Tool 8. TRAINING FOR IMPROVED RESULTS

About This Tool

Without a doubt, training can be a powerful enabler for advancing an organization's business strategy. Unfortunately, training is often the first thing to go when there are budget cuts or other priorities competing for the trainee's time. Part of the reason for this is that many times companies don't approach training as part of the performance improvement process. They approach it as an event - a snap shot of a solution. They're later disappointed when no visible business gains were realized as a result of the training. Other times, training is quickly suggested as a solution without really understanding the problem and whether training is the right solution. So it's easy to see why support for training vacillates so much.

Training is about teaching people new knowledge and skills, and helping them apply it to their work in a way that raises their performance and contribution to the company. Simply sending someone to training (instructor-led, self-study, web-enabled or others), won't change anything if it's not properly supported. Companies who effectively leverage their training do so by seeing it as one tool in their performance improvement tool kit. They take steps to ensure it's the appropriate solution for a given problem, and they ensure they support it with their other management practices and tools. This tool is one example of how some companies do that.

Using This Tool

The tool consists of two main parts. The first part details some of the key considerations that must be addressed when considering training as an organizational or individual performance solution. Its main purpose is to generate the kind of management thinking and support that will be needed to help translate the training into new behaviors and improved performance. The second part deals with the roles and responsibilities of the performer (i.e., the trainee) and their manager. It makes it clear that both have a responsibility to ensure both the company and the performer realize a return from its training investment.

It's suggested that the tool be applied anytime a unit leader or department head believes they have a problem which might be solved through training, and they want a course developed or purchased. It should also be applied any time a manager wants to send one of their people to a specific training offering. In both cases, this tool can be used to discuss: the problem; what impact training may or may not have on it; and what the manager and performer must do to ensure they get the results they're after. In using the tool, it's not necessary that each and every question be met and satisfied. But the vast majority of them should be. The more items there are left open, the more risk there is of spending money on something that might not have any impact on performance or results.

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