When you invest in training, why not take the extra steps to make sure you get the return you were hoping for? Here are 3 reasons training doesn’t always work, and what to do about it.
REASON #1: No reinforcement or accountability.
This is a common misstep, and here are two ways to address it. 1) Work closely with managers of the participants to plan and then recap what is covered in the training. Support them with tips and tools to keep the conversation going with participants and help them implement what they learned. 2) Taking it one step further, managers can hold participants accountable to applying new ideas, strategies, and tools. Whether they conduct annual performance reviews, regular coaching conversations, or informal check-ins (or all 3!), these are opportunities to ask participants about results they’ve seen after using what they learned.
REASON #2: No clear desired outcomes.
Outcomes are not what happens in the training, but what participants will do and say differently to yield different results. For example, as a result of attending ‘Managing Conflict’ training, a desired outcome could be that participants “utilize a 4-step method for addressing conflict productively that results in agreement and a way forward”. This behavior is observable and can also be reinforced by their manager.
Having clear outcomes can help you resolve reason #3…
REASON #3: Lack of measurement.
We need to go beyond the ‘smile sheet’ to measure the impact of training. It is, of course, important to know whether people liked the training and learned something, but the real juice comes when we report metrics about the impact the training had on the business. The plan to measure impact starts during the needs assessment, not after training occurs. Metrics are aligned with the desired outcomes, which ideally are aligned with the business strategy.
Here’s another article you may like… http://alignedperformance.com/the-answer-isnt-always-training/
