What makes a Skills Academy or large scale training successful?

Faced with the challenge of developing a workforce that can navigate today and tomorrow’s business challenges, organisations are increasingly investing in opportunities for learning and development. One way of providing these opportunities is through large scale training or a Skills Academy, which provides a range of courses that can facilitate the development of the core skills required for success as employees transition through the business. 

However, the value of training or a Skills Academy doesn’t simply lie in increasing the number of opportunities for learning and development. After all, as the old adage warns, ‘quality is more important than quantity’. With this in mind, I’ll cover just 3 factors that an Academy needs to have if it is to help its delegates reach their potential.

Breadth of opportunities

It’s no use only developing skills that aid performance in a current role, which may no longer facilitate performance after transitioning. Training or Skills Academies should, therefore, provide development opportunities for a number of transferable skills that support the learning journey of employees. For instance, whilst opportunities to develop tactical skills may be more critical at lower levels, the opportunity to learn strategic skills is equally necessary later down the line.