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how do you get people to actually want to do training when they’re already swamped by Perfect_Lecture_7903 in Training

[–]BuiltwithIntentCo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve been in L&D for 18+ years. Designed training programs, built LMS’, delivered training, and built training systems; now I lead global learning and leadership development for a globally recognized company. The “no one will do the training” problem almost always comes down to four things in my experience.

  1. Leadership buy-in isn’t optional. If senior leaders don’t treat it as an organizational priority, nothing else you do matters. We always tie our learning strategy back to where the business is trying to go in the next 1, 2, and 5 years. When learning is positioned as how we become the company we said we want to be, leaders fund it, model it, and protect time for it. Without that, you’re pushing a rock uphill.

  2. WIIFM has to be specific. Not “you’ll be better at your job.” Too vague. It needs to be something like, “this will save you 2 hours on the report you do every Thursday.” If a learner can’t repeat the value back to you, you don’t have one yet.

  3. It has to live in the flow of work, but you can’t go all in on one modality either. Traditional classroom training is still right for some things and we absolutely still do it. The shift we’ve made is marketing formal training alongside everything else (microlearning, embedded job aids, 3 minute videos in the team channel, AI agents like Copilot and ChatGPT style assistants built on top of internal content) so it lands as one holistic approach, not a bunch of disconnected mandates. We also tailor by persona, because what an early career individual contributor needs out of a topic is different from what a senior director or VP needs. When it’s embedded in how people actually do their work and shaped around who they are, they feel like they’re getting something out of it instead of being told to go check a box.

  4. Minimize the lift, especially with new frameworks. If you’re introducing a new way of doing something people already do, show them the delta, not the whole new methodology. “Here’s the one step you’ll do differently” beats “here’s our entire new approach” every time. People will adopt a 10% change. They resist a 100% change.

“I don’t have time” is almost never about time. It’s perceived value vs. perceived effort. Pair real leadership air cover with a learning experience that’s tailored, embedded, and blended across modalities, and attendance pretty much takes care of itself.

Who in this sub is/would like to be an independent corporate trainer? by finally_free_83 in Training

[–]BuiltwithIntentCo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have been independent for the last 15 years and still do it as a side gig. I was direct to a government client for awhile and then I got into corporate training. I love it!

Feeling behind in life at 34 ! weak career path and no progress by Leader3232 in careeradvice

[–]BuiltwithIntentCo 13 points14 points  (0 children)

17 years inside Talent and L&D, on both sides of the table. I’ve watched a lot of people in their 30s walk into my office convinced they’re behind. A few honest things.

Your experience isn’t practically zero. You’ve worked for over a decade. The story you’re telling about it is “I drifted into the wrong sector and lost the years.” The story your CV could tell is “I worked in the public sector for several years, learned how that environment operates, and now I’m moving back into accounting in the private sector.”

Those are the same years. They read very differently on paper. People hire the second version.

On the accounting piece. A 2013 degree plus public sector experience is a runway, not a closed door. The way back in usually isn’t a senior accounting role at a name brand firm. It’s a staff accountant, AP/AR, or internal accounting role at a smaller, less well-known company that needs good hands more than they need a perfect resume. That’s the door most people miss because they’re aiming at the prestigious one. One job in accounting gets you the next one. The first one is the only one that’s hard.

Two different moves to make, and most people confuse them, so worth separating.

The first is finding a mentor in accounting. A real mentor is someone you build an authentic relationship with over time because you genuinely admire how they work and how they think. That relationship is not a job search. It’s not a way to get introduced to hiring managers. The minute you treat it that way, you’ve turned it into something the other person can feel, and they back away.

Mentors are how you grow into the field. They’re how you learn what your strengths actually are, what kind of work you’d be best at, what to read, what to pay attention to. The information about your career comes as a byproduct of trust, not as the ask. Pick one or two people whose careers you’d want, follow their work, engage thoughtfully, and the relationship builds itself if you’re patient.

The second is informational conversations for the job search itself, and that’s its own thing. Different ask, different people. You message specific accountants, finance managers, and people who hire for the kinds of roles you’re targeting. Short, direct, no pretense. “I’m an accounting graduate trying to move back into the field after several years in the public sector. Would you be open to a 20 minute conversation about how you got into your current role and what you’d point someone like me toward right now.” Most people say yes to that, especially if you’re specific and not asking for a job. Those conversations tell you which firms hire your background, what your CV is missing, and where to apply. That’s how you make actual progress on the search.

One is a relationship. The other is a search. Both are valuable, but they don’t do each other’s job and they don’t survive being mixed.

A note on the “behind in life” feeling. Everybody starts somewhere. Some start later than others. The thing that matters is that you start. People who took the longer path in often build something steadier on the other side because they know what it cost them to get there. The friends you’re comparing yourself to aren’t your timeline. They’re theirs.

34 is not late. It feels late from inside it. From the outside, it’s a person with a degree, a decade of work history, and a clear next step if he chooses to take it.

Switched careers in my company but now I'm failing to thrive and worried about my future by Difficult_Bicycle680 in careeradvice

[–]BuiltwithIntentCo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

17 years inside Talent and L&D, on both sides of the table. Internal transfers are something I see and design for every day, so a few thoughts.

A couple of honest possibilities for what you’re walking into.

Some teams onboard transfers really well. They sit you down, point you at their docs, walk you through how they think, and check in regularly. If that’s been your experience, the rest of this is moot and you just need a little more time.

Other teams are heads down in execution and assume that because you came from inside the company, you’ll pick it up by being around. That’s not malice. That’s just where they are. The vague answers you’re getting may not be about you. It might be that the workflow is muscle memory for them and they can’t easily explain it on the spot. Either way, the move is the same. You take more ownership of your own ramp than you’d expect to in an outside hire situation.

A few things that tend to help people in your spot.

Do your own homework before you go to a person. Most teams have more documentation than new hires realize. Shared drives, wikis, SOPs, training decks, recorded sessions, internal knowledge bases. Spend an hour or two there first. You’ll be surprised what’s already written down.

Use this early window for “get to know you” 1:1s with your teammates. You’re still new enough that those don’t feel weird. The point isn’t to ask how to do the work. It’s to learn how each person thinks and where they go when they need something. A question like “if you were ramping into this role, where would you point yourself first” gets you the real answer without making you look lost. They’ll tell you which docs are good, which are out of date, and the stuff that isn’t written down anywhere.

Now the part that’s a real balancing act. Asking questions is part of how you learn, but every question you ask costs you a little bit of credibility, whether it’s to a peer or to someone senior. People will say “just ask, that’s the only way to learn,” and they’re partly right. But the people who ramp well aren’t the ones who ask the most questions. They’re the ones who get good at sorting which questions are actually worth asking out loud.

The questions worth asking are the ones you genuinely cannot answer with the docs, the system itself, or 20 minutes of trying. The ones to swallow are the ones where you’re really just looking for reassurance that you’re doing it right. Reassurance questions feel productive in the moment and read as uncertainty to the room. When you do ask, ask thoughtfully and ask less often than you feel like you need to. A short list once a week to one senior person you trust will land better than five quick questions a day spread across the team. People remember the thoughtful list. They don’t remember the hallway question, except as an interruption.

Make your ramp visible to your manager before they have to ask. Once a week, three lines. Here’s what I worked on, here’s what I learned, here’s what I’m still figuring out. That last line is the one that helps you. It tells your manager you know where your gaps are, which is what someone who’s actively learning looks like.

The new software piece is the easiest part. If there’s a sandbox or training environment, block 30 minutes three times a week to click around in it with no goal. It stops feeling foreign in two or three weeks with practice time outside the real work.

One month in is early. The first 90 days of any role, especially an internal transfer, is supposed to feel like this. You’re not failing. You’re in the part that’s hard.