Many companies waste their investment in training because supervisors and managers don’t play their part in the process, says Darryl Doane, director of learning at The Learning Service Ltd.
“There’s a myth that training is training’s responsibility. The reality is that training is everyone’s responsibility,” he says.
Doane and his partner, Rose Sloat, offer “performance-based” training to help managers and employees advance a company’s vision by enhancing their own skills. Their programs have helped companies including The Goodyear Co. and Roberts Express.
The duo presents training, tools and techniques to help people develop or improve skills in listening and communication, sales and customer service, leadership and time management.
But it’s the role-playing and follow-up programs that augment training and prevent setbacks, Sloat says. Each program has action plans and follow-up group activities to ensure the newly-acquired skills will be applied, mentored, coached and reinforced in the workplace.
“Picture three boxes, ‘A, B and C,'” Doane says. “The ‘A’ box is where you establish goals for training. We want the goals to reflect the needs of the managers and people who attend the class. The ‘B’ box is the training itself. That’s where about 90 percent of all training in this country ends when people go back to the workforce-it’s not reinforced and it’s lost.
“The ‘C’ box is the critical part of the loop, the flow of learning, where the application, mentoring, coaching and practicing of the new skills and knowledge make it part of a person’s everyday behavior.”
One caveat, Doane says, is that when a training course has been completed, don’t expect immediate results. Research indicates it takes a minimum of 21 to 32 days of consistent, concentrated application before a new concept is fully incorporated into one’s behavior.
