With large parts of the population working remotely, coursework can be consumed wherever and whenever training is required, as well as customized and adapted to different types of learners. This evolving learning landscape has opened the door to a new world of capability development, giving organizations not only enormous flexibility with how they schedule training events, but also the opportunity to extend skill building to off-site workers.\u00a0 However, the ability for people to transform the skills they\u2019ve gained from training into measurable, immediate results on-the-job is always easier said than done and doesn\u2019t simply happen on its own without a proper support structure in place.<\/p>\n
The training program is over, what now? <\/em>Once people have received training, they are technically ready to apply their new skills. \u00a0But simply because someone spent several days in a classroom does not make them an expert, let alone mean they will automatically be able to connect the dots between what they learned and how to put those concepts into practice.\u00a0 \u00a0In our experience, it\u2019s often a challenge for folks to close the gap between classroom theory and real-life application, which is why critical behaviors that a training program is designed to instill need encouragement if they are to be sustained.\u00a0 If anything, people need a little bit of handholding to get going so they feel empowered to get results.\u00a0\u00a0 Otherwise, without that support, it\u2019s likely people will revert to their comfort zone and continue what they were doing \u201cpre-training\u201d, which will diminish any return on investment promised from training.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also a simple case that in order to gain mastery at something, you need to practice.\u00a0 Not everything is like riding a bike; some things can be forgotten if not maintained, and problem-solving is no exception.\u00a0 When it comes to problem-solving especially, managers should work with their team members to ensure they have opportunities to promptly apply new skills they\u2019ve learned from training while the classroom content is still fresh.\u00a0 Whether that\u2019s using what they learned to work through a backlog of issues, help a colleague work through their backlog, or simply apply what they learned to a personal situation to get some experience.\u00a0 At the same time, the onus is also on managers to help their team members work through any obstacles that could get in the way of their continued learning. For example, finding ways to use skills from training may be even harder now simply because of all the distractions that some face working from home.<\/p>\n Other pitfalls we\u2019ve seen are requirements of extended documentation leaving little time to focus on problem-solving and job responsibilities that have not been adjusted to include time for new skills to be put into practice. Organizations that design the work environment to accommodate for new skills find that training dollars are a great investment. Removing barriers that impede these desired behaviors accelerates integration and helps gain real value from their application.<\/p>\n At KT, our clients rely on us to provide critical thinking\/problem-solving training and to help them follow through to enable application on the job. We teach employees the steps of problem-solving as well as preventing problems from happening in the first place. While both offer value for the organization, people rarely get recognized for avoiding problems. \u00a0This employee may be publicly rewarded for effectively solving problems but goes unacknowledged for avoiding<\/em> a problem. Thus, the high value of preventing a problem is diminished by the immediate and obvious reward of solving them.<\/p>\n Managers should work with individuals to determine how to use new skills and avoid defaulting to old habits. It\u2019s up to leadership to encourage the use of new skills and give individuals the time needed to master them on the job. Ultimately this will produce a better outcome.<\/p>\n One client we are working with asked us for help to improve their investigation process for a team that was overworked, submitting poor investigations and submitting them late. We were startled at their response to our suggested solutions. Their perspective was that they only have a few hours to spare for training or they\u2019ll fall further behind. They also didn\u2019t want to touch existing processes because, \u201cThat would take too long.\u201d \u00a0This is a catch 22 indeed! \u00a0And they are not the only team to be on the hot seat where the clock is ticking and, in order to execute properly, their team needs deeper skills.\u00a0 Taking a longer view would show better clarity when considering the consequences of investing valuable team time vs. continued poor results. While situations are always different, our experience shows the choice would favor biting the bullet and taking the time to provide training that is consistent with the outcome the team is looking for.<\/p>\n Sustaining value.<\/em> Some of the benefits of training are hard to measure because they are qualitative in nature. Factors like job satisfaction, high morale, and increased employee retention may seem intangible\u2014but can be extremely beneficial to the bottom line. Training is about improving individual and team performances, and in turn influencing the overall performance of the organization.<\/p>\n To drive sustained behavior, priority must go to determining how new skills impact the workplace and removing barriers to their adoption. In any struggle between what is good for the organization and what is good for the learner, it is the learner-based impacts that will drive sustained behavior. Upskilling the workforce is no longer constrained by in-person training, but new skills must be supported once training is complete. Whether employees are working on site or remotely, training should include efforts to remove barriers for the use of new skills and to support their integration into the way work is done.<\/p>\n We all hope that you are well during this disruptive time in our world\u2019s history.\u00a0 For over 60 years our company, Kepner-Tregoe has had the opportunity to help major organizations navigate successfully through radical change, help solve intractable problems and increase incident and problem-management performance through tools, training and consulting \u2013 leading to highly effective teams ready to respond to your company\u2019s most critical issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With large parts of the population working remotely, coursework can be consumed wherever and whenever training is required, as well as customized and adapted to different types of learners. This evolving learning landscape has opened the door to a new world of capability development, giving organizations not only enormous flexibility with how they schedule training […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":687,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[115],"class_list":["post-25999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-learning-and-development"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nIt\u2019s a simple case that in order to gain mastery you need to practice<\/h4>\n
Old habits die hard<\/h4>\n
It\u2019s up to leadership to encourage the use of new skills and give individuals the time needed to master them on the job<\/h4>\n
About Kepner-Tregoe<\/h4>\n