“Kaizen” is Japanese for improvement – a common definition according to Wikipedia is “the philosophy or practices that focus upon continuous improvement of processes in manufacturing, engineering, supporting business processes, and management”. Kaizen became very important to me after experiencing utter failure in my first job as a manager – granted, I was making a very hard transition from being a top salesperson (where it’s all about me) to management (where it’s all about them) but still, I was awful. Instead of trying to get from Point A (bad manager) to Point B (great manager) my wonderful business coach taught me that it was all about continuous improvement. I may not be where I want to be right now, but I’m better than I was yesterday and I should still be better tomorrow…if I work on improving my skills on a continuous basis.
Training has changed as our learning styles have changed as well. I don’t think anyone goes by the old rule they need only get “one great thing” from a training class, the whole experience needs to be worth. These days, training companies like Phoenix Training do an excellent job of combining pre-training consulting, one-on-one coaching and classroom training to provide a holistic experience that addresses needs for management coaching, team building and skills training. (Read some of their case studies to see how companies around the world are implementing training these days)
In a way, I’m really glad that I struggled so much because it instilled in me a love of training, and of gaining new knowledge. I see so many companies find a recipe for marketing or PR that works at that time, and they act as though they never have to address it again. In our world today of social media, blogging and digital influence, this can be a brand killer. Our customers are moving quickly from the hottest app to to the next big thing, and we have to continually find them…and continually improve how we engage with them.
In a challenging economy, it’s sometimes hard to justify spending money on training. I would argue that those people and companies who spend money on it now, are the ones who will survive into the next round of economic growth. What’s your attitude toward training right now? Where has continuous improvement served you well?