To train or not to train

I’ve been in the training business for most of my life, in one role or another. Training, when it’s needed and done well, can be a most effective intervention.

Training is really effective when you can clearly measure the end performance. My own experience of good training was with helicopter pilots. As the training specialist I was able to observe instructor pilots and watch the junior pilots develop their skills in the aircraft or on the flight simulator. The program was proficiency-based, meaning that once a skill was mastered, the pilot could move on, without repeating the same thing. Avoiding unnecessary training meant significant cost savings as well.

I was reminded of the down side of training in Michele Martin’s post on 5 Reasons You Don’t Need Training, where she shows that inappropriate uses of training include:

• To make up for poorly designed work processes
• As a replacement for corrective action
• To satisfy a “Requirement” for professional development
• When performance expectations have not been properly developed
• When you don’t have management understanding and buy-in

I’ve experienced all of these, from inside the organisation and as an outside consultant. I’ve also learned to stay away from “training” projects that really aren’t about training. I’ve discussed this before in, Whither ISD, ADDIE & HPT, but it bears repeating because training is costly, in both resources and in time (trainers & trainees).

I learned early in my career as a training development officer that training should be the last option, after all other performance improvement measures have been proven inadequate. It’s a good rule of thumb.