Training is often times thought of as a defense mechanism for companies dealing with performance issues - especially when the problem involves the behavior and skills of lower level workers. How many times have you heard someone say that “the problem wouldn’t have occurred if the person was properly trained”? Or when talking about how to solve the problem, “We need to do more training”!
There is no question that training can be, and is often times, one of the most important components of the plan for dealing with poor performance. But the emotional trap of blaming a problem on the lack of training can be very short sighted. Inexperienced leaders sometimes become way too emotional and seek to solve the problem before ever understanding what the root cause actually is.
How many of you believe that training is more about preventing a problem from occurring, or more about helping you get out of a recurring or struggling situation when you are already there?
Dr. Michael O’Connor, author of Managing by Values®, recently posted a blog in the Leadership Compass which offers a 3 step performance reversal solution for how to get your organization out of the struggling mode, and into the success mode. Many of his other posts are extremely insightful in dealing with these difficult economic times. If you would like to visit his blog, please go to /blog/authors/dr-michael-o'connor.
And as always, I welcome your suggestions or comments. Feel free to send me a note at dharward@trainingindustry.com, or please post your comments below so we all can learn from your ideas.
