Leaders Wake Up:

This may seem a strange statement coming from an organization with 33 odd years of experience in the industry and a proven track record of dedication to and passion for training people by its founder. But please read on, you may agree with some of the views expressed here!

The biggest challenge that one comes across when dealing with prospective clients, is that in too many cases, companies believe that training is the magic wand to all their operational woes. And it can be if approached correctly. Sadly, most companies are wasting their money when training team members because they go about it the wrong way.

1. Companies Have Lost Faith

Some employers have been paying lip-service to training for far too long. They go about the effort in a haphazard way and when they don’t get the required results, they go looking for answers in all the wrong places. It is no wonder that many firms no longer appreciate how a well put together training programme can elevate levels of effectiveness, professionalism and positively affect the bottom line within an organisation.

Training should not just be done for the sake of doing so. It has to be approached with a very detailed and carefully thought out plan. Just ticking the box will not achieve anything. It will, in fact, create the illusion that every effort is made to improve without any results. This is counter-productive any which way you look at it.

2. They’re Training any old Themba, Dick and Mary

Another mistake that many companies make when it comes to their attitude towards valuing and assessing training, is that they do not give any serious thought or consideration to who they are sending for training, and why. Attendees are being selected without any real strategy or intended outcome in place.

In South Africa in particular, many companies spend money on training merely as a compliance issue for skills development requirement to earn themselves B-BBEE points and the like, not because they have specific organizational performance goals they are trying to fulfill.

3. An Absolute Waste of Time?

It therefore comes as no surprise that many companies see training as a cost centre activity. They feel there is no guaranteed return on investment money they’ve had to shell out for training. Budgeting for ongoing training with no return on investment is obviously bad business practice. And so the effect that a properly thought through training plan should have is diluted and empowering staff with skills is overlooked the next time budgets are drawn up.

Under such circumstances, training staff then becomes something companies do begrudgingly because they view it as an obligation rather than a constructive way to upskill staff or improve operations. With that kind of attitude, training can often be perceived as being a waste of time for both the company and the attendees who will have to catch up on their work afterwards anyway. The real purpose and benefits of training are so far removed from the outcome such that one cannot blame employers and employees alike for a less than enthusiastic welcome!

4. Fly by Night Trainers

We live in an era where just about anyone can claim to be a training provider. You don’t need cultivated expertise, an exemplary track-record or well-established database of successful partners to qualify as a training organisation these days. What that means is that there is potentially a lot of “skills development” taking place out there that can be described as inferior – at best.

If companies are not going to use reputable training organisations that provide customised skills development that actually aligns with what the company requires to grow, then training probably will come to improve performance a full zero per cent.

The duration, relevance and customization of training materials have to be scrutinised in an in-depth fashion and then aligned to the purpose and objectives of the training as well as the people who are attending. There has to be follow-up and follow-through as well as reinvestment - only elephants don’t forget. As human beings employing other human beings, we do not have that luxury.

5. Irrelevant Content, Quickly Forgotten

If a company sends its finest, or indeed even it’s most underperforming team members to receive training to gain skills or improve their performance, the content of such a training session or workshop has to be relevant.

In order for training to be of any value, it has to be based on content that is customized to the unique requirements of the company sending its staff for training. The skills being taught need to be applicable to the fabric of the company’s long-term goals.

If it’s not relevant it won’t be reiterated and if it isn’t reiterated it will soon be forgotten, making it obsolete.

6. Senior Management isn’t applying the learnings

Many companies are sending their staff on training that could have enormous value when implemented. But they make the fatal error of not sending any of their senior management along to help bring it into fruition.

It’s such a wasted opportunity to spend time and money on getting your workforce to learn best practice and various skills but then not empower management to apply and manage its implementation. Like everything else in life, training should be viewed as an ongoing journey, which should involve constant recap, reinforcement as well as the integration of new material to build onto it to ensure relevance.

Get in touch with us if you’d like to know more about customised and aligned expert training to develop and grow the potential within YOUR organisation, with a provided measurable return on investment. We think about training before acting on it!