|
|
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.
|
| |
|
|
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.
I taught a 1 hour class yesterday on Sexual harassment and for the first time, I tested retention of the material by asking what the two types of sexual harassment are and no one could give the correct response, instead they danced around with gender answers and other responses. What I have seen time and again is the intelligence (IQ) of the student varies tremendously in the manufacturing environment and this has a huge impact in the classroom. Kaliko, I understand and agree everybody is responsible for their own motivation but I'm not so sure that absolves management from motivating downwards and even upwards. |
| |
| Posts: 10 | Location: Warner Robins, GA | Registered: 05 January 2008 |  |
|
|
|
Hi Kal - regarding management's responsibility... I think it's more a question of whether or not the manager is supporting the learner in applying his/her new skills. For most individuals, when the manager does not support an employee's attempts at professional development, the individual will tend to fall back into old habits to maintain peace with his/her manager. I've seen it happen time and time again. Either that, or the employee will get fed up and leave. The manager as a leader certainly should be held accoutable for supporting the development and retention of his/her employees. Yes - learners should be responsible for their learning and application, but it is very difficult to apply what one has learned when one's manager is saying "I know they taught you to do it that way, but I want you to do it this way." I hope this helps clarify why managers are certainly part of the transfer equation.
|
| |
|
|
|
FF - I agree with you in theory - that employees need the support of management to thrive in whatever endeavor they undertake. I guess I'm looking at this on a micro scale. If we consider individual courses, like communication skills or teambuilding for example, I don't see how the manager could possibly reinforce the learning unless they have previously had the same exact course (or at least very similar course) and they themselves just happened to have a manager who reinforced their learning so that they therefore remember it all in the first place and can then reinforce the material for our learner. And the situation is worse for technical courses where the manager has no idea what to even reinforce - and often doesn't care. I'm just trying to be realistic here.
I suppose if managers were to take the same courses themselves WITH each learner, then things might change. But that is totally impractical.
|
| |
|
