Training Industry Magazine - Winter 2023 - 30

There can be a
disconnect between
what the organization
sees as a valuable
investment and
what learners see
as beneficial to
their careers.
So, what happened here? Tanya did not
suffer from a lack of skill; she had proven
that from her past performance. She was
not " green " to the world of business; she
had a successful track record and was
respected by peers and managers alike.
Who is to blame in this situation and how
could it have been avoided?
In
the
market,
current
competitive
professional
job
development
has become an important retention
and recruiting strategy. Many
organizations tout their leadership
training programs as key benefits for
employees. However, a variety of
factors can prevent employees from
engaging with training. What could
be leading to this disconnect? While
many individuals see the value of
training and want to participate, our
current productivity-fueled workplace
doesn't prioritize learning during the
workday. Individuals make tough
choices to balance the responsibilities
of work and home - and training often
falls off the list. In Tanya's case, she
chose to focus her time on proving her
performance capability through work,
rather than learning management
skills that might serve her in the future.
Learning and development (L&D) is all
too often seen as a cost center rather
than an investment by organizational
leadership. This low prioritization is
reinforced by performance evaluations
that focus on quantitative work
measures and discount time spent
learning new skills. Back to our Tanya
story, how might the outcome have
changed if she had seen a return
| 30
on investment (ROI) (demonstrated
through a high-performance appraisal)
for spending 10% of her time in a
leadership development program?
Let's take a look at what her company
could have done to help prepare Tanya
to take on a management role.
PRIORITIZING LEARNING
There are some common pitfalls within
organizations that lead to a disparity
in how training is prioritized. To begin
with, L&D initiatives are often siloed
and not integrated with the company's
strategic business objectives. For
example, diversity, equity and inclusion
(DEI) training is quite popular now, in
some cases it's even required training
by HR departments. However, there
can be a disconnect between what
the organization sees as a valuable
investment and what learners see as
beneficial to their careers. We have
heard for years how diversity has a
positive impact on the bottom line, but
how many organizations are including
a diversity goal in their business plan?
When there is a lack of continuity
between key training initiatives and
stated business goals, no one is held
accountable to ensure the program is
a success.
Alignment between learning initiatives
and business objectives is key, but so
is alignment with the company culture
and work environment. When trying
to scale-up quickly, L&D departments
often turn to content libraries to
provide
the
content.
While
this
approach works in some cases, it can
backfire if the content being delivered
is not reflective of the actual employee
experience. If employees are going to
make time to learn, they must be able
to see how they can apply what they
learn to achieve success.

https://trainingindustry.com/articles/personalization-and-learning-pathways/rethinking-strategy-5-considerations-to-improve-learning-efficiency-with-personalization/ https://trainingindustry.com/wiki/leadership/the-leadership-training-market/ https://trainingindustry.com/wiki/leadership/the-leadership-training-market/ https://trainingindustry.com/articles/workforce-development/how-to-encourage-employees-to-participate-in-upskilling-programs-pt-1/ https://trainingindustry.com/articles/workforce-development/how-to-encourage-employees-to-participate-in-upskilling-programs-pt-1/

Training Industry Magazine - Winter 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Magazine - Winter 2023