Two Steps to Get More From Training

Two of the most critical factors to be addressed if you want successful training and development outcomes are the need for support and follow-through.

After all, training and development is about changing behavior and improving results. In order for behavior to change, it needs to be supported and it requires focus and repetition. Many of the training programs that fail (or are less than successful) do not have proper support and/or follow through.

Support

Just as a house needs a strong foundation, your training efforts need considerable support. What does this mean exactly? It means all of the players or stakeholders involved in the training effort—the sponsors (those proposing the training), the managers (those managing the people being trained), the trainers (those delivering the training), and the participants (those being trained)—must agree with it, believe in it and support it; they must be willing to give it the time and attention necessary for the desired change to take root.

Sponsors and managers should be aware of what the training is trying to achieve (its objectives) and how it plans to do so and agree this is the best solution. They should be in alignment that the training vendor and program selected are capable of generating the desired results. And they should outwardly and positively communicate their belief and backing of the effort.

Why is support so critical? From a brain-based perspective, behavior change is difficult for people because the idea of changing behavior creates a threat state in the body. It also requires the brain to utilize limited resources and challenge its existing wiring and maps to create new wiring. People require a great deal of safety in order to manage this threat state and move through a change process.

The right kind and amount of support will help your people do so and overcome their natural resistance to change. Maintaining peoples’ status, providing a great deal of certainty, giving people autonomy, and making sure what you do appears fair to your people will facilitate your training (and any change) effort.

Follow-through

Once you’ve addressed the support factor, you still need to follow through on the training effort. This involves understanding how to help participants embed the new behaviors once they complete the “formal” training program. Put another way, the real training happens AFTER the training program takes place. This includes allowing time for additional practice after the program and “tolerating” any “mistakes” or inefficiencies that may occur during the post-training learning curve.

After all, it will be harder at first for participants to do things the new way (it conflicts with much stronger and more embedded wiring): effort will increase and results will decrease. Not allowing for mistakes or a drop in efficiency will tend to move participants back to their old (comfortable) ways. This is perhaps the most exasperating period of any learning initiative—for all involved: the participants are struggling with doing things the new way and fighting their old habits and the sponsors and managers responsible for “output” are enduring less than optimal results. The worst possible scenario is for participants to go back to their work environment, put their training materials “on the shelf,” and be told by their managers to “forget what you just learned and get back to work.” Understanding in advance that this period is a normal part of any training effort should help to set realistic expectations for all involved and create the proper setting for best results.

Setting up other formal and informal ways of supporting the training is another method of follow-through. Mentoring, learning circles, chat boards, and periodic reviews and practice can all help the training (new wiring) take root.

Changing our existing thinking and habits requires a great deal of focus, effort and energy. It goes against the normal workings of our brains. If you’re going to spend your money and your (and your participants’) time on training, go the full distance and support and follow through on it. You—and your workforce—will be happy with the new and improved results.