28/03/2013

Why Does Training Fail?

Gary Wyles, managing director of Festo Training and Consulting gives ten reasons why some training programmes do not deliver the improvements that were expected.

Engineering companies need to become more creative with employee rewards. With bonuses and additional remuneration on hold for many companies, they need to look at additional methods for building employee loyalty and motivation. A structured training and development programme can help to build employee loyalty and engagement, if managed correctly, providing additional skills and the motivation to achieve.

However, it is not simply about providing more responsibility and skills. Engineers and managers need to be fully engaged in their training, recognize the potential for their own career path and have the back up and support from their company for them to effectively translate their training into the workplace.

It is an unfortunately common phenomenon that training can fail to deliver the promised results on investment and companies look to blame the provider, the course or lack of management support. Like any successful transaction, partnership is key and investment of time from both the client and the training provider prior, during and post training is the only real solution.

Gary Wyles, Managing Director of Festo Training and Consulting, highlights 10 key reasons why training often fails and identifies what suppliers and engineering companies can do to ensure that any investment made provides genuine benefits.

1. SELECTING THE WRONG PEOPLE

Companies don’t always include the right people on the training. There needs to be a clear understanding of who the training is aimed at, how it will really impact, who will apply the change and who will support the training back in the workplace?

2. A QUICK FIX

Many engineering companies don’t consider an ongoing training programming, preferring ad-hoc training with little continuity. This leads to a quick fix approach, where the training provider is not adequately aligned to the requirements of the business.

3. LACK OF EXPERTISE

Training is often created by the wrong people, whether this is internal experts with no training experience or equally external consultants with no real world experience. If you’re looking for impact, select a supplier who knows and understands your business rather than purchasing an off-the -shelf solution.

4. LACK OF DIRECTION

Companies don’t identify where they want to be, only that they know they want to be somewhere other than where they are now. It is far better to know where you’re heading and provide the right training to help you get there.

5. LACK OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

Any person sent on training will wonder why they’ve been selected and what on earth it’s all about.  Companies need to share their vision of their business goals, align their people and clearly signpost their part in the future success of the organisation. Otherwise, participants arrive unprepared and with no personal connection or need defined.

6. WHAT, A WHOLE DAY OUT?

If people don’t understand the need, it’s likely they will partake relunctantly, sitting with their arms crossed and regularly checking in with work through their phones.  With pressures of workloads, participants can see training as an inconvenience rather than an opportunity.

7. NO FOLLOW-UP

If there’s too much focus on the course and not on the application of knowledge and how it will be applied in the real world, it won’t deliver in the medium or long term. Training doesn’t stop at the classroom door – if it does it’s a hugely expensive day out.

8. IT IS A BOX TICK

Yes, we all know that we have personal and business objectives to meet, but if managers approach training as a box ticking exercise then it’s doomed from the outset.

9. THE TRAINING COMPANY IS THERE JUST TO MAKE MONEY

Of course, it is not all down to the client. Trainers are equally to blame. They often focus more on the revenue they create for themselves than the value they create for their clients, but this is a no win situation for all parties. Make sure that the training company really understands what drives your organisation and comes up with a programme to meet its client’s needs, not theirs.

10. TREATING THE SYMPTOM NOT THE CAUSE

There is a wonderful quote from Albert Einstein saying the definition of insanity is doing the same thing  over and over again and expecting different results. You would have thought that by now companies and suppliers could create training that really impacts on the future growth and success of the company. The first key cause of failure is that companies try to treat the symptoms rather than the cause of the issue.   They then wonder why the same issues keep coming back to haunt them.