In our fast-paced and ever-evolving world, staying ahead of the curve is essential for professionals aiming to climb the career ladder. One effective avenue for self-development and career advancement is becoming an internal corporate trainer. This role allows individuals to share their expertise with colleagues and provides a myriad of personal and professional benefits that can shape a fulfilling and successful career trajectory.
Leading experts in the field of corporate training, including Elaine Biech, Anne Bruce, Phil Geldart, Harold D. Stolovitch, Daniel H. Pink, and Daniel Goleman, have outlined the essential principles and best practices that make internal corporate trainers invaluable assets in the tech industry. Here are five ways that being an internal trainer can boost your development—and possibly your career—at whatever company you work for now (or hope to!).
1. Continuous Learning and Mastery
The tech industry thrives on innovation and the rapid evolution of tools, languages, and platforms. As an internal corporate trainer, one must remain at the forefront of these changes. Elaine Biech, a renowned authority on training and development, emphasizes the importance of lifelong learning. In her transversal book, Training for Dummies, Ms. Beich connects the importance of lifelong learning (an ongoing, voluntary, self-initiated pursuit of knowledge, skills, and abilities that includes active curiosity, critical thought, formal and informal education or training, as well as experimentation and reflection) to the model of success in any vocation.Embracing this mindset allows trainers to deepen their mastery of existing knowledge, skills, and abilities and swiftly adapt to emerging ones.
By continuously staying updated, internal corporate trainers become a beacon of knowledge, ensuring that their organization remains competitive. This deepening expertise boosts confidence and serves as a significant driver for career advancement.
2. Enhanced Communication Skills
Anne Bruce, a prominent expert in workplace communication, highlights the role of effective communication in building successful careers. A quick internet search for leadership skills needed for business success will show that communication is often ranked at the top of nearly every list. Ms. Bruce emphasizes the impact of developing communication skills in nearly every one of her many books on leadership and employee motivation, including Leaders Start to Finish. In this particular “road map for developing top performers,” she highlights many ways this skill alone can be used to share ideas, motivate others, inspire performance, and diffuse conflict.Internal corporate trainers often interact with diverse groups across different teams and departments, from novices to seasoned professionals. Developing and practicing communication through various channels and techniques sharpens the trainers’ ability to convey complex concepts in a simple, understandable manner.
Strong communication skills and the ability to adapt the message to an audience’s needs are invaluable in any industry. These skills not only help trainers excel in their roles but also set the stage for leadership positions, where effective communication is crucial for driving innovation and collaboration.
3. Nurturing a Growth Mindset
Harold D. Stolovitch, a proponent of a growth-oriented approach, emphasizes the importance of cultivating a growth mindset. In Beyond Training Ain’t Performance, a field guide accompaniment to his book Training Ain’t Performance, Stolovitch distinguishes knowing from doing and describes the challenges of turning dry, lifeless training content into the transformative learning experience needed to affect performance. The solution’s root is having a growth mindset—the belief that people can improve their abilities if given the right environment, guidance, resources, practice, and time.By helping others transform their skills and knowledge, internal corporate trainers indirectly foster this mindset within themselves. They learn to embrace challenges, view failures as learning opportunities, and continuously seek to improve.
A growth mindset is highly attractive to employers, as it indicates an individual’s willingness to adapt and innovate. It paves the way for career advancement by positioning trainers as individuals who can navigate uncertainty and drive positive organizational change.
4. Adaptability and Agility
In the rapidly changing business and organizational landscape, adaptability and agility are key assets. Phil Geldart, an expert in organizational performance, underscores the importance of agility and adaptability in navigating challenges and succeeding in today’s workplace environment. In his book Lead Yourself – Lead Others, Geldart describes the importance of anticipating and being prepared for challenges and hurdles, giving pointers and tips for planning contingencies, and making time to effectively manage “emergencies.”Internal corporate trainers are constantly exposed to challenges, such as overcoming logistical and technical complications in the classroom (physical or virtual), modifying training methods, and accommodating various learning styles on the fly. This exposure hones their ability to think proactively, plan contingencies, and adapt swiftly—skills highly prized in any organization or industry.
Trainers who demonstrate agility and adaptability gain their colleagues’ and leadership’s trust and respect. This recognition can lead to opportunities for advancement, especially in roles that require the ability to navigate and leverage emerging trends.
5. Emotional Intelligence and Building Relationships
The workplace can be a volatile environment at times. Navigating various internal politics, personalities, deadlines, pressures, and anxieties successfully requires a high level of self-awareness, self-regulation, self-motivation, empathy, and social skills—the five components of emotional intelligence, according to Daniel Goleman, a leading authority on the subject. In Working With Emotional Intelligence, he shows that the most important factor that distinguishes star performers in every field is the quality of their emotional intelligence. This factor can influence a person’s ability to communicate effectively and appropriately, initiate and accept change, develop and maintain relationships, and act with commitment and integrity.During training sessions, internal corporate trainers are expected to interact with colleagues representing various levels and departments. An effective trainer is also aware of their own biases and assumptions and regulates how they influence the training experience, is capable of empathizing with their learners, and listens and responds to their needs while fostering connections that can enhance career opportunities.
By developing their emotional intelligence and professional relationships, trainers gain insights into the organization’s needs, challenges, and strategic direction. This understanding positions them as valuable contributors, making it more likely that they’ll be considered for roles of greater responsibility.
In a Nutshell
Becoming an internal corporate trainer is a transformative career move. This role’s continuous learning, enhanced communication skills, growth mindset, adaptability, emotional intelligence, and networking opportunities pave the way for self-development and career advancement in the modern, dynamic workplace.Inspired? Great! Take the Next Steps
Here are some things you can do immediately to become an internal trainer at your organization.Schedule and have a conversation with your manager or leadership:
- Talk about your goals and aspirations within the organization and how becoming a trainer can be a win-win scenario; you get to develop the skills you need to move along your career path while helping others develop the skills they need to boost organizational performance.
- Be real about the time you have available to commit to both your regular work and the extra demands of being a trainer. Becoming an internal trainer does not always mean transitioning to a new role. Instead, becoming a trainer may mean taking on responsibilities in addition to your current job tasks. Frame it as a STRETCH opportunity on your development journey.
- Request resources and gain commitment to develop the skills needed to be an effective internal trainer to put you on the path to success.
Next, contact your human resources or talent development department:
- See if they need trainers for topics that align with your areas of expertise. Let them know what that expertise is—manufacturing, supply chain, building maintenance, office software applications, office equipment, safety, software development, procurement, event planning, project management—the list can go on and on. Most likely, trainers are needed for existing training programs!
- Be a resource. Offer your expertise as a subject matter expert to relevant training projects currently being designed or reviewed. Collaborating with instructional designers and developers can give you a behind-the-scenes perspective of the intended learning audience and the science and techniques used to create learning materials.
Want to Learn More?
Here is a list of books you can explore to expand your mindset about leadership and training:- Elaine Biech, Training for Dummies
- Anne Bruce, Leaders Start to Finish
- Phil Geldart, Lead Yourself – Lead Others
- Daniel Goleman, Working With Emotional Intelligence
- Daniel H. Pink, To Sell Is Human
- Malcolm Gladwell, Talking to Strangers
- Harold D. Stolovitch, Telling Ain’t Training, Training Ain’t Performance, and Beyond Training Ain’t Performance
