Is your learning strategy focusing too much energy on the wrong learners?

The weather channel had a severe weather alert for Phoenix this past weekend that read something like this:  A cold front will bring cool breezes with rain possible in the higher elevations.   For us desert dwellers that means the end of triple digit temperatures and the beginning of 8 or so months of pure heaven.  If you live in the metro area and you didn’t spend at least 60% of your weekend outdoors, then to quote Steven Colbert “A Wag of the finger at you!”

I kicked off my Sunday with a much needed hike in the McDowellSonoran Preserve.  I was looking to trick myself into a good cardio workout by disguising it as a commune with nature.  What I ended up with instead was a lesson in on-the-job training and a reminder for all of us in charge of work place learning:  Very often the most effective learning takes place in the field.

Watching On-the-Job Training (OJT) in Action
A couple 100 yards into the trail I came across two 15-ish-year old boys on mountain bikes chatting in the middle of a (dry) river bed.  A few seconds of eavesdropping tells me that one of the boys is having his first ever off-roading experience and that the other boy is there to show him the ropes.  “I don’t want to fall off!” is what I hear the new mountain biker say as the boys head forward on their trail.  “Don’t worry!” says the other boy.  “Just do what we talked about and I promise you’ll be fine.  Follow me.”

“I don’t want to fall off.”  How telling is that?  How many of us experience a similar, although perhaps unvoiced reaction when faced with using a new skill while navigating an unfamiliar situation?

And what a telling reminder it also is about the importance of establishing trust in and respect for our leadership – enough trust and respect that we be willing to follow them into previously uncharted territory..

Further down the trail I encounter the boys again.  This time, the trail leads to the bottom of a 10 foot hill that I assume they just biked down.  The new mountain biker looks exhilarated and they are both still on their bikes, so that’s good.  More eavesdropping.  “So what you want to do next time is keep your arms straight as you are going down.” The rope-shower says to the other.  “Don’t peddle once you hit the slope.  Just sit back.”  The training continues.

I am impressed.  I want to hire this kid.  He is a natural teacher and leader.

Watching this interaction I had one thought:  Traditional corporate training could sure suck the air out of the tires of this off-road experience.

I started thinking about what the standard approach would be if a corporate learning function were tasked with teaching mountain biking.  Would the participants have that same exhilarated look on their faces, or would they be busy texting and wondering if class would be done early?

That’s when it hits me.  If this is what engaged learning looks like, perhaps we have been focusing our training efforts on the wrong audience.  Could it be that if we really want to impact the corporate learner’s experience, we need to stop focusing so much time and energy on the end-user/learner, and start spending a little more time teaching the learners’ leaders how to deliver engaging OJT?

Maybe it’s time we blaze a new trail
Conducting needs assessments, gap analyses, SME interviews, and mind mapping to create more end-user job aids, role plays, e-learning, and workshops – it’s the reality of our adult education profession.  And that’s just the good stuff we spend time on.  Yes, in highly effective cultures with a clear employee development strategy which includes shared accountability for growth, these elements can be enough.  But in a majority of businesses, adding all of that all together will just give you a simulated experience at best.  A waste of money at worst.

Think about it.  It’s very doubtful that applying the traditional approach of what we have come to think of as corporate training would leave either the trainer or the trainee engaged yet alone exhilarated.  And without question, the traditional approach would most likely incorporate very little accountability on the part of the managers of the new mountain bikers.  Which is really what is needed when it comes to executing the ultimate road test:  on-the-job productivity, growth, engagement and success.

So what am I saying?
That all corporate training is ineffective?  No, not at all.  I’m just saying that perhaps by spending more of our time helping managers become better teachers, we could ultimately end up with a better ROI all the way around.  If we recognize that impactful learning takes place in the field and on the job, and that not everyone is a natural teacher, shouldn’t we do everything we can to develop a management team with a skill set that supports effective OJT?

Want more reasons?  Compound the importance of effective OJT with research on why employees change jobs:  poor relationships with their bosses, feeling they aren’t getting enough development, and an overall lack of faith in their leadership.  These are all reasons that could be overcome by getting managers more involved in employee development.  So why not equip managers with the tools, the time, and the skills to develop their employees and build the manager-employee relationship in the process?

Effective Learning Changes Lives
Watching those two boys on the trail reminded me of all the reasons I love learning – that experience changed the new mountain biker forever; it opened up a whole new world for him.  Isn’t that the goal of education?  Not just to download facts and figures and company protocol, but to give a person a skill set that allows them to venture out on new trails and go even further?

As professionals gifted with the desire and ability to teach, I think we should focus more energy on sharing the teaching skill set when we can.  Heaven knows, there is enough work to be done.   And we get to change more lives in the process.

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