Services
Training and Development
“April Boyington Wall developed a unique leadership development program that addressed critical competencies while keeping individual personality styles in mind. She analyzed the underlying learning needs of our engineers and delivered a program that led to an expansion of hands on skills and emotional intelligence.
April’s enthusiasm and breadth of knowledge gave her the credibility to make a positive influence with our senior leaders. The program was very well received!”
Marianna Dowhaniuk,
Corporate Training Manager,
Sandwell Engineering
Vancouver, BC
“As Program Manager in the Chang School at Ryerson University I first met April when The Wellesley Institute partnered with us to take ownership of a suite of one day workshops they created for the Non-Profit sector. April helped not only designing some of the workshops but she also facilitates them.
During the transition I found April to be very supportive. As a facilitator she brings both theoretical and practical experience into the classroom. Her flexibility, adaptability and genuine desire to create a positive learning experience for our students are a testament to her professionalism and work ethic. I am delighted to be working with April.”
Karen Bergin,
Toronto ON
Our Approach to Training Design and Delivery
Our training programs may be created specifically for a particular audience on a unique topic, or tailored from an existing program to meet the needs of a new organization or group of participants. We use a similar process to design, develop and deliver all. The following is an outline of the elements of a proven methodology that ensures that clients and stakeholders find programs to be relevant and effective, and that client enthusiasm and satisfaction is reflected in program evaluations.
Needs Analysis
We begin with a thorough needs analysis. This includes conducting brief interviews and focus groups with key members of both the target audience and other stakeholders. Completion of the needs analysis serves several functions:
- It helps to clarify the purpose of the program, identify any design or program constraints and provide the information needed to develop the training objectives.
- It identifies existing knowledge, skills and attitudes of the audience.
- It surfaces the preferred learning styles and approaches of the audience.
- It provides an opportunity to gather material that can be used to write or customize cases, scenarios and role play situations.
- It allows us to identify potential resistance to the training and ways to eliminate or minimize it.
- It develops commitment and engagement of the training audience and other stakeholders.
Collaborative and innovative design and development
Ideally, we work collaboratively with one or more members of the client group, as well as subject matter experts (SMEs) who may be available to scope the project and to develop a work plan, budget and timelines for delivery. We jointly design the program using the feedback from the needs analysis. Our training designs use the latest in experiential adult education techniques, as well as being tailored to the interests and preferences of that particular audience.
Typically programs include participant workbooks, reading material, realistic case studies and scenarios, as well as a range of individual, small and large group exercises to ensure that the training is relevant, stimulating and can be applied back on the job. Programs may also include completion of individual assessment instruments, individual work or reflection (before, during or after the in-class training), provision of additional resources through bibliographies, video or audio resources or web-based technologies, ongoing coaching, and possibly eLearning support. We also develop evaluation tools to solicit feedback on course reactions, changes in on-the–job behaviour and overall outcomes.
Continuous testing, feedback and improvement
For large training initiatives, we pre-test material as it is developed for quality assurance purposes, continuing to refine and improve the product based on the feedback we seek and receive. We then pilot the program with a selected cross-section of the audience, again refining and fine-tuning as necessary to ensure that the program meets the needs and quality standards of participants and other stakeholders.
Roll-out, ongoing implementation and follow-up support
Finally, when the program has been piloted and finalized, we offer it across the organization, developing a leader’s guide if you decide to use internal staff deliver the training. We monitor program feedback and work toward continuous quality improvement.
Train-the-Trainer
We offer a full complement of services to equip your staff to facilitate training programs alone or with us. This includes development of a comprehensive Leader’s Guide with step-by-step instructions for preparation and leadership of the training session and provision of ready-to-use overheads or Power Point presentations. We also provide generous coaching and mentoring in presentation and facilitation skills, and offer enough support and encouragement to both novice and experienced trainers to ensure that they feel confident about leading the session, and that program quality and consistency is assured.
Online Training and eLearning
Modern organizations require high quality communications spanning great geographical distances. eLearning saves time and money and offers the skills and tools needed to succeed in our new knowledge-based economy. Just-in-time information can be tailored to the needs of the work group and made available over the computer. Moreover, eLearning provides added time for reflection and for bringing resources and materials to the table that rarely occur in face-to-face training and teambuilding.
The technology and development of human processes related to eLearning have been growing fast. Our eLearning approach moves beyond the provision of a CD or information on the web to facilitating learning dialogues, using a range of state-of-the-art adult education techniques. Teams not only gain knowledge and skills about the topic, but learn about learning together in a virtual setting. This increases the ability of staff — both employees and managers – to interact globally, discovering resources on the web while developing an understanding of the potential for online learning communities. As in our classroom based training, we use a range of tools and approaches to enhance the learning experience. These include:
- specific, applicable material (workbooks, online materials, articles, and web-based resources)
- case studies, scenarios experiential exercises and other resources to apply knowledge and skill to participants’ own experience or work setting.
Sustaining change—supporting training with coaching
Our unique approach to design and development ensures that critical knowledge and skills required for the desired change are further supported with personal coaching .sessions
Research conducted on our program using Kirkpatrick’s (1994) four levels of evaluation indicates that our approach to supporting training with coaching can ensure that knowledge and skills are actually transferred to the workplace and result in improvements in organizational performance.
“I met April when I enrolled in an Executive Leadership Training Program that she had developed for not-for-profit sector leaders. In addition to developing and delivering this comprehensive leadership program, she followed it up with numerous coaching sessions that enabled me to effectively implement what I had learned in the program. I am so grateful to her for enabling me to become a better leader.
April, I could not have done it without you.”
Michael Zroback,
Manager, Human Resources,
Reena Foundation,
Thornhill ON
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April is an accomplished “people developer”. Drawing on a wide range of schools of thought from organizational development, sociology and psychology, and visualization, artistic expression and meditations, April designed a very creative and inspiring 2-day leadership workshop for our recently constituted management team. This also provided the basis for ongoing personal coaching sessions. By incorporating group sessions with individual growth opportunities, the team has been able to excel and steer the organization forward towards its goals.
Thank you, April.
Anette Chawla,
Executive Director,
North York Food Harvest,
Toronto ON