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Elwood F. "Ed" Holton III, is CEO of Learning Transfer Solutions
Global LLC and Jones S. Davis Distinguished Professor of Human
Resource, Leadership and Organization Development at Louisiana
State University, USA. Dr. Holton has led efforts to create theLearning Transfer System Inventory and the Training Transfer
Solution system over the last 15 years. With over 200 articles and
17 books, he is widely considered to be an international expert on
human resource development and particularly learning transfer.
Contact him [email protected]
Dr. Ed Holton is one of the premier experts in learning transfer. Great to work with and extremely
professional.November 29, 2010 Robin Kistler,
Director, LSU Executive Education, LSU -Stephenson Entrepreneurship Institute
Ed Holton is one of, if not the, foremost experts in the area of transfer of training and perhaps HRD ingeneral. He has rather ingeniously used the fruits of his career-long research and experience andshaped it into the tools that companies can and should benefit from. Having personally worked withEd on research projects in this area I can definitively say that his solutions are meticulouslydeveloped and designed and boast rigorous theoretical framework (not something you encounterfrequently in HRD consulting). At the same time Eds tools and methods are designed for the real -world, demonstrating his exceptional ability to connect research and practice. Last but not least, he isa pleasure to work with, approachable, and down-to-earth and I have always walked away from aconversation with him feeling like Ive learned something new.November 21, 2010
Bogdan Yamkovenko, PhDOrganizational Development and Research
Coordinator, The Shaw Group
I regard Ed Holton as among the leading experts in the world on the subject of transfer of learning.Although he has written widely and is highly-regarded in the academic community, his unique gift isthe ability to convert ideas to practice and make a real difference in the effectiveness of learning
initiatives in organizations.November 19, 2010Tim Baldwin,
Eveleigh Professor of Business Leadership,Kelley School of Business
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=17084513&authType=name&authToken=mjsm&goback=%2Enpv_34176097_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=17084513&authType=name&authToken=mjsm&goback=%2Enpv_34176097_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=31429448&authType=name&authToken=jiAx&goback=%2Enpv_34176097_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=31429448&authType=name&authToken=jiAx&goback=%2Enpv_34176097_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=4185832&authType=name&authToken=wKQ_&goback=%2Enpv_34176097_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=4185832&authType=name&authToken=wKQ_&goback=%2Enpv_34176097_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=4185832&authType=name&authToken=wKQ_&goback=%2Enpv_34176097_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=31429448&authType=name&authToken=jiAx&goback=%2Enpv_34176097_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=17084513&authType=name&authToken=mjsm&goback=%2Enpv_34176097_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1mailto:[email protected]8/3/2019 Increasing Training Impact_a Guide for Practitioners
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Strategic training/HR is a higher
level of practice. It is about being a
strategic partner by providing your
organization with people who have
the expertise and competence to
enable the organization to achieve
its strategic goals. It requires
understanding the organization's
"business" and then making sure
people can perform at the level
required.
Recently there was a discussion on LinkedIn asking
whether needs assessment could be skipped. I couldn't
believe this question was even asked!
I am teaching a needs assessment course at LSU this
fall and we had an interesting discussion about this. I'll
admit my bias upfront--needs assessment is
ESSENTIAL to make transfer happen.
As many know we have studied factors affecting transfer
for the last 15 years. One finding that shows up in every
study we do is that Content Validity is rated as
weak...somewhere is the mid-range. And we have seen
this in 25 countries around the world, in the private and
public sector, and in all different types of training. This
tells us that trainees are usually encountering training
content that is not well targeted to what they need on the
job.
How can we expect to make transfer happen if we are
not targeting our training to EXACTLY what trainees
need? All we do is run up the cost--and down the ROI--
when we skip needs assessment. And we all know that
trainees hate it when they have to sit through a class
that is not what they need.
Training is "dead on arrival" as far as transfer isconcerned if we don't have high Content Validity. And
they ONLY way to get the content right is through good
needs assessment.
I say its not optional. In fact, I think it is professional
malpractice to NOT do it. We owe it to our trainees, our
organizations, and to ourselves to deliver training that is
a "rifle shot"--carefully targeted to precisely what trainees
need...nothing more, nothing less.
Learning Transfer Is Fundamental To Strategic
Human Resource Development
Training/HR engages in two types of activity--tactical and
strategic. Tactical training/HR is the stuff we are all very
familiar and comfortable with. For training departments
it is the daily task of designing and delivering training
For HR, it is the nuts and bolts of hiring employees,
benefits management, avoiding legal issues, etc.
Strategic training/HR is a higher level of practice. It is
about being a strategic partner by providing your
organization with people who have the expertise and
competence to enable the organization to achieve its
strategic goals. It requires understanding the
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If you aren't getting the resources
for learning that you want, then
improve your learning transfer to
increase the return on investment.
And, if your organization is treating
you as a cost center, then start
delivering real performance change
and their attitude will change.
organization's "business" and then making sure people
can perform at the level required.
What many training organizations miss is that learning
transfer is fundamental to delivering on the strategic
promise to the organization. For most organizations, the
lack of learning transfer is the weak link in the chain from
learning to achieving strategic goals. Think about it. If
your organization must have employees at a certain
level of performance to achieve its goals, and learning is
required to get them to that level of performance, then by
definition learning must transfer to job performance!
Tactical training/HR organizations can treat learning
transfer as optional because their own performance
metrics tend to be activity-based (# of classes
conducted, people trained, etc.). Strategic training/HR
organizations KNOW that learning transfer is not
optional because their performance metrics are results-
based--that is, the extent to which employees can
perform at the desired levels.
Here's your homework--ask yourself (honestly) is your
training/HR organization tactical, or strategic? And if you
want to be strategic, isn't it time you started working on
learning transfer?
This One Question Will Tell Whether Your Learning
Transfer System is Working.
You don't have to do a lot of sophisticated analysis to tel
whether your learning transfer system is working. Al
you have to do is ask yourself this one basic question:
When you try to get more learning resources, how does
the organization react?
You see, organizations spend money on initiatives they
believe will either help them achieve their goals better, or
help them save money.
So, if your answer is that your organization typically
resists giving you more resources, then most likely your
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The paradox is that most peoplewithin the learning enterprise fight
against accountability systems as
hard as they can. The message is
usually some form of "learning can't
be measured and evaluated" or
some other lofty principle that
essentially says "we shouldn't have
to be accountable."
learning transfer is poor. In this case, the organization
considers learning as a cost---and all costs should be
minimized in an organization.
On the other hand, if your organization typically will give
you more resources once you provide a reasonable
justification, the most likely your learning transfer is
good. In this case, your organization considers learning
to be an investment---and all investments must produce
a return. So if the organization is willing to give you
resources, then they trust that you can produce an
adequate return on the investment in learning.
It's really not much more
complicated than this. No
organizational decision maker
will ignore worthy
investments, at least not for
long.
The message here is this--if
you aren't getting the
resources for learning that
you want, then improve your
learning transfer to increase
the return on investment.
And, if your organization is treating you as a cost center,
then start delivering real performance change and their
attitude will change.
Accountability For Learning Results Is Everywhere--
But Still Resisted
Over the last few weeks I have read a variety of articles
about accountability for learning outcomes that really
started me thinking deeply
about the subject. I have a
few thoughts I want to
share.
First, was an article that hi
close to home abou
universities creating
scorecards to measure the
return on investment for a
professor's salary. With
most states under severe
budget pressure, the
question being asked is
"what are we getting for the money we pay professors."
Different universities are trying different systems but they
are all trying to answer that question.
Second, I continue to see article after article abou
accountability for the U.S. K-12 school systems. Thanks
to federal laws and regulations, most states have some
type of standard exams students must take to be
promoted and to graduate. In my state (Louisiana) they
are developing a system to track test performance to the
teacher level and ultimately to the educational institution
where the teachers are educated.
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And of course there is the organizational training world
where return on investment has been the mantra of
many consultants for several decades. Yet, our surveys
show that we have made little progress in getting the
profession to embrace any type of evaluation beyond
testing.
Doesn't anybody see the big picture here? The bottom
line (IMHO) is that society is telling us that the "learning
enterprise"--no matter what level or form it takes--MUST
be accountable for producing results that matter. The
paradox is that most people within the learning
enterprise fight against accountability systems as hard
as they can. The message is usually some form of
"learning can't be measured and evaluated" or someother lofty principle that essentially says "we shouldn't
have to be accountable."
Folks, I think that train has left the station. The question
is no longer IF the learning enterprise will be held
accountable, just how long before it happens. Learning
is no longer regarded as so sacred in our society or our
organizations to escape being held accountable.
So you have a choice to make. You can get on board
the train and help shape the accountability systems to be
the best they can be--even if imperfect. Or, you can
resist it like the K-12 systems did and have it imposed
upon you like a freight train running you over.
I suggest that you be a leader and make accountability
work for your learning initiatives. Its a whole lot more fun
to be the engine of the train than the caboose!!
Sometimes It Seems Like We Never Learn
This semester I am teaching a course in Needs
Assessment and today I listened to students present the
results of their field projects. I want to share the results
of one of them with you.
Here's the situation: Company X installs new computer
software which affects a lot of employees. A training
course is designed and all employees attend the same
course given well in advance of the new software
becoming live. Unfortunately, the employees aren'
using the software like they should. So my students go
off to find out why and propose solutions.
The findings:
Because the training was given well in advance
of them having to use the software, they didn't have the
opportunity to practice it so they forgot a lot of the
training
Each employee only uses a specific part of the
system but had to sit through training on everything....so
they were overwhelmed
No post-training job aids were provided to help
employees use the system
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My message is this: Don't sell yourself
short by ignoring learning transfer. It is
through transfer into action that your
teaching makes an impact. Don't settle
for less. Push yourself and your
organizations to expect more so you are
living up to your full potential as a
learning specialist or trainer. You owe it
to yourself.
Our prescriptions for training future new employees:
Break the training into short modules
Determine which modules are needed for each
job
Only train employees in what they need (at first)
Provide an opportunity to use the system
immediately after training
Provide quick reference job aids to help
employees learn faster
Sounds pretty simple right? But how many times have
you seen this initial approach repeated. I know I have
seen it MANY times. The reality is the initial approach
was more for the convenience of the trainers than the
employees!
So why do we keep making the same mistakes, over
and over? Sure its a little extra work but in this instance
the software was essential to the company's
business....so isn't it worth a little extra effort?
We should know better. No best practice or expert
would advocate a "one size fits all training without
immediate practice" but it is done every day in the real
world. I say its time that we stop this silliness and get
serious about creating training that really works--for the
employees and the organization!
You Won't Reach Yours As A Learning Specialist
Without Learning Transfer
Through all my writings and speaking engagements
have made the case for learning transfer in a variety of
ways. There is the economic argument, the
organizational argument, the obligation to our learners
argument....and more. What I haven't said enough
about lately is that WE OWE IT TO OURSELVES!
I just love helping people achieve their full potential.
love seeing my students grow and realize they are
capable of more than they thought they were. I love
seeing the excitement when people reach new levels of
satisfaction in their lives and careers.
I sincerely believe that most learning specialists and
trainers are giving up too much of their potential by not
working on learning transfer. Sure it feels good when
people learn, but it feels even better when people take
what you help them learn and use it to make an impact.
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So many people in our profession are missing out on the
wonderful satisfaction from seeing their learning make a
difference.
A large part of my passion for improving learning transfer
comes from wanting trainers to want more for
themselves. I believe we should reach higher and want
our learning to make a bigger impact in our
organizations. I am still searching for just the right way to
open everyone's eyes to the enormous power we hold in
our hands. Learning is so powerful when it is put to use
and makes such a huge difference in organizations so it
pains me when I see human resource departments that
aren't using learning to make a difference.
My message is this: Don't sell yourself short by ignoring
learning transfer. It is through transfer into action that
your teaching makes an impact. Don't settle for less.
Push yourself and your organizations to expect more so
you are living up to your full potential as a learning
specialist or trainer. You owe it to yourself.
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We used our Learning Transfer System
Inventory (LTSI) to investigate whether
there are any barriers to transfer. Much
to our surprise we learned that
supervisors were OPPOSING use of the
skills learned in this training. It didn't
make sense because these were the
same people who sent the trainee to the
class!
Several of the senior management team
did not support the training because it
was a different management style than
they used. This opposition "trickled
down" through the organization so that
trainees really couldn't use their new
skills.
How Senior Leaders Shape Your
Transfer System
Am working with a client right now that
offers some very useful lessons for
everyone. In this situation, an outside
training consultant is teaching
managerial skills to mostly first-line
managers. Most of their direct
supervisors--the middle layer of management--have
been through the training and are the ones sending their
direct reports to training. Sounds like a good situation
for transfer, right?
Wrong! We used our
Learning Transfer
System Inventory (LTSI)
to investigate whether
there are any barriers to
transfer. Much to our
surprise we learned that
supervisors were
OPPOSING use of the
skills learned in this
training. It didn't make
sense because these
were the same people who sent the trainee to the class!
When we talked to the client company, the HR Director
immediately identified the problem. Several of the senio
management team did not support the training because
it was a different management style than they used
This opposition "trickled down" through the organization
so that trainees really couldn't use their new skills.
This case
illustrates
the
powerfu
effec
senio
leaders
have on
the
transfe
system. Leaders often underestimate the symbolic
effect their actions--and inactions--have on their
followers. People in organizations watch senio
management closely to
identify what they care
about, and what they don'
care about.
The lesson is that senio
leadership is a powerfu
leverage point for change
Changing a transfe
system needs a senio
leadership champion. I
the senior leadership is a
barrier (as in this case)
then efforts to drive change from the bottom up will be a
long, frustrating up-hill climb. But if senior leadership
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We know that strong learning transf
and high ROI only happens whentraining is a process, not an event. Th
is, the learning transfer process start
well before the training event with
things such as good needs assessmen
strong behavioral (performance)
objectives, and supervisory engageme
prior to training. The process continuafter training with good follow-up,
effective coaching and mentoring, an
supports and resources to enable
participants to use the training.
Overarching all of this should be a
measurement system that gets beyo
level 1 happy sheets to actually meas
the extent to which participants use
learning on the job.
embraces learning transfer, promotes it, and holds the
organization accountable for it, then change can happen
quickly.
One key is that you have to measure transfer because,
as the old saying goes, "everything that's important in
organizations gets measured." If you don't measure
transfer, how will you ever convince employees that the
organization really cares about transfer?
So think about this: Who will be the senior "transfer
champion" in your organization? Show him/her the
potential ROI improvement that's possible. Then, start
leveraging his/her influence today to make learning
transfer happen.
Debunking HR's Favorite Excuse
I wish I had money for every time I have heard someone
in HR say "....but we don't control those things in the
organization" as a reason for not implementing a best
practice such as learning transfer. For some crazy
reason much of the HR profession has this illusion
(delusion) that others in an organization have control
over all the factors that lead to their success.
I am here to tell you that it simply isn't true. NOBODY in
an organization has control over all the factors that affect
their success. Success in organizations is really about
developing the ability to INFLUENCE others to get things
done.
I have heard this excuse for 25 years from human
resource professionals. Granted, professionals in staf
support roles (like HR) have less direct control over
employees than those in operating roles. But, here are
the facts:
this is true for ALL support organizations like
information technology, accounting, marketing
engineering, etc.
even people in direct operational roles have to
use influence to be successful.
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For some crazy reason much of the HR
profession has this illusion (delusion)
that others in an organization have
control over all the factors that lead to
their success.
Start with the end in mind, and the en
goal is PERFORMANCE, not learning.
That is, if you focus first on the
performance or behavior change you ar
trying to create rather than on learnin
content your training will immediately
become more powerful, will
fundamentally alter everything includin
your instructional design, your
instructional methods, and how you
engage the whole organization in
making the training effective. You wil
find that all your conversations about
training development and delivery wil
fundamentally change for the better.
I think it's time
to stop our
collective pity
party and step
up to the plate. If you really want to be successful
Give up on the delusion of control
Expand your sphere of INFLUENCE
Learn how to INFLUENCE others
Interestingly, once you do this you will find that yourpower grows and you can really get things done.
Are You Stuck In The "Event Running" Mode?
For too many years training has been considered just an
event. Training organizations focused on running events,
and the participants and supervisors in theorganization
considered training just an event. So, what's wrong with
that? We know that strong learning transfer and high
ROI only happens when training is a process, not an
event. That is, the learning transfer process starts well
before the training event with things such as good needs
assessment, strong behavioral (performance) objectives,
and supervisory engagement prior to training. The
process continues after training with good follow-up,
effective coaching and mentoring, and supports and
resources to enable participants to use the training.
Overarching all of this should be a measurement system
that gets beyond level 1 happy
sheets to actually measure the
extent to which participants use
learning on the job.
When training is just in the event
none of this happens. And when none of this happens
estimates are that only 10 to 30% of that learning gets
used on the job. Is that really a surprise?
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If we in training are ever to solve the learning transfer
problem, we have to break the event mindset and start
thinking about the entire learning AND performance
process. We have to get our participants to to stop
thinking of training is an event, and get their supervisors
to stop doing the same. As long as we continue with the
event mindset, learning transfer will continue to be
abysmal.
Can your organization really afford for training to
continue to be an event? I doubt it. So do a self-check
right now are you running learning events or a learning
& performance process? If you and your organizations
still have an event mindset then make a New Year's
resolution to change.
A reader asked me a very interesting question
yesterday. He asked, "what would be your one best
piece of advice to trainers". It was interesting becausehe was asking me to boil all of my thoughts down to one
piece of advice.
So here it is: Start with the end in mind, and the end goal
is PERFORMANCE, not learning. That is, if you focus
first on the performance or behavior change you are
trying to create rather than on learning content your
training will immediately become more powerful.
We know that starting with the end goal of performance
change will fundamentally alter everything including your
instructional design, your instructional methods, and how
you engage the whole organization in making the
training effective. You will find that all you
conversations about training development and delivery
will fundamentally change for the better.
If you take performance change seriously, there is no
way you can continue to use traditional learning
oriented training development and delivery methods
alone. By focusing on the end goal of performance
change you will immediately begin to consider learning
transfer and how to increase behavior change.
It sounds like a simple change but, in fact, it is a
powerful paradigm shift in everything you do in training
So change the way you think and you will change the
results that you get.