Your Leadership Training is Failing - Here’s the System Fix

Welcome to Shedding the Corporate Bitch, the podcast that transforms today's managers into tomorrow's powerhouse leaders. Your host, Bernadette Boas, executive coach and author, brings you into a world where the corporate grind meets personal growth and success in each and every episode. Let's do this.

Let me give you a scenario. Your L&D team ran a leadership workshop last quarter. Managers showed up, the feedback forms came back positive, everyone said it was great, and then absolutely nothing changed. Not because your team didn't do the work, not because the facilitator wasn't talented, but because a workshop is not a development system. And until your organization understands the difference, you will keep spending money on training that evaporates the moment people walk back to their office. U.S. companies spent nearly $100 billion on workplace training last year. Employee engagement has barely moved in 20 years. What does that tell you? This isn't a training problem. It's a design problem. More importantly, throughout my 18 years of coaching mid-level to C-suite executives, I have found that leadership success is 80% mindset, identity, and self-awareness, and only 20% skill set. But that's where the focus is put because you don't build better leaders by teaching more. You build them by transforming how they see themselves and how others experience them. So we want to ensure that any program or system that you put in place addresses the right things for the right people at the right time. I want to be really specific about who this episode is for because the conversation I'm having today is different from most leadership development content out there. And this is for your internal L&D professionals, the talent development team, the HR leader who has been handed the mandate to build something that moves the needle and who is tired of running programs that produce great completion data, but absolutely no behavioral change. That will ensure that their team is high functioning. Most organizations have built their development infrastructure around discrete events, a course here, a workshop there, an assessment when someone gets promoted. That model was never designed to produce lasting behavioral change. It was designed to check the boxes. What I'm gonna walk you through today is a different model entirely. It's one that your internal team can design, own, and run, and one that treats development as a connected system, not a calendar or series of events. So how do we make that $100 billion that corporations are spending on workplace training? How do we make it efficient, effective, and transformative? Let's start with why the current model fails, and I want to give you 4 reasons why that is. Now, keep in mind, I've worked with a lot of internal development teams to know that the failures I'm about to share with you are almost never about intention or effort. They are about design. So if these land close to you, these failures land close to you, take it as a blueprint for what to change, not a critique of what you've done. Okay. So reason 1 is training is often built on a perceived lack of skill versus a lack of self-awareness. And this one's big for me because throughout my 18 years, the number one roadblock for many professionals is their own lack of self-awareness. Let me explain this even further. Someone could walk into a training session that you have planned and they have all great intentions to be active, to contribute, to ask questions. However, if they're not fully aware that this skill set that you're training them on is relevant to them, is a gap for them, a blind spot for them, or even an opportunity for them to focus on and improve, then they're just going to be sitting there taking up a seat because that information that comes is not going to stick. They're not going to see the relevance of it, and therefore they're not going to take it in. And really absorb it to where then they are focused on applying it. It's that simple. And that brings us to reason number 2: skills are taught, but they're not practiced. The most common mistake that many organizations have when it comes to their leadership development is treating skill training like it's information transfer. Sure, you teach active listening, you explain how to deliver feedback, you walk through a model for handling difficult conversations, and then you send the managers back to their teams and hope that the skills transferred. But they don't. They're not reliable. They're not practiced, and they're not incorporated or instilled in their everyday practice. So here's what science tells us. Skills become behaviors, which is what we want, through repetition in actual realistic conditions. So that means role play, and that means Practicing scenarios that are realistic and specific to your organization that those managers face each and every day or on occasion, not generic case studies. So then they have real context to practice and find where, what's working, what's not in regards to those skills being transferred to how they go about handling certain situations or executing against that skill. If your skill training workshops or even full-day sessions does not include structured practice with feedback, you're teaching concepts, but you're not building capability. And those two things are not the same. What you want to do is you want to ensure that not only are they given an opportunity to practice, but at the same time, they're given feedback on that practice by the facilitator or even their team members that they're practicing with. And then I'll also add to this, 'cause it's really important, that if your training isn't given the sufficient amount of time to allow for the knowledge transfer, the practice, and the feedback, then you're holding a practice run and not necessarily a transformative program. Reason number 3 would be oftentimes there is no measurement of change. If you were to ask your L&D team or anyone that's responsible for the training that's being held, as far as what are they measuring, what are they tracking, what are they then reporting? And they're going to tell you typically it's completion rates, meaning how many people actually attended that were assigned to attend. The post-surveys that they do, whether or not the feedback was positive or negative, whether or not there's a score being asked how this training can be applied to someone's job. Those aren't looking at the behavioral changes that your training is set out to do. Any training needs to be looking for growth, needs to be looking for development, needs to be looking for change. And so neither one of those or any one of those measurements are not going to provide you that. What you really need to focus on is, has this individual changed, transformed, and grown over the next 30 days, 3 months, 6 months as a result of the training that we're providing? And isn't that your goal? Providing this training is to see change, is to develop your people. And there's a lot of data out there that shows that around 81% of most organizations do not measure ROI when it comes to their leadership development programs, which means their programs are really running on faith. And faith is not going to create change, is not going to create a high-functioning team, let alone an individual leader. So a development system that we're gonna be talking about really requires you to do pre-assessments and post-assessments so you can see that change in an individual. Where were they in this skill before they got the training? Where are they after? Even month, 3 months, 6 months later. It requires observations from other people, feedback from other people, not just a survey or a score that is given. As to whether or not that training was successful. If you're looking for stronger retention, stronger engagement scores, stronger performance reviews or performance assessments, you really need to ensure that you're tracking the behavioral changes and tying that back to the development investment that you're making. And by doing so, you can then validate the investment and the ROI that you're receiving. Because if you can't report on behavioral change, you can't prove that the program is working. And if you can't prove it's working, then you're gonna have a hard time either getting more budget and/or you're gonna be at risk of losing your budget when it comes to slow times or downtimes, because L&D and training and coaching are often one of the first things to be cut. Reason number 4 why many leadership development programs struggle and/or fail, and that is there's no pull-through, similar to what we already talked about. The leadership development program has no follow-up, has no pull-through of what was learned, what was transferred, what was practiced, even what the feedback was, to where you can see if all of that is having a compounding effect on that individual and/or the team that individual is engaging with. So let me give you an example. A manager attends a workshop, maybe it's on having coaching conversations with your team members, one-on-ones, and they get the information around how to do that. They actually practice it in the room, get that feedback in the room, then they leave and 3 weeks later they're back in another meeting with their team or in one-on-one, and they're struggling to have an effective conversation, or they're making severe mistakes in that conversation, which is creating conflict or turmoil or just confusion for the other team member or members. And therefore they're back to square one of where they were before they went into that training. Because of the fact that nothing was set up in their environment, in their team culture, to reinforce what was just learned, to reinforce that new behavior. And believe it or not, uh, this was actually looked at and studied back in 1885 by a German psychologist, Hermann Ebbinghaus, who pioneered an experimental study on memory. And what he found was without reinforcement, without putting it into practice, 90% of that learning, that new learning is gone within a week. So it's not new information. We've known about it for 100+ years, but most development programs are still designed as if one exposure, one workshop is enough. And so a real development system is designed around pull-through. And so we're gonna discuss that and make sure that your program, your op— development operating system, as we'll talk about, allows for that pull-through to ensure that there's reinforcement. And that there's behavioral change. Let's eliminate those 4 risks: lack of self-awareness, practice, measurement, and pull-through. So let me show you what a system actually looks like so you can be creating powerhouse leaders in your organization from the programs that you are offering your employees. So to reiterate, from another study, McKinsey and Company, 75% of training programs are often event-based rather than continuous. And what I want to leave you with is a leadership development operating system. The word system is intentional because an operating system is infrastructure. It runs in the background. It connects everything. It makes other things work. And that's exactly what a real development program needs to be. Not a standalone event, not a series of disconnected workshops, but a connected architecture where every component reinforces the others and guides a leader to growth. Let me walk you through the 5 pillars of what I call the Leadership Development Operating System, and I'll give you a high-level review first of the 5, and then we'll drill into each one of those. And if you picture them as pillars, you can then even lay them out on a piece of paper or on your, your iPad or notebook. And you can then, and make note of what you need and/or have already in each one of those pillars. So then you can identify what's working, what you already have existing, what gaps you might have, and where you can fill in those gaps and really develop this type of infrastructure that will ensure connectivity all the way through instead of just having a series of events or individual workshops. All right. So pillar number 1 is all centered around that self-awareness, identity, and mindset that we talked about. Remember, 80% of leadership success is based on that. Pillar number 2 is all around the structured skill training, but with practice built in, with feedback built in. Pillar number 3 is more of that sequential curriculum with pre and post-assessment. And this is particularly valuable and important for new managers is to have a theories that looks at where they were before, even during, but then after. And it's a sequential curriculum of skill training that gives them what they need in order to be really effective and successful in the role that they have. Pillar number 4 is all around external coaching for real-time behavioral change or reinforcement of the skills that were trained. Pillar number 5 is all around the measurement, reporting, and accountability. Absolutely critical, as we talked about. It's not a satisfaction survey at the end of the workshop. It goes far beyond that. Now, these 5 pillars, as we talked about, a operating system is a connected infrastructure. The training without coaching only produces knowledge and no behavioral change. Coaching without training lacks a shared framework. And then measurement without pull-through just documents failure. Think about that. And overall, any of this without self-awareness prevents transformation and permanent change. And when they're connected, they create something most organizations have never actually built, a system where learning compounds over time. And isn't that what it is that you're striving to achieve and what you know is going to move that needle of leadership and team empowerment and high-functioning performance for your organization. So let's go deeper into each one of those. Pillar number 1 is self-awareness, that self-awareness, identity, and mindset that we talked about. It is the foundation. Without it, many employees really fail, as I mentioned earlier, to really see the relevance or to connect the dots when it comes to themselves around a particular training that they're being asked to attend. You really want to ensure that you're setting up practices even long before any training sessions. Team members have the foundation of really understanding where their skills are, where their gaps, where any blind spots might be. So then when they are being offered or suggested to have a training session, even coaching, then they can tie the relevance of that skill training to what it is that they need in order to develop and grow and be a powerhouse leader and contributor to the team and to the business. So considerations that you can think about when it comes to how do I make team members self-aware and what can I be doing short and long-term and continuous, could be looking at leadership diagnostic tools. You could be looking at 360 feedback. There are many options for you as an L&D organization to offer up your employee base, especially your leaders, to really ensure that they have a practice around self-awareness. Because without it, you are going to struggle to get the behavioral change and the return on investment that you're looking for from any of the work and any of the programs that you're rolling out. Pillar number 2 is that structured training, but with practice and feedback. So there's 3 things. That you need to have in any one of your skill trainings, in your skill modulars within a curriculum. And that is you teach it, you practice it, and you provide feedback. Because the teaching component is that knowledge transfer. And guess what? It should be the shortest part of your session, of that time block that you gave a particular program. It should— maybe it's 30 to 40% of the overall session time is the actual teaching. And then the practice component is often the one most underinvested in. And that is that time to really roleplay, to create scenarios that are realistic and relevant to a particular team function or the organization as a whole, and provide that opportunity for the participants to really take on that skill and practice it in a good amount of time that they actually are able to see themselves acting on that skill when they go back to their office. And lastly, the feedback component is extremely important, both inside the training, but even externally. So it's structured feedback. It's not, oh, good job. It's, almost coaching feedback during the training that will point out what worked for an individual, what didn't work, suggestions on how they could do it differently to really ensure that skill is understood and is executed on. It's direct, it's specific, it's around their behavior or their adoption of that skill. But it's relevant feedback that is given during the session, but also when they go back, whether it's L&D members or HR members following up and following through with those individuals, it's their managers and team members or peers that are then gestured that they support each other, observe each other, be accountable to each other around adopting that particular skill that you're training on. And keep in mind, a huge value add that you would have to any of your programs is to have a pre-assessment on any skill training that you're doing. And it could be a 5-minute assessment that one does to see where they feel they are right now, understanding this skill, practicing that skill, mastering that skill, a week, 30 days, 2 months later. Where are they when it comes to now instilling that skill, instilling that behavior into their everyday. Pillar number 3, a sequenced curriculum that also has that pre and post, which we'll talk about in just a second. This is your development system. This is not a course catalog. This is a designed progression of courses that one would take in order to really develop and grow holistically, not just in pieces. And this curriculum has a sequence and 3 components that make up the sequence. First is your foundational skills. This is all around the self-awareness. This is also communication, feedback delivery, basic leadership skills that set the groundwork for then the second one, which would be Specific applied skills. How does one coach direct reports? How does one manage performance? How does one lead through change, deal with conflict? You're now taking the foundation and you're enhancing it, enriching it for that individual to really grow and expand their leadership capability. The third sequence would be advanced. What are those advanced skills around developing their successors, building team culture, navigating organizational complexity, strategic thinking. This being a development operating system, you're adding on and enhancing and enriching as you go. You have the foundation, you have the applied, and then you have the advanced skills that you're training along the way over a period of time that's been defined. And each of those modules, I'll call them modules, each of those modules have a pre-assessment to them. So you pre-assess on the foundation, you pre-assess on the applied, you pre-assess on those advanced skills. Where are, where am I now? And what is the desired endpoint that I want to be as I'm not only learning these skills, but I'm practicing them and I'm instilling them in my everyday. And then as a result of that, you do post-assessments. You ensure that after the training and a certain timeframe that you've defined, you're going back and you're measuring through observations, through 360 feedbacks, through surveys. You're looking for proof of that behavioral change, and that will help to demonstrate the return on investment of your programs. Pillar number 4 is coaching, specifically external coaching. And this is your engine for transformation. And why I emphasize external coaching is because your internal team can certainly design and run the training. They can even facilitate the skill training sessions. They can even manage the assessment process. But when it comes to then that individual getting feedback in real time, leadership challenges that they're having, such as a team conflict, a direct report who's disengaged in performance. Conversation that one's been avoiding for several months, it's really important for them to get a third party outside the organization's view on how to handle that. Because internally, whether it's the functional team, the L&D group or HR, they certainly know the players and they know the politics. At the same time, it's those two things that also is a huge red flag when it comes to one being able to be very candid and direct and provide the guidance and support and sounding board and feedback that is needed in order for that individual to navigate and handle whatever it is that they're facing. If you're in L&D or HR at all, you know that people hesitate to be extremely open, candid, and transparent. And for no reason other than the fact that any internal L&D or HR individual is not going to get employee to fully 100% open up, be transparent, be vulnerable, acknowledge their faults and their gaps and their mistakes and their failures. That needs to be provided by someone that, that individual, that team member or employee is willing to be open and honest and vulnerable with. And you want to ensure transformation, behavioral change, success of not only your programs, but of those leaders, and therefore give them what they need that will allow them to assess and test and challenge them in the training and the development that you're offering. Pillar number 5 is all around the measurement, reporting, the accountability, justifying the ROI, but also to see that transformation, see that growth, see that shift in how individuals are going about their day-to-day and how they're leading and how they are moving the needle in regards to employee satisfaction, employee engagement, retention. All of those metrics that you track around the effectiveness, the health, and the maturity, and the high functioning of your organization. First, keep in mind that your measurement system, as we'll call it, it should have 4 layers to it. It should look at the behavioral assessment. It should look at the application data, the business impact metrics, and also the cultural integration. So let's break each one of those down. So the behavioral assessment are those pre and post. Where was the gaps and how have they successfully been filled and/or where do they still exist? So looking at the behavioral assessment. The application data that you want to be looking for, and application can be confusing for some, but what this is, that applying of the training. Are your managers actually using what they've learned in their day in and day out? And you can get that through observations, through conversations in skip-level meetings, one-on-ones, direct report pulse surveys. You could do it in 360s. And so what you're really looking for is to answer the question, did the behavior change on the job? Not just in the training, not just in the practice, not just through that feedback in that time constraint. So application data is how are they applying? And then of course there's the business impact metric. What is the direct impact to hard metrics? Engagement surveys, team retention, internal promotion rates, 360 trends over a period of 12 to 24 months. What are those hard numbers that you're also tracking to ensure that these programs are moving the needle. All right. That would be business impact metrics. And then the fourth layer would be cultural integration. If the environment that they go back to doesn't support the change, doesn't support the need for accountability, if that's what's being trained on, doesn't support internal coaching, if that's the, what's being trained on, or how to give critical feedback, and therefore it's not being done, the leaders will revert back. They'll revert back to their poor performance or the lack of certain expectations, certain goals that you have. So you wanna ensure that those goals and expectations are laid out very clearly around behavior, around the experience that they're creating for their team members, not just KPIs, which is what I see 99% of the time on people's annual performance goals is all around the hard numbers. Not the leadership, not the behavior, not the performance, not the engagement or experience measurements that should be looked at. And that should be tied to your promotion criteria, your performance review ratings, your team engagement scores, all of that. And then managers have to continue the coaching of their team members and/or seeking it out for themselves regarding any type of training that they've got, looking for behavioral change. They need to start giving that, those observations, giving that feedback, giving the coaching that will allow that individual to enhance and enrich their performance and what they're contributing as a result of that training. They just can't manage the tasks that individual is responsible for. They have to also ensure that all those soft skills are also improving, are also shifting. And then lastly, the culture has to be set up to where it is safe for one to take any type of the training that you're offering, continuing to practice it, continuing to utilize it, continuing to learn from it, even, and even potentially making mistakes or failing at implementing or executing on that skill. But it has to be set up in a safe environment. For learning, for growing, potentially flipping a little bit, but at the same time, course correcting and moving forward. And keep in mind, as part of your measurement system, all 4 of these layers should be reported on, should be documented, should be discussed and coached. It should be provided within quarterly development reports to HR, annual impact summaries for your C-suite. And keep in mind, reporting is not just about proving the program works. It's that pull-through. Because when managers know that their application of the learning is being measured and reported on, then the application will improve. The focus, the intention, the attention to applying what they learned in their day in, day out will improve. And so ensure that you're not only using the reporting for proving that you're doing a great job in L&D or HR and that your programs are working, but more so that pull-through that you've incorporated into your programs is having a lasting impact on the team, on the culture, and on that leader, and ultimately the business. And that in itself will create that return on investment that you're looking for. In summary, if you are in L&D or HR and you're running development programs, and yet the behavior is not changing, the program is not the problem. The design of that program could be the problem. Here's the diagnostic question I want you to ask yourself. If you looked at your current development program and removed everything that doesn't include practice, measurement, or pull-through. What would you have left? Whatever's left is your foundation. And then everything else is what your development operating system actually adds to the overall system, the overall architecture. And if you find gaps, if you find where you really want to build this system versus just this program, then feel free to book a 30-minute diagnostic call with me. We'll talk about where your program currently is. Identify any of the structural gaps to it. And I'll give you a specific place to start to really ensure that those gaps are filled and you have an end-to-end system that supports your learning and development goals that you have for your organization. And so when you're ready, you can just simply go to coachmebernadette.com/discoverycall, and we'll get you moving forward to having a powerhouse leadership development operating system for your organization. And then of course, follow Shedding the Corporate Bitch on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, or wherever you might get your podcasts. You can go to ballifiercoaching.com/podcast and follow us anywhere on those platforms. I'll see you in the next episode. Bye.

Thank you for tuning into today's episode of Shedding the Corporate Bitch. Every journey taken together is another step towards unleashing the powerhouse leader within you. Don't miss any of our weekly episodes. Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever wherever you love to listen. And for those who thrive on visual content, catch us on our Shedding the Bitch YouTube channel. Want to dive deeper with Bernadette on becoming a powerhouse leader? Visit balloffirecoaching.com to learn more about how she helps professionals, HR executives, and team leaders elevate overall team performance. You've been listening to Shedding the Corporate Bitch with Bernadette Boas. Until next time, keep shedding, keep growing, and keep leading.