I have been designing and delivering learning interventions for nearly 20 years (dare I say), and I always tell my clients that the learning intervention is just the start of creating change in behavior. There are many other components and models but I boil it down to the most necessary:
1. Goal setting—people need to know what is expected of them. Sounds simple? Too simple? I agree and yet many people do not even consider it. I have seen this assumption so many times. We as learning professionals know better than to make assumptions. Help your clients check their assumptions! All you have to do is randomly ask a couple of learners. If goals are not clear then depending on the level of behavior change needed you can address it multiple ways:
- The easiest and the simplest is a communication strategy and plan, however that is only for simple changes, like learning to use new software.
- If, on the other hand, you are changing your sales model, a pretty important and difficult change, you need a change management strategy and plan.
- Finally if you are totally reengineering the way people work because of, for example, a merger (not uncommon these days) then you need a new or adjusted performance management strategy and plan in addition to a change management strategy and plan.
2. Learning intervention—I think we all have this one down!
3. Reinforcement and feedback—As we all know, learning is a process, not an event. Therefore, there always has to be some reinforcement and feedback to truly affect performance. This could manifest in:
- Providing short snippets of content to remind people what they learned, as well as,
- Setting up informal learning opportunities such as a social media site,
- However, what is MOST IMPORTANT is manager coaching and feedback. I have heard clients tell me that while the training program their employees went through was great, they ended up going back to their day-to-day and doing the same thing they did before. Why? Primarily because the managers did not reinforce the new behavior. In some cases the managers did not even know what their teams were taught so they couldn’t reinforce the behavior if they wanted to. Without including managers the learning intervention weakens over time and information learned is forgotten. (See Wikipedia’s explanation of the forgetting curve.) Finally, remember that managers are also responsible for setting goals—see #1 above. Therefore getting the managers onboard is key!
So, the lesson learned, to use L&D lingo, is: make sure every one of your training plans at lease considers these topics and ask your clients the tough questions. They may not understand and resist at first, but you will start them thinking, and that, is the first step to recovery.
Excellent article! I really believe that the natural evolution of L&D is leading towards more of a Performance Consultant role. That is what drove me in starting my own company and I believe will improve the L&D function by better connecting it with the strategic function of companies.
Thanks Christopher! I could not agree with you more. I started in L&D myself and now do performance consulting. You just get to a point when you realize you can be designing the best training ever but if other things aren’t in place or addressed, it won’t have an effect.
This is a great read. Training is just part of the solution, could not have been a truer statemnt. I have found that not only does the manager need to reinforce performance, they also should be committed to the change. When managers are not commited to the change employees often can tell by the managers focus. You have the manager that operates as the sponsor, positively promoting the change and empowering the next level of management. The gap usually falls between the direct supervior that will really be activly engaged with the associates ensuring the change takes place, and the mid-management level that just received the direction from their sponsor. The biggest challenge I see is in the transfer of communication of the expectations of the change. Allowing the employees to be part of the goal setting helps them build ownership. The best curriculum can be designed for training; however, if the manager that is implementing the process is not on board it decreases the level of effectiveness of the training. As the designer, it would be challenging to know the motivation of the manager that will be executing on the change to ensure the material is effectively designed for them to carry out the process. I feel this is where we operate as consultants to get them on board, find out what their learning style is, how the company operates currently and then go back and design training to accommodate their learning style and the process method. One must consider, when not considering the learning style of the learner are we truly serving a purpose.
Thanks for your post Rochelle Frazier! I just got back from vacation and what a nice return to read your thoughts. I agree, that is why I also highlight a change management strategy and plan to do just that–get that much needed buy in.
As for learning styles–so true! You must know your target audience’s environment and approach so you can create training that resonates with them. So often designers cut short the audience analysis step and I agree with you, it is so vital.
Reni, Sean Murray and I have put some similar ideas into a framework that we call the 5As. This framework is described in our book and in an article we did for Learning Solutions Magazine: http://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/357/getting-business-results-from-e-learning
We wanted to create something that was easy for managers to understand and would motivate them to support training and other learning interventions.
Hi Stephen, I read the article–thank you for sharing! Seems like we are kindred spirits 🙂
[…] Bridging the Performance Gap: Training is Just Part of the Solution- Performance Punctuated, July 1, 2010If, on the other hand, you are changing your sales model, a pretty important and difficult change, you need a change management strategy and plan. Therefore, there always has to be some reinforcement and feedback to truly affect performance. Tags: Performance Improvement Talent Management Organizational Learning by Reni Gorman. […]