LEAD Awards 2018: Interview with Mark Monaghan, iQor

Empowering Trainers

 
  Category: Best Train the Trainer Program
  LEAD AWARD RANK: 2
 
  Organization: iQor
  Program Name: iQor Trainer Certification Program
  Program Director: Tarisse Grant-Shelton – HR Global Learning Corporate Trainer III
  Visit: www.iqor.com 
 

 
Our editorial team interviewed Mark Monaghan from iQor at the LEAD2018 Awards this past February. Here are some excerpts from the exclusive interview.
 
What is the overall objective of your program?
The Trainer Certification Program uses a multi-tiered approach to address the needs of the trainer’s specific organizational objective. Whether to obtain information about the basics of facilitation or to learn how to create an impartial and effective summative assessment, the multi-tiered approach was the best option to ensure that we could maintain our clients’ requests while furthering the education of our support team members.

Beginning with Level I – Facilitation Basics, moving to Level II – Advanced Facilitation, and then culminating at Level III – Curriculum Development & Design, each level ends with a graduated designation and concludes with the participant becoming an iQor Certified Trainer & Developer. Because we were able to experience consistently high participation in this voluntary program across several countries and lines of business, The Association for Talent Development felt our approach was architected in the fashion we had hoped, and we subsequently were awarded the South Florida ATD’s Champions of Workplace Learning Silver designation in 2014. Our Trainer’s Certification Program was also recognized by HR.Com in 2015 receiving a Best In Class LEAD Award and continues to grow in size and success since then.

Who do you impact with your program?
The course is able to appeal to all levels of a trainer. Some tenured trainers were reminded of the basics and have learned new tricks from some of the newer trainers. The trainers loved that they were able to display what they learned in presentation form by sharing their webcams and finally “meeting” one another while facilitating a “class.” We also established the iQor training message board for the trainers to use so they could communicate with one another before and after class about topics they had questions about or comments they wanted to make, creating more of a virtual classroom feel.

Our goal, from its inception, has been to empower and enable our trainers to deliver training that not only meets our clients’ needs but becomes the foundation of their own training initiatives for other outsourcers. The Trainer Certification Program in its three levels gives our trainers the necessary tools to evaluate, develop, and measure their effectiveness, the materials used, and the impact that training has on all of our business units.

What are the lessons you’ve learned this year from facilitating your program?
In an effort to continuously improve our training practices and increase the learning curve, our team uses continues feedback to adapt and change our program to better the company and its training staff.  In order for our program to remain successful, we are required to be to be innovative in our support and communication systems.

We created a monthly best practices session called the Noodle Café where best practices are shared globally with trainers in order to help them stay fresh and current on industry standards and best practices. Once a quarter we have a Training Managers only Noodle Café where virtual roundtables are held as well as best practice sharing. We’ve also created the Training aQademy within iQor University where all information and resources related to our Certified Trainers program can be found. Including our Train the Trainer Certification Calendar and Job Aids. Building a global relevant corporate training support program has been challenging, but one that has paid dividends both to iQor and our clients.

How do you measure the return on investment and success of the program?
Program feedback has been all extremely positive. The greatest result of this project is that it became the first step to an ongoing benchmark and training initiative within our company.
 
Our Trainer Certification Program is offered online via our fully optimized Adobe Connect classroom in order to service our training staff globally. The class is very interactive and includes simulations, breakout sessions, and TED Talks. To date, we have graduated 292 trainers - 28 of whom have received the highest designation of an iQor Certified Trainer & Developer.

What lies ahead for the program and how will it continue to succeed?
Trainers are striving to become Certified Trainers. They are inspired that Corporate Training is there to work with their training managers in order to solidify their success. Best of all, it is a dynamic program; any changes to the world and industry of Training & Development can be immediately updated within the curriculum. Each trainer who graduates remains in touch with ATD via downloadable mobile training applications offered by ATD National.

Through the Trainer Certification Program, the trainers who attend all three levels leave with essential takeaways that they can implement immediately to improve their training and facilitation.