Let’s go down the path of software programs and how training can not always work. While it’s not relative to the actual training itself, it does show the (lack of) effectiveness that can happen in today’s workspace. So, if we were to use Kirkpatrick’s Levels of training, you can see how each one is affected by at least one level of training.
Let’s start with how many employees are expected to know at least 4 programs (if they’re lucky) before starting a job. This means that employees have too many software/products in their heads to start with. In the early ‘90s, before Windows, many people only needed to know one program to do their job…maybe two. (Performance)
There used to be big training seminars hosted by the vendor’s special instructors. Now, vendors aren’t even specialists anymore. Using Salesforce as an example – associates are one of the thousands giving half-hearted online “help-desk” formatted training, and not in-depth training in person. (Reaction and Learning)
On top of this, there are no specialists in the group anymore – you know – that one person whose rose in the office was to have all the knowledge? “Go see Mary, she knows how to do that”. Folks who are on-site staff are too busy to run around and retrain or refresh staff’s minds on “how” to use a product – many times they have other jobs to do. Because of this, so many people have to either be able to find their own answers or they have to be specialists in multiple products. (Results)
Supervisors didn’t always know how to run that special program – they didn’t need to they had specialists. Now they really have no idea how to do the work their staff is doing. This means even their direct supervisor isn’t able to help staff if they get stuck. (additional Learning)
This does not mean that every training taken on programs will fail, it just means that employees are expected to not only learn something but immediately be able to utilize it, and all these factors are layers of potential failure that could occur.