Chapter 1

Introduction: Why Beyond Training Ain't Performance?

Training Ain't Performance opened with a case study titled “Show Me the Money.” What quickly became apparent from the two characters, Melvyn and Marna, is that the former exhibited all the normal behaviors of a successful bank loan officer and Marna appeared to be a bit odd in the role. Melvyn was neat, careful, knowledgeable, motivated, and punctual, and displayed all the other attributes that most of us believe accompany workplace success. Marna was casual in her dressing, frequently late to work, had some loan defaults, and was not always available at the bank. We know this doesn't look good.

But wait. What is it that the bank wants? Is it good behavior and neat appearance or more profitable loans and higher revenues? Looking at the details of that case, of course we figure out pretty easily that Marna, with the bigger and more profitable loan portfolio, is the better performer. But in the real world, what we discover is that behavior and appearance frequently trump results. Although we know what the right answer is in a specific case, somehow we often give into appearance and what seems to be organizationally acceptable—form over function.

It Ain't Always Easy

Why is it that making things happen when we know what is right is so difficult? Several reasons:

1. Knowing ain't doing. How is it that we can be part of an ongoing event, know that something is wrong, and still play along? Here are two recent examples from our own experience:

     The scene: Positronics, a high-tech company, is desperate to increase comprehensive solution sales. To this end it has launched a marketing and sales campaign for its new product, FlexGrowth. As a client company's needs change and grow, FlexGrowth adapts with them. The client pays only for what it needs, but Positronics builds in the potential to scale up, scale down, or move in any direction the client requires. Contracting for FlexGrowth doesn't just buy equipment and/or software; it buys the client adaptive, flexible information technology infrastructure that seamlessly and effortlessly “flexes” with the needs of the client. It offers capacity and performance without unnecessary investment, and it includes strategizing with Positronics on an ongoing basis. It sounds great, but sales are unimpressive. The company concludes that more sales training is needed. The problem: In our investigations we discovered that the sales representatives were not very confident that the company could deliver as advertised. FlexGrowth was not directly integrated into their sales quotas and compensation. Customers weren't getting the concept. Competition had a sharper-edged approach. So what to do? The proposed solution: After a lengthy survey pointing out all of these problems, and others, management's decision was to provide more training to the salesforce, even though every one of them had already been through several iterations of FlexGrowth training. It hadn't worked before, but conventional wisdom suggested that we try it again, this time with the admonition to “Do a better job. Make the training stick!”

     The scene: À la Mode is a retail boutique clothing chain positioned as a buyer's total clothing consultant: “You feel so at home with our clothing consultants that you'll want to return again and again.” The problem: Repeat business is down. Management has determined that the main reason is “lack of customer engagement” that should result in a complete quality experience. Whereas the company's proposed solution was training on quality customer engagement, our analysis clearly indicated that the concept of “quality customer engagement” was not universally understood. To some employees (even among management), it meant “a personalized, caring, empathic, conversation during the sales transaction.” To others, it encompassed engagement from the moment a shopper entered the boutique until he or she left it. Another group viewed “customer engagement” as continuing beyond the time spent in the store (via phone calls, emails). Our investigations turned up customer concerns with what they perceived as restrictive sales promotions and a less advantageous frequent-buyer program compared with that of the competition. The proposed solution: Training on quality customer engagement gained consensus, even among the retailer's training team who had demonstrated in a workshop using hypothetical cases that they knew it was not the way to go.

   It's oh-so difficult to apply what we know to what we do, often despite concrete data displayed before our eyes. In this Fieldbook we will return to this problem many times and work on strategies and tactics to unite our perceptions with our actions—our knowing with our doing.

2. I don't know where to start. Who are you and how did you get here? People in your position most commonly come from another field, and you were great at what you did there. You communicated well. Suddenly, you're part of a new team, probably within the training or human resources development (HRD) group. The expectation seems to be that you will impart what you know to others. So you train. But you see that training ain't performance. You hear other people suggest applying other interventions. But which ones? And how? Or maybe you are a training professional and you're good at it. How do you step beyond the training arena? How do you avoid traipsing into other professionals' territories (for example, human resources, organizational development, organizational effectiveness, or management)? Excellent questions. And in both, or other, cases, you may be wondering what gives you the right to step in and say “no” to what your supervisors or clients believe should be done. What's your authority? Where do you begin? Once again, these are highly relevant questions and concerns.

   To reassure you, Beyond Training Ain't Performance is not just a fieldbook. It is also a guidebook. Many people have been in the same position as you, raising the same perplexing issues. The short answer to all of these questions is that you have one mission: to help your clients (the direct-contact people with whom you work) and your organization achieve results they value. How you do it will become increasingly clear as you work through the remaining chapters of this book.

3. Is this something I can do on my own? Probably not alone. You can—and we sincerely hope will—be a key driver and catalyst for transforming the organization from a training-fixated entity to one that understands the difference between virtuous activity and bottom-line results. And through your efforts, your insight, and especially the data you gather, you will help build a team to make it happen. In this Fieldbook we present you with exercises and “projects” to do on your own. When you have these experiences under your belt, we recommend how to work with colleagues and clients to spread the word.
4. What do I do to bring others aboard? By sharing ideas, cases, and successes and by easing your colleagues and clients into a new mode of thinking, you gain allies. Remember, we are here to help. We know that your work will be so much easier as you gain credibility, trust, momentum, and demonstrable performance results. Each of the succeeding chapters will provide you with ways of achieving this. Your challenge—and, in a sense, your mission—will be to demonstrate the value of this training-to-performance transformation to

     your own managers, by achieving bottom-line results (such as higher payoff, lower costs, improved customer satisfaction)

     your colleagues, by displaying greater impact, credibility, professional growth, and job satisfaction

     your clients, by focusing on their issues in a rigorous, data-based manner that solves their problems in ways they value (for example, decreased error rates, increased productivity, rapid implementation of new systems, and decreased turnover)

     your organization, by producing more thorough analyses and systemic, integrated solutions, and by achieving business objectives and goals complete with data-based evidence.

   Use the tools in this Fieldbook with each of these populations in mind. As you experience successes, interest will grow and more people will hop aboard the performance train.

Institutionalizing What Training Ain't Performance Recommends

Let's take one step backward before moving forward. Whether you are in the “training” group or HRD, you know what a hard battle you and others have fought to attain credibility and respectability in your organization. Now we seem to be asking you to leave your hard-won victories behind and proceed into new territory. Whoa! Can't we rest on our gains and just train? After all,

• training is what we know. Sorry. We're delighted that you have acquired competence and confidence in training, but we also know that a single solution in a professional's toolbox is not enough to do all that's required. Training is a means, not an end. It's time to master new skills that integrate what you know and move on.
• it's accepted. Thank goodness that training is accepted. We're not asking you to dump training but to put it into perspective. As you have seen in Training Ain't Performance and you will again encounter in this book, you build on what has been accepted. Then you go beyond training or other single interventions and create baskets of valued solutions.
• we've fought so hard to get this far. Great! You've accomplished one leg of the performance journey. There are still miles to go. You've rested enough, and it's time to venture forward. New performance horizons beckon.
• everyone understands training, but the performance message is hard to explain. This is true. But performance is nothing more than a placeholder term for what your clients and the organization desire. Don't say “performance.” Instead, say, “increased sales,” “greater consistency,” “more integrated solutions,” or any other result that has meaning for your client. These are messages they'll understand, especially if you define them in concrete terms (and with this Fieldbook, you will).
• it keeps me employed. That's short-term thinking. If results don't improve, eventually your value will decrease. Downsizing often starts in the “soft service” sectors that do not consistently show business results (that is, revenues, market penetration, cost savings). It's in your best interest to become a performance improvement professional with a string of bottomline success stories.

As a final argument for institutionalizing Training Ain't Performance, you will get to make a significant, recognizable difference for individual performers, the organization, customers, sometimes society at large, and—not in the least—yourself through expanded capabilities. This is the direction in which the training world is moving anyway. Don't be the last person to become part of it.

Setting a Mission and Making a Promise

The mission of this Fieldbook is to make you and your organization self-sufficient as workplace learning and performance (WLP) professionals. As you step into the succeeding pages you will acquire this self-sufficiency via the

• tasks and activities in which we engage you
• tools, methods, and work guidelines we provide
• ongoing development activities we recommend
• competence and confidence you acquire as you work through the chapters
• successes you achieve and recognition you garner from all of your stakeholders.

You will institutionalize Training Ain't Performance as you let go of the default decisions of the past and apply what both Training Ain't Performance and the Beyond Training Ain't Performance Fieldbook recommend.

Here is our promise to you. Undertake the activities we offer you and your organization. Use or adapt our tools to your unique context. Follow the recommendations in these pages and—we promise—you will experience performance success. Take this guarantee with you as we step into the next chapter.