Particularly in times of a crisis, an employee-led training (ELT) system is a cost-efficient way to give employees the further education they deserve and need to stay on top of things, and to increase their ability to be efficient and effective. An ELT system accrues very few costs while having copious benefits, such as motivated, broadly positioned employees who understand the procedures and interfaces in the company and can thus work much more efficiently, while being enabled to network, cooperate, and communicate on a new level. The employees will identify with the organization and the solidarity between headquarters and branch offices will enhance tremendously. The seminars are well targeted and easy to understand for the employees, as a colleague, who knows exactly which lingo and examples to use, holds them. The knowledge transferred is practical and the employees can implement it into their daily work immediately. The organization itself not only becomes transparent towards its employees, it also sets a new standard by pointing out that employer-employee work relationships can go beyond the maliciously obedient work that is rewarded with a pay-check at the end of the month. All parties involved benefit from the ELT system and it requires a minimal amount of administration work, which the personnel development within the HR department covers. The extra work that has to be conducted by the in-house trainers is factually compensated by their chance to distinguish themselves in the organization and to further their work portfolio. They become powerful multipliers. This study sheds light on the ELT system using the practical example of Stage Entertainment Germany, while providing a process description, describing assets and drawbacks, as well as the implementation of the resulting improvements in the new business year. It can be used as a guide to implement an ELT system at a similar organization.

Textprobe: Chapter 2.4.2, Development of the Staff Academy and Stage Insight in Times of the Global Financial Crisis: In times of the so-called global financial crisis, companies often set up cost cutting measures. Frequently, the first budget restrictions are set up for external consultants and trainers. Personnel development, a subdivision of HR at Stage Entertainment Germany, developed the novel system Staff Academy in the beginning of the business year 2008/2009 without a comprehensive preceding need analysis as a system of three pillars: personality development, Stage Insight, and specialized knowledge. External trainers carry out the seminars for the personality development pillar at Stage Entertainment Germany locations. Seminars such as how to conduct appraisal interviews, teamwork and team development, communication, and conflict management enhance leadership skills and are thus primarily aimed at managers, while the train-the-trainer and time-management seminars nurture methodology competencies targeting internal trainers in the former and any employee in the latter case. The specialized knowledge pillar offers seminars for the acquisition of expert key competencies. Seminars that fall in this category could be IT trainings, language courses, or other expert seminars such as pyrotechnics for a theater staff member. Usually, external professionals also carry out these seminars sometimes, internal experts carry out these seminars. Employees of Stage Entertainment Germany teach the Stage Insight seminars. The seminars contain only internal topics, such as how the sales department at Stage Entertainment Germany operates rather than what a sales department in general does. Stage Insight trainers are supposed to give a lecture on their daily work and the interfaces they have with other departments. When the Staff Academy was initially established, all departments were to introduce their work in a Stage Insight seminar eventually. The superior objectives for Stage Insight are to give the employees a broader perspective and thus constitute interdepartmental knowledge. The employees are supposed to understand the company and its departments better and gain insights in individual processes. Finally yet importantly, colleagues will network better after the implementation of Stage Insight. The personality development pillar was estimated to be used for approximately 150 employees in the business year 2008/2009 while accruing costs in the middle fourdigit range per seminar while the Stage Insight pillar was estimated to be used by 450 participants while costing less than one-eighteenth of external seminars. This shows that companies can save significantly when using internal trainers while at the same time ensuring a seminar is tailored to the company’s needs. In-house seminars are always considerably cheaper than equivalent external ones.

• Employee Led Training

• ELT

• In-House Training

• Internal Trainer

• train-the-trainer

• Training System

Kim Maya Sutton wurde 1974 in Berlin geboren und hat nach dem Studium der Wirtschaftsinformatik über 14 Jahre Erfahrung in der Erwachsenenbildung gesammelt studienbegleitend hat sie für Vobis Microcomputer ein System zur Einarbeitung neuer Mitarbeiter entwickelt. Ein ähnliches, IT-gestütztes System hat sie bei Boston Consulting eingeführt. Sie hat in den USA gelebt und dort ein reibungslos funktionierendes ELT System in der Gastronomie kennengelernt. Im Frühjahr 2010 hat sie ihren Bachelor of Arts in internationalem Management erhalten während dieses Studiums hat sie unter anderem für Unilever und Stage Entertainment gearbeitet und ihr Übersetzungs- und Buchproduktionsbüro aufgebaut.