Why your company’s required training feels like a waste of time (Hint: it’s because it is)

As part of the launch of The Impactful Executive, Dr Ali Monadjem and I have launched a newsletter focused on the topics of organizational health and performance. Over the next eight weeks on this site, I will post the previous seven articles from that newsletter, a 8-part series on the problems and solutions with corporate training and professional development in 2024.

If you'd like to read the whole thing now, please go to https://newsletter.impactfulexec.com/

Tell me if this feels familiar: It’s a Friday morning. You are at home, still in your pajamas.?

You have told your boss not to bother you today—it is a day for scheduled training.?

You are looking forward to it; training opportunities were an important consideration in your job search, and you never feel your company gives you enough of them.?

You switch on your computer and join the Zoom call.

You hear the dulcet tones of Kenny G as the facilitator waits for people to join.?

After a few minutes, with 94 participants on the call (muted and with videos off), the facilitator begins the training by asking everyone to introduce themselves.?

This takes 20 minutes, but it feels like 4 hours.

The facilitator shares screen and begins a presentation.?

On slide 22 there is an embedded video (diverse learning formats!) in which a member of management gives some important or inspirational words.

The facilitator asks the group, “What did you think of the video?” Crickets. “Anyone? Okay, maybe I’ll call on someone. Umm…Susan, could you tell us your main takeaways? Susan? Looks like Susan may have stepped away. John?”

The two John’s on the call start speaking at once. They laugh nervously, and John M. goes on. “Very helpful video,” he says. “It speaks to the type of challenges I face every day.” The host thanks him and moves to the next slide.

The facilitator sends you to breakout groups for a roleplay.?

It is not entirely clear what you’re supposed to be doing and you feel a bit silly doing it anyway, so you chat with your colleagues for a few minutes instead. One member of your breakout “team” doesn’t say anything--is he even still on the call??

The facilitator reminds you of the assignment in the chat, and your team comes up with something in the last few minutes. Your absent colleague returns and apologizes—he had a client call. You return to the plenary and listen to everyone’s presentation. You present your group’s ideas for 2 minutes, unsure if anyone other than the facilitator is listening.

After several more hours, you’re done for the day. You’re asked to rank the session. You give 4 out of 5 stars. It got slow at times, but the facilitator was nice, and tried hard. You learned a couple new things. Overall, a decent (if boring) day.

But wait. Was it, really, a decent day??

Did you improve your skill level in a way that will tangibly benefit you? Will your behavior change? Will your performance improve??

Will your company earn a positive return on the $50,000+ of employee time (let alone travel, accommodation, and food cost, if the training takes place in person) that was spent on this single day of training? Who knows?

This scenario is an exaggeration, but elements will be familiar to most everyone working in a corporate setting. Corporate training is a $300 billion per year global industry, paid for by shareholders and executives who believe “our people are our most important asset,” but often do not know how to grow their people effectively. And why should they? Corporate executives are experts in manufacturing or financial services or product development, not cognitive science and adult education.

I have seen this problem from multiple angles over the years, as a participant in corporate training sessions, a small business owner, a school leader, a corporate organizational consultant, and even as a developer and facilitator of these training sessions.

The problem is not that these training sessions and workshops don’t work. It is that, when taken on their own, they can’t work. Attempting to improve performance in this way is fundamentally flawed.

Over the next six weeks, we will go through six reasons why corporate training/human capital development/talent development/whatever-you-want-to-call-it doesn’t work at most companies and why employees are frustrated by it. We will also discuss how companies can do it better, and implement programs that actually work.

Up next week is Problem 1 with corporate employee development: that companies and employees consider “training” and “work” to be two different things