Unfortunately, many people have a warped sense of what the purpose of employee training and what it is meant to achieve. Some invest in training to tick a box and comply with regulatory or board expectations, others fancy as a nice perk for employees who have been productive, and of cousre there are those who enjoy the travel allowances, time away from work and the exortic meals that training events often provide. They neglect the real purpose and focus of training: to change behaviours and results. Change is at the heart of training, and when organizations, leaders and human resources managers do not design and implement their employee learning and development systems and programs to focus on what it really takes to CHANGE behaviours and results, it is no surprise that the trainings do not achieve any impact, and training budgets are the first to get slashed when such organizations face some financial setbacks.

Our research and experience suggests that to sustain the impact of training, and ensure that training creates the change that the organization desires, we need to adopt a comprehensive approach that includes a variety of change-enabling practices and activities before, during and after the training. These activities are grounded in the ADKAR model (Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, and Reinforcement). Beyond simply delivering knowledge, our training system and process should identify in clear terms the changes in behaviour and result that the training is meant to achieve; create awareness of the need for those change; build desire for those changes in the hearts and minds of employees equip employees with the necessary knowledge and ability to drive the changes, and provide ongoing reinforcement to ensure lasting behavioural change and results. This is what we call the Learning Impact Model (the name of our company), a framework that my colleagues and I developed and have used successfully since 2010 to support forward-thinking clients of ours.

If you want to learn more about how to enhance the effectiveness of your training programs and ensure that employees are fully engaged and motivated to apply what they learn, download our whitepaper on " Sustaining the Impact of Training" It explains the Learning Impact Model in deatil and how you can apply it to transforming training and development in your organization. Click HERE to access it for FREE, and feel free to share the link with others.