a paradigm shift in training- training for performance

8/3/2019 A Paradigm Shift in Training- Training for Performance

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Elwood F. "Ed" Holton III, is CEO of Learning Transfer Solutions

Global LLC and Jones S. Davis Distinguished Professor of Human

Resource, Leadership and Organization Development at Louisiana

State University, USA. Dr. Holton has led efforts to create theLearning Transfer System Inventory and the Training Transfer

Solution system over the last 15 years. With over 200 articles and

17 books, he is widely considered to be an international expert on

human resource development and particularly learning transfer.

Contact him [email protected]

Dr. Ed Holton is one of the premier experts in learning transfer. Great to work with and extremely

professional.November 29, 2010 Robin Kistler,

Director, LSU Executive Education, LSU -Stephenson Entrepreneurship Institute

Ed Holton is one of, if not the, foremost experts in the area of transfer of training and perhaps HRD ingeneral. He has rather ingeniously used the fruits of his career-long research and experience andshaped it into the tools that companies can and should benefit from. Having personally worked withEd on research projects in this area I can definitively say that his solutions are meticulouslydeveloped and designed and boast rigorous theoretical framework (not something you encounterfrequently in HRD consulting). At the same time Eds tools and methods are designed for the real -world, demonstrating his exceptional ability to connect research and practice. Last but not least, he isa pleasure to work with, approachable, and down-to-earth and I have always walked away from aconversation with him feeling like Ive learned something new.November 21, 2010

Bogdan Yamkovenko, PhDOrganizational Development and Research

Coordinator, The Shaw Group

I regard Ed Holton as among the leading experts in the world on the subject of transfer of learning.Although he has written widely and is highly-regarded in the academic community, his unique gift isthe ability to convert ideas to practice and make a real difference in the effectiveness of learning

initiatives in organizations.November 19, 2010Tim Baldwin,

Eveleigh Professor of Business Leadership,Kelley School of Business
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=17084513&authType=name&authToken=mjsm&goback=%2Enpv_34176097_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=17084513&authType=name&authToken=mjsm&goback=%2Enpv_34176097_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=31429448&authType=name&authToken=jiAx&goback=%2Enpv_34176097_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=31429448&authType=name&authToken=jiAx&goback=%2Enpv_34176097_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=4185832&authType=name&authToken=wKQ_&goback=%2Enpv_34176097_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=4185832&authType=name&authToken=wKQ_&goback=%2Enpv_34176097_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=4185832&authType=name&authToken=wKQ_&goback=%2Enpv_34176097_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=31429448&authType=name&authToken=jiAx&goback=%2Enpv_34176097_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=17084513&authType=name&authToken=mjsm&goback=%2Enpv_34176097_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1mailto:[email protected]


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"since we often teach things that

aren't really useful or that people

already know, 100% transfer will

never happen."

Unless we focus on behavioral

change from the very beginning

then we can't reasonably expect

high levels of transfer. Writing

behavioral objectives

fundamentally alters everything

from training design, to

facilitation, to goal setting, to

how the organization perceives

training.

I have been hosting discussions on LinkedIn lately about

how much transfer we can really expect from a training

program. My question to folks was whether 100%

transfer was feasible. The discussions have been great

and many people recognize that 100% (or close to it) is

feasible if we do all the right things.

But I have been surprised by the number of people who

said something to the effect of "since we often teach

things that aren't really useful or that people already

know, 100% transfer will never happen."Wow! My question is--if material isn't applicable, or

people already know it, then why are we teaching it! I

know this happens all the time but don't folks realize how

much money they are wasting when they do this?

We know how to do better. If you conduct a needs

assessment then you can figure out what content is

appropriate and what to leave out. What about using

competency tests to let people test out of parts of a

program they don't need?

The point is that we have methodologies for making sure

that are training programs are tightly focused on just

what trainees need--we just need to use them. And, they

cost less than making a group of trainees sit in a

classroom ignoring things they don't need!

I think we CAN approach 100%....and surely can do

better than the 10-30% that is currently estimated to

transfer.

As I work with clients and partners around the world, the

issue of behavioral objectives keeps coming front and

center. Two things are clear: Behavioral objectives are a

key to transforming training for transfer, and they are

REALLY hard for lots of trainers.

I confess that I am puzzled at times as to why they are

so hard for many trainers. I suppose it may be that ou

profession has focused on learning for so long that it is a

bigger cultural shift than I ever expected.

But we can't escape the fact that unless we focus on

behavioral change from the very beginning then we can't

reasonably expect high levels of transfer. Writing

behavioral objectives fundamentally alters everything

from training design, to facilitation, to goal setting, to how

the organization perceives training.
http://www.learningtransferguru.com/2010/01/why-behavioral-objectives-matter-so.htmlhttp://www.learningtransferguru.com/2010/01/why-behavioral-objectives-matter-so.htmlhttp://www.learningtransferguru.com/2010/01/why-behavioral-objectives-matter-so.htmlhttp://www.learningtransferguru.com/2009/09/why-do-we-teach-things-that-dont-matter.htmlhttp://www.learningtransferguru.com/2009/09/why-do-we-teach-things-that-dont-matter.htmlhttp://www.learningtransferguru.com/2009/09/why-do-we-teach-things-that-dont-matter.html


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Learning should lead to behavior

change on the job, which in turn

should lead to results....

If the training is successful, what will

you see your employees doing

differently than they are doing now?

I will argue until my career is over that we are not really

in the learning business--we are in the performance

change business and learning is our tool to achieve it.

Big difference. Only when we grasp this fundamental

element can we really solve the transfer problem.

Yikes! Wow, a whole company that doesn't want to

associate itself with the word "training." The thought of

that kills me because I love training, but at the same time

I understand why they are doing it.

Think about your own department. Do you get the kind of

resources you need? Are you well respected in your

organization? If you are a training vendor, are your

clients applauding the results you achieve for them? Do

you get the repeat business you want?

If the answer is no, then maybe you should think

seriously about investing in learning transfer

improvement. I have personally taken over a training

organization that had no respect and watched the

transformation as we began to deliver real results. The

difference is magical. Think about it.

As one reader commented it often seems difficult to ge

line managers to articulate performance objectives fo

training. However, I find that the problem really lies in

how we ask the question.

Too often we asked the question using the jargon that

trainers are familiar with rather than language the line

managers understand clearly. Line managers don't know

what performance objectives or behavioral objectivesare. That's our jargon. They don't live in our world and

like most professions much of our language unique to

our profession.

There is one simple question that they do understand: If

the training is successful, what will you see your

employees doing differently than they are doing now?

In my experience asking the question in simple language

like this will usually lead you to what the performance or

behavioral objectives are for the training. Sometimes you

have to ask a follow-up question like "tell me more abou

that" if their answer is too broad.


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Organizational trainers are NOT in the

adult learning business, at least not in

the classic sense of adult learning. While

organizational trainers may use some of

the same methods, the purpose of

learning is fundamentally to provide a

return to the organization, not the

learner. Learning is controlled by the

organization, paid for by theorganization, benefits the organization

(as well as the learner), and is expected

to transfer into job performance change.

Of course in the end if they can't answer even the simple

question then we should not conduct a training program.

If you don't have clear behavioral or performance

outcomes defined then you are not likely to impact

organizational performance. That's a trap to be avoided.

The key point is that simple everyday language will lead

us to the answers we seek. Forget about the jargon we

use in our profession. Learn to ask questions in

everyday language and you will find line managers

usually can easily tell us what we need to know.

Have We Lost

Sight Of What Our

True Potential Is?

I was talking to a

fellow CEO

yesterday about

getting results from

training and it hit

me--have we as a

profession become

too

complacent? Have

we heard the "only10% - 30% of

learning transfers"

statistic so long that

we accept that as

the best we can do?

Let me go on record now--I don't believe that's the best

we can do. But, I do think we have lost sight of the

tremendous potential for learning to fundamentally

change organizations for the better

It's time we quit accepting low learning transfer rates as

status quo. We have so much untapped potential if we

(the profession) reach for it. Our organizations deserve

it, and we deserve it for ourselves

We know from research that learning/training done the

right way, for the right people, at the right time can

achieve a huge ROI. It's not a mystery. We just have to

do it, and hold ourselves to a higher standard

Granted it takes some more work--but I don't know

anything worthwhile that doesn't take work to

achieve. Decide now to make high learning transfe

your new commitment, and don't accept anything less.

We May Help Adults Learn

But It's For A Different

Purpose

I am a classic adult learner.

simply love to learn new things

Some of what I learn I put into

practice such as my newest hobbies of fishing and

genealogy. Some of it I just enjoy it for the pure pleasure
http://www.learningtransferguru.com/2010/07/are-we-settling-for-too-little-from.htmlhttp://www.learningtransferguru.com/2010/07/are-we-settling-for-too-little-from.htmlhttp://www.learningtransferguru.com/2010/07/are-we-settling-for-too-little-from.html


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Most training organizations would be

better off doing about half as many

activities and spend more time makin

those activities have a real impact o

performance. Management would b

far happier hearing about increased R

due to performance improvement th

how many "butts you put in seats."

of learning such as watching the History channel or other

documentaries on TV. I am self-directed, self-motivated,

evaluate my own learning, and do it for my own benefit.

I am everything that classic adult learning principles

describe in an Adult Learner.

Some of you may not know that I am a staunch advocate

for this type of adult learning. I am the co-author (with

Malcolm Knowles and Richard Swanson) of The Adult

Learner: The Definitive Classic in Adult Learning and

Human Resource Development which is Malcolm

Knowles' basic book on andragogy, the core theory of

adult learning. As such, I am a vigorous advocate for

the power of learning in our society and the capacity for

adults to learn throughout their entire lives. From anandragogical point of view, adults should be empowered

to learn and make decisions about what they do with

their learning.

But not within organizations. This seems like a

contradiction to many who quietly object to me co-

authoring this book, but I am an equally staunch

advocate for the right of organizations to expect

performance change after (adult) learning because they

are the ones who make the investment. In this sense,

organizational trainers are NOT in the adult learning

business, at least not in the classic sense of adult

learning. While organizational trainers may use some of

the same methods, the purpose of learning is

fundamentally to provide a return to the organization, not

the learner. Learning is controlled by the organization,

paid for by the organization, benefits the organization (as

well as the learner), and is expected to transfer into job

performance change.

Some adult learning advocates have a philosophical

objection to this and view control of learning by anyone

other than the learner as horrible. I don't. I find no

contradiction in my dual positions of being a staunch

advocate for classic adult learning in society, and an

equally staunch advocate for performance-based

learning inside organizations.

We have to abandon our traditional notions of adult

learning as being entirely learner controlled in order to

embrace learning transfer change. But don't feel guilty-

just remember who is paying the bill!

Doing More By Doing Less

Sandra, Director of Talent Development at XYZCompany, waited anxiously for her presentation to the

management team and scanned her department's

performance metrics one last time. She was proud o

what her team had accomplished last year. Course

attendance was up 15%, student satisfaction with the

courses was high, and she had more requests for new


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Without real performance results,

training is just "nice to have" and not aessential part of the business. Measuri

your training's impact on performanc

shows your customers (internal and

external) you are serious about helpin

them improve their organization's

bottom line.

training pending than ever before. They had added 20

new courses to the course catalog and had started

implementing an e-learning program. All this with no

increase in staff. "How could they not love what her

team had accomplished?" she wondered.

Her presentation went flawlessly as she went through

her expertly prepared powerpoint presentation. When

she finished, she waited anxiously for feedback. Jill, the

Chief Learning Officer and her boss, took the lead.

"Sandra, despite the numbers you have showed us we

have decided to outsource everything your department

does. A leading consulting company has made us an

attractive offer to deliver all these services at 70% of the

cost. Thus, we should be able to save at least $1 milliona year. You will be retained to manage the contract but

everyone else on your team will have to find new

positions. We're sorry but we just have to be as efficient

as we can be." Sandra sat down stunned and wondered

what she had done wrong.

Decisions like this are being made every day in the

talent development business. What Sandra doesn't

realize is that she had fallen victim to "The Great Activity

Seduction" by thinking that the more she and her team

did, the more they would be valued. The busier they

were the more important they felt. Everyone was

working as hard as they could but felt good because

they were delivering so many services.

The problem with her approach is that there will always

be someone who will conduct the same activities at a

cheaper price. More fundamentally her team was not

focusing on PERFORMANCE RESULTS. She had no

measures of the impact her team was having on

employee performance and business results. Thus,

management's only choice to increase ROI was to cu

costs because they had no data on outcomes.

I am firmly convinced that most training organizations

would be far better off doing about half as many

activities and spend more time making those activities

have a real impact on performance. Management would

be far happier hearing about increased ROI due to

performance improvement than how many "butts you pu

in seats."

So start today to increase your focus on RESULTS

Take a hard look at every activity you are doing and star

eliminating those that aren't leading to real performance

results. You will end up in a better place.

The One Question Every Training Organization

Should Ask Themselves


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There is an old adage that "everything important in

organizations is measured." In other words, what gets

measured is what matters!

So the core question every training organization should

be asking themselves is HOW ARE WE MEASURING

OUR PERFORMANCE RESULTS. Notice I said

PERFORMANCE results. All the other outcomes that

you can measure are really just activity or process

measures. At the end of the day, its only performance

results that count.

Unfortunately, the answer for many training programs is

that the performance results aren't measured. Is it any

wonder then that these organizations face problems

such as:

1. Declining training budgets

2. Lack of support from supervisors of trainees

3. Difficulty pulling trainees away from their jobs

4. Low motivation among trainees

5. Not being "at the table" for key human capital

decisions

If you are an external training provider, you're also likely

to see:

1. Declining sales, especially in a tough economy

2. Difficulty getting return phone calls

3. Difficulty filling classes

4. Declining profits

Without real performance results, training is just "nice to

have" and not an essential part of the business.

Measuring your training's impact on performance shows

your customers (internal and external) you are serious

about helping them improve their organization's bottom

line.

Many trainers are afraid of the accountability that

measurement creates. It's a shame because they really

sell themselves short. If done right training is one of the

most powerful tools available for improving performance.

So get started now measuring your results. The

measurements don't have to be perfect (few are in

organizations) to make a big impact. The mos

important thing is to just get started on your journey to

being a better business partner.

Measurement is in itself an intervention that will improve

learning transfer.

a paradigm shift in training- training for performance

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