Chapter 9: Hardcore version of organizational training, RACI, recurrent training mechanism and talent echelon

9.1 Don’t rush into lectures, first determine the RACI

Once a project is coordinated across sales, engineering, procurement, finance, and after-sales, it will inevitably encounter a problem: who is responsible for doing it, who is responsible for making decisions, who needs to be consulted, and who needs to be synchronized. If this matter is not defined in advance, no matter how much training is done, each other will blame each other during the execution stage. RACI is one of the most practical methods of assigning responsibilities.

PMI's public documents use RACI as a common practice in the Responsibility Assignment Matrix, emphasizing that roles should be clear early in the project. For photovoltaic companies, RACI is most suitable to solve problems such as ‘who initiates the survey, who makes the decision on the plan, who approves the alternative materials, who submits the grid connection data, who keeps track of the final payment, and who closes the after-sales work order’.

The most important thing here is not to memorize the English words Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed, but to know that each high-frequency task must have only one final decision-maker. As long as there are two Accountables for a task, the organization will slow down; if there is no Accountable for a task, the organization will get out of control.

9.2 The most practical RACI for photovoltaic companies is not the full table, but the high-frequency task table

Many companies create huge management tables as soon as they do RACI, and in the end no one reads it. What is more suitable for you is to make a high-frequency task list first. For example: preliminary screening of clues, survey arrangements, plan review, quotation approval, contract signing, start of construction, approval of alternative materials, grid connection data submission, balance collection, and after-sales work order upgrade. As long as the role of each item is clear, organizational efficiency will be significantly improved.

The greatest value of RACI lies in knowing ‘when to upgrade’ instead of having to do everything yourself. As long as you know who you need to talk to for decisions on what types of issues, the probability of making big mistakes will be significantly reduced.

9.3 Training should not only look at class rates, but should use Kirkpatrick thinking to look at 4 levels of results

The most common misunderstanding in training is that ‘everyone comes to class’ means the training is effective. The reason why the Kirkpatrick model is classic is that it breaks down the training effect into four levels from shallow to deep: response, learning, behavior, and result. In other words, the employee feels that the class is well taught, but it is only Level 1; what really matters is whether he has learned it, whether he can do it when he returns to his job, and whether it has improved organizational results in the end.

For photovoltaic companies, this model is very practical. For example, if a new employee participates in the training on grid connection materials, the first level can measure the degree of satisfaction; the second level can test whether he understands concepts such as CA, single-line diagrams, and Zero Export; the third level can test whether he can really prepare materials independently; and the fourth level can test whether the completion rate of one-time grid connection submission has been improved. Only at the fourth level is training truly relevant to operations.

Therefore, Chapter 9 must correct a common misunderstanding: do not make training an activity, but make training a result improvement project.

9.4 Show-Me four-step method: demonstration, repetition, retelling, and spot check

The core of Show-Me is to break down live actions into four replicable steps: demonstration, repetition, retelling, and spot check. Demonstration solves 'seeing the correct action', repetition solves 'can do it with hands', retelling solves 'clearly explains in mind', and spot check solves 'can continue to do it right after returning to the scene'.

The reason why many trainings fail is not because the content is wrong, but because of the lack of spot checks. Just because new employees did something right at the training site does not mean they will still do it right a week or a month later. As long as there are no spot checks, standard actions will fall back into old habits.

9.5 30/60/90 days for new employees, not a feeling period, but a capability milestone

Many companies say that new employees have a probation period, but there are no competency milestones, so in the end supervisors can only judge whether a person is good or not based on their feelings. A better approach is to split the 30/60/90 days into capability nodes: 30 days to see understanding and basic actions, 60 days to see how to independently complete basic tasks, and 90 days to see whether you can handle and upgrade problems independently within boundaries.

For sales positions, they should be able to complete the initial screening of leads and basic questions within 30 days; they should be able to complete proposal explanations under supervision within 60 days; and they should be able to independently complete a set of standard processes within 90 days. For engineering positions, candidates should be able to understand materials and construction methods within 30 days; be able to complete standard nodes within 60 days; and be able to lead small tasks independently within 90 days. The same goes for customer service and project clerks, there must be a clear path.

As long as there are no 30/60/90 day milestones, so-called ‘training’ can easily degenerate into vague feeling management.

9.6 How do managers know whether training is in vain?

Whether the training is effective should not just rely on the teacher's feeling, but should depend on whether the business indicators change. For example, after the completion of Chapter 2 technical training, has the rework rate decreased? After the completion of Chapter 4, the grid connection training, has the completeness rate of one-time submission of materials improved? After the completion of Chapter 5, the sales training, has it been measured whether the contract signing rate has improved. As long as the training topics and indicators can be linked, training will truly enter the management system.

Therefore, training leaders and department heads should form a fixed action: before each training begins, determine which behavior and which indicator to change; after the training is completed, the results will be viewed in 30 days, 60 days, and 90 days. In this way, organizations will no longer regard training as a cost item that has been done many times but cannot tell the effect.