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7 Training Pitfalls
7 Training Pitfalls
People rarely are held accountable for using what they learned in a course or
workshop when they get back to the workplace. So some people recognize
going to training as a game. That’s why training is seldom seen (by anyone in
the organization) as what it could and should be - a strategic part of the
business, with responsibility for performance enhancement. Regardless of
how training is viewed, if people aren’t held accountable, how likely is it that
real performance change will occur?
Many times managers and leaders see training as an expensive waste of time.
When they attend classes, they continually think about all the work that is
piling up “back in the office”. Their employees see this attitude through their
leader’s actions. This thinking grows because leaders don’t explain the
reasons for the course and don’t help people deal with the workload while
they are gone. People may resent having to be in the training because they
don’t understand why they’re there, and they know they’ll have to work
harder when they get back to the job to catch up. In this situation the
participants may leave more cynical than when they arrived, with few if any
new skills to counteract that possible effect.
4. The January Third Application Assignment
Well designed training with motivated learners will result in people leaving
training with some clear ideas about how they plan to apply what they’ve
learned back on the job. But well intentioned as those plans might be, they
may be no more effective than most New Year’s Resolutions. Old habits are
hard to break! Habits are especially hard to break when there is no support
for the new skills and behaviors back in the workplace.
5. The Sleepwear Syndrome - “One-Size-Fits-All”
Often people are sent to training as a perk, a reward, or as a way to get them
in a new surrounding for awhile. In most cases, people in a team or work
group may never all see the same training, except for the “Course du Jour” or
“One-Size-Fits-All” variety. Some times people need specific skills to perform
a specific part of their work. Often though, the “perk” training workshops are
for skills many people in the group could use (or maybe they’ll all be sent
over-time; after all, everyone can’t be gone at once.) The result? People come
back to work in a vacuum. Not only are they not accountable (Reason
Number One above), but no one they work with has the same new skills and
knowledge that they do. Without support, as a Lone Ranger, the new ideas
they bring back may not get implemented due to peer resistance or
ignorance.
7. The “Name That Tune” Game
©1999, All Rights Reserved, Kevin Eikenberry. Kevin is the Chief Potential Officer of
The Kevin Eikenberry Group (http://KevinEikenberry.com), a learning consulting
company that helps their Clients reach their potential through a variety of training,
consulting and speaking services. Go to
http://www.kevineikenberry.com/training/training.asp to learn more about our
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