Make Training Stick
Make Training Stick
It’s just that the fix is not quick and easy. And most people and most organizations want the quick and easy solution. The problem is that quick and easy solutions won’t get you the best results.
So the question becomes “Do you want to put a band-aid on the problem or do you want to fix the problem?” With any type of training, it all comes down to understanding how people learn.
There are actually three primary ways that people learn. These ways or methods of learning apply to anything you want to learn whether it’s learning sales skills, learning a new language or learning how to ride a bike. The ways we learn are through inspiration, impact and repetition.
Inspiration – The first way that people learn is by inspiration. Have you ever read a book or heard a speaker that really inspired you? It was the words someone shared and how they shared them that really resonated with you. You got the message and you grabbed hold of it.
Learning by inspiration is great. The problem is that most of us are on information overload. Sometimes we’re jaded to a message or the messenger and sometimes we’re hearing a message that we already know. In any case, it simply takes a lot to inspire us these days.
And the sad truth is that for most of us, only 2% of our learning comes from inspiration. In other words, it’s great when it happens. It just doesn’t happen that often.
Impact – Impact is the second way we learn. Impact learning is usually tied into a dramatic or traumatic experience. A classic example is the guy that goes to his doctor and the doctor tells him that he is in danger of having a life-threatening heart attack or stroke.
Now it’s not like the patient didn’t realize that he was making poor lifestyle choices. He knew he shouldn’t smoke and that he should get more exercise. He also knew that his eating habits of chowing down on hamburgers and fries was negatively impacting his weight and cholesterol levels. Yet, it’s not until he gets the dire news from his doctor that he fully realizes that he can’t continue down his self-destructive path.
Impact learning is not the best way to learn. Let’s face it, who wants to learn from dramatic or traumatic events. Impact learning only represents about 2% of all learning.
Repetition – What’s 4 x 5? How about 6 x 8? And 9 x 5? When was the last time you learned your multiplication tables? Third grade? Fifth grade? Regardless, it was a long time ago. Yet, you still know the answers to your multiplication tables.
How did you learn your multiplication tables? It was through repetition. Repetition is by far the best way to learn, representing 96% of all learning.
So to recap, we learn three ways – through inspiration, impact and repetition. Beyond being the primary way we learn, repetition is also the only one of the three that is easily built into any learning process.
Despite this fact, most training and development doesn’t incorporate appropriate repetition into the learning process. In fact, most companies want a seminar, workshop or a one-on-one meeting to fix their people. And they’re not interested in doing what it will take to get permanent change.
To get a fuller understanding, let’s review the results from a typical seminar. First, it is important to note that it doesn’t matter how good the presenter is at training or how eager the students are to learn, a seminar (or any one-shot deal) by itself is going to have minimal impact on long-term behavior change. The research is actually pretty dismal for this type of training. If someone is exposed to information once, they will retain 50% after 24 hours, they will retain 25% after 48 hours and they will retain 2% after 16 days. Not a great return on your investment, huh?
So how do you make your investment in training and development pay dividends? It requires you to use a process with the appropriate amount of reinforcement and repetition. When done properly, the retention and application of the information will increase dramatically. In fact, that 2% retention rate after 16 days will soar to about 65% just through five to six repetitions within a week period. By adding exercises, accountability and interactive facilitation methods, you can enhance the learning experience even more.
An effective learning process is the same whether you are doing formal training for your team or teaching a co-worker one-on-one. Have you ever told an employee how to do something and then got frustrated because it wasn’t done correctly? Chances are you gave them instructions once or twice and you expected that they would get it. But that is clearly not enough to get them to retain, learn and master the information or skill sets required.
You have probably experienced the same thing when you’ve attended a seminar yourself. You may have received great information at the program. You left the seminar all pumped up and ready to go. But, you got back to your office, got busy and before you knew it you had fallen back into your old habits. And nothing ever changed. New behaviors were not practiced or learned. Training was wasted.
So before you attend or design training and development for yourself or your team, think about the process. How can you incorporate repetition into the learning process? How can you make sure that the training sticks? What’s your follow-through plan?
Make Training Stick - To learn more about this author, visit Will Turner's Website.
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Most training and development is a colossal waste of money. In fact, I would argue, without any empirical data to support my claim, that approximately 90% of all training and education dollars are wasted because there are no lasting and measurable results attained. And yet the fix is simple.
It’s just that the fix is not quick and easy. And most people and most organizations want the quick and easy solution. The problem is that quick and easy solutions won’t get you the best results.
So the question becomes “Do you want to put a band-aid on the problem or do you want to fix the problem?” With any type of training, it all comes down to understanding how people learn.
There are actually three primary ways that people learn. These ways or methods of learning apply to anything you want to learn whether it’s learning sales skills, learning a new language or learning how to ride a bike. The ways we learn are through inspiration, impact and repetition.
Inspiration – The first way that people learn is by inspiration. Have you ever read a book or heard a speaker that really inspired you? It was the words someone shared and how they shared them that really resonated with you. You got the message and you grabbed hold of it.
Learning by inspiration is great. The problem is that most of us are on information overload. Sometimes we’re jaded to a message or the messenger and sometimes we’re hearing a message that we already know. In any case, it simply takes a lot to inspire us these days.
And the sad truth is that for most of us, only 2% of our learning comes from inspiration. In other words, it’s great when it happens. It just doesn’t happen that often.
Impact – Impact is the second way we learn. Impact learning is usually tied into a dramatic or traumatic experience. A classic example is the guy that goes to his doctor and the doctor tells him that he is in danger of having a life-threatening heart attack or stroke.
Now it’s not like the patient didn’t realize that he was making poor lifestyle choices. He knew he shouldn’t smoke and that he should get more exercise. He also knew that his eating habits of chowing down on hamburgers and fries was negatively impacting his weight and cholesterol levels. Yet, it’s not until he gets the dire news from his doctor that he fully realizes that he can’t continue down his self-destructive path.
Impact learning is not the best way to learn. Let’s face it, who wants to learn from dramatic or traumatic events. Impact learning only represents about 2% of all learning.
Repetition – What’s 4 x 5? How about 6 x 8? And 9 x 5? When was the last time you learned your multiplication tables? Third grade? Fifth grade? Regardless, it was a long time ago. Yet, you still know the answers to your multiplication tables.
How did you learn your multiplication tables? It was through repetition. Repetition is by far the best way to learn, representing 96% of all learning.
So to recap, we learn three ways – through inspiration, impact and repetition. Beyond being the primary way we learn, repetition is also the only one of the three that is easily built into any learning process.
Despite this fact, most training and development doesn’t incorporate appropriate repetition into the learning process. In fact, most companies want a seminar, workshop or a one-on-one meeting to fix their people. And they’re not interested in doing what it will take to get permanent change.
To get a fuller understanding, let’s review the results from a typical seminar. First, it is important to note that it doesn’t matter how good the presenter is at training or how eager the students are to learn, a seminar (or any one-shot deal) by itself is going to have minimal impact on long-term behavior change. The research is actually pretty dismal for this type of training. If someone is exposed to information once, they will retain 50% after 24 hours, they will retain 25% after 48 hours and they will retain 2% after 16 days. Not a great return on your investment, huh?
So how do you make your investment in training and development pay dividends? It requires you to use a process with the appropriate amount of reinforcement and repetition. When done properly, the retention and application of the information will increase dramatically. In fact, that 2% retention rate after 16 days will soar to about 65% just through five to six repetitions within a week period. By adding exercises, accountability and interactive facilitation methods, you can enhance the learning experience even more.
An effective learning process is the same whether you are doing formal training for your team or teaching a co-worker one-on-one. Have you ever told an employee how to do something and then got frustrated because it wasn’t done correctly? Chances are you gave them instructions once or twice and you expected that they would get it. But that is clearly not enough to get them to retain, learn and master the information or skill sets required.
You have probably experienced the same thing when you’ve attended a seminar yourself. You may have received great information at the program. You left the seminar all pumped up and ready to go. But, you got back to your office, got busy and before you knew it you had fallen back into your old habits. And nothing ever changed. New behaviors were not practiced or learned. Training was wasted.
So before you attend or design training and development for yourself or your team, think about the process. How can you incorporate repetition into the learning process? How can you make sure that the training sticks? What’s your follow-through plan?
Make Training Stick - To learn more about this author, visit Will Turner's Website.
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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John AlexanderJohn has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center. I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander's Website |
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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