Change in the Training World – Part Two

The Solutions
Last time I talked about the idea that major change generates a lot of discomfort and used a comment about the Lewis and Clark expedition to show that’s normal. I also described two reasons change is necessary in the training world. First, skills retention is thought to be pretty low. Second, the current economy requires that we get more from fewer resources. I then asked: “Why is change not happening as much as it should?” Some of you may be asking, “What could be changed? How could training be made more effective?”

• Have managers ask three key questions of any employee returning from a training experience. “What did you learn today? How could you apply that learning to your job? How can I help you do that?”
• Have the company actually monitor, encourage, and reward new behaviors.
• Give people some time to think. Arrange job responsibilities so that people are not constantly looking after immediate job crises.
• Constantly communicate the goals of the business and the ways that training will help meet them. If training doesn’t help meet them, reconsider what you’re training.
• Provide training on topics that can be used right away. Busy adult learners consider a skill relevant only if it can be applied immediately. There are logistics problems with this idea, so blended learning and training support tools (like WorkNetSkills.com) are very useful – they provide the skill when it is needed.

These things work. Yet you probably haven’t seen too many in use.
In Part Three I’ll discuss the pressures against change and what we can do about them.