As the year of Training and Development comes to an end, it is time that we reflect on another year of change.  For today's blog post, I wanted to take a moment to be provocative and use some of the business acumen topics that we teach in our programs to share a few insights about Virtual vs. In-Person training.

The Customer Value Equation

One of the core elements that we teach an Advantexe Business Acumen program is to understand the customer value equation. In the content we teach, this is the foundational concept that all other skills are based on and revolve around.

In the Customer Value Equation, perceived value to the customer is equal to the relationship between the perceived benefits received by the customer relative to the perceived costs the customer pays. In the world of Talent Development, the “customer” is the head of talent development with the budget responsible for training employees to do their jobs and execute the strategy of the business. The talent development team is typically a part of the human resources function which reports to executive leadership at either the corporate or business unit level.

Let’s be open and transparent for a moment about the current status of global talent development.

If you are in the world of Talent Development you’ve been nervous.

We all read the economic news but more importantly, we have been hearing executives signaling for months that they have been considering cutting back operational expenses in light of lower revenues, higher costs, rampant inflation, uncertain job markets, volatile supply chains, and continued global political issues.

I have had many conversations with decision makers preparing for their training initiatives for 2023 and a significant majority have been proceeding with caution based upon all the factors mentioned above.

The headlines are in our faces with greater frequency, and it doesn’t feel like a small economic adjustment anymore.

This is starting to get serious:

• Amazon – 10,000 job cuts
• Twitter – 50% of its workforce
• Meta -11,000 job cuts
• Peloton – 5,000 job cuts
•  Salesforce.com – 2,500 job cuts
• FTX Crypto – Complete meltdown

And that is just the beginning. The list is a lot longer and a lot deeper and it is a clear indication that the headcount bubble is about to burst.

The employee made another bad mistake on an assignment. The manager, who believes she has been patient, understanding, and nurturing in previous feedback and coaching sessions prepared for another GROW coaching dialogue by listing all the facts of the situation and listing out the different potential “ways forward” in solving the problems related to solving the continued mistakes.

The coaching dialogue didn’t go well. The employee felt that the manager is picking on her and blowing a little mistake out of the water. The employee also felt that the manager’s plan forward of going to a remedial training program was insulting and unnecessary. Several days later the employee filed a complaint with Human Resources claiming that the manager was creating an “unpsychologically safe environment” that was impacting her mental health and ability to perform her duties. The manager was shaken to her core and told the HR Business Partner that all she was doing was following the best practices of providing coaching and feedback in a fair and positive way.

It’s “spooky season” once again. The time of year when children and the adults who celebrate, dress up in costumes that represent ghosts, goblins, and other members of the underworld while they go out “trick or treating” in search of candy and other goodies.

While the kids are getting ready to go trick or treating, the grown-ups are having their own Scaries. In addition to global geopolitical issues such as the continued global COVID pandemic, the war in Ukraine that is also disrupting the world’s energy markets, and China’s new round of continued saber-rattling, there are several Business Acumen Scaries that should be top of mind this Halloween.

For your reading displeasure, here is a list of this Halloween’s top Business Acumen Scaries: