Never has individual effectiveness been more important. Workers must do more with less; organisations are ‘flattening’ and virtual teams are now commonplace. In short, the nature of work has shifted. HR is laden with the responsibility of training—accepting that it is an integral part to the growth of a company and sustaining a high contribution level from their staff. When organisations do not have access to their own training facilities onsite, or for those that wish to take advantage of sending staff off-site to ‘give them a break’ and encourage brainstorming—chances are a suitable training venue needs to be sourced. It’s no wonder HR heads and T&D managers feel quite lost nowadays in deciding how to choose the right training venue, especially when faced with a bewildering array of training facilities. Yes, they can read the glossy brochures and visit the websites—but all are generally offering something better than their competitors.
To help, we’ve shortlisted some fundamental tips for HR when selecting a training venue.
Identify and customise
It is vital to identify attendee demographics as well as the programme design or training formats in order to articulate how you wish to customise your needs for delivery of a successful training programme. Your choice of venue must offer flexibility, as not all training courses conducted are alike. Chose venues that offer spacious, ergonomically designed fittings to ensure delegates are comfortable and can operate at an optimum level.
Facilities offered
Most well-known training centres come fully equipped with state-of-the-art facilities.
A good training room should have a series of reliable computers, connected through a secure network. The facility should also provide you with the basic equipment that you will require such as interactive whiteboards, digital flip charts, LCD projectors, overhead projectors and a fast internet connection.
Catering provided
Many training programmes run for an entire day or two, so it is best to look at venues that offer food and refreshments onsite, with caterers that comply with food and safety regulations.
Cliftons, a global training venue provider, has made a name for itself as a pioneer in this regard, and conducted a white paper research project with Nutrition Australia on provision of ‘Brain Food’ to help stimulate participants’ minds and help keep energy levels up during training programmes.
Look for venues that are able to provide a range of healthy and nutritious menu items that are low GI within their catering, to help ensure delegates stay alert and engaged longer.
Critical factors
For HR to make the best decision, that will result in staff who are engaged in their L&D experiences and provide the greatest return on their investment a number of key factors must be addressed. These include, but are in no way limited to the items outloined on the facing page.
Key venue selection criteria:
- convenience of training location—proximity to an MTR station being a must for many Hong Kong employees
- cost of the venue
- on-site technology available
- administrative support available
- technical support available
- licensing of the venue—in terms of safety regulations and intellectual property concerns
- catering services available at the venue
- facilities provided at the venue—such as breakout areas, sufficient washrooms and refreshments
- flexibility of room sizes and layouts
Advice before venue selection
Not all venues are created equal, and it is often a case of ‘horses for courses’—what may be best for one type of company, may not necessarily be suitable for another one. Different companies have different budgets, and requirements in terms of training needs. HR needs to take a few steps to help them to find the best venue for their L&D programmes.
Firstly, where budget permits, always choose to go offsite, as this provides a break from routine for staff, makes them feel more valued, encourages more open thought processes and generally enhances staffs’ receptiveness to new ideas.
Secondly, try to locate a venue which has minimal distractions—a beautiful full habour view might be good for the annual dinner, but is it going to help focus staff attention on the PowerPoint on the other wall?
Thirdly, make sure the venue you select is convenient for your employees to commute to.
Fourthly, ensure that the training facility offers every amenity and service they claim to. A bit of homework first can save a lot of headaches later—ask around in the HR community to see if people you know have used this venue before, and do your own research before committing.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, if at all possible take an hour out of your schedule to go to the venue personally and look around. We’ve all seen beautiful pictures on the menu before and then been sorely disappointed when the food actually arrives.
The same is true for training venues— basing a decision solely on photos from the venue’s website may result in a misconstrued interpretation. Remember, it is not just about budget and booking—it is about creating the best learning environment for your staff, the people who will ultimately drive the boom line.
Think about the ROI that the Board keep reminding HR about—avoid investing huge amounts on training programmes and then making them largely ineffective, or worse still a bad experience for staff, by running them in an unsuitable venue.
Advice after venue selection
After running any training programme at a new venue, ask employees for their feedback and suggestions on the venue. Knowing what worked well, and what didn’t work so well, in the past is one of the best ways of selecting future training venues, and can also give you your own ideas to add to our checklist overleaf—as to what to ask training venue providers prior to booking.
Questions to ask
Choosing the right venue will impact on the outcome of your conference, so having a checklist of what is important for your group will help you through the sales pitch at venues to ensure you get the best value for your organisation.
To help you make sure your training venue checks all the right boxes, we’ve provided a rundown of important questions every HR manager should ask when selecting a training venue.
Key questions to ask training venue operators
- Does the facility offer adequate training resources and materials?
- Will my employees be able to commute to this location fairly easily?
- Will I need to provide transportation?
- Will the venue provide for minimal distractions and interruptions during the training sessions?
- Does the venue have adequate amenities and facilities?
- Does the venue offer the most up-to-date technological methods?
- (Wireless internet access, interactive white boards, computerised PowerPoint screens etc.)
- Does the facility offer any catering services—for whole-day training sessions?
- Where catering is provided—is the menu healthy and nutritious to help employees remain engaged and avoid the ‘afternoon slump’?
- What types of services are available at the facility?
- Does the facility have a training manager, or coordinator who will plan and implement all elements that are requested initially by the HR manager?
- Are the facilities conducive to a team-building atmosphere?
- Is there enough individual space for each employee during the training sessions?
- Are there amenities that allow for employees to take breaks?
- Is there adequate space and/or breakout areas to allow trainees to make private telephone calls?
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
