The One Thing That Makes Training Worthwhile

Training programs that don’t result in changed behavior waste everyone’s time and money. Changing behaviors requires successfully navigating the longest distance in the human body.

Have you ever wondered why convincing someone to act consistently on something in which they’ve just been trained is so difficult? You can be articulate and clear in your explanation, well-supported in your arguments, offer proof galore, get the other person nodding his or her head in agreement, and yet he or she never acts on what they’ve “learned.” Notice that learned is in quotations, because learning involves a change in behavior in response to what is learned.

If your job or role depends on getting others to act in response to what you’ve taught them, you know the challenges of having your training programs adopted in initiatives such as:

1. Teaching a new set of soft skills to help people work together more effectively.
2. Learning and adopting a new procedure that will improve the quality of results delivered.
3. Technological upgrades, that when implemented, will result in time savings and accuracy improvements.
4. Adopting new processes necessary to meet compliance mandates.

Learning does not occur until someone’s behavior has been changed.

Learning does not occur until someone’s behavior has been changed.?

Navigating the Longest Distance in the Human Body

What is the longest distance in the human body? I’m indebted to Dr. Charles Missler for the answer.

According to Dr. Missler, that would be the distance between the head and the heart, and the heart and the hands. The head, because what is being trained must first be understood; the heart because what is trained must next be believed to be better than the alternative; and the hands, because what is trained must be acted upon. ?

Nominally, the distance between the head and heart is twelve to fifteen inches, and between the heart and hand another eighteen to twenty-four inches. The combined distances are filled with filters, such as biases, beliefs, preferences, and experiences, which either speed or resist converting what is heard into what is believed and acted upon.

In order for people to learn something, they must possess an open mindset to learning it. But there is far more needed than just an open mind.

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What Things Help Cultivate a Mindset Open to Learning?

There are several learner traits that cultivate an open mindset when it comes to learning and adopting new things, among which are:

One: Interest and relevance to learners.

A learner is open to learning things he or she sees as relevant to his or her job. Recently a client reached out to us because high-potential members of their sales team wanted to learn about how they could use emotional intelligence in their selling. Since people buy from people they like and trust, improved emotional intelligence could help them connect more effectively with customers.

Two: Intrinsic motivation.

Intrinsic motivation is something that comes from within a person, unlike money, recognition, or advancement. Some of our clients use an assessment that reveals two key intrinsic motivators: knowledge (learning new things; curiosity) and receptivity (being driven by ideas that fall outside a person’s beliefs or habits).

Three: Professional need (extrinsic motivation).

Sometimes a person’s external motivators can be a powerful reason to invest in learning something new. If learning is tied to an external motivator, the individual is likely to engage at a deeper level and takes steps to internalize what is being taught. One of my clients indicated that she was buying a house and needed to acquire her CPA licenses to move into a more senior position at a higher pay level.

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Learning Styles Differ Between Learners

Learning style models run the gamut between simple and complex. Here’s a simple model to consider:

Auditory learning. The auditory style of learning takes place though the ear, where hearing the spoken word in a preferred information intake method. Podcasts and topical lecture appeal to this learning style.

Visual learning. Visual learners need to see something in order to grasp it. This learning style prefers watching videos, looking at pictures and illustrations, and observing what is being taught in models. Reading it in print makes more of an impact than listening to the words being spoken.

Kinesthetic learning. Kinesthetic learners learn by doing – they want to have a physical hands-on experience in order to learn something.? They like trying things out for themselves and learn much from trial and error.

Combinations rule. Most learners are a combination of all three styles, though often will favor one style over the other. This is why group learning should employ all three styles; thus, more effective teaching methods consist of all three styles.

Learning Methods and Repetition Aid Retention

Training delivery methods must appeal to participant’s individual learning style preferences. In the diagram, as multiple learning styles are engaged, and repetition takes place, what is being taught is internalized by the learner.?

Note that low retention takes place when the topics are delivered primarily though lecture, reading and video. This explains why many on-demand learning programs may have limited impact on changing behaviors.

When a discussion component is added into the training delivery, retention rises. It rises further if ample practice time is given for learners to internalize knowledge, methods, and skills by doing. Sales trainer Tom Hopkins would often remark, “Repetition is the mother of learning and the heart of selling.”? Repetition using multiple approaches takes this concept to the next level.

Effective supervisors understand this and observe newly trained staff for six to eight weeks following training, providing appropriate feedback and coaching to help staff internalize what was learned.? As Ken Blanchard advises in The One Minute Manager, “Catch them doing something right!”

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CEO/C-Level Sponsorship

Having coached and trained (directly and indirectly) more than 30,000 people since 1976, I’ve rarely seen learning initiatives succeed without direct engagement from the top. When a learning initiative is sponsored by members of the C-level, participants give greater attention to learning and mastering what’s being taught. Here are several practical ways senior leaders can impact learning initiatives:

• Embrace continuous learning as a company value. Continuous learning is critical to have continuous improvement. According to Gallup, investing in ongoing development raises both employee engagement and employee retention. A $2,500 investment in an employee’s development is far, far less costly than the cost to replace that employee who left to go elsewhere.
• Hold your direct reports accountable for achieving ongoing learning objectives. Setting the objectives and discussing their progress should be part of every one-on-one meeting with your team.
• Inspect progress. People do what you inspect, not what you expect. Unless you make it a point to observe or find out how learning initiatives are going, they’ll be considered a lower priority than they should.
• Drop in at random as sessions are being conducted so that you and observe what is being taught and how your employees are responding.? Nothing tells a training participant how important their development is to the company than having a senior executive join for ten or fifteen minutes.
• Discuss learning progress during your skip-level meetings. You’ll get a much better idea of the effectiveness of your organization’s learning and development initiative by asking your direct reports’ direct reports about what they are learning and what they’d like the organization to teach them.

Organizations, just like people are in one of two states: green and growing, or ripe and rotting. It’s good to be green!

Bottom Line

One of the absolute best investments an organization can make to ensure future success is by resourcing and supporting learning initiatives that change behavior. Organizations, just like people are in one of two states: green and growing, or ripe and rotting. It’s good to be green!

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About me: For the past 25 years I’ve worked with some of the world’s top employers by helping them get the most out of their talented people. Thanks to our clients, the company I founded in 1998, Boyer Management Group, was recognized by CEO Monthly Magazine for its work in the executive coaching world, named in 2023 and 2024 as the recipient of the Most Influential CEO Award. Our coaching programs produce remarkable results in compressed periods of time. Our extensive?leadership development course catalog provides effective skills-building for everyone in the organization, from the new and developing leader to the seasoned C-level executive.? BMG boasts one of the most extensive sales and sales management curriculums anywhere, with behavioral assessments to help develop talent. I also help job seekers, higher ed, and employment services connect people to better jobs faster.?To find out more, please visit us at?www.boyermanagement.com , email us at [email protected] , or call us at 215-942-0982.?