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Rai Chowdhary, MS, CQE,
CQM, Six Sigma Coach
Every organization strives to do better - and they all
understand that training can play a vital role in the organization's
success. Then, what goes awry? Why is it that only a small
number of companies do well, and a vast majority of them deliver average to
mediocre performance? While many factors can contribute to such
problems, one of the leading causes is "Employee Training",
rather, the lack of.
Since mistakes teach us a lot, let us take a look at the
10 common ones; each can provide good insight into what goes
wrong.
Mistake No. 1
Training Event Was In The Neighborhood...
Convenient as it may be, there is no guarantee such events will be of much
value. Just because workshop or class was offered in a
geographically favorable location is no reason to go take it. The initial euphoria
will subside in a few weeks; then if one
were to ask what did we really get out of the time we invested in that
event, answers will be hard to come by. The satisfaction of having gone through training,
saving on travel,
and living will be brief.
Mistake No. 2
Not In The Budget...
It is strange how companies stay blind to losing thousands or millions
of dollars in defective products, error prone services, aging inventory, or because dissatisfied customers switch
loyalties, etc. But, will become penny pinchers when it comes to
spending only hundreds for employee training. Knowledge gained from good training when applied to the
business, becomes an appreciating asset that pays back again and again, in
more than one way. Contrast this with the tangible assets on the
balance sheet - they add nothing
to the intellectual capital of the company, and most lose value over
time. The fact that we can write them off over time is little
consolation.
Mistake No. 3
There Is No Time For It...
I once happened to see a man running alongside his bike; he seemed to
be in a hurry to get someplace, so, I asked him why did he not get on the
bike? He replied,
"I don't have time to pause and get on the bike." The right kind
of training can save a lot of time - even if initially it seems to take
longer to get things done. Imagine trying to fly a plane with little
or no training in take off, landing, or use of the controls, or getting
surgery done from a doctor who is trying to learn on the job. How
many of you would want to be among the first few patients for such a
surgeon? Now compare this to what goes on in your company, or other
companies - employees get hired, get briefed, and in most cases are put on
the job quickly. The excuse given for not taking time to train them
is they will learn best via "on the job training".
Mistake No. 4
Getting Training For The Sake Of Credit Hours...
Many companies have a requirement of x hours of training / year for
each employee. Since managers are held accountable for meeting this,
it becomes a ritual to get the x hours done. Relevance of what is
learned, and the benefit that will accrue to the organization become
secondary. Such situations are a double whammy, since not only are
training dollars wasted, but an illusion of accomplishment is created as
well.
Mistake No. 5
Lack Of Reinforcement...
Newly acquired knowledge evaporates rather quickly. In about 24
hours, as much as 80% of this knowledge can be gone, if not reinforced /
revisited. What happens after most people come back from
training? They face piles of e-mails, and memos they have to wade
through; then there is catching up on missed meetings, due reports,
etc. All this "busyness" preoccupies them, and the chance
that they will refresh the new knowledge is minimal at best.
Moreover, many managers don't do even ask their employees about the topics
they learned, and how they plan on applying the same at work. When the time comes for them to
really put their knowledge to work, they find themselves rusty, so they
start by looking for the 3 ring binder that contains all the notes. When they find
it, it is a struggle to read and re-learn, because the pressure of the job
keeps mounting, finding it cumbersome, the effort is given up and work
gets done the same old way. Thus even well intentioned training can go waste if not
used / refreshed at the right intervals.
Mistake No. 6
Lack of Alignment with Organization's and Department's
Goals...
What are our goals for this year, next year, and the following
year? If a longer-term plan does not exist, what about the 1-year
plan? Have we made an inventory of what skills we have today, vs.
what is required to accomplish our goals? Where do we want to be, by
when? What core competencies do we want to develop going
forward? These are questions managers need to be asking all the
time, not just during off site "feel good - team building"
events. Once these get answered, it can lay the foundation for getting the
right skill sets in place. Then the question will be do we want to
help our people grow and develop, or acquire the skill sets via hiring the
right people. There is no one correct answer, which will fit all
organizations.
Mistake No. 7
Not Measuring the Effectiveness of Training...
Do you pay for your car to get serviced? How do you know it was
serviced well? Do you check it out to make sure it works well after the
service? Why?
Most training programs go un checked - what a terrible waste of money and
time. How do you know what you got for the training dollars
spent? How do you know if the participant even paid any attention,
or did she go there to get away from work (this is the answer I have got
in some of my workshops when I asked "Why are you here?").
Not measuring the effectiveness is in essence like throwing money away,
no, actually it is worse. Here is how - the message to the
employee is that management does not care about whether I learned anything
or not. So the employee thinks it is ok to do whatever, as long as I just
go there.
Mistake No. 8
Not Caring About the Class Mix...
Few companies realize that one of the factors that creates
inconsistent training is that the class may comprise of some candidates
that are high up on the learning curve, where as others may be at the
beginners level, in the topic. This creates challenges for the
instructor, since, now he has to cater to a very diverse audience.
Naturally, the tendency is to teach at the lowest common denominator,
which makes the high achievers yawn, while the beginners learn only the
elementary parts of the material. A little pre-assessment could have
gone a long way in making sure the participants are grouped somewhat
homogeneously, and taught in stages - thereby derive the most benefit from
the workshop.
Mistake No. 9
Putting Too Much Faith in "Off The Shelf
Training"...
Is your company exactly like others in the same line of
business? Do your managers and executives run the company with the
same strategies, and tactics that others do? Are your employees
exactly like others in similar industries? No? Then how can
you assume that a same standard package of training that others got will
work for you? Ok, let us assume you did some homework, and come to
the conclusion that the package is good enough - but wait, aren't your
competitors learning from the same materials? This means you will be
no better than others in the industry - a sure way to deliver mediocre
performance.
Mistake No. 10
Failing to “Sharpen The Saw”…
According to Stephen Covey, we must find time to sharpen the saw.
Assuming that the training we got years ago is still valid, and fresh is
very likely a gross overestimation – one that gives rise to a false
sense of security. Periodic
checks and balances can ensure we continue to perform at the cutting edge
– whether operating a process, or providing service.
Consider this – you are on your way to catch a plane, and when
going through the security checkpoints, find out that the baggage
screeners at this Airport were certified over 4 years ago.
They have never been re-examined for their effectiveness since
then. Would you
be comfortable with their ability to detect and prevent a suspicious bag
from slipping past?
TEAM 2000
All Rights Reserved
This article may not be reproduced in part or full without
permission from the author
To contact the author send an e mail to: rai_chowdhary@yahoo.com,
or call: 1-877-HOW-N-WHY
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