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Hi Rachel - great to see you :)
Sounds like a great idea - are these Ambassadors specifically from the 'learner' pool or will they be a mix of managers and 'learners'? Not that a manager isn't a learner of course but you know where I'm coming from.
When asking anyone to take on additional often 'unpaid' activities it's really key that you answer the WIIFM - what are they going to get back in return. In essence it's about motivation for them to be the Ambassador that you want them to be - a real champion for change in the business. When I say what do they get back in return it's not about extrinsic motivation like rewards or giveaways but at a deep rooted level what are these people going to get back in terms of their own development, how does it connect with what they do now and their own career aspirations, how will it help raise their profile in the business and provide other opportunities.
I see you want to ensure they maximise course attendance but this could quite easily be seen as the 'course attendance' police and the role shifts very quickly so thought around this I think it really important. How are the ambassadors going to communicate with each other and share their experiences and how they are supporting the initiative in their own locations? Again they need to feel part of a larger team and sharing any successes or challenges will help I'm sure.
Lastly - think about the whole campaign that sits around the training course....pre, during and post. How is it being marketing, what communication sit around it, which senior stakeholder supports it, what are the things that will change as a result of the course, how is this being measured, will Ambassadors support managers with any follow up and coaching etc. The Ambassadors credibility and profile to support the initiative is key so all this stuff will help :)
I'm sure it will be a great success and hope this helps in some way - keep us posted
Mike
Hi Mike and likewise...it's been too long. I have dipped in and out from time to time but certainly not posted in a while! Great to hear from you and sound advice as always :-)
I foresee the Ambassadors being a mix of 'levels' as I was going for a good fit to role rather than targeting a specific level so some may well be Managers also.
I did give thought to the WIIFM and would like the Ambassadors to be recognised for the additional work. Whilst i don't see this being an actual objective within their performance management, this work would feed in to our measures on our values/how we do things and demonstrate our Leadership framework on which they are also measured (e.g. efficiency, teamwork, building proud teams etc) so potentially could impact their review scores.
I do feel in the past it has been very much an 'attendance police' approach which I'm determined to change (reminder duty being replaced with text SMS i hope). Want the attendance to improve because of a shift from 'have to attend' to 'want to attend' through excellent, effective training which meets their needs and provides stretch and challenge. I'm pulling tog the training plan for year 16/17 which will be rebranded and launched soon with each Workshop having a Senior Leader Sponsor. Looking to use Sharepoint to provide a one stop shop for all training information, calendar of events and to improve communication and efficiency - was planning to have page introducing the ambassadors but thank you for your idea of including a platform for Ambassadors them communicate and share ideas and best practice (now included) :-)
Hadn't thought about the Ambassadors supporting the managers - not sure how this would be received from a time/capability view (new in to the business area) ...think this would have to be set out and recognised but love the idea - next step perhaps.
Thanks Mike for your thoughts - it's great getting others input and sense checking - any more always welcome.
Cheers Rachel
Hi Rachel - this all sounds fantastic! The only thing I can think of is, if they are doing this role alongside their day job, make sure you specify the amount of time they will be expected to give up to do the role. We have some volunteer trainers in our organisation that were very passionate about doing the role, but in reality were not available or couldn't commit to giving up their time when needed, which caused us some issues.
When 'selling' the role we also talked through what they would get from it, such as improving their presentation skills, confidence etc which helped people decide if it was for them or not.
Hope that helps! :)