Ten years ago we brought together fifty L&D professionals from a variety of different organisations to discuss Why Training Fails; what Harvard Business Review dubbed, The Great Training Robbery.
Whilst we have seen great improvements from the L&D community, we still see a lot of organisations wasting money on training, and thought we would share these results as a timely reminder.
Common Causes of Ineffective Training
Lack of Management Commitment
A resounding proportion (33%) of respondents cited that a ‘lack of management commitment’ was one of the common causes of ineffective training. This was defined in a variety of forms, including:
- Management don’t value the effectiveness of training.
- Management are not involved in defining learning outcomes.
- Management are not participative or supportive of training initiatives.
- Management interfere during the delivery of training initiatives.
- Management expect results but don’t commit the necessary budget to achieve them.
No Clear L&D Strategy
An equally resounding proportion (31%) of respondents cited that ‘No Clear L&D Strategy’ was one of the common causes of ineffective training. This was defined in a variety of forms, including:
- There is no clearly defined competency matrix.
- There is no comprehensive L&D strategy, just fragments of one in the HR strategy.
- There is no mid to long-term L&D objective due to a lack of strategic significance.
- Management view training as a silver bullet, rather than a strategic initiative.
- Training is often viewed as a cost centre, when it should be viewed as a strategic investment.
Relevance of Training
A surprisingly high proportion (21%) of respondents cited that ‘Relevance of Training’ was one of the common causes of ineffective training. This was defined in a variety of forms, including:
- Buying off-the-shelf training courses that lack any form of contextualisation.
- Buying irrelevant training courses that don’t address competency gaps.
- Training is not aligned with organisational processes.
No Training Needs Analysis
A substantial proportion (14%) of respondents cited that ‘No Training Needs Analysis’ was one of the common causes of ineffective training. This was defined in a variety of forms, including:
- Training is very hit and miss due to a lack of a training needs analysis.
- Training is never properly planned.
- The training needs analysis is not aligned with the strategic plan.
Effectiveness of the Trainer
A noticeable proportion (14%) of respondents cited that ‘Effectiveness of the Trainer’ was one of the common causes of ineffective training. This was defined in a variety of forms, including:
- The trainer is boring.
- The trainer is not engaging.
- The trainer is a presenter.
- The trainer is not a subject matter expert.
Lack of Follow Up
10% of respondents cited that ‘Lack of Follow Up’ was one of the common causes of ineffective training. This was defined in a variety of forms, including:
- Training is always one-off.
- Training is not designed as part of a learning journey.
- Training is not the only solution.
Lack of Learner Commitment
9% of respondents cited that ‘Lack of Learner Commitment’ was one of the common causes of ineffective training. This was defined in a variety of forms, including:
- Learners don’t value the importance of training.
- Learners view training as either a punishment or reward.
- Learners are not expected to commit to training deliverable.
- Learners don’t equate training with job performance or advancement.
Box Ticking
7% of respondents cited that ‘Box Ticking’ was one of the common causes of ineffective training. This was defined in a variety of forms, including:
- Rolling out training courses so that organisational KPIs can be met.
- Training for the sake of training.
- Choosing the cheap and quick alternatives.
Methods & Tools Used to Improve Training Effectiveness
Develop a Learning Journey
A resounding proportion (43%) of respondents cited that ‘developing a learning journey’ would help to improve training ROI. This was defined in a variety of forms, including:
- Training is not the only solution. There are various tools that can be used to improve performance.
- Training should not start and finish in the classroom.
- Training is not a short-term fix. It needs to be designed as a learning journey.
Conduct a Training Needs Analysis
A surprisingly high proportion (27%) of respondents cited that ‘conducting a training needs analysis’ would help to improve training ROI. This was defined in a variety of forms, including:
- Training is not the only solution. There are various tools that can be used to improve performance.
- The training needs analysis should look at more than just training needs.
- Conduct focus groups with stakeholders across the organisation.
Gain Management Commitment
An equally high proportion (25%) of respondents cited that ‘gaining management commitment’ would help to improve training ROI. This was defined in a variety of forms, including:
- Senior management need to champion L&D.
- Senior management need to be involved in developing the L&D strategy.
- Senior management need to see the value of L&D.
Evaluate Training Effectiveness
A surprisingly high proportion (16%) of respondents cited that ‘evaluating the training effectiveness’ would help to improve training ROI. This was defined in a variety of forms, including:
- Evaluate whether the learning outcomes were achieved.
- Evaluate the ability of the trainer to effectively deliver the training.
- Evaluate the learning methods applied during the training.
Develop an L&D Strategy
A surprisingly low proportion (11%) of respondents cited that ‘evaluating the training effectiveness’ would help to improve training ROI. This was defined in a variety of forms, including:
- Align the training strategy to the organisational strategy.
- Align training KPIs to organisational KPIs.
- Develop a clearly defined competency matrix.
Use Appropriate Learning Strategies
10% of respondents cited that ‘using appropriate learning strategies’ would help to improve training ROI. This was defined in a variety of forms, including:
- Use appropriate androgogical methods like breaking training into bite-sized chunks.
- Use a variety of learning media to suit VATK learning preferences.
- KISS. Training should be easy to apply.
Customise & Contextualise
9% of respondents cited that ‘customising and contextualising’ would help to improve training ROI. This was defined in a variety of forms, including:
- Ensure that training is aligned to business processes and SOPs.
- Training should be contextualised to your business.
- Role-plays, case studies and activities should be as real as possible.
Get Management Involved
8% of respondents cited that ‘getting management involved’ would help to improve training ROI. This was defined in a variety of forms, including:
- Senior management should be involved at the start of any training course.
- Management should have a clearly defined support role to play.
- Management should be involved in the assessment process.
In Conclusion
Yes, the world has changed and some of these point are not as relevant as they were before, but they are still important. What are other reasons can you think of for ineffective training? What else can organisations do to improve the effectiveness of training? Please share your thoughts below.
