Frequently-Asked Questions

All too often managers and staff can jump to conclusions about why performance is not matching expectations — and assume that training will 'fix' the problem. We recommend spending a little time analysing the situation carefully to identify what the real causes of the problem are…

Some questions we might ask (before sending anyone away for training) include:

• Does anyone in the team demonstrate high levels of performance?
• How do you give feedback to people about their performance?
• What do the 'top performers' do differently to the 'low performers'?
• Are there any factors that make it difficult to do the job well?
• Has the performance of individuals changed over time (increased/declined)?

The answers to these questions may show that the 'problem' is not a lack of knowledge or skill which could be dealt with by some training intervention. In some situations the solution may lie directly in the line manager's hands to change the work environment or reset expectations or simply give appropriate feedback.

‘I have some staff who really outperform others and no-one knows why — should I be doing something about them?’

Has anyone asked these staff members what they do? Have you observed them at work to see how they achieve their results? These staff members may be the key to dramatically raising the productivity and profitability of your business: it is essential that you learn how they do what they do and share that knowledge effectively with others. Do not underestimate the potential value of these employees in improving the whole of your organisation!

We would work with these top performers to analyse their effective working practices and develop effective ways of sharing that information with others in the same or similar roles. We think it is vital for organisations to learn from examples of success.

Surveys of companies that have bought e-learning packages (whether off-the-shelf or bespoke) frequently show a picture of dissatisfaction with results. E-learning has been hyped as the 'silver bullet' that will transform your training department and reduce costs radically. However, like so many 'silver bullets' it has often missed its target.

E-learning can provide an excellent solution to certain causes of low performance. It can be superb at delivering knowledge and skills to learners at their own pace, at their own desk and in a way that makes sense to them. It can also be poorly designed, technically flawed and difficult to use. The learner's environment can also have a significant impact on the effectiveness of e-learning as can the manager's attitudes. And like so many training interventions, one solution may not be sufficient to address all the issues of low performance and e-learning may only be one piece of the puzzle — you need to add all the other pieces to get the full picture.

Our experience has led us to believe that e-learning has to be professionally designed, matched to the target group, address the subject area in a way that makes sense to the target learners and implemented with equal care. This means ensuring that line managers 'buy in' to the concept of e-learning and do not sabotage your programmes by failing to encourage and reward staff for using them (making time, praising and valuing attempts to improve skills). It also means that if you buy 'off-the-shelf' software, you will probably need to put in time to evaluating the package and identifying which parts of it are relevant to your staff's needs and pointing them to those elements only - rather than just dumping a whole programme onto your intranet and not supporting/advising its proper use.

Give us a call!

Seriously, we are always happy to discuss performance issues over the phone and begin to probe the challenges that face you so that you can start to quantify and define the problem area: this activity in its own right can move you a long way to deciding what you want to do to tackle it effectively