Books. What Every Manager Should Know about Training: An Insider's Guide to Getting Your Money's Worth from Training

Citation

(2001), "Books. What Every Manager Should Know about Training: An Insider's Guide to Getting Your Money's Worth from Training", Education + Training, Vol. 43 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2001.00443aad.003

Books. What Every Manager Should Know about Training: An Insider's Guide to Getting Your Money's Worth from Training

Books

What Every Manager Should Know about Training: An Insider's Guide to Getting Your Money's Worth from Training

Robert F. MagerManagement Books2000ISBN 1852523255£12.99

Keywords: Training, Value, Corporate culture

Training is a means, not an end. It is indispensable only when people need to know things they do not already know. Its purpose is to facilitate performance. But good performance also depends upon personal effectiveness, giving people the opportunity to perform and providing a supportive environment.

A supportive environment encourages desired performance and discourages undesired performance. But employees need to know which is which. Workers should be given incentives to perform in the desired manner, and a clear description of the results to be obtained and the standards to be met.

Training instructors are responsible for teaching people what they need to know and do, and strengthening their belief in their ability to do those things. But only managers, not training instructors, can provide the environment that encourages and strengthens good performance.

What Every Manager Should Know about Training is designed to help managers to get the greatest possible return for the money they invest in training. The author reveals:

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  how to decide if training is good, bad or even necessary;

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  common myths about training and the truth behind them;

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  non-training solutions to performance problems; and

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  tools which managers can use to get better performance from the workforce.

Among the no-nonsense advice presented is information on how to deal with trainers. The author states: "Ask for skills, ask for assistance with performance problems, ask for objectives to be derived, ask for job aids, manuals, feedback, systems, for help with task or goal analyses, or for any other service. But don't ask for training".

The reason is that if the training department is staffed by subject-matter experts who do not know much about the training craft, they may provide training which is not really needed. If it is staffed by expert trainers, they may have to find tactful ways to convince you to take another look at the situation, and that could take time.

The author also advises: describe the problem or ask for outcomes; negotiate an agreement; verify that a performance-based approach will be used; assist in the derivation of the objectives; sign off on the draft outcomes; agree on the training location; provide access to information and to target trainees; prepare your trainees; and steer clear of the training.

While managers are the target readership, the staff of training institutions can learn much from the advice presented.