by Need:
As a business director or owner it’s essential you can identify and meet the core skills your business needs to be successful.
These skills will be the same whatever business you run – whether you’re a self-employed graphic designer or you head a manufacturing company employing dozens of people.
There are intangible skills you will need, such as leadership skills, the ability to cope with long hours and hard work, and the inner resources to deal with stress and risk-taking. They also include strategy-setting and the ability to build and manage a team.
There are also functional skills that all businesses need. The smaller your business, the more of these skills you will need personally:
- Finance: Including cash flow planning, credit-management and managing relationships with your bank and accountant
- Marketing: including advertising, promotion and PR.
- Sales: including pricing, negotiating, customer service and tracking competitors
- Procurement and buying: including tendering, managing contracts, stock control and inventory planning
- Administration: including bookkeeping, billing, accounts preparation and payroll handling
- Personnel: including recruitment, dispute resolution, motivating staff and managing training
- Personal business skills: including computer, written and oral communication, and organisational skills
Objectives:
Leadership Supervisory Role: The Director of Training and Development’s first and most prominent role is his leadership role over the training and development department. In this position, the Director of Training and Development oversees all activities of the department and identifies the business’s developmental needs ensuring that there is consistency with core competencies and goals.
The Director of Training and Development also plans, organizes, and leads training programs, ensuring proper execution at all levels of the department. The Director of Training and Development also ensures consistency in the delivery and application of training standards across the business and oversees the planning, prioritization, and development of new training programs and initiatives, ensuring that these programs and initiatives are consistent with the business overall strategies, objectives, and needs.
He is also responsible for following up with the leadership and management of all departments in order to ensure that the parties involved in each training program complete their training. In this capacity, the Director of Training and Development also monitors and ensures the achievement of results within the approved training department budget. The Director of Training and Development also plays mentorship role to key personnel in the training and development department, ensuring constant development in their professional skills, and readying them for the occupation of his position in the event of his absence or retirement.
Strategy: The Director of Training and Development plays a strategic role where he is in charge of approving and developing effective training programs and materials, making regular modifications to programs where necessary. The Director of Training and Development also plays a leading role in the development and documentation of the training path for key positions within the business and communicating this information as needed.
For example, he is directly in charge of implementing AGM training programs as well as subsequent field leadership training programs that ensure optimal leadership within the business. It is also the director’s responsibility to lead the creation of training material and content for training programs, and identifying tools for relaying that content to relevant personnel.
Analytics: The Director of Training and Development is tasked with an analytical role where he conducts research, approves, and makes further recommendations for appropriate learning management systems and databases. The Director of Training and Development additionally develops, implements, monitors, and maintains both initial and ongoing training programs across the business.
He keeps track of departmental training records and develops opportunities in addition to developing dashboard reporting for all levels in the business. In this capacity, the Director of Training and Development also conducts analyses in order to identify and define present and future training needs. The Director of Training and Development also conducts follow-up studies on all completed training programs in order to evaluate and measure results and draw reports for senior HR management and key stakeholders.
Collaboration: The role of the Director of Training and Development is a collaborative role where he collaborates with other human resources departmental directors in defining strategies and ensuring their alignment in order to avoid conflicts of interest. In this collaboration, the Director of Training and Development also assists other HR professionals in their training needs specific to their areas of specialty.
He also liaises with various other departmental heads and managers ensuring proper execution of ongoing departmental training programs in order to achieve the desired results and ultimately improve the overall performance of the business. The Director of Training and Development also collaborates with these departmental heads and managers in order to establish and maintain training metrics and to evaluate the effectiveness of training. In his collaborative capacity, the Director of Training and Development also partners with key stakeholders ensuring adherence to the latest industry trends and practices.
Knowledge: The Director of Training and Development is tasked with the maintenance of knowledge in the training and development department. In this position, the Director stays up to date with the latest instructional technologies through the establishment of personal networks, attendance of workshops, reviewing of professional publications, and participation in professional industry associations. This way, the Director is able to introduce the latest and most applicable trends in training and development for inclusion in the overall strategy, constantly maintaining and updating training programs within the business.
Other Duties: The Director of Training and Development also performs similar duties as he deems necessary for the proper execution of his duties or other duties as delegated by the Chief Human Resources Officer.
