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Survey: UK Managers to blame for lack of training ROI

Less that 30% of training course participants have discussed their training requirements and expectations with their manager before attending, according to research conducted by training and development company Prosell.

Prosell's research, conducted amongst 100 UK based independent training professionals, asked these consultants to consider an average class of ten delegates and the attitudes that were typically displayed by delegates at the outset of the course.

Reassuringly, the research found that 65 per cent of course delegates understand why they need additional training for their job. However, just 44% per cent understood what they were there to learn and had clear objectives in mind for their training. Astonishingly, of the trainers polled, 90% admitted that not every delegate would understand why they were being trained, highlighting a disparate level of knowledge and expectation amongst training course attendees across the UK.

Prosell found that the vast majority of managers are sending their staff on training courses without ensuring that the member of staff understands why they are required to attend and what it is they are supposed to learn. 73% of delegates had not been briefed in terms of their learning aims, expectations or requirements from the course.

"Training is so often perceived as ‘just another business necessity' by management because of the frequent lack of visible ROI," said Simon Morden, Chairman of Prosell. "It is imperative with any investment in training that the time and money is seen to be acting for the company, and that buy-in is achieved at both manager and employee level. Training is most effective when line managers identify a need for individual employee improvement in a specific area and openly discuss how the training is going to address that issue."

"The worrying lack of preparation by managers as evidenced by this research often creates the perception of ‘going on a jolly' amongst their staff. If managers aren't seen to value the training sufficiently to discuss it with their employees beforehand, how are staff to acknowledge the benefits and gain the most from it? The growing realisation amongst UK plcs of on-the-job coaching - whereby line managers are continually interacting with their teams in order to deliver brand experience and ultimately delight the customer- will go a long way towards resolving this problem."

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