Attitude and Skills (2)

I recently wrote about the hire for attitude, train for skills mantra and that makes me think about how we actually go about training for skills.

Personally I am pretty sceptical about the value of training. Sceptical because for most people training involves booking someone on a course, often delivered by mediocre people, and sending the employee away for a few days and nothing more.

Research has shown that such training has little effect.

Not surprisingly I am a huge advocate of coaching, particularly when it is on the job, real time, in the moment interventions based on experience and on what we observe. Which has also proved to be very effective in changing behaviour.

So often leaders complain about the behaviour of team members only to confess that the poor behaviour has been going on for some time. The standards you walk past are the standards you set. Where was the on the job, real time, in the moment interventions based on experience and on what we have observed? Had that taken place the problematic behaviour would never have taken root. Now we have walked past it a few times it has become our new standard. Whether you call it training, coaching or management is immaterial it is the absence of such interventions that allows behaviour and consequently culture to deteriorate.