Delivering Unmistakable Value Through Training

Training and development is at one of those proverbial forks in the road.

Most training organizations take the familiar and well-worn path, crowded with committed, enthusiastic, and highly capable corporate training specialists from around the world. The discussion on this path consistently revolves around difficult, often intangible goals such as "creating world-class knowledge workers" and "delivering competencies." Traffic moves at a steady, purposeful pace, as it has for decades.

Innovative organizations take a different path. On this road less traveled, the pace is fast, the destination clear. Here, training is driven to be better, faster, and cheaper by the relentless forces of impatient customers and the bottom line - in short delivering unmistakable, tangible value to their customers as well as the organization itself.

The direct and indirect costs of training, including lost productivity, add up very quickly.

In the United States, training costs more than the equivalent of a thousand U.S. dollars per employee each year at many companies, and it is often much more.

The Training Paradox

The value of learning in today's knowledge economy is clear. The oft-quoted leadership sentiment that "people are our greatest asset" is not mere posturing. Top firms in every industry place high emphasis on hiring the most capable people and providing continual learning opportunities to make them as effective as possible. In aggregate terms it clearly works: firms that spend more on training produce considerably more profit per employee.

Research published by the American Society for Training and Development shows that companies that spent an average of $900 per employee on training generated more than 30 percent more gross profit per employee than those firms that averaged $275 in training expenditure per employee.

The value of learning is not questioned. What should be questioned strenuously, is whether training organizations as operated today can deliver the kinds and quality of training-on time, on budget, and on target-that will consistently drive bottom-line results. As an executive, board member, or even a shareholder, you expect continuous productivity gains from manufacturing and shorter development cycles from R&D. 

The Language Barrier

Many executives describe training as "somehow separate from the business," and to an alarming degree that is the case. Few companies consider the head of training to be an essential member of the strategy team, and few heads of training are well prepared for that forum. Leaders of training and other business units seek to work together, but they look at the world through a different lens and lack the benefit of a common language.

Executives, few of whom rise through the training ranks, think in terms of return on investment, inputs, and outputs; training professionals are better acquainted with learning models and technologies. Indeed, when called upon to justify their budget numbers, heads of training often struggle to describe training's tangible value, especially in the language of business to which executives are accustomed. This language barrier is natural, and very costly.

The Transformation

Executives and shareholders need training to catch up and reconnect with the rest of the business. It's time that training is accountable for much more than high instructor ratings. Management can and should expect training to produce tangible, calculable value with every training dollar, euro, or rupee. Just as a projected new factory must promise a positive return to justify the funds to build it, training too must demonstrate and deliver real value. High-quality training is not cheap, and it must pay for itself with tangible results. It doesn't seem too much to ask, does it?