When it comes to train­ing, every com­pany wants to get the best return on its invest­ment.  Why then do so many orga­ni­za­tions ignore the best prac­tices for get­ting the most out of their train­ing?  Some may sim­ply not know how to lever­age their ini­tial train­ing invest­ment; oth­ers may fall short in hold­ing the right peo­ple account­able for sus­tained results.

What­ever the rea­son, here are some key fac­tors to con­sider to get the most out of your train­ing initiatives:

Use the Right Model

The most effec­tive model for learn­ing reten­tion involves an allo­ca­tion of time and effort in which:

• Prepa­ra­tion accounts for approx­i­mately 25 per­cent of the effort. Prepa­ra­tion includes cus­tomiz­ing the train­ing to make it spe­cific and rel­e­vant to the par­tic­i­pants, as well as mak­ing sure all par­tic­i­pants under­stand the objec­tives for the train­ing, the right way to access the pro­grams and how to uti­lize train­ing tools.
• Train­ing accounts for approx­i­mately 25 per­cent of the effort. Whether the train­ing is done online or in the class­room, about a quar­ter of the effort and resources going into the train­ing ini­tia­tive should focus on how the con­tent is conveyed.
• Follow-up accounts for approx­i­mately 50 per­cent of the effort. Follow-up includes coach­ing to the new skills, val­i­da­tion of knowl­edge trans­fer and learn­ing reten­tion, and recog­ni­tion of improve­ment and the cor­rect appli­ca­tion of the new skills.

Use the Right People

There are sev­eral roles in an orga­ni­za­tion who con­tribute to the suc­cess of a train­ing initiative:

• Man­agers play an impor­tant role in prepar­ing for the train­ing. They help set the expec­ta­tion that the par­tic­i­pants will be learn­ing some­thing valu­able and inte­gral to the way they'll be expected to per­form their jobs.
• Train­ers help make train­ing stick by explain­ing to the par­tic­i­pants how they'll ben­e­fit from the train­ing. They need to develop and imple­ment train­ing that has pur­pose, rel­e­vance, inter­ac­tiv­ity and holds the learn­ers' interest.
• Super­vi­sors play a cru­cial post-implementation role of sup­port­ing the train­ing. They need to ensure that the new skills are being imple­mented and to model those skills them­selves. Through mon­i­tor­ing, coach­ing and rec­og­niz­ing the achieve­ments of their team mem­bers, they show that the com­pany places value on the new skills.

Com­bin­ing the right train­ing model and the peo­ple best-suited to guar­an­tee suc­cess at each phase of the ini­tia­tive can help make your train­ing as effec­tive as possible.