Building support for online training
September 6, 2023
Imagine you're a safety manager, and you've been thinking of switching to online training. You've looked at what's out there, you've found a platform you like and you're convinced it's the right move for your company. But there's one problem.
The shark tank.
Or at least that's what it feels like when you think about approaching the executives about making the switch. It seems like you've got one shot to give them a quick, concise razzle-dazzle pitch, and they will either buy in all the way or kick the idea to the curb.
But it doesn't have to be that way. In our July webinar, CarriersEdge CEO Jane Jazrawy and President Mark Murrell discussed strategies you can implement to build support for the move to online safety training. These aren't quick, flashy tricks to sell your idea in 60 seconds or less. Instead, they're long-game approaches to building support across the organization.
To do it effectively, use these 3 tools:
- Know the purpose and benefits
- Know your stakeholders
- Understand the disruption
Know the purpose and benefits
You've already seen the product yourself, and you're pretty excited about it. But can you describe to someone else what it is and how it's useful? People often have a sense of what they like about a program, but they fall down when they don't take the time to really spell out what it's all about.
The key to success lies in the ability to tie together your familiarity with the product and the needs and direction of the company. Creating a mind map can help you get clearer on the product, even if you only use it to get the details straight in your own mind. From there, spell out the needs of the company and how the online system meets those needs. For example, you can sketch out how moving to an online training system will let you do more training, which will also let you train your people more frequently; more frequent training will improve your risk profile, which will improve your insurance premiums and reduce overall safety costs.
Know your stakeholders
Decision-making executives are your most significant stakeholders, and understanding their language is crucial to getting them onside—you don't have to think of them as sharks, but you still need to invest time in getting them the information they need to make a decision. They're going to have the overall business strategy in mind, and they're going to want to know how your initiative fits into that. Remember, saying you want to use this platform 'because you really like it' isn't going to get you very far—be ready to talk about those purposes and benefits and frame them in terms of the business strategy.
While executives are an important stakeholder group, they aren't the only ones to consider—since an initiative like moving to online training is going to affect almost everyone in the business, you need to plan a communication strategy to make sure what you're saying connects with other groups as well. High up on the priority list here should be drivers.
Understand the disruption
Often, companies get an initial go-ahead from management but don't bring drivers into the conversation about training until the very end, which leads to problems. It's much better to get experienced drivers onside early. Give people a heads-up about what you're thinking about, and use that early feedback to find out where your pushback is going to come from. If you find out right away that Joe had a bad experience with online training at his last carrier, find out what didn't work for him and build that information into your communication approach down the road.
It's also important to understand how big of a change you're asking for. A wholesale change from in-person to online training is a big ask for a group of people who already have a lot to deal with in their jobs. If it's going to be a big disruption, breaking it down into chunks is a practical approach to handling the transition. Play around with a free trial to get a feel for it, then bring in two drivers—one who is enthusiastic and one who isn't. Then form a small group, then expand it a little bit, and so on.
This kind of approach will help you understand where you are going to get roadblocked. Are there certain drivers or safety managers who are so against the idea of online training that they will sabotage it at every turn? What can you do to make the transition easier for them? If you've built support slowly, you'll have enough momentum and buy-in to navigate past the nay-sayers (especially once you have approval from the executives).
When you are ready to get started, try to keep two potential pitfalls in mind—avoiding them will be key to turning your proposal into a successful program:
- Not knowing the numbers
Not knowing the cost of the program will sink you faster than anything—and remember that this is always more than the licensing fee, because you have to factor in costs of disruption, or introducing compensation for completing training, and so on. Be able to speak intelligently about the realistic costs of your proposal.
- Not knowing where the pushback will come from
Get a sense of what your people think early on, and spot your stakeholders. This includes having situational awareness about competing interests—maybe your safety trainer is secretly worried he is going to be out of a job if online training is introduced. Use your emotional intelligence to watch and listen to people's reactions when you talk about your proposal.
Building momentum for online training shouldn't feel like you're going into the shark tank—because you'll actually need support from the entire ecosystem if this change is going to work. Drivers, managers, and executives will all be looking at your proposal with slightly different lenses and languages, and being able to connect with each of them successfully will take careful planning and communication.