Training Syndrome: Where Companies Go Wrong?

Every single organisation in our part of the world needs self-driven motivated management team and in turn go getter workforce and in attempt of achieving the above goals, what these companies do, they start looking for someone who can convert their “supposedly demotivated, down-shouldered” teams into robust teams in an 8-hour long external training. While organising such learning interventions, the CEO along with Head of Human Resources (HR) and Head of Learning & Development (L&D) jointly review the profiles of the external trainers and shortlist a few great talkers available in the country and finalise one. While doing so, the most common mistake the management makes is to see whether these sweet talkers have ever worked even for a single day in their whole life in a corporate setting or is it just bookish knowledge they transfer?

One of my most favorite lines that describes this situation is “spray and pray”. The one-day training was sprayed out with a fire hose by an external motivational trainer to the top two tears of the organisation, spending most of the time in jumping and dancing and playing childish games. The Head of HR & L&D then mutually pray that whatever was taught somehow magically gets absorbed (and applied) by the top and extended management teams in attendance after the training finishes. It is mainly getting down on your knees as a leader and desperately wishing that the investment isn’t all for naught. It’s like hoping Oasis is going to reunite. (They’re not.)

Every business is unique, but following are a few pointers where companies go wrong with their learning strategy implementation are as follows:

1. Disengaged Employees

Its often a case of imbalance between the kind of trainings offered by L&D professionals (both inhouse and external) and the needs of employees i.e., Training Need Analysis (TNA) isn’t done properly. Some L&D teams don’t even have a clue how TNA is done. A research by Udemy found that that 52% of L&D professionals consider technical skills the top priority for corporate training programs. Yet, another study by LinkedIn found that employees would most benefit from learning soft skills.

To me, this shows that even if you’re struggling to maintain engagement in your corporate training program, the motivation is there; you just need to offer the right course. Further, offering a diverse portfolio of courses to help increase employees’ motivation and engagement. Also, the TNA should be derived from nowhere else other than the learning segment of the performance appraisal cycle.

2. Employee Feedback

As training professionals, we’re in the business of building the skills that organizations need to be successful. The skill of giving feedback is one of them, and it’s not a hard skill to learn. Empirically, however, it seems to be a hard skill to teach. Don’t give up. Diagnose your current offerings. Ask the right questions. Continue to improve, adjust and evolve. There is no more powerful force to improve performance than high quality feedback.

For any training program to work, there is no better indicator than the training participants feedback. Some businesses do the contrary. They ask external trainers to evaluate their employees (participants) based on their 8-hour long interaction and forget to gather feedback from their teams about the trainer. Isn’t it a joke? Establish a system of regular feedback collection, and discuss the results with your trainers (both internal and external). That way, you will be able to not only track the effectiveness of your program, but also improve its content.

3. Practical Aspect

Let’s understand that it shouldn’t be a holy ritual to organise trainings just because the L&D Unit has to justify its existence. For an L&D program to be successful, employees must learn to apply their acquired skills. How do business training companies often operate? Many will have you read or listen to a lecture or attend a workshop and then participants are formally or informally assessed.

I believe practical tasks that allow you to tap into the potential of new skills are key. When creating a program, an L&D experts should pay attention to the practical aspect of the training. In the end, the application of skills is just as important (if not more so) than the content of the course itself. After all, if you don’t apply new information you’ve learned, you will forget about 75% of it in just six days.

4. Adaptability is the KEY

It goes without saying that every single employee has his/her particular learning needs. During the pandemic, some of our team members might not have adapted to remote work. They might be trying to navigate technological barriers or simply struggle to work completely online. Corporate training programs must take this into account by creating simple user interfaces and ensuring help is accessible to employees.

Additionally, take into account that employees learn differently. While one person might thrive in a lecture, another might fell into a deep sleep and start snoring, rendering the lecture ineffective. Ensure your training is entertaining and engaging (not always jumping & dancing). There should be a sense of accomplishment in every step of learning.

5. Slow Learning Works

Employees likely may not have time to study after hours. A LinkedIn research found that 74% of employees want to learn in their spare time at work. For the trainings to be effective, cut it into smaller pieces. It is easier to find 15 minutes a day than an hour once a week. Also, your employees could use learning as entertainment while working from home. It’s been said that we tend to learn best if we digest information in small chunks.

The growth of corporate education is a great news for everyone. It’s how you can ensure your employees’ professional development. L&D professionals can offer valuable trainings, especially with innovative and need-based training programs.

Conclusion

Precisely, any professional L&D Team that encourages employees to work on their behaviors — be it personal or professional require some form of follow-up and reinforcement to ensure the new knowledge is being applied.

The real problem is what happens after the training. That is fundamental and post-training follow up can make or break the L&D intervention. Let’s focus on where a good portion of training spend occurs: leadership and professional development. After all, the existing top leadership team won’t be there forever. Organisations need to spend time, effort and resources on identifying and training the future successors from within.

About the Author

Muhammad Sajwani is the Founder and Managing Director of Evolve HR which aims at transforming, enriching and evolving Human Capital of Pakistan, Evolve HR thrives in challenging assumptions that hinder organisational aspirations, by creating innovative solutions that yield maximum impact, scalability & benefit to a wider base of stakeholders. As a Business Coach and Organisational Consultant, Sajwani knows how to combine business insights with people insights to transform organisations and put them on the path to growth.