THE LEARNING CURVE

DRIVEN BY THE ‘WHY?’ FACTOR

Ruwandi Perera describes the rudiments of effective corporate training

While we may not always ask the question out loud, we do so silently while secretly rolling our eyes. When it comes to most corporate training programmes – whether they are classroom based, workshop styled, online or on-demand – employees most often don’t understand the underlying reasons for the process.

Think of the training programmes you’ve attended and how many of them you completed with the intention of learning… and how many you sat through simply to tick the box.

How many of us have attended training programmes in hotels simply to network or skip another stressful day in the office, or perhaps to update our LinkedIn profiles?

And how many of us have skipped training because we had too much work to finish and too little time?

Some of us have mindlessly clicked through training slides or muted videos and played them in the background – or even sourced ChatGPT to provide us with a summary.

While this is not the case with all training programmes – and definitely not how all employees behave and therefore, can’t be generalised –
it’s true of most.

There may be a gamut of factors contributing to why corporate training fails – such as poor execution, lack of measurement, ineffective training methods, boring trainers or even bad timing. Yet, one factor could top the list: the misalignment of purpose.

Purpose has become a buzzword today – and rightly so because asking ‘why?’ is important. Some may want to know the big picture while others might refer to it as finding the North Star.

Whatever you call it, it’s important to ask ‘why?’ Whether it’s asking ourselves why we wake up in the morning, why we hit the gym or why we should try to unwind without our phones, it’s necessary to know the reason behind doing something.

This same principle applies to training programmes too. They can fulfil multiple needs, and be of varying importance to different people and contexts. From an employer’s perspective, training may be needed to enhance performance, groom employees to climb the ladder, and even adhere to quality standards and best practices.

From an employee’s perspective, training might help fill gaps in their skills and capabilities; train them to be able to secure the next promotion or even fulfil an inner need to constantly learn.

The problem occurs when these needs don’t align or find mutual ground. Then training programmes become a tick box activity for both employers and the employees.

Corporate training must be purpose driven, and both the employer and employee should understand, accept and acknowledge what the process is expected to contribute to.

If we take the example of skills development being the core purpose of a particular training programme, both the employer and employee should have a transparent discussion to mutually understand why a particular skill is important, how training will help, and what it means for the individual’s job and performance of the team as a whole.

A mismatch in this understanding happens when an employer believes that a particular skill adds value but the employee thinks it’s a waste of time. This will result in a loss of time, resources, energy and even morale.

For training to be purpose driven, employers must work towards aligning organisational and team objectives with individual employee goals. And employees in turn should develop self-awareness and self-assessment abilities to know their goals, their current strengths and weaknesses, and the need to fill the gaps in-between.

And there needs to be an emphasis on impact where the end goal of training is clear. This ensures that employers and employees focus on the outcomes of a programme and not simply its completion. Impact creates intentionality and reaffirms purpose.

Indeed, implementing and engaging in purpose driven training is easier said than done. Yet, it can start small – perhaps by asking ‘why?’ more often and out loud.