Hacking Training and Development - Why Your Employee Development Program Sucks

STOP WASTING TIME AND MONEY ON EMPLOYEE LEARNING
TO 3X YOUR RESULTS
HACKING TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT

Business training and development is an integral part of
maximizing team talents, streamlining processes, increasing
innovation and growth, and creating a positive and successful
organizational environment.
However, most employee training and development programs
fall significantly short of their goals, yielding only 20-30%
information retention and skill application.
This results in nearly $113 Billion training dollars wasted in the
U.S. every year, and almost 43 hours per employee per year
wasted in the average organization.*
Must we accept training as a “necessary evil” with weak and
disappointing results? Or are there aspects of training we can
pinpoint using educational psychology and neuroscience to
maximize results?
By addressing the following 8 FLAWS OF
TRAINING, Leadership Choice has increased training
retention and application to 83-87% 6 months post-
learning (nearly 3X the industry average).
*Training Industry Report 2015 - $142 B spent annually on training; 53.8 avg. hours of training per employee per year.

8 FLAWS OF EMPLOYEE
TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT
1. Employees dread participation
2. Training preparation isn’t meaningful
3. Content isn’t immediately applicable
4. There’s no storytelling
5. Too much information too fast
6. There is little or no reinforcement
7. Content isn’t individualized
8. There is no boss involvment
Explore these flaws in the following pages to see how repairing
these issues in your employee training and development can
3X your results.
LEADERSHIP CHOICE | 1-800-232-9022 | WWW.LEADERSHIPCHOICE.COM

EMPLOYEES DREAD
PARTICIPATION1
With dismal industry-wide retention rates,
training has a bad rap among organizations
and employees alike. In most cases, participants
dread training experiences since, given past
experiences, they feel it detracts from their busy
schedules for little or no perceived value.
Programs need to:
• Complement, not detract from, schedules.
• Be relevant and individualized to
participants’ specific roles and situtations.
• Be immediately useful and applicable.
When employees or leaders are excited
about a program, they will be more
receptive to learning and applying new
information.

TRAINING
PREPARATION ISN’T
MEANINGFUL
2
Studies have shown that up to 25% of the
efficacy of training is based on the work done
before the training event takes place.
A synopsis or program overview isn’t enough;
pre-work is a crucial time to engage the learner,
lay down groundwork for stronger and more
effective connections, and create a more
efficient and advanced learning atmosphere.
Quick Tip: Look for a program that utilizes
“flipped learning,” encouraging highly
engaging self-learning, self-analysis, and a
connection between self and subject matter
before the training event takes place. This
maximizes the participant’s informational base
and makes learning more efficient and effective.

THE CONTENT ISN’T
IMMEDIATELY
APPLICABLE
3
While most people align curriculum to
their organization’s long-term strategy and
goals, most don’t consider the importance
of immediate relevance and applicability to
curriculum.
When key concepts can be (and will be)
immediately applied after training, new
mindsets are reinforced and your participants
have a better shot at committing the new
information to habit and long-term memory.
Look for a progam that prepares individualized
application plans for participants and uses
project-based learning to tie content to real
leadership and business challenges.

THERE’S NO
STORYTELLING4
If your training doesn’t include persuasive,
realistic storytelling, then you’re missing out on
a prime opportunity to reinforce learning and
solidify long-term retention.
Cine Learning has conducted several studies on
the effects of storytelling on learning and have
found it significantly increases a participant’s
ability to learn and apply information.
“In research, it’s been found that adults could
recite a story with all the relevant facts and
figures verbatim even weeks after the learning
took place, while adults subjected to a lecture on
the material retained less than fifty percent of the
same facts,” they write.

TOO MUCH
INFORMATION
TOO FAST
5
Regardless of the curriculum subject, most
training programs try to fit in as much relevant
information as possible to maximize faciliator
and participant time, financial investment, and to
attempt to maximize results.
Unfortunately, this “drinking from the
firehose” approach leaves participants feeling
overwhelmed and creates a situation where
less information is retained instead of more.
While there are techniques for maximizing
retention in a short amount of time,
psychologists agree there is a finite amount of
new information someone can retain in a single
sitting—and the number is quite small. Instead,
most well-developed programs will present
lessons over an extended timeline.

THERE IS LITTLE OR
NO REINFORCEMENT6
Anyone who has ever tried to break a habit
or learn a new skill knows that behavioral
changes and skill implementation does not
happen overnight.
Similarly, what takes place after training or
development to reinforce learning is an
essential part of long-term application and
retention of the material.
Research suggests that over 50% of training
value (long-term retention and on-the-job
application of new skills and mindsets) comes
from post-training reinforcement.
Retention suggestions:
Multimedia reminders | Facilitated discussions with other participants
Regularly reviewing action plans with supervisors | Ongoing
personalized coaching | Weekly team meetings that reinforce strategies

THE CONTENT ISN’T
INDIVIDUALIZED7
If information can be specifically related to an
individual’s duties, goals, or challenges, then he
or she is more likely to retain and apply the new
information.
While individualizing curriculum for a whole group
of participants may seem unrealistic, it’s actually
not as impossible as it may seem.
What to look for:
1. Training programs supplemented by personal
training application coaching.
2. Curriculum tying to an overarching theme
personalized to the individual (such as personal
communication patterns).
3. Regular “stops” for self-assessments and writing
action plans to implement new strategies.

THERE IS NO BOSS
INVOLVEMENT8
Without supervisor or boss involvement,
training is likely to have lack internal support or
reinforcement.
A supervisor should be involved in selecting
participants, communicating about training,
defining goals, and holding regular development
discussions. This gives the supervisor more buy-in
and encourages the supervisor to:
• Delegate tasks that reinforce new skills.
• Coach the individual on overcoming
challenges related to new skills or mindsets.
• Support ongoing efforts and recognize
improvements.
• Help create or support an organizational
atmosphere conducive to changes adopted
through training or development.

EFFECTIVE BUSINESS TRAINING &
DEVELOPMENT CHECKLIST
Flexible program that fits into daily work instead of
detracting from it.
Does not require multiple days taken away from work.
(Extended removal from work creates a stressful return situation in which
participants feel unable to a apply new skills.)
Participants will find content immediately applicable and
relevant.
There is strong preparation including:
Program Overview (insufficient as stand-alone)
Goals and Objectives (insufficient as stand-alone)
Assessment
Self-Analysis (connecting self to upcoming
material)
Self-Learning
Content includes frequent, realistic, and relevant
storytelling.
Information is spaced out over time to avoid too much
information too fast.
Lessons are delivered in small, digestible chunks over time
for better retention.
There is strong reinforcement including:
Multimedia reminders/discussion points
Action plans reviewed regularly (weekly or monthly)
with supervisors
Ongoing personalized coaching
“Teach-back” method (participants teach direct-
reports or other team members)
Weekly team meetings that reinforce strategies and
discuss challenges
Supplemented by one-on-one training application coaching
to personalize content and make it immediately actionable
for each individual
Curriculum regularly challenges individual to make
adjustments based on personality or communication
patterns
Offers regular “stops” for self assessments and writing
action plans to implement new strategies
Boss/Supervisor is included in defining goals
Boss/Supervisor is included in development meetings and
following up on action plans
ADDITIONAL NOTES

ABOUT
LEADERSHIP CHOICE
Leadership Choice was developed by experts in the
Leadership Learning and Organizational Psychology
industries who were dissatisfied with current ineffective
training and development standards.
These experts collaborated their training efforts from an
unprecedented standpoint: Even the best curriculum in the
world sucks if the delivery of that curriculum sucks.
From that vantage point, they honed their expertise
in educational psychology, organizational application,
professional learning, and long-term retention to create
a process that could deliver content in a highly-efficient,
accelerated pace and produce 3X better application and
long-term application than industry standard.
Learn more at
WWW.LEADERSHIPCHOICE.COM

Hacking Training and Development - Why Your Employee Development Program Sucks

Hacking Training and Development - Why Your Employee Development Program Sucks

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