Employees get trained all the time, but their performance hardly changes. Is there a point of spending all that money or should we just look at corporate training as a reward and some time off?

Changing behavior is one of the greatest challenges for mankind. We’re designed to follow patterns. There are moments or experiences that can be life transforming for some. Yet, others may go through similar situations without being affected at all. The military (watch the Royal Marines Commandos classic ‘99.99% need not apply’ advert) trains people for years on how to endure pain, face their fears and be willing to die for their country and fellow soldiers at the drop of a hat. Can you imagine the military achieving such results with a five-day training workshop?

Training should be looked at as a reward only for those who care about learning, but the idea of travel and extra cash must never be used as incentives. Think of training workshops as opportunities managers put in employees’ ways with the hope that a change for the better can be inspired and materialized. The question you need to ask yourself is: What can you do at work to help your recently-trained employees turn that inspiration to reality? Without creating an environment that support new thoughts and initiatives and without embracing mistakes as learning opportunities employees won’t be encouraged to overcome this difficult task of changing their behavior or way of thinking.

Knowing why you’re sending an employee to training, clearly identifying the expectations for their behavior after this opportunity, and creating a facilitating environment can improve your Return On Training Investment. How can you be a great facilitator at work? Welcome mistakes that result from genuine attempts to change things; this is what science is about, a series of experimentations and trials. Provide constant encouragements for efforts, guidance and coaching. Above all, be selective. Hands-on interactive workshops are much better than one-way seminars and lectures. If all fails, send your employees to the military…and that’s just my two cents.read what others have read

• two cents: training happens
• two cents: do as I say, but I won’t
• two cents: war at work

Training workshops have always been a way of rewarding our staff by showing them that we’re investing in them. As budgets have been shrinking we started to evaluate the impact of training on the business. We found out that most employees were not applying what they learned. Do we have the wrong staff or are training workshops useless?

Imagine a child that doesn’t turn in his homework, doesn’t participate in group-discussions, and doesn’t do any projects, only to find his name on top of the list of students going to the Natural History Museum in London. That is what comes to my mind when someone tells me that they use training as a ‘reward’ tool in their organization. Investing in staff is a good thing. Investing in the right staff is a smart thing. And now that training budgets have been cut, slashed and murdered in some cases, investing in the right people for the sake of developing the business in the near future becomes more essential than ever.

One of the main reasons why training workshops have a short-term effect is because most of them are designed to give you information about a topic and explain quickly how to get there. Rarely, would you find a training program that provides you with a roadmap for applying the new changes and that is supported by guidance and consultation. Homo sapiens are creatures of habit. A two-day or even two-week workshop can’t permanently change years of certain behavior. If training is the key to start the car, coaching is the fuel to keep it going…and that’s just my two cents.read what others have read

• two cents: casualties of training
• two cents: ethical business?
• two cents: clueless boss