Use it or lose it: Training is a waste of time and money if managers don't transfer lessons learned to their daily work lives - Management Tools - Column

HR Magazine, April, 2002 by Jathan W. Janove

With high hopes and the best of intentions, the president of Paradigm Widgets Inc., announced to line management a new, exciting training program. A great deal of time, money and energy was then spent teaching managers new communication skills and "do's" and "don'ts" of leadership to achieve organizational excellence.

One year later, however, no signs of on-the-job improvement had emerged. Recent union grievances showed that despite the communication skills training, some production supervisors continued to use the old "command-and-control" approach to dealing with employee issues. Despite the training program's section on documentation, a recent Title VII claim revealed that no documents existed on critical performance issues while other documents contradicted reality. Internal problems arose at the same pace as before with no let-up in disruption. Bottom line statistics concerning productivity and profitability had not improved. In short, "transfer of training" had eluded Paradigm Widgets' grasp.

What is 'Transfer of Training'?

Transfer of training begins with a trainer who has ideas, concepts, tools and techniques to teach. Trainees may or may not learn them. Even if they do learn them, however, "transfer" has not necessarily occurred. The lessons must translate into on-the-job behavior for the training to have transferred. Aristotle once explained: "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit." When transfer occurs, managers' repeated actions--their habits of managing people--change to reflect what they were taught.

So what went wrong with Paradigm Widgets' program? Why did transfer not occur? What can managers do to improve the workplace through training?

The Necessity of Commitment

Paradigm Widgets' executive leaders claimed to support the training program. However, their attendance and participation was sporadic. As a result, the company's top leaders never adequately learned the new skills, much less put them into practice. This gap between what the program preached and what executives practiced was not lost on managers attending the sessions.

Hopefully, your organization will avoid this pitfall. However, even if there is such an organizational misalignment, it does not prevent you from benefiting from the training program. The key is commitment. If before commencing a training program you commit to improving your management skills--what you repeatedly do, as Aristotle said--you likely will experience definable, measurable benefits in your corner of the workplace. Getting better at managing people not only will improve the tangible aspects of your job, it will make work a more meaningful expression of your life. Such benefits will not occur, however, without your commitment to learn, do and teach.

Pre-Program Feedback

Following a training program, it is useful to get feedback about its effectiveness. However, soliciting feedback before the program can be even more useful. Paradigm Widgets put its effort into researching and selecting vendors of training. It then assumed a passive role while the outside trainers and consultants took over.

But the company's preparation time would have been better spent if it included assessing the workplace, evaluating past successes and failures, reviewing policies and asking questions such as: Do employees know what is expected of them? Do supervisors consistently and promptly give recognition or correction, as appropriate? Do employees feel able to use the best of their talents at work? What do employees perceive as their greatest challenges or obstacles to success?

Nevertheless, even when a company does not engage in this process, managers who are participating in the program can ask these questions themselves. The period just prior to the start of a training program is a great time for managers to solicit feedback from their employees, co-workers and superiors. If your company offers 360-degree evaluations, this is a good time to have one done. If not, ask those who work for you, who work with you and for whom you work the following: "What should I stop doing, start doing and continue doing?" Using the information obtained, you then can zero in on skills and techniques that will provide the greatest positive impact in your workplace world.

Go Easy at the Smorgasbord

At Paradigm Widgets, first-rate trainers taught first-rate tools, concepts and techniques. Any manager who employed them on a regular basis would be considered a virtuoso. The problem, however, was that the program resembled a buffet line at a five-star hotel. Faced with so many attractive choices, many managers became intimidated. As a result, they skipped the buffet line and ate the leftover tuna sandwich at their desk. Others overindulged and got indigestion for their efforts.

Paradigm Widgets would have been better served identifying a few desired skills or competencies and structuring the entire training program around them. Instead of overloading trainees with information, it should have narrowed the focus and designed the program so that the pre-selected competencies would be drilled and instilled.