Training Industry Magazine - Summer 2014 - (Page 11)
the INHERENT
INERTIA OF
TRAINING
It's passé to say that we live in a world of
constant change. It's a given fact that change
has been part of normal human life for eons.
The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus
wrestled with the concept of change and
left us with a wealth of quotations that are
just as relevant today as they were when he
lived 2,500 years ago - "change is the only
constant" is one of his well-known examples.
When we turn to the world of training and
development professionals, there is a strong
argument that the profession has undergone
huge change, especially over the past 30
years. However, there is an even stronger
argument that it has not really changed at all.
IN·ER·TIA /I'N'ERSHE/
NOUN: A TENDENCY
TO DO NOTHING OR TO
REMAIN UNCHANGED.
TECHNOLOGY-DRIVEN CHANGE
The World Wide Web has been a major
driver of change in many aspects of life
over the past 20 years. One would think
that its impact would have been profound
on training and development. Of course,
it has been a change agent in some ways,
but many training professionals are in the
late majority or laggard groups on Everett
Rogers' innovation curve, and what they do
today has been little changed by Internet
technologies.
Certainly, the Internet has broken the
richness/reach trade-off as described by
authors Philip Evans and Thomas Wurster
in their 1999 book, "Blown To Bits" across
many areas of human activity. No longer is
the decision either richness or reach. We can
now have both. The Internet has helped
us exploit this trade-off in education and
training to some extent.
Technology has seeded e-learning's growth
and helped overcome previous limits to
training and development imposed by time
and distance. e-Learning is big business, but
it is based on the old course paradigm -
there's also some movement with MOOCs
in workplace training and development. It
is still niche and, again, remains rooted in
the idea of learning as an event - a course.
The deconstructive impact on education
and training has been significantly less
than those Evans and Wurster correctly
predicted on industries such as banking,
the consumer and travel industries, and the
press. Technology has had some impact,
but it hasn't been transformational.
Why is this so? Why hasn't training and
development been in the vanguard of
innovation and adoption of new and better
methods whether using technology or not?
- CH AR L E S J E NNING S
PERFORMANCE AND PRODUCTIVITY
Budget models are antiquated
Secondly, from a budget perspective
there is significant financial and resource
investment in the event model for training.
Financial officers in many organizations
use incremental budgeting processes.
Incremental budgeting is where budgets
for each year are based on the previous
year's spending and adjusted incrementally
- movements are small. This model does not
work, or is sub-optimal, in a rapidly changing
business environment where speed and
agility is critical.
Mindsets are stuck
Finally, many manager, HR and training and
development mindsets are stuck with the
idea that underperformance is a training
problem and requires a training solution.
This mindset also assumes that development
opportunities are only met by scheduling
training courses. The idea that each of these
problems can often be addressed faster,
more effectively and at lower cost by nontraining solutions is not even considered.
Structured learning events have been,
and continue to be, the dominant model
for building capability and addressing
underperformance in most organizations.
Consider these factors:
OVERCOMING THE INERTIA
Training is embedded in operating
rhythms
The first factor is that the traditional
training model is a well-established and
is embedded in organizational operating
rhythms. Annual development objective
setting invariable involves managers and
reports identifying the right courses or
programs for development. Leaders and
managers turn to their HR and training
and development specialists with the
expectation that they will produce courses
and programs to meet their needs.
On the positive side, all of these factors
can be overcome. However, it does require
new approaches to building capability
and performance - using workplace
development opportunities and social
learning techniques. The solution will also
include new budgeting models. The last
and most important change required to
overcome the inertia of training is a change
in mindset.
T R A I N I N G I N DUSTR Y MA GAZ INE - SUMMER201 4 I WWW.TRAININGINDU S T RY . C OM/ MAGAZ I NE
Charles Jennings is a director of the 702010
Forum, Duntroon Associates and the Internet
Time Alliance. Email Charles.
11
http://www.trainingindustry.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Magazine - Summer 2014
From Where I Sit
Table of Contents
Guest Editor: Developing Emerging Talent Pipelines
The Inherent Inertia of Training
Stop Harping on Generational Differences
Learning to Live the Brand
Leading through a Merger and Acquisition
Organizational Change through Applied Learning
Influencing without Line Authority: A Key Skill for Virtual Project Managers
The Currency of Trust: The Difference between Flourishing and Floundering
Building Buy-in for Learning Investments
Sales Winners Sell Differently: How Selling Is and Isn't Changing
From Mind-Full to Mindful: The Intention/Instruction Intersection
The Implications of Organizational Forgetting
Casebook: ADP: Improving Sales Process Effectiveness
Sustaining Training's Impact
Managing at the Speed of Business
Becoming an Authentic Leader
What's Online
Company News
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