20 November 2008
Training
Learn & Apply
Eager and willing to learn, your employees may need help to carry through and actually implement what they learned at seminars and workshops.
The old adage, “You can lead a horse to water, but can’t make it drink,” applies to many things in life and in business. Case in point—corporate training. Although you can make sure your employees make it to the classroom, take notes, and pay attention, you can’t make them apply what they’ve learned once back at work.
Change is very challenging for humans. It almost seems like we’re hardwired to resist change and to maintain the status quo. So even though the newly learned skills might be almost guaranteed to make your staff more productive, getting everyone to make the necessary changes can be a challenge.
Common sense
In a perfect world, common sense would be enough to motivate change. If the newly learned skill is superior to the old way of doing things, then common sense would dictate that it should be applied.
In the real world, a support network and regular follow-ups are a must if everyone is to move ahead and commit to changes. Experts recommend four distinct steps.
Step 1: Contract
The first step is to have all employees who attended the training sit down and complete a written contract that specifies exactly what they learned and how it will change the way they behave on a day-today basis. The contract should stipulate which behaviours should be continued, which ones should be stopped, and which ones are new and should be implemented.
Step 2: Meeting with management
After completing the contract, each employee sits down individually with his or her manager in order to go over the details, make any necessary changes to the document, and explain to management why certain behaviours should be started, stopped, or continued.
This step also solidifies in the employees mind that someone is watching, knows what changes the employee should be making, and will be asking questions if and when those changes are not made in a timely manner.
Step 3: Rewards
While step 2 could be likened to “the stick,” step 3 is “the carrot.” This two-pronged approach increases the likelihood that needed changes will be made since some employees are more likely to make changes if a reward is offered, while others will only do so if they fear repercussions.
Management should decide on the reward structure, including the type of rewards offered, milestones to be reached, and a schedule. Some experts recommend looking no more than 6 months into the future.
Step 4: Monthly meetings
To keep employees on track, experts recommend monthly meetings where all employees can share their successes and failures with the rest of the staff who attended the same training sessions.
If some are experiencing problems with the implementation of new ideas or behaviours these monthly meeting will allow them an opportunity to share their frustrations with others, pick up some tips and how-to advice, as well as role play (if applicable) in order to overcome sticking points.
ROI
Employee training is expensive and time consuming. Your key people may be away at a seminar for a day or more incurring hotel and meal expenses as well as the cost of the actual training.
Moreover, when you factor in the cost of losing an employee’s services for the time they’re learning and not actually working, the costs begin to double, triple, or worse. With so much time and money invested in training, it only makes sense that you’d want to follow-up afterwards, implement the above-mentioned steps, and make sure to maximize your return on investment. | 
