Are You a Training ‘Tourist’?

For people who frequent fitness centers, the end of March is a special occasion. Not only does it mark the end of winter, it is also the time when the last remaining fitness ‘tourists’ abandon their New Year’s pledge to get in shape. Your gym becomes noticeably less crowded.

I used to believe that fitness tourists were doing the right thing for their long term health. After all, isn’t practicing fitness for a few weeks a year better than not at all? But when I see the same people in the same out-of-shape condition every year, I now believe they may be doing more harm than good by convincing themselves this one-shot approach is enough to stave off the ill effects of year-round lethargy.

Likewise, many organizations seem to think that any training is good training, regardless of whether it creates any permanent behavior change for the learners or measurable outcomes for the business. These training ‘tourist’ organizations, like their fitness counterparts, offer short courses with no follow-up support and no measurement system, and yet they still seem to think they are getting their money’s worth. Learners may even be happy to have time away from their regular roles and check the boxes, even if they don’t acquire anything of use to take back to their jobs. The people may be mildly satisfied, but the budget is spent and the learning doesn’t stick.

So, ask yourself: Do your training programs provide multiple recall activities delivered over an extended period of time (several months and more) to ensure embedding and permanent behavior change? And are the new skills your people are learning clearly linked to measurable outcomes for your learner and your organization?

Or does your organization take the ‘tourist’ approach? If so, you may be fooling yourself and doing more harm than good.

To learn more about Global Partners Training’s approach to creating Training That Sticks, click here. Also be sure to read about GPT’s new Micro-learning capabilities that provide mobile-friendly, extended reinforcement to your learners.

by Paul Hesselschwerdt, Partner