It's been shown learning is more rapid and memorable when we discover what to avoid, rather than simply being told what works. 
The intention of this top ten list is to be a simple reminder of how to wade through all the best practices, top-tricks, and all-too-common tips about training.
So, You’re Ready to Apply Your Training Strategy
Review this list of what to avoid along the way, and you can look forward to a strong and lasting training and development program that glides over common pitfalls.
1. No Training Plan
Without a plan and established goals, success become a moving target. Without a clear plan it’s nearly impossible to get the buy-in you need from people and departments to ensure the training will be mutually valuable. Onc place to start is with a SWOT analysis to identify your company’s: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and, Threats. Ideally a SWOT analysis is performed within departments and company-wide to create a clear picture of the scope of training your company requires.
2. Not Training to Your Company’s Needs
You pay a high opportunity cost when needs are too narrowly identified. For example, if you were to focus on Customer Service and nothing else, it’s likely you will miss the cross-functional demands of that area of the business, such as Production or Sales. What to do? Start broad by creating a training “wish list” to ensure the big picture is part of the
long-term plan.
3. Ignoring ROI Calculations
While the planning may start with needs-analysis followed by strategy development, jumping to training leaves out return on investment (ROI) calculations. What is the benefit of training for your company, and how can you turn that training into more revenue? If all you want is to have “people who are trained,” you are setting the bar too low to get a clear return from training. What’s more, it’s very likely you won’t get the funds you need for success with unclear monetization goals.
Evaluate Increased Revenue from… Overall production, Production per person, Management capabilities, Revenue from sales, Account receivables, Time to market, Value from new technology
Calculate Savings on Reduced… Hours per task, Staff members required, Opening wage requirements, Outcome costs for poor performance, Makeup costs for mistakes, Re-training/re-testing costs, Employee screening/hiring costs, Technology downtime
4. Poor Tracking
Without tracking, there simply is no way to know the true value of your training program. Even though this seems obvious, the time required to build a solid tracking system before training begins, often causes organizations to ‘do it later’. This is a costly decision that must be avoided. By making sure tracking is part of the original plan you will maintain the buy-in you worked so hard for in the beginning, long into the second and third year of your personnel development plan. The reporting you do also ensures that training is clearly connected to related performance metrics, which drive bottom-line value.
5. Mistaken Training Goals
This is where the performance metrics you’ve established should come in to play. It’s a mistake to judge a training course solely by completion. If completing a course doesn’t result in improved performance, there’s no real value realized for anyone. The goals you set will provide a tool for quick and frequent gap
analysis before and after training. Being able to recognize the cause and effect relationship between training and performance makes it easier to establish links between training and actual profit and loss outcomes.
6. Boring Training
This seems like an overly simple statement, which is why it’s easy to forget. It’s crucial that all the time and effort you put toward a great training plan pay off. The best way to make sure of this is to connect the plan with proven strategies for engaging adult learners. Tailor programs to your audience demographics where possible, and even consider piloting a program with a small group before going all out. By taking time to make sure it’s more than another lecture or a ‘break from my work’, you create training that builds momentum, instead of zapping it.
7. Training Overload
When you’re excited about the plan you built, it’s easy to want to see it all come to life – but overnight won’t cut it. While some may be pushing for a big training blitz, this will only backfire. This ties in with the original planning process and requires sensitivity and awareness to see when people are reaching their limit. Your people have work to do already, so pacing the training evenly, and tying it to clear objectives is key to avoiding training overload.
8. Using Feedback Incorrectly
The American Society for Training and Development reports that only 3% of training was evaluated using Kirkpatrick’s “level 4” training evaluation, which indicates training results that have an impact on your organization. While first-hand experience offers clear benefits, properly focused and targeted pre- and post-training interview and evaluation questions are critical to useful feedback. The key is to design feedback opportunities that happen more than one time. Feedback that says, ‘I liked the training’ is really only a compliment, it’s not constructive information for ongoing improvement.
9. Inflexible Training Methods
The method of training should be flexible to deliver the most value. This ties in with the SWOT analysis and indicates why input from various departments is crucial. If a team of mobile sales representatives is supposed to attend a meeting in a certain location each week, there may be complications. If the demographics of your audien
ce shows a low level of computer skills, a CBT model may prove to be a poor fit, ultimately leading to frustration. The key is to find solutions that are dynamic, while being consistently delivered. Seeking a one-size-fits-all approach will guarantee a poor fit for everyone.
10. No Follow-Up
Training is made more valuable when there is follow-up training at set intervals. It is a dangerous mistake to consider training for an employee complete once a class is completed. This view ignores the likelihood an employee’s command of new skills may diminish. Several case studies show, when training isn’t reviewed or used within seven days, only 33% of people remember what they learned. After 63 days it’s only 14%. When training is reviewed after seven days, it’s remembered by 83% of people and 70% of people after 63 days. By following up with additional training, testing or validation you support and protect your investment and avoid the high costs of poor productivity and staff turnover.
Print this list, share it, talk about with your peers, and most of all find a way to make the most of every dollar spent on training by being clear on what to avoid. This list was adapted from a PrepLogic IT white paper and may be ideal to keep visible for future reference. After all, even a subtle change has a way of making big improvements happen faster.
The intention of this top ten list is to be a simple reminder of how to wade through all the best practices, top-tricks, and all-too-common tips about training.So, You’re Ready to Apply Your Training Strategy
Review this list of what to avoid along the way, and you can look forward to a strong and lasting training and development program that glides over common pitfalls.
1. No Training Plan
Without a plan and established goals, success become a moving target. Without a clear plan it’s nearly impossible to get the buy-in you need from people and departments to ensure the training will be mutually valuable. Onc place to start is with a SWOT analysis to identify your company’s: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and, Threats. Ideally a SWOT analysis is performed within departments and company-wide to create a clear picture of the scope of training your company requires.
2. Not Training to Your Company’s Needs
You pay a high opportunity cost when needs are too narrowly identified. For example, if you were to focus on Customer Service and nothing else, it’s likely you will miss the cross-functional demands of that area of the business, such as Production or Sales. What to do? Start broad by creating a training “wish list” to ensure the big picture is part of the
long-term plan.3. Ignoring ROI Calculations
While the planning may start with needs-analysis followed by strategy development, jumping to training leaves out return on investment (ROI) calculations. What is the benefit of training for your company, and how can you turn that training into more revenue? If all you want is to have “people who are trained,” you are setting the bar too low to get a clear return from training. What’s more, it’s very likely you won’t get the funds you need for success with unclear monetization goals.
Evaluate Increased Revenue from… Overall production, Production per person, Management capabilities, Revenue from sales, Account receivables, Time to market, Value from new technology
Calculate Savings on Reduced… Hours per task, Staff members required, Opening wage requirements, Outcome costs for poor performance, Makeup costs for mistakes, Re-training/re-testing costs, Employee screening/hiring costs, Technology downtime
4. Poor Tracking
Without tracking, there simply is no way to know the true value of your training program. Even though this seems obvious, the time required to build a solid tracking system before training begins, often causes organizations to ‘do it later’. This is a costly decision that must be avoided. By making sure tracking is part of the original plan you will maintain the buy-in you worked so hard for in the beginning, long into the second and third year of your personnel development plan. The reporting you do also ensures that training is clearly connected to related performance metrics, which drive bottom-line value.
5. Mistaken Training Goals
This is where the performance metrics you’ve established should come in to play. It’s a mistake to judge a training course solely by completion. If completing a course doesn’t result in improved performance, there’s no real value realized for anyone. The goals you set will provide a tool for quick and frequent gap
analysis before and after training. Being able to recognize the cause and effect relationship between training and performance makes it easier to establish links between training and actual profit and loss outcomes.6. Boring Training
This seems like an overly simple statement, which is why it’s easy to forget. It’s crucial that all the time and effort you put toward a great training plan pay off. The best way to make sure of this is to connect the plan with proven strategies for engaging adult learners. Tailor programs to your audience demographics where possible, and even consider piloting a program with a small group before going all out. By taking time to make sure it’s more than another lecture or a ‘break from my work’, you create training that builds momentum, instead of zapping it.
7. Training Overload
When you’re excited about the plan you built, it’s easy to want to see it all come to life – but overnight won’t cut it. While some may be pushing for a big training blitz, this will only backfire. This ties in with the original planning process and requires sensitivity and awareness to see when people are reaching their limit. Your people have work to do already, so pacing the training evenly, and tying it to clear objectives is key to avoiding training overload.
8. Using Feedback Incorrectly
The American Society for Training and Development reports that only 3% of training was evaluated using Kirkpatrick’s “level 4” training evaluation, which indicates training results that have an impact on your organization. While first-hand experience offers clear benefits, properly focused and targeted pre- and post-training interview and evaluation questions are critical to useful feedback. The key is to design feedback opportunities that happen more than one time. Feedback that says, ‘I liked the training’ is really only a compliment, it’s not constructive information for ongoing improvement.
9. Inflexible Training Methods
The method of training should be flexible to deliver the most value. This ties in with the SWOT analysis and indicates why input from various departments is crucial. If a team of mobile sales representatives is supposed to attend a meeting in a certain location each week, there may be complications. If the demographics of your audien
ce shows a low level of computer skills, a CBT model may prove to be a poor fit, ultimately leading to frustration. The key is to find solutions that are dynamic, while being consistently delivered. Seeking a one-size-fits-all approach will guarantee a poor fit for everyone.10. No Follow-Up
Training is made more valuable when there is follow-up training at set intervals. It is a dangerous mistake to consider training for an employee complete once a class is completed. This view ignores the likelihood an employee’s command of new skills may diminish. Several case studies show, when training isn’t reviewed or used within seven days, only 33% of people remember what they learned. After 63 days it’s only 14%. When training is reviewed after seven days, it’s remembered by 83% of people and 70% of people after 63 days. By following up with additional training, testing or validation you support and protect your investment and avoid the high costs of poor productivity and staff turnover.
Print this list, share it, talk about with your peers, and most of all find a way to make the most of every dollar spent on training by being clear on what to avoid. This list was adapted from a PrepLogic IT white paper and may be ideal to keep visible for future reference. After all, even a subtle change has a way of making big improvements happen faster.