quote:

Originally posted by KaliKo:
It all depends on what source you use. In any case, these numbers are pretty useless. Retention varies from learner to learner and has very little to do with the instructor or the instruction. It has even less to do with the manager - practically nothing in fact.

It's time that trainers quit preaching that whether or not training is successful depends on the follow-up support of the management. Instsead, it's about time that we get a grip on reality and hold the learner responsible.

I can't understand why managers are blamed for learners not retaining the little bit they learned in the first place. The vast majority of managers manage people who have completely different skill sets, knowledge, and experience from the learner -i.e., most managers have nothing in common with those they manage. How in the world then could anyone expect them to be responsible for reinforcing what someone else learns in a class, online, in a hands-on event, etc.? It's faulty logic. And most of the time, the manager has never taken the class or whatever, and doesn't have a clue as to what the learner was supposed to have learned.

This is exactly the same situation that managers find themselves in when the topic of motivation comes up. It is not the managers' responsibility to motivate employees. You cannot motivate another person. The employee is responsible for hie/her own motivation.

But back to the learner-- it's the survival of the fittest. Those that forge ahead and learn in spite of poor trainers, poor content, etc. will survive and succeed in the workforce. The others will fall behind. Let's don't blame managers.