Training That Can Be Absorbed…

Several years ago while working with a group of extremely skilled employees in a construction company, one of the most senior guys was grumbling about some of the new folks who had been hired. He was frustrated because they didn’t know everything he expected them to know right away and shared that “when he started, they showed you once and you’d better do it right from there on!” I proceeded to call BS and asked if he really thought that he came from the womb knowing everything he did after 20 years in the trade. He didn’t necessarily like my reply but that didn’t mean my point was invalid. All too often, the folks who are the most seasoned within our companies - also the ones who are likely responsible for training new employees on the X’s and O’s of the job - follow this approach; “I told you how to do it and it’s up to you to figure out from there…”

I won’t bother detailing how much profitability that can kill in any organization! I will share the second point I made in that conversation though… Once the group stopped laughing at my comment, I followed up by asking how many potentially great employees did the organization lose in that 20 year time period simply because no one provided them with a training approach that they could absorb. The silence was deafening…

If we’re going to have any real hope of capturing that lost profitability that occurs when we’ve used the wrong tool (type of training) for the job, we need to be just as intentional about making sure the tool is being used correctly - meaning it won’t matter how accurate the training is if the individual being trained doesn’t receive the message!

I also remember a conversation fairly early in my career where someone who had a much larger ego than they had earned, and was filling a role where they thought they had eminent authority over basically anything I ever did, explained to me that I should never have more than one mentor. They said that any input coming from another source could be confusing and contradictory to what they expected me to achieve. I’ll fight the urge to detail how incredibly self-absorbed that individual was in every other aspect of their life; I’m sure that one comment provides you with more than enough perspective. However, I will share how that idea, if applied to how we approach training team members for any role in our organization, could kill just as much profitability as expecting someone to be told something once and know all they’d ever need to know… Since then, I’ve been blessed with several outstanding mentors - all of which had very different experiences and provided me with advice on equally different levels - and each played a critical role in helping me grow throughout my career. Just in case you’re wondering, I was quick to distance myself in every way possible from the fellow who was trying to play God…

So let’s tie all that back to how effective training can yield significant returns to the employer and to every employee involved in the process. When we provide the type of training a team member needs to grow in their current or their next role, we’re not only helping them become more productive, we’re also showing them that we truly value the potential they bring to the organization. When we make sure that training is provided in a way that they can absorb it, retain it, and apply it, we greatly improve the odds of being able to measure the return. To do either of those things well though, we need to have a solid understanding of exactly who our team members are and where each of them hope to go. We’ll pick up there soon…