Training programs cost a lot. They cost money, and above that, they cost time and energy from the participants. Therefore, organisations should commit their resources into a training program only if they are convinced that what they will get from it justifies the investment. But this is not what most organisations do. In practice and far too often, all this money, time, and energy are simply wasted.
So, if you are responsible for managing a training budget, or if you think about launching a training program in your organisation, or if for any other reason you are interested in getting a good return on investment when it comes to your budget training, here are three recommendations:
1. Focus on Results
Not so long ago, I was asked to facilitate a workshop in a corporate retreat. When I asked “What is the objective of this workshop? What do you want to get out of it?”, the potential buyer could not tell, and apparently was not particularly interested in the question. She just wanted a workshop, and to know how much it would cost. I declined. I do not want to be associated with wasted money.
When it comes to training, the most important question is “What will be the value of the program for the participants and their organisation?” In other words, how will the program contribute to improve the participants’ and the organisation’s condition? What is the desired result of the program? And is this desired result meaningful, useful, and valuable both for the participants and the organisation?
Unfortunately, many people on both sides of the table (buyers and sellers) remain very vague about – or sometimes simply ignore – the question of the expected results of the training program. They discuss at length how much it will cost, how it will be organised, what methodology will be used, and so on. This is fine, but perfectly useless as long as you haven’t defined first the objectives of the training program.
2. Do not Compare Costs. Compare Values.
A typing machine costs less than a computer. Does that mean that you should buy typing machines rather than computers? The question is absurd. A computer is far more valuable than a typing machine, although it costs more, because it is so much more useful. Actually, although it is far less expensive, buying a typing machine would be a total waste, because nobody would use it. In other words, the computer is far more valuable that a typing machine, despite its higher price.
The same applies to training. Comparing costs without also comparing the usefulness for the buyer leads to bad decisions. Even the cheapest training program can be a total waste of money. What matters is not the cost, but the ratio between your investment and the value you get from it.
It does not mean that an expensive training is more valuable: it may be both expensive and ineffective. The question is the balance between what you put (money, time, energy) and what you get.
3. Think Beyond Training
In my early days in the consulting profession, I once had to give creativity training to marketing people. The top management had discovered that creativity had become critical to succeed in the marketplace, and wanted to increase the creative output of its employees. I quickly discovered that the reason why employees were not “unleashing their full creative potential” had nothing to do with their alleged lack of creative skills. The problem was their autocratic and rigid boss who did not leave them any opportunity to use their skills. Just as this creativity training was ineffective in increasing creativity, many sales training are ineffective in improving sales, many leadership training are ineffective in getting teams more motivated and focused, etc. simply because the problem lies somewhere else.
Training is just a means to get certain results. Sometimes it is the best means, sometimes not. Sometimes there are far more effective ways than training to get the results that you want to get. In the example below, changing the boss would have been more effective than the creativity training (which was a complete waste, however “fun”, “interactive”, “interesting” it may have been).
Rather than seeing your training budget as an amount of money to be spent (and often wasted) in training programs, consider it as a resource to be invested to get valuable outcomes for your organisation. Training makes only sense if your answer to the following question is a clear yes: Is a training program really the best way to get the desired result?
Antoine Henry de Frahan
Comments