Helping analysts remember and use what they learned

Idea and excerpts from Old Habits Die Hard, by Time Hagen, of Sales Progress. Published in Training Magazine, Sept-Oct. 2011.

When technology and data are part of everyday life, it is important that everyone within a company is constantly learning and following best practices. Because if you aren’t, maybe your competitors are. Many organizations give tips, tools, and techniques that can help employees enhance their performance and increase revenue, but most of the time, articles are read and seminars are attended, and that is where the learning stops. The key to successful learning is training reinforcement.

Training reinforcement is the idea that learning should be continued after employees have attended a training program or workshop.

How many times have you seen employees return from training, highly motivated to put their newly acquired skills into action, just to watch them fall back into their old routine weeks later? 

Why Managers Should Coach

It does not make a whole lot of sense to spend so much money on training when people are going to forget what they learned weeks later. Managers needs to be in charge when it comes to helping employees remember what they learned.

Managers have to be involved from the beginning to the end. They need to understand where their employees need help, and then they need to find ways to help them improve in certain areas. Managers must be able to communicate and listen to their employees. They must be able to quantify the results and evaluate whether or not the training worked. 

If it was truly beneficial to the employees, then a manager should be able to see and measure the results. Before training even begins, managers should set benchmarks and attainable goals for their employees; that way, they can justify the money and time spent. When there is proof that there is progress, higher-level management will be more likely to continue giving the tools for success.

Coaching Methods

To create a sustainable learning environment, managers need to step up and involve themselves with reinforcing training. Hold team meetings so everyone can share what they learned that week or what they did to improve the bottom line. Another technique that works is one-on-one coaching. By sitting down with an employee, a manager can see exactly what their issues are, coach them through their problems, and keep track of any problems or setbacks the employee has. Plus, one-on-one meetings allow for instant feedback so the employee does not continue a bad habit over weeks or months. This encourages communication and builds teamwork.

In the end, it is important that businesses provide employees with the opportunity to keep learning and improving in their field, and it is even more vital that they continue that teaching back in the workplace. Companies and managers should engage in post-training and reinforcement in real-world situations.