22 May 20 08 VIEW on Sales TRAINING MODELS T oo often, training leaders simply develop and conduct training that supports an organizational initiative — launch of a new product, release of a new messaging campaign, strategy to blunt a new competitor, rollout of a new sales force automation solu tion, implementation of a new selling or coaching model — and the trainees are considered “trained.” It is often the case that everyone involved in the training process “checks the box” and moves on to the next initiative. However, it is common knowledge that most people do not retain new information for more than a limited timeframe, so the new knowledge and skills may not be applied effectively in the field. As a result, the “checkthebox” mentality often leads to poor knowledge retention. Why is this happening? Often, when the decision is made to pursue a particular initiative, training departments leap to action, working to the last possible moment to get things done. As time is limited and training departments tend to be reactive, the event itself generally is not sup ported with the necessary awareness, excitement, and buy in to ensure the event is as successful as it could be. In addition, the training depart ment often invests so much time and energy into the implementation of the actual event that little time is left to focus on reinforcing the new con cepts in the context of the “real world.” All these factors result in poor retention. One way that training leaders can address the challenge of improving retention of knowledge and skills is to use the ATRAIN framework as a guiding philosophy. This philosophy was developed to address training retention issues by turning a training event into a training continuum. Sim ply stated, ATRAIN is an acronym that outlines the key elements that need to be incorporated into any given training event to maximize its overall effectiveness. Awareness — pretraining communication intended to gain buyin from key stakeholders and trainees Training — initial training event that focuses on building conceptual understanding Reinforcement — application training to help key concepts stick in the context of what the trainees are facing in the real world Assessment — applicationbased evaluation of the requisite knowl edge and skills needed to implement the concept INspection — ongoing organizational pullthrough to ensure uptake and application in the field This article provides the necessary framework for the “ATRAIN” phi losophy and explains how training professionals can apply it to fully realize the value of a training program and effectively support an organizational initiative. The Strategic Framework of the ATRAIN Philosophy Awareness For any training initiative to be successful, it is critical that key stake holders in the organization support your efforts.There are essentially four sets of stakeholders that need to “buy in” to the process to enable success. Let’s review them. Senior Leadership Frequently, initiative leaders fail to gain adequate buyin and support from senior leadership, despite the fact that senior leadership typically ini tiates the project in the first place.This happens because initiative leaders may not fully understand how critical their support is to ensure that the training “sticks.” Without the active support of top organizational leaders, the training participants are far less likely to take the initiative seriously or fully engage in it. Senior leadership buyin and support must be gained and communi cated to other stakeholders early on. Support that seems to come “at the last minute” will result in trainees viewing leadership support as merely “lip service.”This attitude can quickly disseminate throughout the field and can have a negative impact on the perceived value of the initiative. To address the issue, initiative leaders need to view senior leaders as a client and should develop a messaging campaign to meet their needs. The most effective campaigns include: . A brief summary of how the project is executed. . An explanation of senior leadership’s role in its execution. . Key “talking points” that must be delivered whenever the initiative is discussed. . Roleplay exercises to give senior leadership the opportunity to prac tice articulating their point when confronted with a “hostile” situation that may jeopardize the event itself. Management Similar to the efforts necessary to engage senior leadership, significant effort needs to go into ensuring that the trainees’ supervisors are bought Campbell Alliance Making It Stick How to Maximize Knowledge Retention John Bye, Senior Practice Executive, Sales Practice One way that training leaders can address the challenge of improving retention of knowledge and skills is to use the “ATRAIN” framework as a guiding philosophy. 0508 pvv VIEWs FINAL tg 4/25/08 5:53 PM Page 22 23 VIEW on Sales May 20 08 TRAINING MODELS into the process as well. Let’s face it, management typically views training as a “taking away” of their resources for a “boondoggle.”Therefore, it is important to get management to buy into the program and to provide them with the appropriate talking points to convey to participants. Involving management brings them into the circle and lets them recognize the value of the training. Trainees Training is too often considered that “thing you do when you’re not busy.” All too often, trainees do not fully understand why they must participate in a training event and often lack a firm grasp on the initiative’s key objectives, how it fits into the strategy of the organization, and why it is a “good idea” for them to mentally engage in the training. Training leaders often get frustrated when the targeted training partici pants don’t take the initiative seriously, however, why should they? Because it is a good idea? Because everyone worked “really” hard to make it happen? This negativity toward a training initiative is typically a result of initiative leaders to systematically communicate the value of the event to the “uni verse” of trainees during the time leading up to the training event in a man ner that will allow them to internalize it. Training initiatives, especially large ones, require an upfront internal “mar keting campaign” or communication plan that: . Generates excitement. . Clearly outlines the initiative’s objectives and importance. . Defines key messages supporting the initiative. . Anticipates objections and proactively “sells” the initiative. Initiative Leaders Despite the fact that the initiative leaders are in charge of the training ini tiative, it is critical that these leaders are also brought into the process. If the initiative leader is not fully engaged and does not recognize the impact of his or her efforts on the trainees and the overall organization, the event will surely fall short of expectations. Initiative leaders need to manage to the objectives (or the spirit) of the event as opposed to managing to the required deliverables. Training The Training component of the ATRAIN framework refers to the actu al training event and is what most training leaders focus on when they design and deliver training programs.The focal point of training is teaching and help ing trainees better understand a given concept. Ideally, a training session should consist of about 30% didactic training and about 70% application exercises (i.e., using roleplays or other techniques), as the application exer cises will better enable the trainees to internalize the concept by using a “realworld” example. Even when training is wellconducted and uses a “realworld” application that aligns with the specific training audience, a standalone training event is not enough to ensure trainees truly understand how to effectively apply the training in the field. This leads us to the last three components of the ATRAIN philosophy — Reinforcement, Assessment, and INspection. Reinforcement Proper reinforcement is a critical step that is often overlooked.Trainees must understand the concept and be allowed to apply it in their specific envi ronment long after the training session. Ideally, trainees should experience a formalized followup session that occurs after the main training event to revisit the concept. This will help by: . Reminding the trainees of the concept. . Revisiting how the trainees have applied the concept in the field to date. . Giving the trainees practice applying the concept in mock situations modeled after trainees’ realworld experiences. Generally speaking, about three to six months after training, a reinforce ment exercise that reminds trainees of the key concepts needs to occur.The exercise should be heavy on application training. Assessment No word strikes more fear into the hearts of trainees than assessment! But, this is an essential step of any training continuum. Unfortunately, it has become commonplace for sales leaders to be reluctant to assess their peo ple because they feel the trainees can’t handle it or that the results are too subjective to be fair and accurate. But, if an organization doesn’t evaluate and test on the concepts being taught, they have no way of knowing whether they are fully realizing the value of their programs.Therefore, a key compo nent of ATRAIN is assessment. In cultures where the term “assessment” is not palatable, it can be described as a “diagnostic.” Whatever the process is called, trainees must be tested on their ability to effectively apply the concepts in the field, and their performance during this assessment must also be documented. This is critical to ensuring good and consistent performance, as well as to identify trainees who may need additional help. Assessment involves testing and scoring each trainee on his or her per formance and capturing the results in some sort of report card. Good assessment involves: . Evaluating trainees’ relevant behaviors and providing a quantitative score, along with an explanation of what behavior is responsible for the score. . Sharing the evaluation (or report card) with trainees and providing an explanation of what the score means.Trainees need to understand the impact that their behavior (or lack thereof) has on the larger picture. For example, in the context of a sales call, how does a poor opening impact the rest of the sales call? For a presentation, how does their inability to change the intonation in their voice impact the uptake of their audience? INspection The last component of the ATRAIN framework is INspection.The con cept of inspection involves a process through which a supervisor can pull through the learning by auditing the performance of the trainee and imple menting any corrective action that is needed. During this process, the super visor refers to the assessment results; observes performance; leads the req uisite additional pullthrough activities, if needed; works with the trainee to create a development action plan; and oversees its execution. This process can go “up the ladder” as well. For example, District Man agers must ensure rep performance, Regional Sales Directors must ensure DM performance, andVice Presidents must ensure RSD performance.There fore, for each “audited” group, training leaders must develop an “audit pro cess” that ensures inspection is adhered to and a “menu” of additional sup port options to aid the inspectors in their task. Conclusion At the end of the day, it is important to remember that training is not about the event itself; it is about meeting the objective or the “spirit” of the program. ATRAIN is a simple guiding framework that helps one to take an organizational initiative and bring it to life by creating a continuum of learn ing events to support the rollout.The framework makes training more than a checkthebox activity and helps the concept really “stick” in the organiza tion for the long term. # CAMPBELL ALLIANCE, Raleigh, N.C ., is a management consulting firm specializing in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. For more information, visit campbellalliance.com. 0508 pvv VIEWs FINAL tg 4/25/08 5:53 PM Page 23
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Making It Stick: How to Maximize Knowledge Retention
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