HBR Special IssueLearning is a consequence
of thinking, not teaching.
It happens when people
reflect on and choose a new
behavior. But if the work
environment doesn’t support
that behavior, well-trained
employees won’t make a
difference. Here are three
conditions needed to ensure
that a training solution sticks:
Internal systems support
the newly desired be-
havior. Spotting unwanted
behavior is certainly a clue
that something needs to
change. But the origins of that
unwanted behavior may not
be a lack of skill. Individual
behaviors in an organiza-
tion are influenced by many
factors, such as how clearly
managers establish, commu-
nicate, and stick to priorities;
what the culture values and
reinforces; how performance
is measured and rewarded;
or the number of hierar-
chy levels. These all play a
role in shaping employee
behaviors. In the case above,
people weren’t behaving in a
disempowered way because
they didn’t know better. The
company’s decision-making
processes prevented them
from behaving any other
way. Even tactical decisions
required multiple levels of
approval. Access to basic
information was limited to
high-ranking managers. The
culture reinforced asking
permission for everything.
Unless those issues were
addressed, a workshop would
prove useless.There is commitment
to change. Any thorough
organizational assessment
will not only define the skills
employees need to develop
but also reveal the conditions
required to reinforce and sus-
tain those skills after a train-
ing solution is implemented.
Just because an organization
recognizes the factors driving
unwanted behavior doesn’t
mean it’s open to changing
them. When I raised the
obvious concerns with the
organization above, I got the
classic response: “Yes, yes, of
course we know those issues
aren’t helping, but we think
if we can get the workshop
going, we’ll build momentum
and then get to those later.”
This is usually code for “It’s
never going to happen.” If an
organization isn’t willing to
address the causes of a prob-
lem, a training will not yield
its intended benefit.The training solution
directly serves strategic
priorities. When an organiza-
tion deploys a new strategy—
like launching a new market
or product—training can play
a critical role in equipping
people with the skills andknowledge they need to help
that strategy succeed. But
when a training initiative has
no discernible purpose or
end goal, the risk of failure
increases. For example, one
of my clients rolled out a
companywide mindfulness
workshop. When I asked a
few employees what they
thought, they said, “It was
interesting. At least it got me
two hours away from my cu-
bicle.” When I asked the spon-
soring executive to explain
her thought process behind
the training, she said, “Our
employee engagement data
indicated our people are feel-
ing stressed and overworked,
so I thought it would be a nice
perk to help them focus and
reduce tension.” But when I
asked her what was causing
the stress, her answer was
less definitive: “I don’t really
know, but most of the nega-
tive data came from Millenni-
als and they complain about
being overworked. Plus, they
like this kind of stuff.”
She believed her train-
ing solution had strategic
relevance because it linked to
a vital employee metric. But
evaluations indicated that,
though employees found the
training interesting, it didn’t
actually reduce their stress.
There are a myriad of reasons
the workload could have been
causing employees stress.
Despite her good intentions,this manager’s energy would
have been better directed at
trying to determine those
reasons in her specific depart-
ment and addressing them
accordingly.
If you are going to invest
millions of dollars into com-
pany training, be confident
it is addressing a strategic
learning need. Furthermore,
be sure your organization can
and will sustain new skills and
knowledge by determining
the broader factors that may
threaten their success. If
you aren’t confident in these
conditions, don’t spend the
money.
Originally published on HBR.org
October 29, 2018
HBR Reprint H04MCQRon Carucci is a cofounder and
managing partner at Navalent,
working with CEOs and execu-
tives pursuing transformational
change for their organizations,
leaders, and industries. He
is the best-selling author of
eight books, including Rising to
Power: The Journey of Success-
ful Executives (Greenleaf Book
Group, 2014). Follow him on
Twitter: @roncarucci.A training will yield its intended benefits if the organization
is willing to address the causes of the problem.