Training is a Terrible Investment
Each year, corporations in the United States spend over $100B on training. Much of that money is wasted because training is a terrible investment.
?Or is it?
?According to a 2016 Harvard Article:?
?“Corporations are victims of the great training robbery. American companies spend enormous amounts of money on employee training and education—$160 billion in the United States and close to $356 billion globally in 2015 alone—but they are not getting a good return on their investment.”?
?A robbery. A GREAT robbery!
?A 2017 article from McKinsey states that:
?“According to a recent Fortune survey, only 7 percent of CEOs believe their companies are building effective global leaders, and just 10 percent said that their leadership-development initiatives have a clear business impact. Our latest research has a similar message: only 11 percent of more than 500 executives we polled around the globe strongly agreed with the statement that their leadership-development interventions achieve and sustain the desired results.”
?If I ran a pharmaceutical company that produced a drug that only worked 11% of the time, I’d be in big trouble.
?As a training professional, this is hard for me to hear. However, I know a secret: Corporations continue to spend billions on training because it works when it’s done right. (But it’s hard to get right.)
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Why it’s a terrible investment and how you can flip the script
?How can you get training right so that it’s not a terrible investment and a great robbery? Here are the thoughts I’ve gathered over the last 17+ years in the industry.
?1. Training gets over-prescribed
?A tongue and cheek saying I’ve had for years is: Training is the problem, training can fix everything. I, of course, know this isn’t true. But I’ve worked with a lot of people who feel this way. Training is prescribed to fix all manner of performance and human behavior problems that range from learning new software programs to unconscious bias.
?Training is just one tool in the learning and development toolbox and it should be used to solve problems related to knowledge and skill. Training cannot solve problems related to misaligned incentives, poor job design, or matters of the heart like trust and motivation.
?Tip: Before you prescribe training to fix your next problem, ask yourself: Is this a matter of knowledge and skill?
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2. A Cynical View of Human Beings
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?Why would you waste your time creating intelligently designed instructional systems if you don’t believe they’ll work? This is how cover-your-butt (CYB) training gets made.
?CYB training exists. It exists because many of us have a cynical view of human beings and their motives. When we tell our employees to take CYB training – think most compliance training – what we are really telling them is: “Look, I know you’re just going to do what’s most convenient to you, but I have to make you take this terrible training. I do not care if it makes a difference or not because I can’t change the way you behave.”
?In my experience, CYB training makes up the bulk of garbage training that I would classify as a terrible investment. It’s a bad look for everyone involved. Management looks like they do not care. Instructional designers are asked to produce garbage training. Learners are required to take garbage training.
?Tip: Before you commission another garbage CYB training, ask yourself: How would I approach this training if knew the outcome could impact someone I love or care for?
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3. Poor Human Environments
?Think back to when you were learning to drive. You probably learned the rules of the road for a specific place, like a state or province, through a blend of in-person instruction, self-paced study, and practical application. A blended learning solution. You probably had the support of others like parents or a sibling (mentors and coaches). You probably couldn’t wait to get out there on your own (motivation). You were probably on a path to become a perfect driver.
?But something changed after you got your license. A lot of things probably changed. You started driving on your own more. You started encountering more poor drivers who seemed to get away with it. The only feedback you’d get about your performance was “constructive” (traffic tickets). Your standards probably started to slip. We all tend to adjust our standards to the lowest enforced standard. Driving became less of a joy and more of a chore.
?The instructional system that taught you to drive was good. But the environment in which you had to apply all those learned behaviors slowly eroded your standards and joy.
?It’s not much different for training within corporations. The acute value created by well-designed instructional systems will be eroded by chronically bad human environments.
?Tip: Design instructional systems that align with what your human environments can sustain.
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4. Fixation on Training Events
?Learning isn’t a training event – it’s a cognitive-social phenomenon that takes place over time.
?Have you ever sold a house? One of the big events that happens when you sell a house is the Open House. If you’ve ever been to or hosted an Open House, you know that it’s an opportunity to get a bunch of people interested in your property. Balloons and signs are put up, cookies and juice are consumed, contact information is exchanged, questions are answered, emotions are felt… And then that’s it, right. Once the last person has left and the Realtor picks up their signs and balloons…offers roll in. A single event was enough. Someone is going to buy this place for sure. Right?
?No. Well maybe if you lived in Seattle in 2018. For everyone else, an Open House is just the beginning of a longer process. There will be follow-ups, relationship building, overcoming concerns… there will be more time invested after the Open House than at the Open House.
?Tip: Think about your next training event like this. How will you close the deal with your learners? How will you follow up with them? How will you keep them interested in what they learned? How will you help them apply what you taught them?
?In closing, people make a lot of terrible training investments. But, that doesn’t mean that training itself is a terrible investment. When it’s applied to the wrong situations, designed poorly, and not supported, it can be terrible.
?However, in my experience, when the converse of all of these is true, the results of training can be transformational and empowering.
Director of Technical Training/Certified Instructor-Facilitator/Railroad Signalling Technical Trainer/OJT Training Specialist/Application Design Desktop Review
2 个月Point 2 especially hit home with me Tim. Great article. Sure, CYB training may be required, but there's no reason why CYB training can't be high quality and high impact training. Our industry is starting to catch on and it's great to see you leading the way.