Why We Need To Stop The Guesswork And Deliver Training Based On Data
How would you feel if someone gave you a bespoke solution to a career barrier you were facing, in a way that was easy for you to understand and implement?
At Elevate Talent, our thirst for knowledge enables us to deliver high-quality relevant content to support you to get the most out of your professional life and climb the career wall (which includes sideways steps to gain vital experience, rather than the typical vertical ladder).
We regularly poll our delegates so that we have current data on which to base our training; without it, sessions would be low-impact and a waste of time.
Why a data-driven approach gets us noticed
The data we get from these polls is invaluable when it comes to delivering the most impactful and up-to-date solutions for women in the mid-level position.
And it gets us noticed too!
Alongside Suparna Malhotra from Women on Boards, we were recently invited to present to Cisco UK & Ireland (worldwide leader in IT, networking and cybersecurity solutions) to share our views on ways for women to increase their professional visibility through networking, and achieve board status.
Our work is complementary in that Elevate Talent supports women to build strong foundations and climb from the bottom to a mid or more senior position; Women on Boards supports women in director and leadership roles to reach for the next level. Cisco UK & Ireland recognises the need to both support its existing female talent pipeline and create opportunities for women to achieve board status.
Broadly speaking, the skills that you develop as you advance your career (our core area of expertise) are the same ones that will help you secure a board role. You can read more about our EPIC formula to progress your career in our earlier blog.
Why training must be bespoke
Over the past six years, we have become experts at understanding the gaps in the skills and knowledge that women experience in their careers. Women are frequently told that they “lack the confidence”, but they don’t believe that to be true.
When we ask our participants if they are confident in their own abilities, between 78 and 92 per cent tell us that they either “agree” or “strongly agree”; delivering training on confidence would be pointless because none of our delegates see that as the issue. Data shows us that what we need to address is how best for women to interact with their colleagues (read more about office politics in our earlier blog, and check out this blog on how to project confidence your way).
To create optimal impact, we equip women with the information and skills they need in order to fill the small gaps in their knowledge that they may have forgotten, neglected or never known about. It’s our dedication to collecting and acting upon our data that enables us to provide training that packs a punch.
Busting the common myths about what holds women back
If we relied on guesswork, we’d be presenting out-of-date or irrelevant information, which is a waste of time and effort for everybody concerned.
For example, there’s a perception that women want to impress their boss, but our data from February showed that 68 per cent of our respondents (more than 600 women) wanted to impress their colleagues. Based on that information, we have designed our June training session on building trust and transparency in the workplace. We are able to quickly pivot and change the focus using specific examples and scenarios to fit women’s needs.
We have specifically set up Elevate Talent to be able to answer the burning questions around challenges that our delegates are experiencing, so that they can perform better, have greater impact and get the career progression they desire.
The power of data
We know that we are achieving great results because of the data and research that we rely on. We never repeat a session because what’s relevant is always changing, and we want to meet the current needs at a deep level.
When we poll our delegates at the end of each month’s training, they confirm that it’s our own special content recipe, and how we deliver it, that is our unique selling point and fundamental to our success.
One of our recent graduates last month told us: “Before, I had an idea about what I wanted to be when I grew up, and now I know I’ll be the woman and leader I’ve always wanted to be.”
Feedback like this shows us that we are delivering what women need and want in order to excel in the career they’re in and take it to the next level, whatever that may look like for them.
What’s your experience when it comes to training? Do you struggle with generic content? Do you feel the buzz when someone outlines a problem you’re facing and delivers a concise, tailored answer? Get in touch and let us know what makes training stand out for you.
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