The Five Myths of Training

What will separate the banking winners from the losers over the next 10 years? A leading management consultant says there are three factors: number one, training; number two, training; and number three, training.

You would think that all organizations and managers recognize the importance of training. But, they don’t. Why? I’ve found that managers and organizations fall prey to the five management myths.

Myth 1
“Our people are experienced. They don’t need to be trained.”

This myth begins with the organization or manager who says, “Our people don’t need to be trained. They are all old ‘pros’ who have years of experience.” But there is a tremendous difference between experience and competence.

Think about it. Imagine a professional football coach saying, “Our people are all experienced, so we’re going to skip training camp this year. We don’t need it.” How do you think that team would stand up against the competition? How long do you think the coach would keep his job?

Ask yourself this question. Do you think that business is the same today as it was 20 years ago? Of course not. Business is changing. Management is changing. Successful organizations don’t do business the same today as they did five years ago, or 10 years ago, let alone 20 years ago.

Myth 2
"We tried it and it didn’t work.”

I’ve heard executives say, “When Harley Hotshot came to town, we put half of our people through his training and they haven’t sold any more than the rest of the team.” There are two very important things to remember about training. Number one: training is not an event, it is a process. And number two: in order to be effective, training must be ongoing.

Training is a little like calisthenics. If you haven’t worked out for years, and you jump right into a heavy exercise program, you’re going to be uncomfortable. So whether you’re talking about training or calisthenics, if you do it occasionally you grow sore; if you do it regularly you grow strong

Myth 3
“Our organization (or department, or division) is too small.”

It’s important to understand that training is equally important for organizations of all sizes. Consider this. If an organization has one hundred people, and if one person is not operating at maximum capacity, that’s one percent of the entire organization. On the other hand, if an organization has just two people, it may be easy to rationalize “We can’t justify training” … but, if one of those two people is not operating at maximum effectiveness, that’s 50 percent of the entire organization. So, training is equally important to organizations of all sizes.

Myth 4
“We can’t afford it.”

This is a cop-out. If you think the cost of training is expensive, compare it with the cost of incompetence! In today’s service-oriented environment poorly trained staff will drive your customer’s right into the camp of your competition.

Myth 5
“We don’t have time.

This is an absolute exercise in self-deception. If you are like most executives, I’m sure you sometimes ask yourself, “Why is it we never have time to do it right, but always make time to do it over?”

The manager who says, “We’re so busy we don’t have time for training” makes about as much sense as the woodcutter who says, “I’m so busy cutting down trees, I don’t have time to sharpen my ax.”

Abraham Lincoln once said, “If I have three hours to cut down a tree, I’d spend the first two hours sharpening my ax.”

Now, let’s address a final point. How long should you continue training your staff? The answer is how long do you want your people to keep improving?”

Cheers!

Nick Vaglio