Companies are increasingly facing a dramatic shortage in the number of skilled workers. To maintain its competitive advantage, organizations are spending billions of dollars on employee training and development programs.
Corporate training grew 15% in 2013 (the highest growth rate in seven years) to over $70 Billion in the US and over $130 Billion worldwide. (Bersin by Deloitte, 2013). Despite devoting so much time and resources to employee learning, some companies have nothing to show for it. According to the research from the American Society for Training and Development, “with little practical follow-up or meaningful assessments, some 90% of new skills are lost within a year”. (Silverman, 2012). Reasons for the poor results stemmed from the fact that companies failed to provide a supportive learning environment and to understand employees’ training needs.
To overcome the root cause of this problem, it starts from the top in any organization. Business leaders need to provide a “fail-safe” environment, where employees are encouraged to express their concerns or ideas freely to the upper management without fear of any repercussions at the workplaces. By promoting such culture in a workplace, it will not only help companies avoid devoting time and resources in training the “wrong things”, but also promote creative thinking amongst employees. Great leaders also understand that mistakes can happen during this learning process, but they are necessary ingredients for innovations in today’s marketplace in order to stay ahead of the competition.
As organizations continue to seek new approaches to learning in the workplace, business leaders in any organization must not forget that employees as adult learners have different learning needs. Adult learners need a reason to stay engaged and motivated to learn. To do so, organizations need to better define the reasons and provide the appropriate motivations while ensuring the basic needs of employees are met. The first step is by engaging employees throughout the process. For example, prior to training, I will email the staff to solicit their input. After all, the training is designed to help them with their work. Employees are more likely to become motivated when they are involved and responsible for their own learning, where they can see the immediate benefit and value of learning.
Creating a positive learning environment in a workplace is a never an easy task. Business leaders that can provide a conducive learning environment and empower employees are likely to create a more effective and motivated workplace. This will improve employee’s retention and more importantly, the bottom line for an organization.
Reference
Silverman, R. E. (2012, October 26). So Much Training, So Little to Show for It. Retrieved from
The Wall Street Journal:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970204425904578072950518558328 and