better Training or better managing?

“We need to get our people trained on _______.” “Training will improve our ________.” “I guess the training on _________ didn’t do what it was supposed to.” Has anyone in your company uttered any of these famous phrases or something similar? They are a common refrain when something in the business landscape changes or needs to change. And many times, it is training, or some form of education, that is the recommended solution for a performance need. Other times, all the training in the world is not likely to move the performance needle.

When Training is Better
Training is a form of behavior modification that is satisfied when a worker learns and applies new skills to achieving specific business goals. Training implies the workers did not possess the needed skills to begin with and had to have them developed. Some examples of when new skills, thus training, are needed include:

• New bookkeeping software is brought in to the office.
  
• New employees are being certified in forklift operation.
• New woodworking machinery is being purchased for your shop.

The above examples have a common thread. . . that a NEW skill or procedure is required to adapt to a change in the working environment. In these cases, having an experienced employee or outside vendor train on the new skill makes perfect sense. However, quite often training is called for when performance on an existing skill is not up to par. If existing employees’ performance on tasks they’ve done successfully in the past diminishes, is this a call for “re-training”?

When Managing is Better
Managing is the directing and supporting of business activities to achieve specific business goals. Of course, a critical role of management is to direct and support their employees. When a manager becomes aware of a performance shortfall, she has some observations to make. These observations determine if workers do not possess the knowledge and skill to perform or if they are succumbing to other influences, such as:

• Workers are expected to use faulty or unsafe equipment.
  
• The computer system is slow and crashes daily.
• Co-workers were laid off and now they are doing the jobs of 3 people.

There is a question in the training field that goes, “Could they do it if their lives depended on it?” Meaning is the problem that they really don’t know how, or is it because they have become unmotivated to perform at the highest level? A good manager will get into the trenches with the workers to understand the lack of performance. Sometimes the need is training. Many times, it is a need for an honest conversation with workers to learn how they can be better supported and valued.

Thoughts? Feel free to comment.

If your company needs to know if you have training or managing needs, Team Learning Services can assist. Give us call or drop a note to find out how.