Do you ever read something and think – that is absolutely ridiculous?
I just opened my latest copy of T & D magazine from the US – affiliated with the American Society of Learning and Development – in truth I was trying to decide whether to renew my membership – how often do I get to read T & D magazine anyway?… but I digress.
I was flicking through and saw an article “A dose of positive reinforcement can go a long way – get the most out of training by recognizing employees before during and after a learning event.” Great – I thought. Bound to have some good info on Learning transfer here.
I quote directly from the ‘After training‘ section here:
“Ideally, each attendee should have a post-training meeting with her manager to discuss how the training event went, if the employee got all her questions answered and ways the training will be implemented in the persons job. This simple discussion with one’s manager does not have to take much time, but is important to highlight the importance of the training and the expectation by the manager that the learning from the training event be used”
Well! How ridiculous – what is going to create behavioural change in that conversation? A single post-training meeting? Setting the expectation it will be used? This is the type of comment that shows the extremely low level of awareness about Learning transfer that we have in our industry and the low level of expectation we have of what looks like ‘good practice’ by managers involved in Learning Transfer looks like.
The article then goes on to say – “Managers play a significant role in reinforcing learning, by both having this discussion and systemically looking for ways to notice and thank the employee when the person uses the skills and knowledge from the training session. In fact, research indicates that the effectiveness of any training activity will increase by as much as 90% if the participant meets with his manager prior to and then again after the training to discuss why the employee is being sent to the training session and what the managers hopes they will learn from it.”
And what a mis-quote from the study showing ‘Coaching as an effective Transfer of Training Tool’ – it’s not about having a single meeting to create the Learning transfer it’s about using a coaching approach at repeated intervals to create change.
(I’ve written to the author asking for clarification of what study he is referring too although I’m assuming it’s ‘Executive Coaching as a TRansfer of Training Tool: Effects on Productivity in a Public Agency by Gerald Olives, K Denise Blane and Richard E Kopelmac.’
To be clear – I don’t disagree with the essence of the article – of course positive reinforcement in any shape or form in the work place is a good thing, especially after training. It raises some good techniques and suggestions around recognition. And we definitely want to get the manager engaged and supportive in the process. Clearly the author Bob Nelson, president of Nelson Motivation is an motivation expert – but to imply these suggestions can make such an impact on Learning Transfer I just don’t buy it.
On the plus side any discussion about Learning transfer creates attention in this area, but I would encourage to you talk to an expert and someone that really understands the dynamics of transfer and not a Learning and Development generalist. The single conversation with a manager as the silver bullet just doesn’t cut it anymore.
Your thoughts?
BTW the I will be renewing my subscription to ASTD – who knows I may even submit an article to T & D magazine about what really makes Learning Transfer successful 🙂