Copyright © 1998, Nanette Miner
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Reprinted/excerpted with permission. The Training Doctor. Author: Nanette Miner. www.trainingdr.com

When Training Doesn't Work - Here's Why

By Nanette Miner, EdD

On October 7, 1998, USA Today reported that between 5.6 billion and 16.8 billion dollars are wasted per year on ineffective training. The uninitiated will say, "Ah-ha! I knew providing training wasn't financially lucrative!" Those of us who understand the field of training and employee development shake our heads and sigh, "Another chink in our armor." What the USA Today article didn't tell you was why that money is wasted.

Having had the privilege of being a consultant for nearly a decade - allowing me to see training from the inside of both big and small organizations - I have had plenty of experience with what does and doesn't work. Today I'm going to tell you why training doesn't work. There are six primary reasons, any one of which can derail your organization's learning curve.

1. Training is applied for the wrong reasons

Training is not a cure-all. It cannot solve every ailment your organization might be experiencing. Case in point: I was once hired to provide "Customer Relations Skills" training for a group of in-house salespeople because customers were complaining about a lack of service and efficiency. Through a needs analysis it was discovered that most of the problem stemmed from inadequate office equipment that didn't allow the sales reps to do the job they were supposed to do. No amount of training applied to that problem was going to fix the level of service the customers were getting. Lack of training wasn't the problem. Lack of office equipment was. Before instituting any type of training program, be sure to do a thorough needs analysis to determine if it truly is a training problem.

2. The training has been created by the wrong people

The field of training and employee development uses the term SME, which stands for Subject Matter Expert. Frequently, training is developed by SME's because they have the requisite content knowledge. Problem is, they have no idea how to design effective training programs. SME's typically error in one of two ways: 1) they include everything and the kitchen sink because to them everything is important, or 2) they exclude basic information because it is so basic to them, they cannot imagine that everyone doesn't know it. Think of it this way: if you wanted to design an accounting software package you'd need an accounting-pro and a programmer, right? Likewise, if you wanted to create an accounting training program you'd need an accounting-pro and a trainer.

3. The Paulette Principle

Are you familiar with the Peter Principle? The Peter Principle states that everyone rises to his/her level of incompetence. The Peter Principle is most often applied to management positions. For instance, frequently the best salesperson is appointed Sales Manager, although the person has no management experience and perhaps no predilection for managing others. Paulette is Peter's cousin. The Paulette Principle states, "If you're the best at what you do, you can train others to do it." Not true. Some people are good at doing. Some are good at teaching. And others are good at managing. I know you've experienced this in your own life.

4. No Reinforcement Back on the Job

One of the biggest mistakes manager's make is to send someone out for training and then not allow them the time (and the mistakes) to practice the new skills back on the job. No one leaves a 2-hour or 4-hour training course being proficient at the new skill. It takes time and practice for proficiency to develop. One client of mine developed a new customer-management data program at great expense in both time and money. But, they left the old program running side-by-side on worker's computers. Consequently, whenever someone got stymied in how to do a particular task, they'd "flip" over to the old system to complete it. The result? Incomplete records housed in both programs. Plus, the workers did not gain proficiency or an adequate understanding of the new program's requirements. Six months after the new system's implementation I was called in to figure out why, despite a week of training, the workers really couldn't use the new system. It didn't take me long to figure it out (but it took me 10 weeks to fix it!).

5. People are Made to Feel as Though They are Being "Fixed"

People don't like to feel as though they are inferior in some way. The worst thing you can do is send someone out to be "fixed." Lots of things fall into the "fixing" category: team skills, communication skills, conflict management, and telephone skills to name a few. This is even more problematic if you are only send one person to the training. When it comes to these types of skills, I like to see the manager, vice president, or president participating in the training. If everyone is participating, the training is much better received as something that "the department" or "the company" needs, and not as something that is required to "fix" one person's deficiencies.

6. Be Willing to Accept that Some People are Untrainable

Finally, you have to be willing to let some people go if their skills aren't up to par. If you've tried training three or more times and the person still doesn't "get it," consider moving them to a new position (or an "old" position) or excusing them from the organization. I once knew a woman who aspired to be a sales manager. Within six weeks of attaining the position, she knew she hated it and asked to be moved back to the sales ranks. Most people wouldn't have the self-awareness or the guts to say, "I just don't get it. I'd like to go back to what I was doing, thanks."

Training can be a terrible waste of money when the six things we've just discussed aren't considered and allowed for. Before you find your precious dollars following the billions mentioned at the beginning of the article, pay heed to the reasons training may not work for your organization.