Are Companies Missing the Mark by Focusing on Training Over Real Learning?

Many big companies send their employees for training to different training institutes; they have a budget allocated for the same. Unfortunately, after the training, how many companies actually try to find out the productivity increase in their employees.

It's also funny to see that most of the training schools lay more emphasis on TRAINING rather than LEARNING. They are concerned with getting their conversion targets done and taking all the trainees through a similar training workshop. It's amusing to see them passing the buck later on individual's capacity.

Training doesn't depend on capacity. If so, then how come all the kids eventually get toilet trained?

It is the learning and then further recalling that depends on capacity. Most trainers don't realize that learning, absorbing, and recalling capacity of each is different and the fact that there are areas which are trainable, but most of the procedure is about continuous learning and recalling. It is more important to facilitate learning, even during training.

Regards,

Hi Bhavana,

I would like to have a say on what you said.

Learning and training are mutually related.

By birth, we don't learn anything; we are trained to what we are doing now. I mean brushing, bathing, eating, etc. Can we learn them right away after we are born? No chance. There are some things we learn as days pass by, like speaking. There is nobody in this world who can teach us how to speak; that is a natural phenomenon.

Learning is a completely different process. We are trained in how to learn. But once we get to know how to learn, we learn many things on our own, without training.

Now in this corporate sector, when we are selected in a campus interview or a job fair, we are not getting into the work right from the word go. As the work is changing, needs for the employer are also changing. As the saying goes, "One want gives birth to another one," his wants are giving birth to this so-called training. We learn there in training how to work. Look, if we get new software in the industry, we have to learn it from someone. That someone also learns from another someone; it's a circular process. Even the person who made the software must have learned it from somewhere in some form or another. These two words, "training" and "learning," are so closely related as our "mind-eye-hand."

It goes on and on and on.

But what we have to do is learn in an effective manner so that we can train another person.

What do you want to say now?

Hanuma

Well, this is where ISO 10015 steps in. Before investing a single penny or effort in training an employee, fulfill these basic criteria first:

a) Do a training needs assessment. Training is not the solution to all management issues; for example, if employees are not motivated enough, the underlying problems could be timescale-based promotions, multiple authorities in power, unions, etc. Conducting a motivational workshop could be a waste of time and money.

b) How will you map effectiveness? For example, if an employee should be more empathetic towards customers, how would you measure an increase in empathy post-training?

c) Return on investment.

Surya

Very interesting. The issue is also about whom to train and how much of the training is retained.

Gallup Corporation's book, "First, Break All the Rules," clearly states that only talented people should be sent to respective trainings to build on their strengths. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry cannot be trained in everything.

Another quote which was a dig at the training process stated that at the end of one year, only a minor percentage of what was trained was retained.

What is of importance also is what is retained and applied.

Dear friend,

This discussion is interesting. The training plan of an organization should be the starting point of training activities. Planning envisages laying down the course of action, target group, identification of a specific course, duration, etc. This precedes the appraisal of performance.

Accordingly, there is little dispute between learning and training. Since the employee needs to show progress at work, he himself has to seek training opportunities and learn without fail.

One has to be willing to "learn" before one can be "trained". There is a difference between learning and training, especially in the workplace.

I'm currently trying to create a Learning Culture and get staff to move away from the training culture. The learning culture provides the opportunity to learn on the job, from peers, be coached, from research, etc.

At the moment, they all just book themselves on a training course and think that's the only means to gain new knowledge. So yeah, interesting views.