Go Fish! The Absurdity of Skill Application Without the Right Environment

Your employees are super-charged after a great learning experience that your team painstakingly put together. You did all the right things – ensured training is aligned with business goals, nailed down actual performance and skill gaps that can be bridged through training, made the learning experiences engaging interactive impactful, ensured the training gave plenty of opportunities for thinking of real-world application and then the employees were unleashed to work their magic on the job, with their newly acquitted superpowers. They were motivated, equipped and raring to go.??

But. But. But. In less than a week, managers noticed a distinct flagging of morale and an increasing lack of enthusiasm about the training they just underwent. This was definitely not the reaction they had as soon as they completed the training. You get into a funk wondering what you did wrong. After 24 agonizing, soul-searching hours, you still can’t identify the root cause. The culprit? Not giving the adequate opportunities in the real world to apply their skills.??

It is like teaching a person to fish and then leaving them in the desert. Like training up someone to be a ninja and them having them chop inions. Or using your lifeline to spiderman to get him to fix fairy lights on your Christmas tree. Or asking Warren Beatty to help you plan your groceries budget. A slight exaggeration but you get the idea.??

Here’s a situation: employees were trained in decision-making, with the goal of improving their capacity to make impactful decisions—even if they failed sometimes. Through the training, they were exposed to scenarios that helped them hone their critical thinking skills. But if they’re not given relevant opportunities to apply these skills in the workplace, that training fizzles out fast. Skills need time, space, and context to truly stick.?

6 Impressive Benefits of Scenario-based Learning?

Providing Application Opportunities After Learning?

Let’s break down some practical ways L&D can help managers bridge that gap between skills and actual on-the-job use.:?

1. Equip them with Specific Action Steps? Broad statements like “encourage them to apply what they learned” don’t help. Help managers with a practical “after-training action guide/checklist” with specific ways to support skill application. Here’s an example breakdown:?

• Week 1: Assign one task that directly uses the new skill.?

• Week 2: Provide feedback, identify challenges, and discuss adjustments.?

• Ongoing: Schedule brief touchpoints to see how the skill is evolving in real projects.?

Bite-sized, week-by-week suggestions make it easier for managers to engage without overloading them.?

7 Amazing Tips to Create Effective Microlearning Modules That Awe Your Learners?

2. Create Easy Reference Guides and Job Aids? Job aids for specific skills give managers something they can glance at, even on a busy day, to refresh key points. Design these guides around real scenarios managers will face. Whether it’s a checklist for conducting performance reviews or a quick script for giving feedback, these guides act as a quick “assist” in encouraging skills in action.?

3. Set Up Peer Coaching or Small “Skill Pods”? Encourage line managers to organize team members into small groups where they can practice skills together. This can include peer coaching sessions or “skill pods” that meet regularly to work on skill application as a group. This approach builds camaraderie, accountability, and takes some of the pressure off managers while giving employees the space they need to reinforce their learning.?

4. Share a Monthly Skill Spotlight?

Give line managers a short, monthly focus on one skill learned in recent training. Pair it with a quick example of how to support it, like assigning a relevant project task or giving feedback on progress. This monthly focus keeps skill application top of mind without overwhelming managers.?

How Do You Remind Managers??

L&D can’t rely on one-and-done training sessions to be the only reminders. Here’ are a few ways to ensure managers keep skills application on their radar:?

• Encourage appreciation: Send a prompt reminding managers to recognize when a team member successfully uses a new skill, offering examples like, “Great job using that new technique in the project. It really made a difference.”?

• Promote application discussions: Suggest that managers check in with their team members on how the new skills are impacting their work, with questions like, “What worked well when you tried this new approach? Any challenges we can troubleshoot together?”?

• Celebrate small wins: Highlight a recent success story from within the team or company where applied skills made an impact—reinforcing the value of putting new knowledge into action.?

Find Out How Can L&D Managers Ensure Training Appeals to a Multigenerational Workforce??

Google’s Best Practice That Can Be Adapted to Learning?

Google’s approach to continuous reinforcement through “whisper courses” is a strategy L&D can adopt to sustain skill application. Google sends leaders small, actionable tips—single reminders that encourage specific, positive behaviors over time. For L&D, these “whispers” could become a steady stream of simple, supportive nudges that help managers guide their teams in using new skills. A whisper could say, “Remember to spot and call out small wins in your team’s skill application this week,” or, “If you see a skill in action, take a moment to acknowledge it in your next team meeting.”?

These quick, consistent reminders provide managers with practical ways to reinforce skill use, making it easier for them to support their teams in building confidence and capability on the job.??

Let’s stop setting people up to “fish in the desert” and give them real, actionable ways to apply those newly acquired skills. The payoff isn’t just in better-trained employees—it’s in a workforce that actually knows how to bring training to life where it counts. ?