Why Corporate Training Fails
There are a number of challenges
in developing successful corporate training initiatives. But a great deal can be learned about how to
be successful, simply by looking at some of the reasons corporate training
fails. Here we’ll touch on two proven
recipes for failure.
Training Challenge Number One:
“The failure to tie training to corporate objectives.”
Many investments in training are made without any
consideration of company objectives. As
a result, management often regards training expenditures as superfluous and
unnecessary.
Management perception would undoubtedly be entirely
different if training were aligned closely with corporate objectives, so that
training investment could be associated with company growth and profitability.
As Jack Welch, former Chairman and CEO of General
Electric said, “An organization’s ability to learn and translate that learning
into action… is the ultimate competitive advantage.”
So how can you assure that your training efforts
will help your company achieve that competitive advantage?
In order to successfully align training initiatives
with corporate objectives, you must:
a)
Review the company’s business plan
b)
Meet with key individuals involved in establishing the business objectives
c)
Present a sound business case for how the proposed training initiative will positively
impact corporate objectives.
Aligning learning with business strategy generates
powerful results. That’s because the
training can be targeted to focus on activities that add measurable value to
company goals, while increasing the competitive position of the business. Such focused training is both more effective
and more efficient.
Training Challenge Number Two:
“The failure to modify training to bridge identifiable knowledge gaps.”
Too often, individuals charged with selecting training
solutions needlessly squander corporate resources by failing to see the
necessity of tailoring programs to meet the specific needs of that organization.
One-size-fits-all is an ineffective and wasteful approach, whether you’re
looking at corporate training or training wheels.
It’s simply not effective to assign the same
curriculum to every electrical maintenance worker or instrument tech in an
organization. This rests on the assumption that each individual begins from the
same knowledge base.
But the means exist today to administer a truly
accurate skills assessment that can determine exactly what skills a specific
worker possesses, as well as identify which skills the worker is missing. So a curriculum can be tailored for each
individual to deliver maximum return on investment.
Since the largest expense in training is personnel
costs, this means big savings, and a much bigger payoff.
So before making an investment in training, it is
essential to administer skills assessment tests. The test results will clearly define
the knowledge gaps for each worker in the organization and enable customized
curricula to be assigned to every individual.
This also means that the individual will need to
invest only the time necessary to bridge those specific knowledge gaps. So you don’t waste the organization’s time
and money paying employees to be seat warmers in courses they simply don’t
need.
Any organization that implements a skills
assessment system, when combined with targeted skills development, sees
significantly improved ROI. The end
result is superior business performance because the organization’s greatest
resource – its workforce – is more highly trained and therefore more effective.
And isn’t that the primary objective? Training that actually works.
Author: Bill
Walton, Founder of ITC Learning
“
The leading provider of industrial
skills training worldwide, ITC Learning’s mission is to connect people to
knowledge. For thirty-one years, ITC has developed and marketed workplace
training for the business, education and government industries. Headquartered in