5 Facts About Corporate Training That Are Hard To Believe

5 Facts About Corporate Training That Are Hard To Believe
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Summary: Corporate training happens everywhere. It has been happening since 1880, during times of industrial revolution where informal training happened through apprenticeships. The form, mode, and approach may have changed over the decades, but the importance remained. So much so that corporate training have become a necessity. In this article I will highlight 5 hard to believe facts about corporate training that may help in creating effective training experiences.

Facts About Corporate Training: Why Companies Fail To Make Training More Effective?

Why the need for corporate training? Josh Bersin believes that organizations today suffer from “skills supply challenge”. This may be true, but organizations too are clearly failing to make corporate training more effective; fresh and engaging. Much has been talked about going digital to adapt to changing times, spending more, and training more, but certain answers may lie elsewhere. Here are 5 facts about corporate training which are hard to believe and may answer a few whys of the ineffectiveness of a corporate training program.

1. Employees Want More Training

In the days gone, employees were believed to avoid training of any kind, finding them boring, tiresome, or irrelevant. This has changed! Employees now want more training in the hope that it would help them score better at a workplace. Incidentally, more and more employees fear about not reaching their full-potential… almost 74%. They presume training to hone their skills, increase decision-making, and facilitate self-growth and progress. The 2012 Survey of Online Learning revealed that the number of students taking at least one online course had surpassed 6.7 million. Millennials and gen Z are eager to learn and update to fit into a dynamic business environment.

2. Ineffective Training Costs Money

Your organization may be spending millions on employee training, but is it worth it? What is the kind of training you are spending on? Because ineffective training can cost a business $13.5 million per year per 1000 employees. That’s massive! In the future training outcomes need to become more measurable and learners should be able to apply the skills from the training to their job. Every employee is an asset; how each one contributes to the growth of the business should be identified and measured. Let’s face it: Learners are not going to intuitively understand how to make the most of trainings; they will have to be assisted, mentored, and groomed.

3. Learner Needs Are Not Met

A course development life cycle is all about big words; learner objectives, goals, engagement, and interactivity. Yet only 38% of managers believe that their programs meet learners' needs. Why? Because either the learner’s perspective is lost or simply not anatomized. Many still find the content and design ineffectual, sinuous, and very flat. Training should be customized for learners in an end-to-end manner, which is currently not happening in every training program. What’s more, when profits are low companies cut down spending on training, leading to slower learner growth poor business performance.

4. Lack In Gap Analysis

This is true, isn’t it? In this fast-paced business climate, who has the time to analyze gaps in training programs? Gap analysis (read as training need analysis) should not only be limited to organizational demands, but extend to individual needs. This is true for digitization too. Organizations are turning partly -or completely- digital to fill gaps, but it is even more important to identify the best mode first. What suits your people; blended, instructor-led, online, or a mixture of all? Certain SMBs still follow old school methods to save on training expenditure, forcing employees to comply. According to Ryan Austin, founder of Expert Knowledge, 75 % corporations don’t design training with a purpose or with an approach to Instructional Design, and this is a major reason why corporate training fail. Training needs will change with time, and so will the methodology; both should be assessed to obtain a perfect blend.

5. Training Isn't Everything

Yes, many still believe that. Many organizations still have a "good enough" approach towards training. They don’t believe that it is a must-have! Such an environment forces employees to self-learn and leads to unhealthy competitiveness. Good training impacts the entire hierarchy; customers, employees, and stakeholders. According to a Harvard Business report, employee engagement has a considerable impact on customer satisfaction. A strong training program can make employees understand the way they contribute towards the company, equip them to perform better, and create a great experience for their customers. In short, training is everything!

There is so much of training, but little to show for it. So slow down, take a breath or do yoga, and re-analyze and refine training needs, effectiveness, gaps, budget, and the outcome.