A number of years ago, I did some consulting to a training organization. The issue was that they didn’t seem to have a sustained relationship with their folks. And, this has seemed to me like an obvious and solvable problem. However, I may be missing something, so perhaps you can help me in taking a higher perspective.
In the particular instance, they provided training in particular areas. That is, folks would attend their courses and then, at least theoretically, be able to perform in new ways. Yet, they felt that folks didn’t necessarily sustain allegiance to them nor their offerings.
I asked what else they offered. From the perspective of a performer, I’m not there to learn! Instead, I’m there to acquire new skills so I can perform better. And, if we take to heart what performance consulting has to say, there’re also resources such as job aids. These lead to success where learning isn’t even necessary. There’s more, too.
We can go further, of course. What about community? If you’re focused on a particular area of performance, would it make sense to be connected to others in the same endeavor? I’ll suggest that it’s likely. As folks develop in ability, they need to start interacting with others.
This organization wasn’t alone, of course. I’ve engaged with a number of organizations over the years that faced the same issue. (Whether they knew it or not.) In fact, I suspect it’s more prevalent that we agree. Particularly in this era of information available online, how do you generate a sustained relationship?
It seems to me that if we’re taking a higher perspective, we’ll realize that courses are just a component of a full development ecosystem. Of course, there are lots of issues involved: finding ways to curate or create all the elements, content management, platform choice and integration, and more. Still, this seems to me to be at least part of the answer. So, what am I missing?
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