---

Guest post by: Skip Weisman Become an Author

Tweet

---

---

When approached and I ask Human Resource directors and corporate training directors, and even CEO's about how they feel "training" is going to help their organizations, I usually learn that they have grossly over-estimated what "training" can be expected to do.

Personnel problems? Bit of training will fix it. Sales down? No problem, bit of training will fix it. Inter-office problems? Training will fix it. Productivity down? Training will fix it. Cooperation non existent? Training will fix it. Low morale? You guessed it... bit of training will fix it.

The problem is that often there are issues occurring in the work environment that training can not help and can, in fact, even make the problems worse. Training is not a panacea for all a company's problems. Of course, training can be of immense value and benefit in addressing many problems, but if the cause of the problem comes from higher up or outside their area of influence, then it can be a waste of time. You need to address the root cause of the problem if you want to stop it and rebuild and retrain effectively with positive, long term results.

A classic example is communication. A lack of directness in communicating can be devastating to a work environment.

Throwing "training" at a work environment problem, which often means it is steeped in low trust and respect between team members, will exacerbate the problem. This plays out in almost every training I deliver where none of the managers or organizational leaders participate in the trainings. At the end of the trainings, at least 30% of the feedback forms I receive respond to the question "What could have been better about this training?" with "If all of our department team members, including our managers and other company leaders had this training."

If the individuals most responsible for the team or organization's culture and performance are not participating with their team members, the training to "fix" a problem is guaranteed to do more harm than good.

Another issue is that often the issues the training addresses offer solutions that require sensitive or challenging conversations between individual participants in the training. Since the open forum of the training environment is not the appropriate environment to address these issues head on, participants become frustrated and resentful of the training and it just reinforces the negative situation.

Here's another example. In a meeting with the VP of Human Resources and VP of Operations for a large manufacturing firm, the first half of which we discussed management and leadership training for their middle managers and shop managers, I used the phrase "toxic" to describe some of the work environments I've helped transform.

The VP of Operations shot back in his next breath, "Toxic, hmm, that's what we've got." To which I informed him that training was not going to fix it.

They both nodded their heads in agreement and the conversation took a turn in a new direction.

We began focusing on inviting the President/CEO and other senior leadership team members to discuss addressing issues at the very top of the organization. And training will not be on the agenda, at least not initially. It is going to take some significant team development and trust building activities and consistent accountability to a new approach to leading and communicating in this company.

So, the next time you think you need "training" for your organization ask this question -

"Why and what 'problem' are we trying to solve?"

Related Articles

  Salesperson Wimp-Out: Cutting the Price
  Calculating Training ROI
  Is This The Best Work-Life Balance Book Ever Written?
  The Training Routine
  Why Doesn't Anyone Want to Follow?
  Flying Chickens
  What does the US need to reevaluate during its current phase of down time
  Success - Something To Chew On
  Eight Simple Steps To Finding A Lucrative Niche Market With Keyword Research
  Mexican Train Should be an Olympic Event in Marketing
  Successful Small Business Owners Know That Education and Training Are Investments Not Costs
  Multilevel Marketing: 4 Tips To MLM Success
  Making your new product launch a success
  Overcome Mental Blocks
  The Art of Being with Fear: Never Be Stopped By Fear Again
  Network Marketing Secret of Success: A System
  Crisis Management: Is it true that any press is good press?
  Downloadable Soft Skills Train the Trainer Training Materials Streamlines Training
  Why Corporate Sales Training Often Fails to Deliver Results
  Make A Fortune With Your Network Marketing Downline! ~SECRET TO WEALTH ONLINE

Related Forum Posts

Re: Feedback on a New Company Name
What?
Re: New web hosting site- would appreciate feedback
Re: Are Business Owners too Old School to be Sold by a blog
Re: Quote of the Day - “I think people who excel are often total

Share this article. Fund someone's dream.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Top 10 Dumbest Web Site Decisions

Build Corporate Credit for Your Small Business

Resistance to Change Is a Fact of Life.

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.