Not Every Performance Weakness Is a Skill Gap
When mistakes recur in managing something, we rush to request a training course, as if every performance weakness is a skill gap. But what if the employee knows what to do, and is hindered by tangled procedures, unclear authorities, and endless approvals? Then the team returns from the program with better ideas, while the transaction still awaits the same signature.
When mistakes recur in a particular management area, one of the first solutions proposed is to organize a training course.
But have we first stopped to ask: Do employees know what they should do? And can they implement it according to the procedures and tools available to them?
Imagine employee transactions being delayed due to overlapping authorities and numerous approvals. Then the management decides to send the team to a program on time management and priority setting.
Employees may return with better ideas, but the transaction will still await the same approval.
Here the core problem was not a lack of knowledge, but the design of the work.
Misdiagnosing the cause can make training a good intervention for the wrong problem.
Before adopting any program, test four possibilities:
Knowledge and skill: Does the employee know how to perform the task?
Procedures: Are the work steps and authorities clear?
Tools and resources: Does the employee have the time, system and information needed?
Incentives and management: Do expectations and performance indicators encourage the desired behavior?
If the problem is a gap in knowledge or skill, design a specific educational intervention. If the cause is a broken procedure or unclear authority, start by fixing it, and training may be needed afterward.
Do not make the number of courses a default solution for every performance issue.
A question that deserves to precede every training request: What evidence shows that training is the appropriate intervention, not merely the easiest to request?
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