How To Multiply Your Training Investment

Friday 24 March, 2006

(Author Credits)

Would you spend thousands of dollars on a product, which did not make a difference to your life? For example, would you invest in twelve months personal training and not expect an improvement in your level of health and fitness?

Organisations spend thousands on training and don’t even measure the change that comes from this expenditure. They spend money on expensive training programs and think that the ‘knowing’ that comes from the program is the outcome they paid for. Organisations and individuals need to take action for the dollars to be well spent. People need to ‘do’ what they ‘know’. This knowing/doing gap is a bottomless pit for speaking and training dollars.
If you want to get real value for your investment in speaking and training, I have some advice for you.
Encourage people to discuss and implement improvements.
Old habits die hard. Many traditional ways of working made sense long ago and make less sense today. Times change and our ways of working need to change as well.
Simply asking someone to note any good ideas will encourage this quest for better ways of doing things. ‘How about we speak about any good ideas that you get when you are back on Tuesday,’ sets the scene.
Reinforce. Reinforce. Reinforce.
Behaviour that is acknowledged and rewarded will be repeated. Behaviour that is ignored will likely disappear. We all understand these principles of reinforcement. If they remain as principles they are useless. We need to keep a watch out for improvements and immediately acknowledge them. “John, I saw you were in early this morning. Thanks for the extra effort”. “Thanks Jane for helping me with this software installation. I couldn’t do it on my own”. Don’t you find it strange that some managers ignore good behaviour and only comment when mistakes are made? Good psychology would dictate the opposite application of reinforcement. Notice and acknowledge the good and ignore the bad unless it cannot be ignored.
Unfortunately, some poor behaviours are being reinforced by your staff. For example, so many people chairing meetings wait for the one latecomer. Most are punished for coming early. One is rewarded for coming late. Worse still, the latecomer is applauded and the poor behaviour is seen as a joke.
If someone returns excited from hearing an external speaker, it is important to notice any improvements and be quick to reinforce verbally. “I see that you have tidied up your desk. Well done!” “Your sales are great this week”.
Get a yellow hat.
Edward De Bono writes about six hats, which reflect six ways of thinking. The yellow hat reflects a bias towards positive. It is based on fact and logic but is focusing on the positive. Look for good. Look for what IS working well. If someone returns from a training program and makes some mistakes in applying new learning, make a supreme effort to notice what has been successfully applied. Of course, people make mistakes when applying new behaviours. You don’t want the mistakes but you do want the new learning and the improvements that come after the mistakes. It is almost impossible to learn new skills without mistakes. It is also risky to make changes and improvements knowing that you will be watched very closely by a critical manager. If you want your people to return full of enthusiasm and new ideas, get a yellow hat and catch people doing something ‘right’.
So, to multiply your training dollars:

• Speak to the person before attending and discuss what you want them to get from the experience.
• Speak to them when they return to find out what they learned.
• Encourage them to apply what they have learned.
• Catch them making improvements and reinforce positively.
• Encourage them to seek out more opportunities for learning experiences.
• Get a book and tape library at work and encourage people to continue their own learning.

Source:ceoonline.com