This document outlines 3 scary reasons why corporate training is often a waste of money and provides suggestions for how to address these issues. Reason 1 is providing vague training outcomes without conducting a proper needs analysis. Reason 2 is failing to train "soft skills" like communication and self-awareness, which are actually very difficult. Reason 3 is treating training like a commodity and focusing only on cost instead of value. The document suggests conducting a needs analysis, training soft skills, and choosing trainers based on suitability and quality rather than just cost to address these issues.

1. 3 SCARY REASONS
CORPORATE TRAINING
IS A WASTE OF MONEY
AND WHY IT’S
YOUR FAULT
Part One

2. Reason 1
You provide vague training
outcomes.
“I would like our team to communicate better.”
“Know how to prioritise and not fall into a heap.”
“How to keep your cool in the workplace.”
“Have self awareness as a leader.”
“Think outside the box.”
“How to manage their time and people better.”
Slide 1

3. WhyThis is Scary
Lack of a training-needs analysis
Believe it or not, the examples on the previous
slide are real training outcomes given by both
large and small organisations.
A properly conducted training-needs analysis will
provide clearly defined outcomes, the kind of
training needed and identify who should attend
that training.Time well spent, don’t you agree?
Slide 2

4. Reason 2
You do not value the hardest
training of all.
Slide 3

5. WhyThis is Scary
Lack of understanding the value
of so-called ‘Soft Skills’.
Far from being soft, these life skills are hard.
We call them ‘Foundation Skills’. Lacking the
awareness of how your words and actions
impact each and every individual in your work-
place (and private life) is a recipe for unhappiness,
low morale and low productivity.
Slide 4

6. WhyThis is Scary
Case Study
13 middle managers crammed into the small
training room.They were struggling with handling
difficult situations in the workplace.
During the break, I spoke with their HR manager.
He rejected my recommendation of personal
development training. Laughing, he folded his
arms and said he didn’t believe in body language.
“That warm and fuzzy stuff is rubbish.
Just stick to factual training.” he said.
Slide 5

7. Reason 3
You treat training as
a commodity.
Slide 6
Sourcing good training providers is a project that
requires managing. Projects generally have three
constraints: Time, Budget and Quality.
Often, the project manager is rushed into making
a decision. Often, the driving constraint is budget.

8. WhyThis is Scary
Pay peanuts …Get monkeys
(C’mon, you knew that was coming)
Slide 7

9. WhyThis is Scary
Slide 8
Seriously though …
You ask for their fee upfront.
No trainer worth their salt would tell you upfront.
No true and proper assessment of the value
equation can be gained without deeper enquiry.
The ‘fee question’ stops further enquiry. So the
team now has to sit through another boring,
unproductive training.And you wonder why they
resist attending training workshops.

10. Why did I go to that training?
Slide 9

11. THAT’S WHY
CORPORATE TRAINING
IS A WASTE OF MONEY
Slide 10

12. AND WHY IT’S
YOUR FAULT
THAT’S WHY
CORPORATE TRAINING
IS A WASTE OF MONEY
Slide 11

13. BUT
IT’S EASY
TO FIX
Slide 12

14. Easy to Fix 1
Conduct a training-needs analysis
It may take time, but it saves you from wasting
time. And your workplace must set the climate
for learning. Does your organisation send out
signals indicating training is critical?
Employees will pick up on it if training is just a
‘tick-in-the-box’ requirement.
Slide 13

15. Easy to Fix 2
Train the Foundation Skills
When you get to the heart of most business
problems, there are fundamental human issues
at the core. Last year, 60% of the training
workshops we delivered were about how to
deal with difficult people.
Few are equipped with the ability to deal with
conflict.They either withdraw or fight.
Slide 14

16. Easy to Fix 3
ChooseYour Trainer Wisely
If you send an unskilled employee to be trained
by an unskilled trainer … you are wasting your
money and the time of that employee.
Do your due diligence. Get the bigger picture.
Which brings us back to the training-needs
analysis. Now you have specific outcomes, use
them to determine the suitability of the trainer.
Slide 15

17. Easy to Fix Bonus :)
Do Not Cram Content
A client request
Deliver a workshop on Time Management.
Prior to our one hour customised-content call,
he emailed a list of the dot points he wanted
covered.
There were159 dot points
Slide 16

18. Easy to Fix Bonus :)
Do Not Cram Content
He would not accept that his employees walking
away with his three most important outcomes
was a good outcome.
Slide 17

19. Easy to Fix Bonus :)
Do Not Cram Content
He would not accept that his employees walking
away with his three most important outcomes
was a good outcome.
We did not accept
this training
Slide 18

20. There are more than 3 reasons
Addressing these 3 reasons will fix
many training issues
Thank you for viewing Part One
PartTwo looks at:
WHY IT’S
OUR FAULT
COMING SOON :)
Slide 19

21. Victoria Rose is a dynamic professional speaker,
Leadership trainer and author who has
helped thousands of leaders and their
teams throughout Australia and
New Zealand deal with the enormous variety
of problems and challenges facing them in the
workplace …every single day.
Who am I?
www.TheLeadershipVoice.com
Check out her corporate training website
Slide 20

22. Victoria’s life as a trainer started 31 years ago as a soldier in
the Australian Army Reserve. During the following 23 years, as
a Training Subject Master, she trained over 7,000 soldiers and
officers in drill, weapons and theory and was promoted to the
rank of Warrant Officer.
Who am I?
www.TheLeadershipVoice.com