You’re in great company if you answer YES to the following question.

Have your employees been on a time management course and still can’t manage time effectively?

The fact is that more than 70% of training failure comes after the training is completed, according to comprehensive ASTD study in 2006 (http://www.astd.org/) . The major factors were that employees didn’t get a chance to apply what they learned soon enough, and there was no effective culture of follow-up and coaching.

You may be surprised but there’s actually nothing new here. Research by George Alliger and Elizabeth Janak (1989) found that the correlation between training and change in the workplace to be poor. More recently the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) in 2007 state it is “….no better than random chance”.

People return to work after the training and soon fall back into their old mindset and habits. The training even though of great quality, invariably results as a waste of time, effort and money.

Kirkpatrick 1959 is recognised as the measurement of training  and in an article “A fresh look after 50 Years” by Kirkpatrick Partners they say “the end is the beginning” ie start with the performance level 4, and work backwards through attitude and behaviour change level 3.

The problem is businesses are putting most of their time into designing, developing and delivering training (Level 1 and Level 2) and it’s no surprise then they only get a fraction of the benefit. They spend hardly any time on the follow-up activities that translate into positive behaviour change and impact on the business (Level 3 and Level 4) .  Some companies turn to psychometric tests which start to address the issue but then mostly end up saying ‘We’ve done the tests, given the feedback, now what?’

It’s not surprising it has evolved this way – it’s cheaper.  The more we look at interventions this way, and the easier and cheaper it becomes from the explosion in Elearning, the more short cuts we’ll take and fall into the same trap. But without an improvement, it’s also a false economy – the short cut doesn’t work.

There is hope as advances in neuroscience and psychology support the unique Mind Fit process. There’s now a simple, proven and cost effective way to shift attitudes, behaviours and mindsets. Importantly for any business is that the change is sustainable and starts immediately following the intervention.

So, what’s the point of developing people in today’s climate? First, the climate doesn’t matter. People are your best asset and with a positive behavioural change they will improve your business.

Growth, in the current unpredictable state of the economy, will only come from your existing resources.

To learn more and how you get into a Mind Fit state take the simplest first step and read the book  Mind Fit For Success , by Graham Williams