Why training doesn’t work

Stand and deliver: Corporate training needs to be targeted to work effectively

Virginia Star

Companies typically spend about one-third of their training budgets on management and professional training because they know organisational performance is dependent on improving the skills of their managers.

But although management training can add value to an organisation, it often fails to deliver its promised benefits. Here are some of the reasons.

• The training doesn’t tackle the organisation’s key weaknesses. If it does not correct the problems that limit an organisation’s performance, it doesn’t matter how good the training is, it simply will not add value.

• Management training is based on what the managers want, not what the organisation needs. The typical performance review asks employees what training they want in the coming year and these requests are often used to develop a training plan. The problem here is that individual employees can base their requests on personal interests. Another is that most employees do not have a comprehensive view of the organisational issues at play.

• The management training is aimed too low in the organisation. Management training programs cover a range of skills and practices that unfortunately may not be present in middle and senior managers. Some organisations find it difficult to admit that their senior managers do not have the fundamental skills that their frontline managers are being trained in. When those receiving management training don’t see the new behaviours modelled by their managers, they can be reluctant to adopt them.

• The new management competencies are not incorporated into performance management or reward systems. Management training is often not “hard-wired” into an organisation’s systems. Managers receive new skills but there is no direct understanding of any change in their behaviour through evaluation, coaching or discipline. Management training needs reinforcement – processes are required to bed down new skills.

• Time allocated for management training is not considered a priority. Senior managers sometimes schedule events that conflict with training schedules, which prevents the right people from attending or makes it difficult for them to do so. Similarly, some senior managers do not adjust their workloads to reflect the time and commitment needed for their staff to undertake the training.

If other course participants see that senior managers are give training a low priority, it will become a low priority for them, too.

Management training can provide new skills, greater awareness and increased knowledge. Greater management skill lifts employee productivity, engagement and retention and ultimately an organisation’s financial returns.

But to extract the maximum value from management training it must be aligned with an organisation’s strategy and objectives and become a central part of its performance development processes.

Wayne Back is the managing director of Organisational Development International in Melbourne

BRW

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