8 reasons leadership training fails

REASONSLeadership Trainings Fail

www.citruslearningsystems.com

(And insights on how to make them work)

CitrusLearning Systems

http://www.citruslearningsystems.com/




http://citruslearningsystems.com/


Lack of Participant Buy-In for the Intervention1

Why Leadership Trainings Fail



for them

developmental

BELVIEVING

NO NEED they have

Participants often

DISMISSinterventions



They are not provided with a mirror

…and how each of these affects goal achievement

to their individual leadership strengths & development areas…



How to Overcome This

The interventionmust begin withparticipants receiving

inputs on their individualstrengths & development areaswww.citruslearningsystems.com


YOUR ‘MIRROR’ COULD BE

Assessment centre reports

Etc.,

180 survey reports on the participant’s skill levels and practices

Knowledge test reports

Performance data



Show them that they have a need to learn/ grow

BOTTOM LINE



The governance structure is in the organization not being involved in the intervention

2




Converting any new skill

of these skills implementation someone to monitor into a habit requires



That ‘someone’ must be your

(the governance structure in your organisation)

participant’s managers…



A simple briefing about the intervention

More than…

OR

A formal intervention launch session, where the participant’s managers get invited to



What to do instead

Show them how the intervention connects to their KPIs

Share the best practices you will be imparting in the intervention

Get their feedback & tweak your content

Inform them how these best practices need to be evaluated in their regular reviews



Sensitise them how governance is their responsibility (yours is skill development)

Turn over all governance responsibilities to them

What to do instead

Monitor governance

Give them tools to use to conduct these evaluations



How this helps

Getting these leaders involved from the outset will ensure

the development of the participants and organizational effectiveness



Training formats unsuited for the modern-day learner

3




Most trainings last for a day or two (or worse still, for three or four), where conceptual knowledge and skill development

inputs are presented together



The human brain is not designed to take in too much information at a time

The trouble with large format training

iwww.citruslearningsystems.com


The trouble with large format training

conceptual knowledge

development and skillbuilding together leads to

message overload

Chunking,__________

__________

__________

____________________

__________



Also, people’s

Microsoft study results

Why training fails

spans are shrinking

attention

Click below for the


http://nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadians-now-have-shorter-attention-span-than-goldfish-thanks-to-portable-devices-microsoft-study/wcm/cfaa3b91-8955-4446-a587-b0054a12af4d


The modern-day learner consumes content inbite-sized chunks (think YouTube, WhatsApp,

Twitter)

Why training fails

And not in large formats



Traditional e-learning and

classroom sessions are

large format, clunky and untuned to the learning style of modern-day learners

Why training fails



Online lessons needs to be in engaging, micro formats

(video, infographic, podcast or slideshow format in two to ten minute chunks)

How to avoid this & make training work



These need to be drip-fed to participants

and must be mobileand web-enabled





Conceptual knowledge

should ideallybe shared online in bite-sized bits

2 – 4 hours long classroom

sessions focused on skill

development



Learning treated as an event not a process

4




Skill developmentis a journey, not an event



We also forget the bulk of what welearn within a short time of learning it

Research ‘The Forgetting Curve’ by clicking here


https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwierrqO9e7UAhUKKo8KHVFYBH8QFggtMAI&url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forgetting_curve&usg=AFQjCNGSRtrCOdb3uA9EH5uSAziWnjD_JA


Learning effectiveness requires

multiple touchpoints and

recurrent messaging for the lessons to be imbibed and implemented



The post-workshop curriculum must include


revisiting lessons

learned

participants



Test and grade them on their grasp of these lessons


Well done, you chose correctly!



Lack of rigour around the learning implementation process5




Participants often think of implementation as an optional extra, and something avoidable




When Branding the intervention, communicate that it is a

(developmental/ change)

project they areenlisting for…

(and not for a learning programme)




The learning eventsshould be projected as

aidsto help them in

project implementation



Participants must recognise that

implementation is the desired end of the intervention

(not the learning event/ programme)



Lack of implementation support for participants6




Our brain usesroutines todrive our behaviour



Even well-intentioned participants will soon….



…get side-tracked by the daily grind of work and past habits



Participants should receive constant reminders

about

implementation




Track and assesslesson implementation




Use an automated tracking

and reminder system to help you in this task

(or do this manually)



Actually, automate as much intervention as is possible:

Uploading, scheduling and releasing lessons

Getting participants to commit to sessions/ lessons

Tracking lesson completion

Sending out communication/ reminders

Grading participants

Automate as much of the training as is possible



Real life is harder than a controlled

classroom environment



Participants will flounder when trying to implement

lessons in real life



Difficulties in

implementation will result inparticipants ignoring

lessons andreturning to established routines

Why training fails



Post-workshop coaching support is critical, if participants are to successfully

implement workshop lessons



Lack of content relevance7




Training initiatives often use a ‘one size fits all’approach to learning content

Why training fails



Learning content is not contextualized to address the learner’s unique environment



Consequently, participants

don’t see how they can uselessons imparted



Create content that

mimics your learner’s environmentas closely as possible




The intervention lacks ‘aspirational’ status8




You gotta sell it to them!

People don’t buy a service just because you tell them it’s available



connects to their KPIs or

(*Key performance indicators)

How

Participants need to see

*

the training

goals



How it will help

them withtheir careeradvancement

Participants need to see



It will be seen merely as an intervention by

‘those Pesky HR folk’

Otherwise…



Successful course completion could be made a pre-

requisite for career advancement

Connect the programme to their career development



Brand & marketthe programme

extensively

Communicate how it will help in their current and

future roles



Communicate about a programmeprogress & effectiveness dashboard that will be published effectively to

senior leadership



In conclusion:

How to ensure leadership training success



Provide participants with a mirror into development areas

Get the ‘governance system’ of the organisation involved

Work on providing the intervention ‘aspirational status’

Think bite-sized, engaging and continuous (not large-format and clunky)



Ensure a post-workshop learning curriculum

Ensure rigour around implementation

Contextualise your content

Provide implementation support




CitrusLearning Systems

Mumbai, India






8 reasons leadership training fails

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