It's a training issue! Or...is it really?

As a trainer as well as an instructional designer, I’ve often been brought in on a preliminary training

development project and told “You need to retrain/develop a training program that will solve X problem.”

Let me say right off the bat that because a course sponsor or champion is so hard over that they want a training solution, sometimes trainers/IDs are given marching orders to do something and maybe even in a certain way and all they can do is salute smartly and get to work. But, if there’s any room at all to explore the issue, I’d advocate that perhaps some further information is needed before deciding just what the solution is to X problem.

For example, I would start off evaluating if X issue is a performance problem or not. Certainly if it’s a knowledge problem or skills problem, then, sure; a training solution is likely an effective solution. But what if it’s deeper than that?

Let’s explore a scenario that will illustrate this;

Joe has the highest scrap rate of anyone in the shop. I’d suggest the exploration begin with the “5 Whys.” Hypothetically, let’s explore the Joe scenario with these

a.      The first one is the most obvious, but also the main objective; “Why does he have the highest scrap rate?” Maybe he’s new to the skill and still coming down “the learning curve” to the point that he doesn’t waste so much material. If that’s not it – or you sense that’s not the whole root cause – then ask another why – based on your findings, course.

b.      Second, begin drilling down by asking perhaps “Why is Joe’s output levels the lowest of anyone in that shop?”

c.      Come to find out, he’s also got the most machine maintenance requests of the team. And “Why might that be?”

d.      Apparently his machine needs recalibrated at least twice a shift. “Why?”

e.      Because his machine slips out of tolerance so frequently and easily, you discover. “Why might that be? Because his machine is the oldest, the highest operational time (in other words the most worn out) machine on the floor.

Do you think that any of this could perhaps be contributing to the symptom of the problem of highest scrap rate? Right there, you’ve uncovered at least a major contributor to the scrap rate. Certainly a simple knowledge or skills retraining solution isn’t going to solve Joe’s “worn out machine” problem and hence, not the scrap rate problem either.

You get the idea here. Keep asking why’s – each based on the last findings – until you uncover the root cause. Once you know the root cause, then you can begin crafting a truly effective solution. Otherwise, automatically jumping to the conclusion that someone just needs more training and then things will improve is wasteful of time, resources, morale and personnel.

In the end, you’re best off exploring with the course champion right at the get go if this performance “problem” is really a training issue or not. If it is, great! Create the best one possible and implement it - using best practices, of course. If it isn’t then drill down until you find what the root cause is and then move to address that.

Or, you’ll likely wish you had…. Just sayin’….