The definition of training as we find it in the dictionary of the Royal Academy of the language says: "Make someone suitable, enable him for something." In this sense, this reflection aims to collect some of the concerns that daily cross the minds of company managers when they decide to hold training events for people in the organization.
Undoubtedly, there are many issues that result from the diagnosis of training needs which we prioritize according to the urgencies of the market and the purposes of the organization, however on many occasions we perceive and evidence that such actions, represented in courses, seminars, workshops, programs and even diplomas and specializations, have very little impact on improving performance and especially a low contribution to management results.
The resources assigned to the training processes in the organization have, in many cases, a return that does not justify the efforts dedicated to it.
On the other hand, we would like to find alternatives that allow us to develop, in all team members, skills that meet at least three major characteristics:
- Transfer of learning. Usefulness of the themes. Impact on management.
This reflection is an invitation to those responsible for training areas in organizations to identify the components that can contribute significantly in the design of learning processes that go beyond the time spent in the conference room, training events that transcend the day by day and that they fulfill the function of developing capable people in each of the subjects.
I will briefly present some comments on each of the three expected characteristics for training processes:
1. Transfer of learning: on many occasions, attendance at training events ends up being an interesting day of integration, knowledge of new people and even new learning that could improve day-to-day management. However, there are several reasons why what has been learned does not transcend the classroom or the conference room, among them we can mention:
- People who attend feel that they do not have the capacity to transmit what they have seen to the rest of the group. The methodological model used by the facilitators does not favor the design of action plans. Topics can be complex and difficult for attendees to assimilate. The organization does not have mechanisms for monitoring and accompanying the training processes. The organization does not have tools to measure the level of learning transfer.
2. Usefulness of the topics: This characteristic is closely related to the previous one, however the emphasis is precisely on the usefulness of knowledge to the tasks that are carried out daily, in this sense we find that on many occasions what is seen in a training program It lacks real points of execution in the organization, that is, interesting, current and referenced concepts in other organizations in which it has shown to be successful are reviewed. Despite this, these learnings can be a cause of frustration because when we arrive at our job we find that few things can be really implemented due to the specific conditions and situations of each organization.
3. Impact on Management: It is undoubtedly one of the great expectations, both of those who administer the training programs and of those who attend them. On many occasions, attendance at scheduled events is no more than "a salute to the flag" because it does not generate real situations of change and / or improvement in management, therefore it is worth considering:
- Depth of knowledge. The contents received address the current situation of each of the attendees? On many occasions, the attendees feel that they are wasting time and that they could devote it to other activities due to the level of the seminar (Either because it is very basic or because it is very complex Methodology followed. The learning scheme offered is consistent with the expectations raised by the attendees? Sometimes it is no more than an event full of playful activities that do not transcend action, or on the contrary it is conferences that address conceptual models that do not relationship with the current situation of the company Duration of the Event It is known that today people have little time for their training and development activities,This means that the training actions must meet time requirements that guarantee the training and development of the required competencies and that, simultaneously, can be carried out in relatively short periods of time. In this sense, we know that events of 2 or 4 hours disconnected from a learning scheme have a very low impact in terms of assimilation of knowledge. Use of technological tools. Today many organizations are using e-learning as a training alternative for issues related to managerial training, strategy and regarding some operational situations of the position. It is a model that is now strengthened by b-learning and its results are yet to be seen.In any case, the idea is to be able to have a training model that integrates these tools into a single learning scheme in such a way that it serves as a support for the entire process and is not an isolated tool. Promotion of Innovation. This issue can really have an impact on management, when a training program does not address this component, it ends up being a short-lived event (even if it is high cost). The possibility of having a tangible and measurable result at the end of a training process is what can really make the difference between expense and cost, between maintaining the current state of affairs and generating alternatives, arising from the same participants., which allow the redesign of processes, generate new products, improve the relationship with customers,create new management models, etc.
Finding talents for the organization is a responsibility, developing them is a challenge that passes, among other components, through training. Therefore, these comments are aimed precisely at finding a methodological model that integrates many of the elements seen; that we can establish, not isolated courses (however interesting they may be), but learning processes that in a short time are capable of offering measurable results that show improvements in performance, increases in productivity and the development of skills capable of maintaining and increasing the level of competitiveness of the organization in the market.
Finally, going back to the beginning, training has the potential to become a tool capable of making people suitable and in this way being considered by everyone in the organization as a valid alternative in the process of developing human talent.
