In the last couple months we’ve talked a lot about employee development and its importance in retaining your top talent. We’ve discussed what you should do to implement employee development into your company; now we want to make sure we help you avoid mistakes in your training initiatives.

The pending danger is that you invest thousands of dollars, time and effort into a training program that in the end doesn’t impact the bottom line or have any effect on your high performers.

So here are three common mistakes to avoid:

· Mistake #1: Developing a training program around what you think the trainees need to know.

o Your gut doesn’t provide the complete picture. Interview a representative sampling of folks in the target group and get the real story on what people want and need, and identify the delta or missing link

· Mistake #2: Launching an important training initiative without top management involvement and sponsorship.

o Top down then bottom up. Top management must approve and agree on the program up front. Have them attend sessions, endorse and communicate the importance of the sessions, and ask their management to hold trainees accountable for learning what is taught.

· Mistake #3: Insisting that training be delivered in full-day (or longer) sessions held off-sight.

o Research has taught us that skills training is best done in short bursts where people are introduced to one or two important concepts, and then given opportunity to put what they’ve learned into action. Use short sessions,and keep them at the office. Schedule the next session within a week, follow up the training, and keep adding more practice.

Lifelong learning is essential in today’s world. But don’t waste your money or time with an ineffective training and development program.

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