The Winners and Losers: 5 Management Myths on Training

Why do I continue to express passionate interest about the right training to the small, 8(a), SDB, WOB, SVOB, VOB, HubZone, and similar firms doing business with government at all levels?  Because my experience and results has proven that the right training, by the right trainers, does improve the chance of success!

What will make one small contractor/subcontractor stand out from others?  What will increase a firms chance of survival and success through various cycles of economic changes?  What will separate the corporate winners from the losers over the next 5 to 10 years?   

Three Key Factors: #1-Training; #2-Training; and #3-Training.  You would think that all organizations and managers recognize the importance of training.  But, they don't.  Why?  Managers and organizations fall prey to the five management myths of training. 

THE FIVE MYTHS:

1.  "Our people are experienced. They don't need to be trained."

2.  "We tried it and it didn't work."

3.  "Our organization (or department, or division) is too small."

4.  "We can't afford it."

5.  "We don't have time."

Let's take a look at each of these myths, starting 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."

It is important to remember the tremendous difference between experience and competence. A small-town doctor lamented to a friend, "You know I can't believe how many of my patients have switched over to this young upstart who just moved to town. Why he just finished medical school and I've been practicing medicine for 25 years."  The friend threw his arm around the doctor's shoulder and said, "Doc, I don't know quite how to break this to you, but more than a few people in town are wondering if you perhaps have one year of experience that you've been getting by on for the last 25 years."

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.


Let's examine the second management myth, "We tried it, and it didn't work."  Some 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.


Let's look at the third management myth, "We're 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.


The fourth management myth: "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 customers right into the camp of your competition.


Number five. "We don't have the time."  This myth is not only a cop-out. It's also an 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?

Years ago motivational speaker Zig Ziglar was posed the following question by an executive, "How long do I need to keep training my people?"  Zig instinctively answered him with a follow-up question that cut right to the heart of the matter.  Zig said, "How long do you want your people to keep improving?"

Paul Sr.