When a customer requests training, I resist the urge to say, “Yes, we can do it.” Instead, I start asking questions. lots of questions. The beginning of the query sounds something like… “tell me what happened that made training come to mind.” So I listen. Really listen. The answer tells a story about the company’s environment, culture, and management styles. As we talk, we discover behaviors, norms, processes, beliefs, knowledge, and skills that play a role in undesired outcomes. The three focus areas in the research are environment, culture, and management styles.
Let’s look at the ‘environment’. Here, we determine if employees have all the tools, materials, information, and support they need to get the job done. Is the physical design slowing things down? Is the documentation out of date, if any? Is the software difficult to use? Do employees have the management support they need? Is the right person in the right position?
Culture embodies the mental models that influence behavior. When I talk about culture, I like to learn how decisions are made. This provides valuable information on whether employees have the opportunity to express what they need, what they think, and whether they feel they are contributing to business success. The conversation becomes a bit organic after that, depending on what is discovered. Other questions to ask here include whether people have the time to do a good job. How are employees and managers held accountable for performance? How are people rewarded and recognized? Does that match what motivates them? What are the ‘unspoken’ that influence how people go about their day? (Watch out for this one, it might open a huge box of wormholes!)
Another angle is to explore how management styles can affect engagement, performance, or turnover. We can learn about this through focus groups, interviews, observation, and review of engagement survey results. We look for evidence that employees need more feedback, clear expectations, and a clear direction to go.
The way forward could include training managers on how to give meaningful feedback. There may be some processes to update and document. Perhaps a leader would benefit from having a coach help them spot blind spots and adjust their focus. Many times, there is an element of responsibility that must be dusted off and employed. This is often combined with performance management systems. And don’t forget to help teams better understand, appreciate, and communicate with each other.
“We need training” raises more questions than answers, and the answer is not always training.
