Most Training Doesn’t Work

This may be regarded as an oversimplification of the subject but for practical purposes it explains why we waste millions of dollars on ineffective training.

There are broadly two types of workplace learning.  Cognitive learning which is the acquisition of knowledge and emotional learning which is the application of interpersonal skills.  With cognitive learning we want the learner to be exposed to and store information to use at a later date.  With emotional learning we are trying to persuade the learner to change their thinking and behaviour.  Cognitive learning can be described as product knowledge, learning new software features, learning processes and procedures.  Emotional learning includes leadership, selling, customer service and managing staff.

These two divisions do overlap but they require different techniques so that people can learn.  Regrettably, we have used the same methods associated with cognitive learning to train people in all workplace training.  The results of our emotional learning have been extremely poor and we have largely wasted our money in these areas.

Our methods have guaranteed low retention rates and little evidence of transfer of training into workplace behaviour.  You cannot learn a practical skill like leadership in a classroom.  We keep using methods that don’t work.  Sending people on adventure courses is just as dumb.  We know they don’t work.  Leadership is learned and developed over a long period of time.  It is not a training event.  it is a learning process.

Consider the money spent on sales training with no effect, customer service is just the same.   Unless we know how people learn, we cannot provide effective training.

Send me an email for a special report on learning and how you can improve your results. petermitchell23@gmail.com

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It’s Time to Reconsider the way we Train Sales Staff

This is a specialist area that sucks up so much time, effort and money.  Sales training is a huge investment area.  It’s time to ask questions.  Are the traditional ways working?  How large is the dropout rate?  How much is this costing? Read more…

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How to Get a Better Return from Training

Training Program Design Training for the technical parts of most jobs is relatively easy. But training people to be flexible, develop empathy, to have interpersonal skills and be emotionally competent is much more difficult.   Training in industry has ignored these differences and generally used the same methods for both the technical information and emotional competence. Read more…

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The Key to Sales Success is the Quality and Frequency of Training

Most companies do a good job in training their sales force in product knowledge, but they tend to do a poor job and actually teaching people how to sell. These are two completely separate issues, even though many businesses treat them as the same. Read more…

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A Revolution is Overdue in Sales Training

This is a specialist area of training.  In today’s economic climate, sales training has to be more effective.  It really is time to review the way we train salespeople because of the time, effort and money which is expended in this area.  We have to ask if the traditional ways are working in the marketplace.  Are we getting value for money?   Read more…

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Leadership Training Design Requires Much Improvement

When you think about purchasing or designing training for your potential leaders what do you consider? The cost of the training? How long it’s going to take? Value? Results? Ongoing development? Where it is going to take place? Any ancillary costs such as accommodation and travel?  Follow-up coaching? You probably consider all these and many other aspects of the training. Read more…

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How to use a Skill Matrix

An important leadership task is the development of skills so that individual and overall team performance can be lifted. The first part of the task to be completed is to identify those areas where skills are deficient.  The best tool for the leader is a skills matrix. Read more…

How to Boost your Training Results

Very often an organization decides to improve their level of customer service, sales, supervision, leadership, emotional intelligence or some other facet of emotional competence. They go through a process of deciding who is going to deliver this training and the results they would like to see. They are aware of the need for the training and development and are prepared to invest in their staff. Frequently, they are disappointed with the results. The return on their investment has not been very high. They have spent a lot of money putting staff through a two-day program and there doesn’t appear to be a discernible difference. Read more…

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Practical Leadership

This training course will be posted shortly. It sets up the learner for the lifetime learning experience that is leadership.  You cannot learn leadership from a book, a training course in a classroom or an adventure program in the backwoods.  Leadership is learned by doing things in the real working environment.  No -one can predict the specific situations you are likely to face in these turbulent times and therefor the training must reflect how you are going to learn.  Prior to this course, your learning strengths will be assessed so you can arrange the information in the way that suits you best.

The course lasts ten weeks and is available at $47 per week.

To pre-register please use the “Contact” tab and send us a message.

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The Unorthodox but Effective Street Guide to Designing Training Programs.

Firstly, start at the end.  This may seem an odd approach.  Bear with me as I explain what I mean.  The most important thing about a training program is the result.  Anyone who purchases training, should have a crystal clear vision of what they want to happen after the training has been completed.

Once you have worked out what you want to happen as a result of the training ask yourself this fundamental question.  “Do I want my trainees to acquire knowledge or do I want my trainees to behave differently?” Now, you might find this question difficult to answer because you might say to yourself, “It’s not as clear-cut as that.  I want my trainees to acquire some more knowledge and apply that in the workplace.”  Okay, so you want them to learn more and then do things differently. Read more…

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