This classic paper from Harvard Business School discusses what the authors describe as the ‘great training robbery’.
The paper highlights that although participants may describe learning as ‘powerful’ and even when measures of attitudes and behaviours before and immediately after the training indicate a change, this often does not translate into changes in the organization’s effectiveness, its culture or its performance. Specifically, if aspects of the organization’s culture are opposed to what is being advocated by the training program, learning from the training is highly unlikely to stick in day-to-day working life.
For behaviour change to occur following training, organizational context really matters – management and organizational barriers can make it impossible for participants to apply learning, no matter how powerful they found the training to be.
The pattern of roles, responsibilities and relationships shaped by the organization’s design and leadership that motivates and sustains attitude and behaviour – is far more powerful in shaping individual behaviour than the capacity of well trained, even inspired, individuals to change the system.
Research shows that support from the system is necessary to embed learning from training. Therefore, training succeeds only when an individual’s goals are aligned with training objectives, bosses and peers support newly learned skills and attitudes, trainees have the opportunity to apply newly learned abilities and there are sufficient resources (time and money) to practice new learning.
The paper provides a series of questions that senior leadership must explore prior to implementing learning and development with the goal of behaviour change. These are:
- Is the leadership team aligned around a clear, inspiring strategy and values?
- Has the leadership team enabled the collection of the unvarnished truth about barriers that may be getting in the way of unit effectiveness and performance, including its own behaviour?
- Has the leadership team begun to lead a change process to address what the diagnosis revealed?
- Is HR offering organization development consulting and coaching to enable real time learning and practice of requisite attitudes and behaviours?
- Do corporate training programs properly support the unit’s change agenda and/or does the sub-unit’s leadership and culture offer a fertile context for corporate programs aimed at corporate change?
At Inclusive Leadership Company, collectively, we have over 40 years of experience of studying, researching, and applying the science of behaviour change. We apply these expertise to develop holistic solutions to creating the lasting changes your organisation needs.
You can access the original paper here.
