The Uncomfortable Truth About Corporate Training Programs
Nothing irritates me more than watching perfectly competent people zone out during pricey training sessions because the content has zero connection to their actual job.
Seventeen years of consulting has taught me that roughly three quarters of professional development programs miss the mark completely. The problem isnt always poor content, its that most programs ignore how Australian organisations actually operate.
Here’s the thing that absolutely frustrates me. We keep importing these American style training methods that assume everyone’s got unlimited budgets and time to sit through three day workshops about emotional intelligence. While the real workers are dealing with actual problems like understaffing, system changes, and trying to balance work with family obligations.
Genuine skill building occurs on the job. Its picking up techniques from workmates who have been there and done that. Its watching Rachel negotiate with suppliers and picking up her techniques. Its getting things wrong in the real world and developing better approaches through experience.
Now, this might be contentious, but I actually believe structured training can work amazingly well. Just not the way we are doing them at the moment.
The problem started when HR departments decided they needed to prove their existence by booking pricey external trainers for everything. Running a team became about having the right credentials instead of actually being good with people.
About three years ago I was consulting with a resources firm in Western Australia. They had spent eighty thousand dollars on a leadership program that taught their supervisors about “genuine conversation techniques” and “adaptive management strategies.” Pretty sophisticated content. The actual problem was team leaders avoiding tough conversations about workplace safety because they didnt know how to handle them.
Know what fixed it? Getting supervisors to shadow experienced ones for two weeks. They spent roughly $3,500 on extra shifts. Changes happened straight away.
This obsession with formal qualifications is ruining practical learning. Not everything needs a certificate. The best learning frequently happens when you give people tough assignments with adequate guidance.
Talking about backup, this is where the whole system typically collapses. People attend workshops, feel motivated for a few days, then return to the exact same workplace issues that caused the problems originally.
The team at Westpac actually does this really effectively. Their branch manager development program includes six months of mentoring after the formal training ends. Clever approach. Because changing how people work takes time and reinforcement, not just awareness.
But lets focus about what really works, because I am not here just to complain.
Start with relevance. For training store supervisors, stick to real shop floor examples. Genuine examples, not invented scenarios about imaginary businesses. Work with genuine customer feedback, authentic staffing issues, and actual regulatory demands.
Secondly, timing matters more than content. Training someone on delegation skills right before they get promoted? Ideal. Attempting to change established poor leadership patterns? Extremely difficult.
Most importantly, and where nearly every program fails, you must change the system alongside developing the people. You cannot send someone to assertiveness training then put them back in a workplace where speaking up gets you in trouble. That’s a recipe for disappointment.
Last year I was helping a freight company in Brisbane. Customers kept complaining about how the drivers communicated with them. Before arranging training courses, we examined what was genuinely occurring. It emerged that the dispatch system was giving them impossible delivery windows, so they were constantly running late and stressed. Corrected the timing issues, complaints fell by more than half.
Training could not have solved that. Smarter systems did.
Here’s another unpopular opinion : most soft skills training is backwards. The emphasis is on improving communication, leadership, and teamwork abilities. But we dont teach them how to think critically about their work environment and push back when systems are broken.
Quality professional growth builds people who spot issues and resolve them, rather than individuals who simply endure organisational problems better.
Having said that, certain conventional development methods are effective. Technical skills training is usually pretty solid because its testable and specific. You can either handle the new technology or you need more practice. Sales training can be effective if its based on actual customer data and market conditions.
However, leadership programs? Team development? Interpersonal skills sessions? Often they are costly methods of avoiding genuine leadership issues.
Businesses that excel at development treat it like any other important business decision. They measure results, they track behaviour changes, they adjust based on what works. They dont just book training because its budget time or because someone read an article about the importance of upskilling.
The team at Canva takes an intriguing approach to development. They concentrate on team members teaching each other and spreading knowledge within the organisation. Employees training employees. This approach grows with the company, stays relevant, and strengthens workplace relationships.
This is genuinely where development is moving. Less formal classroom training, more on the job learning, mentoring, project based development. Organisations are discovering that effective development means providing challenging work with adequate backup.
Naturally, many development companies keep selling the same tired content wrapped in trendy terminology. Technology change sessions that are basically standard change management with new labels. Agile methodology training that disregards whether your business structure supports agile practices.
The trick is posing better questions before arranging any professional growth activities. What specific behaviour or skill gap are you trying to address? How will you know if it’s working? Why are not people already performing at this level? What continued help will people need once the development session ends?
Most importantly, what’s the actual business problem you’re trying to solve? If development isn’t linked to measurable business results, you’re simply completing paperwork and squandering resources.
Professional development works when it’s strategic, specific, and supported. All other approaches are costly team activities that create temporary enthusiasm before normal workplace pressures return.
That might sound pessimistic, but after watching hundreds of training programs over the years, l’d rather be honest about what works than keep pretending every workshop is going to transform your workplace culture.
The best professional development happens when people are challenged, supported, and given real problems to solve. Any other method is basically expensive beaurocracy.
If you have any inquiries about where by and how to use Online Self directed Training, you can call us at our web-site.
