Why Corporate Training Fails — And What You Can Do About It
The Return on Invement (ROI) on training at the end of any workshop or seminar is zero! The ROI only happens if there is measurable improvement in performance after the class. We recognize that some residual value is gained under the category of education; nevertheless, corporations invest in training to achieve gains in productivity.
There is a dark secret in the training industry: That approximately 80% of what people are exposed to in professional training will be forgotten within one week, and most participants will not implement what they learn. Training for the sake of training is not a sound business practice.
Product development environments tend to be tumultuous, imposing serious pressures on professionals who have little time to spend on training; thus the need to ensure full adoption from every training opportunity is paramount — there is no second chance.
Typical Scenario
Visualize the last training session you attended. Chances are that you were asked to attend, but not told why? Once there, the instructor presented a myriad of PowerPoint slides and facilitated hypothetical exercises with little or no relevance to your real situation. Finally, you returned to your desk, still not knowing what to do.
Typical Misconceptions about Training
Unfortunately in the corporate world there is some lack of understanding about the role of training in the improvement of productivity, for example:
Ø Training alone will fix productivity problems
Ø Those attending training will know what to do to create sustained performance improvements.
Ø Management can delegate the responsibility of productivity improvement to some training organizations while expecting measurable results
Ø There is such a thing as “instant pudding” when it comes to productivity improvement
Ø Without a framework of support and reinforcement training will result in measurable improvement
What to do about it
What you need to ask trainers and instructors in order to protect your investment.
Focus on practical application.
Ask the instructors to develop their syllabuses, materials, and overall approach to enable the participants to apply the knowledge to their day-to-day jobs. We have seen too many “concept training” without a commensurate reinforcement on application. Specifically, lack of process maps (how to’s), insufficient templates and forms, and too many examples from hypothetical applications.
The development of training materials must be done from the start with focus on application to real-world situations and keeping in mind the obstacles and challenges that participants will encounter after the seminar is over.
Ask the instructors to work with Managers and Executives before, during and after the training to collaborate in developing the necessary framework of support to ensure measurable improvement in productivity.
Require the instructors to understand the business objectives of the training, not just the training objectives. This will help them develop a relevant context for the training, and also reinforce the message from management.
What you can do
First define and document the business objectives for every training program. Ensure that all managers and supervisors understand the business intent of the training. All training must be part of an overall business need. Remember that a training program must result in a measurable improvement in performance and eventually improvement in the profitability of your organization or company. It is possible to identify the expected role training plays in any productivity improvement initiative, it may take some analysis and creativity, but it can be done.
Inform every participant of their roles and responsibility in every training session. Every employee must know the answer to the following questions, with absolute clarity:
Why am I here? Explains how the training relates to the job of the individual participant, and expressed in the “language” of that individual.
Why are we here? Explains why a particular group or team is participating in the seminar, i.e., the big picture.
What do you expect from me after the class? Specific explanation as to the expected improvement in productivity related to the day-to-day responsibilities of the individual.
What can I expect from you after the class? Details the level of support that participants can expect from management.
Define and use metrics beyond the “smiley face” class evaluation. Strive to develop metrics that connect to the improvement of profitability of your company.
While we recognize that training alone will not improve productivity, it was nonetheless the reason why you decided to provide training.
Productivity improvement can be measured in one of three ways:
1. Reduction of waste, for example the use of a new tool reduces the number of steps employees must complete to complete a task.
2. Reduction in cycle time, for example training in project management reduces time-to-market in a product development organization
3. Improvement in customer satisfaction, where by new training results in an improvement of satisfaction in a specific customer segment. For example training in reliability results in more dependable products thus improving customer satisfaction.
Seek complete information about the training and the instructor. The training should be developed based on a solid understanding of the “real world”, avoid “best-case scenarios” training that makes the assumption of a perfect environment. Ensure that every instructor has the academic and most of all the actual experience in the particular training domain.
Perform a debrief (retrospect) three months after the training was completed. Doing a postmortem on a training program a few months after it took place will provide considerable information about its effectiveness, “lessons learned”, and any new gaps that need to be closed to continue the improvement in productivity. Retrospect on a particular training initiative will also identify the root cause of needed improvements.
Conclusion
Training is a critical ingredient in coping with difficult environments such as product development, it is in the best interest of your company to maximize the productivity of every employee. Taking a few critical steps such as those outlined in this overview will improve the return on your investment and allow you to make a measurable contribution to your organization
Tags: Performance improvement, Product Development training, Productivity improvement, Professional development, Training, Training and Development, Training Effectiveness
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