When the training ends - learning, behaviors, results

"All men by nature desire knowledge."Aristotle

Training at the workplace provides both the employees and the company with benefits that make the costs and time invested worthwhile. The only condition is that the employees will also apply what they have learned  during  the training.

At one training I have been a couple of years ago the participants agreed at the end of the first training session that they will adopt and implement a certain working model for 40 days. After this time, there will be a  second training session and the employees will have to report on how did the implementation of the method go, what were the results, what was their general feedback. What do you think it happened?

Form a group of 10 people:

-  3 said they tried to apply the model for a couple of days but they returned to their old system because it was more convenient for them

- 5 applied just some parts of the model and only occasionally

-  2 people applied the model entirely and through the whole period of time

Of course this is just an example and it can’t be generalized. However, I realized one again how important is to measure the effectiveness of training.

Most training sessions, especially those that are done  with  an external trainer, usually end with  a questionnaire regarding the perception of the participants. This  kind of  measurement is only showing if the participants were generally ‘happy’ with the training but they don’t give any information on how much they have learned, what is the probability for them to apply the things they have learned and most  of all what are the end results.

The organization through the line managers and up to the board of directors should be the ones having the greatest interest in evaluating and validating the training and learning. In this regard they should ask for support from the trainers and  most importantly to support all the that is being presented during the training.

On the other hand, every employee has the responsibility to take the most of every training and apply it, at least when it comes to the ones paid by the company. More than a moral responsibility this should be seen as an opportunity for personal and professional development. Applying the new things learnt in training will take us most of the times out of our comfort zone.  Nevertheless, as Kristen Wiig said: ’When you go out of your comfort zone and it works there’s nothing more satisfying.’  

Trust at workplace – from words to actions

Trust is one of the most important elements in building relationships both at work and in private life. It is one of the essential parts in managing people and building high-performance teams and organizations.

Trust is built on actions not on words. Many leaders see trust as one of the core values of the organization that need to be communicated to employees and to the public. However, communicating alone is not sufficient to change how people behave and what they believe. Trust should be seen as an operational necessity. Without it the members of the team will not feel safe enough to open up, to admit when they have made a mistake, to take risks and to collaborate with each other. Building and maintaining a work environment where trust is not just a declared value, is one of the keys to have a functional and productive team.

When looking at the organization form hierarchical point of view, the top management should be the source of inspiration for all employees when it comes to organizational values. Then, through departmental and team managers the values should be transmitted and adopted from all employees. How can managers build and maintain trust in their team? What are the behaviors and actions that help can built at the workplace?

Leading by example

Leaders need to be a living example of the values of the organization and show people that they trust others. Team members are always watching and learning from their managers. Every employee wants to trust and believe in their managers. They want see that their managers are really looking out for their best interests and that they can rely on them when it comes to work related situations. 

Consistency between words and actions

Doing what we say we will do is one of the basic conditions when it comes to gain other’s trust. People need to know that they can rely on us and that things agreed it will also be done. Without this the interactions will be superficial and unproductive. There are of course situations when because of different factors we will not be able to deliver what we initially said. When this happens it is essential to be open and communicate the obstacles as soon as possible, ask for help if necessary and/or communicate what we intend to do.

Ownership of mistakes

Working together often brings mistakes. Blaming others it might seem the easiest way, however when everyone starts pointing fingers, an unpleasant atmosphere will be developed. What can be done instead is to encourage the team to think about the mistake in a constructive way: find the best solution, think about ways to avoid that in the future and learn from the mistakes.

Trust is the foundation of all solid and healthy relationships and while it can take a long time to build, at the same time can be destroyed by a single action or misconception.

Can trust be rebuilt after it has been betrayed? What does it take for that to happen? People and situations are so different and is almost impossible to generalize and give a clear answer. What it can be done is trying to build and maintain trust and when we fail in doing that, to do our best in rebuilding trust. Only this way we will find the answer to the two questions from above.