Healthy Futures
Last week, I spoke with Peter O’Donnell, who shared how he involves field managers in the leadership development programs his company, Healthy Futures, develops. Peter facilitates an orientation to the program for all field managers who are sending participants. He also created a kit for Field Managers that supports implementation of the action plan for participants of the program.

My thesaurus defines “loyalty” as “the act of binding yourself (intellectually or emotionally) to a course of action.”1 Peter is building a commitment to the learning course of action. And, in the process, is building loyal customers.

It’s easy to look at the post-training evaluation forms and congratulate ourselves on generating an ever-growing fan base of loyal customers. The reality is that happy participants do not always implement what they have learned. They smile and then happily defect from the learning process.

Research shows that 80% of customers who defect are likely to have stated on a customer survey within the previous 6 months of their defection that they were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with their experience.2 A satisfying experience does not guarantee loyalty. Recognizing this is the first step in moving to a deeper level of learning outcome design.

Defining the course of action is often one of the trickiest parts of the design process. In our Mastering Training Design program, we spend a good deal of time focused on the critical thinking process that will lead us to the right outcome. This is where high-impact solutions emerge, which makes our customers very happy.

Cheers,
Jeanine O'Neill-Blackwell
President/CEO, 4MAT 4BUSINESS

1. www.visualthesaurus.com

2. Frederick F. Reichheld, The Loyalty Effect: The Hidden Force Behind Growth, Profits and Lasting Value. (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1996).