence is as important as competence. Digital training needs to deliver both.
