Sustainment refers to taking your new learnings and developing them into habits. This is often a key element missing in new sales initiatives and training. We hold a training session with all of the important details that the team needs to know, but don’t put a plan in place for after the workshop to ensure they have the tools, support, accountability and time to implement. Then we wonder what went wrong.

“A study published in the Harvard Business Review found that employees who sustain skills demonstrate a 16 percent increase in overall performance as reported by their managers. Moreover, this same group exhibited 125 percent less burnout than their peers.”

— Richardson.com

Studies have found that it can take up to 6 months to develop a new skill to the point that it becomes a habit. It is only as a skill or process becomes a habit that it can be refined and improved.

 Some of the key roadblocks to sustainment are:

• Lack of comprehensive sustainment planning at the organizational level beyond the training session/workshop (e.g. processes, metrics, systems, tools, management engagement)

• Conflicting communication setting expectations/directions on what is most important at both the individual and organization level

• Managers revert back to focus on immediate business priorities and coaching for outcomes without attention to the desired new skill

• Lack of accountability at all levels – sustainment is essentially change management and  needs to be a top-down priority – it should be be a recurring theme when talking about priorities and results, coaching, measures

• Time – it takes an ongoing, consistent commitment of months to ensure the new skills/processes become habit.

“Once established, sustainment incites growth within the individual and the organization by emphasizing the long game, and boosting the resolve to perform and, ultimately, win.”

— Richardson.com

What can be done to attain sustainment? There 5 key factors according to Richardson:

1. SET EXPECTATIONS:

   Communication is critical.  Your sales team needs to know that this is a priority for the company leaders.  Select the most effective medium – generally a meeting – to lay out the expectations for using the new skill/process. Communicate regularly.

2. CONNECT SKILLS TO CHALLENGES:  

   Demonstrate how the new skill/process will help them solve specific pain points.  In the classroom, it is mostly hypothetical. Connect it to a real world example. If the sales team can actually see the skill in action as a benefit, they will be more likely to use it.  Part of the sustainment strategy includes de-briefing each time the new skill/process is used to examine its effectiveness, improvement opportunities and share with the rest of the team.

3. PREVENT RELAPSE:

   Change takes time.  In the heat of day to day business, it’s easy to revert back to the old way of doing things – especially if the sales team feels like they are not seeing results.  One method to prevent this is to break the change up into smaller pieces that make sense so that there can be an early sense of accomplishment and encouragement to keep going through the change process.

4. CREATE ACCOUNTABILITY:

   Hold people accountable for their behaviours instead of directing.  To be successful, the sales team needs to see the link between the change and results. At the same time, leaders need to be held accountable for supporting and coaching their team through the change.  The metrics used need to be clear, well-defined and regularly reviewed.

5. SHAPE THE CULTURE OF SUSTAINMENT

   Make the change ‘real’, not one and done training.  Methods include:

   • Reinforce on skill/tactic at a time

   • Align the skill to higher business priorities

   • Use a variety of modalities throughout the sustainment process (videos, gamification, micro-learning, etc.)

   • Mix coaching with training

   • Provide On-The-Job tools and support

Planning for sustainment takes time and effort across all levels of the organization, but is worth it to see your new strategies, initiative or training in action!

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

Developing Employees’ Strengths Boosts Sales, Profit, and Engagement

Sustainment Framework