Putting Training into Practice

Above: An enthralled crowd at Spark09's Shanghai event earlier this year. This exciting event was presented by thought leaders and covered the topics: Humanity, Environment, Science, and Business. Spark09 will be in Beijing and Hong Kong soon!

Putting Training into Practice

Point number two from "Why (Most) Training Is Useless: Start Developing Skills; Stop WASTING Time" By David H. Maister is that training is a waste of time and money if what is taught is never put into practice.

Maister’s viewpoint is one which I strongly agree with and have, unfortunately, experienced many bad examples of. One experience was within an American multinational company:

The company’s training budget for the last quarter of 2008 was untouched by the economy but the Training Department was, understandably, under pressure to use the budget to full effect. The Training Manager was adamant that the staff required on going Business English in order to improve their communication skills despite the already high level of English within the organization. The problem was clearly the way in which employees communicated, not their level of English, but there was no convincing the Training Manager that a Communication Skills seminar followed by ongoing Core Communications training would be more successful. After Business English had been taken in to account; however, this left unused budget that could be used on soft skill training.

Long discussions and well-funnelled questioning made it clear that both Communication Skills and Time Management seminars would be highly advantageous to all concerned. These are extremely useable skills that can be put into practice instantaneously by trainees to immediately improve workplace efficiency. What more could a company want from their corporate training.

However, the Training Manager decided upon a Powerful Presentations seminar. A great choice of seminar that is not only highly interactive and skill oriented but also a great confidence and motivation builder for employees. It’s a topic I love to deliver and that trainees always enjoy and learn from.

However, during the routine telephone interviews used to customize the training to employees’ needs, it became apparent that not one of the trainees needed Presentation Skills training at this early stage of their career. They were all fresh graduates, very few attended meetings at all, and it was going to be at least a year or so before any of them would actually deliver a presentation to their boss, let alone a larger audience.

I discussed this with the Training Manager who fortunately saw the light when I argued that “Training is a waste of time and money if what is taught is never put into practice” and subsequently booked both of the aforementioned skills seminars instead.

Skills into Practice

Formal training MUST be reinforced through the individual’s application of new skills on-the-job. The trainee must be able to walk away from the training with a clear idea of how they are going to put their new skills into practice. Then the learning process should be enhanced by the support and coaching of performance managers and colleagues. Individuals need to seek out learning opportunities and request feedback as they perform new tasks and projects using their newly acquired skills.

Use It or Lose It

You must remember that if employees take part in a concentrated amount of training and cannot follow up with the ability to apply what they have learned, the skills will be forgotten in a matter of days or weeks. Trainees retain only what they can apply and continue to use.

I’ve often heard of companies that were originally going to spend two weeks and teach employees “everything” but found that they only retained what they put to use within the weeks after training. Instead they have decided to break the training into more manageable segments for a better retention rate and therefore greater ROI.
Companies wanting to gain the greatest ROI from their corporate training strategy need to recognize that a training program is not close-ended, it is something that should continue and be part of the culture.

In my next article I will discuss Maister’s third point: “Training should not be used as a first (or stand-alone) step to long-term change, but as part of a process toward organizational change.”

Many thanks for reading,

Emma

For more information on corporate training and seminars, or to provide feedback, please contact me on eharradine@hotmail.co.uk

1: Changes At The Top

Above: Spark09 – Shanghai. An event hosted by thought leaders and attended by future thought leaders. Coming soon to Hong Kong and Beijing!

“True long-term changes in any organization need to begin with changes at the top - in managerial behavior.”

As I mentioned in my previous post, it is common for organizations to use their training budget as strategically as they would their coffee break budget.

The multinational company I spoke about previously, invested in inspirational speeches for the masses in the hope that theoretical training would be enough to change employee work habits, but as we all know, knowing is not the same as doing. They wasted their valuable training budget, at a time when waste is not an option, on ineffective methods and an untargeted audience.

So what audience should they have targeted?

I can give you three good reasons why, within any organization, long-term changes need to begin with changes at the top – in managerial behavior:

Firstly, training must always be linked to management behavior and organizational strategies, and who understands the strategies of an organization better than top management. When the management trainee can see how the improvements will benefit the whole organization, and the connection between the skills and the company’s goals, they are more focused on applying the newly learnt behaviors.

Secondly, managerial ideas tend to filter down from senior management. Training ideas developed at a lower level are less likely to be adopted by the senior management and will, in turn, become obsolete in a short period of time. However, if a results-oriented manager demands improvements from all staff, employees are far more likely to jump to attention.

Thirdly, changing workforce demographics and the war for talent mean that organizations are seriously suffering from a lack of talented middle management capable of becoming higher management. Companies must, therefore, build from within their ranks. It is an enormous challenge for HR to retain potential talent and maintain their leadership pipeline, but using strategically planned training as an incentive for talent to remain within the organization is mutually beneficial.

In addition, managers achieve a deeper level of skill development when they are expected to teach others and to know the ins and outs of their newly acquired work practices. When put on the spot to practice what they are now preaching, managers feel the need to rise to the challenge and develop their skills to the next level; therefore adding value to the initial training.

Finning Ltd., the world's largest Caterpillar dealer, has the right idea. Finning’s executives are not only first in line for service and quality training, but they are also the trainers delivering sessions to their employees. The perfect example of adding value to training and therefore maximizing training budget!

Okay, so, I gave you four good reasons instead of three, but you can’t go wrong with delivering more than your clients' expect. So, no complaining!

I’m sure you’ll agree with me that all four points are valid reasons to begin with changes at the top, and therefore focus your training budget at managerial behavior.

Tomorrow, I’ll cover point number two from "Why (Most) Training Is Useless: Start Developing Skills; Stop WASTING Time." By David H. Maister:

“Training is a waste of time and money if what is taught is never put into practice.”

Until then, thanks for reading,

Emma

Please contact me with any thoughts or questions on eharradine@hotmail.co.uk or leave your comments here. Thank you.